BenQ HT2050A 1080P Home Theater Projector | 2200 Lumens | 96% Rec.709 for Accurate Colors | Low Input Lag Ideal for Gaming | 2D Keystone for Flexible Setup

I use this ceiling mounted approximately 12 feet back (upside down) with my 105” W and 8 foot high projection screen. It work seamlessly with my Denton home theatre and surround sound system - including with my ChromeCast. The clarity and motion is fantastic. This in my opinion is maximized performance for the right amount of money - I hit the sweet spot!

This will be a long review, as Im trying to provide a good bit of detail to help others make a decision, but hopefully it will be worth the read. If you already know what youre looking for in a projector and just want to know the pros and cons of this one, skip to the bullets toward the end. Otherwise, read on for some guidance in figuring out how to pick a projector based on what I learned in my research. A couple things to make clear upfront: Im not a videophile, and so I cant comment on things like picture quality, etc with anything more than my layman perceptions, which I will provide, and this is my first foray into projectors, which I spent a fair amount of time reading up on in preparation--and was, and still am, confused on much regarding the area--and wasnt sure what I was getting myself into. My reasoning for going with a projector instead of a big screen TV, like I was originally planning on doing, was three-fold: I wanted a very large screen (my previous TV was 70 and I wanted to go at least that big, and ideally bigger), I wanted to keep the price down since I was limited to what I could afford at the time, and I wanted something easy to move, since my current residence is temporary. A projector was the obvious choice, providing a very large screen (80-120+ inches) for anywhere from half what a midrange TV at the low end of that scale would cost to twice, or more, what a high-end 80 TV would cost, and obviously being very portable, especially comapred to a big TV. The next issue was figuring out what I needed in a projector. My requirements were that it had to be useable in fairly bright light, good picture quality without issues like rainbow effect (I dont know if Im sensitive to it, but it seems like the type of thing that would bother me, and I didnt want to take the risk), and reliable. I spent a fair amount of time debating 1080p/HD vs 4K, and came to the conclusion that theres not enough difference in quality to justify the extra cost of 4K projectors if you dont *need* 4K. Since I use mostly 1080p content with some 720p, and most advice was that a 1080p toward the top of the HD price range is going to be as good as or better than a 4K projector that costs more, I decided to go for an HD one. I was concerned because of the anticipated screen size and viewing distance, but sitting 10 away from an ~95 screen it looks great, and even 720p looks fine. But again, Im not a videophile. More about the picture in the bullets below. Another thing I spent quite a bit of time debating was brightness/lumens. Some things I learned were that the brighter projectors often achieve their brightness (and indeed this is the case for the brighter version of the same projector models) by using a clear window in the color wheel, to let more light through since white light is getting through instead of light filtered to a certain color. The downside to this is that it tends to wash out colors, and most reviews I read indicated that once you adjusted the colors to make them look right, these projectors were the same, if not worse, brightness compared to the normal models. So theyre only really useful if you absolutely *need* that extra brightness and dont mind things being washed out as a result. And even if you plan on needing it in a few years, youre probably going to do better buying a cheaper HD projector now and buying a 4K projector then, when theyre better and cheaper. Another thing, and this should come as no surprise, is that the stated lumens is often exaggerated and cant be used to compare, and its best to pick some projectors youre interested in then check reviews to see what their output really is after calibration, not to mention just outright deception. A really good site for this, and one I used a lot, is projectorcentral dot com. The other thing I spent a LOT of time on was trying to figure out which way to go to achieve a good screen size with limited placement options. I originally was planning on going with UST because that seemed to be the easiest option, allowing placement right by the wall with very large screen sizes. I ultimately decided against it for three reasons: the options are limited, and I couldnt find one that would give me a good range of around 60-100+ inches (theyre typically smaller ranges, e.g. 80-100), they tend to cost more, and its highly recommended to use a special screen with them, which are very, very expensive. I looked at short throw projectors, trying to find one that would provide the range of screen sizes I was looking for either with placement a couple feet away or 10 away but, again, there were very few choices. It seems most are designed to be placed 15 or more from the screen. This limitation was the main reason I chose the BenQ, as it was really this one and one other that would ultimately achieve the desired screen sizes at the distance I needed to mount it, and I went with this one, IIRC, because the review of it showed it as being slightly better in brightness and/or color, but they were otherwise very similar. For figuring out your throw/mounting distance and screen size(s), a couple very useful sites are screen-size dot info and projectorscreen dot com. Some quick thoughts about a few other brands: ViewSonic appears to be pretty good, especially considering they tend to be some of the cheapest options, though I decided against them, IIRC, mainly because the warranty seems questionable; Epsons are typically high-regarded, especially for lack of DLP rainbow effect due to their use of 3LCD, but numerous different models had a trend in their reviews of the power supplies failing after a few to several months, so Epson apparently cheaps out on that (very important) component, which turned me away from them (if not for that, I almost certainly woul have gone with them); and JVC > Sony are very well-regarded, especially for their picture quality and contrast/blackness levels, but they are very expensive and, especially with JVC, have expensive replacement bulbs. If money isnt really an issue, those are almost certainly going to be your best best. On the topic of the rainbow effect, one thing you want to look for is a high-speed color wheel. This projector has a 6x wheel, which means it spins much faster than a standard wheel, therefore drastically reducing rainbow effects, often to the point they become imperceptible to most, if not all, people. One of the big issues, which is mentioned below but I wanted to expand on it, has to do with the vertical lens shift. I read about the limitations with it beforehand, but didnt really understand it and the implications. Essentially, the bottom of the picture is level with, or straight across from, the lens with no lens shift. If you turn the knob to add lens shit, it raises the image so the bottom of it is several inches above where it was. This allows you to move the image higher without having to raise the projector higher, which I suppose could possibly be useful but, frankly, it seems to me that it would be much more useful for most people to be able to *lower* the image, and it certainly would have been for me. Think about it. This is a short-throw projector, which is typically going to be placed 10-15 (*maybe* 20) from the screen, either on a shelf or mounted to the ceiling or high up on a wall. If its on a shelf, which would have to be higher than your couch/chair, the bottom of the screen is going to already be a good 42-48 high, and the screen will probably be large enough you wont have room to raise it any before it hits the ceiling. And if its mounted high by the ceiling, it will be mounted upside-down, meaning the lens shift will actually *lower* the screen. So thats the problem I have: mine is mounted on the wall as close to the ceiling as I could possibly get it (I built my own mount), and the top of the screen (which is the bottom in the context of lens shift in this case, since the projector is inverted) is about 8 from the ceiling, and I cant get it any closer. This limits the size I can make the screen, since I can only make the bottom go so low. If the lens shift allowed for adjustment the other way, I could have an ~110 screen or larger instead of being limited to 95. To me, it seems like a very big oversight and poor engineering. And now to list more briefly the various pros & cons Ive found so far: + Bright - Its not the brightest projector, but based on reviews, its better than some that claim more lumens, and it has an RGBRGB color wheel instead of RGBW (or whatever it is), meaning the color accuracy is good, and once the brighter projectors are calibrated to have a similar color accuracy their brightness is actually similar to this one. Its not very good in real bright light, but with modest diffusing of sunlight with blinds/curtains its watchable even in the middle of a bright day, and in even a moderately dim environment it does great (and, as mentioned below, thats in eco mode; I rarely have to switch to normal mode). Its not going to look as bright and good as a TV, but I find the extreme large size more than makes up for that, especially considering the price. I love watching movies on it, and even TV is brought to a whole new level. + Good picture quality (again from a laymans point of view). Everything is very sharp, colors looks good (I didnt even do any calibration out of the box), and looks great even cast onto a white(ish) wall, which also makes for a very clean look. + Cost - Its cheap for what it offers, and bulb replacements are reasonable. + Quality - After looking at lots of reviews for lots of projectors of different brands, BenQ seems to have a good combination of relatively low serious complaints (unlike Epson) with a good warranty (unlike, possibly, ViewSonic and Epson). + No rainbow effect that Ive noticed after much viewing of different material. + No perceptible input lag. Im not a hardcore gamer, but I havent noticed any issues with any of the games Ive played. + Backlit remote + SmartEco mode, according to a professional review, operates as a sort of dynamic contrast/iris, which in theory sounds like it would be great. And it might be, but I keep it in eco mode 99% of the time to make the bulb last longer. - Noise - Its not loud, but its not quiet. It sits about 4 above my head, and its definitely noticeable *all* the time, sometimes worse than others. - Gray border (~1-2) around screen. Apparently this is common but is going away with newer projectors. Its only minimally bothersome on its own, and I rarely notice it, but the bigger problem comes into play when trying to use keystone. Granted, its always recommended not to use it, but I tried using it to get the screen closer to the ceiling, so I could make it bigger, but when it modifies the image by bending it into a trapezoid so its rectangular on the wall, the border is trapezoidal and looks really, really bad, making keystone effectively useless. - No power zoom/focus. I realize this is a feature only found in much more expensive projectors, and I obviously knew it didnt have it when I bought it, but it would be nice if this became a more common feature. It doesnt seem like it should cost much to implement, and it would be *extremely* handy. I would have happily paid an extra $100 for the same projector with this feature, and possibly more. - No sleep mode. I find this one very frustrating and unforgivable. On a device where you want to do everything you can to minimize the amount of time the lamp is used, youd think it would have this very basic feature that has existed in almost every TV for the past, oh I dont know, couple decades or so at least. The omission of this is just absurd, and one of many *stupid* decisions by the software/firmware team, who should be ashamed quite frankly. - Eco Blank mode blanks the screen to save lamp life when taking a break from viewing without necessitating powering the projector completely off, which is great, in theory, but it projects a message at the bottom of the screen showing that its in Eco Blank mode. Im sure this is so you dont forget its still on, but it makes me wonder how effective it actually is, since the lamp is clearly still on in order to project that message. It should just show it for maybe 15 or 30 seconds every 5 minutes. Besides, as mentioned before, the projector isnt exactly quiet, so its unlikely youll forget its on unless its positioned at least 10 away. - You cant change the lamp mode (normal/eco/SmartEco) for a few minutes or so after powering the projector on. And I didnt see any mention of this in the manual (it should be mentioned in the menu, so you can see whats going on when you go try to change it). At first I thought it was malfunctioning. - Theres no button on the remote to directly change the lamp mode, so you have to go through the menu each time, discouraging the use of the different modes. - Once the projector starts shutting down, you have to wait for it to completely finish, going through its cooldown where the fans run for a minute or so after it powers off, before you can turn it back on. It should be able to just power right back on at any point in the shutdown process. Many of the cons are nitpicks, but theyre really quite ridiculous things that I just cant fathom why they are the way they are, and they could probably be fixed through an update. If not for these stupid design decisions and the lens shift limitation, this would easily be a 4-star projector. With those improvements and a reduction in noise of 2-3dB, it would be 5-stars. And if it had all that and power zoom/focus, even at an extra $150, give or take, it would be 5-stars. As it is, its a good projector with some annoying oversights at a fair price, but I suspect you could probably do better if youre not looking for something in this specific throw category, i.e. if you can use a longer or shorter throw projector. I really love watching things with this projector, but I dont necessarily love the projector due to these various issues. BenQ can do better, and while they should be proud of the hardware design for the most part, they should really have spent a bit more time on the fans and thinking through the lens shift, and the software/firmware team should just be fired (I know, that sounds harsh, but seriously, no sleep function!?!?...).

Great product so far. The picture exceeded our expectations.

Let me just say that I did a lot of research into projectors before I committed to this. I had a 4:3 projector by InFocus, but it was meant for office use (You can tell if its a WGXA, its meant for office use.) The projectors you find at sub 200 that seem like such a good deal while offering amazing quality are a crock. In this world, youre going to get what you pay for. The 2050A is a single chip DLP projector. This means two key things: One: It is DLP, so the colors are much richer natively than a 3LCD projector (such as Epson). However, a single chip has NOTHING on a three chip DLP projector (which is probably why those start at around 5000). Two: It is DLP, so a SMALL PERCENTAGE of people may be subject to the dreaded rainbow effect in high action sequences. This is not everyone, I play lots of high action sequences on it and have never had an issue. If you are concerned, I would say buy it, hook it up (before you mount it or anything), and get some fast and furious movies or anything like that going. My set up uses this projector ceiling mounted, and an Elite Screens Sable Frame 2 120 Inch CineWhite on the other side. Under it is a YAS 107 soundbar with built in subwoofer, and a Amazon Firestick connected into the soundbars ARC/IN hdmi port. A 30 foot hdmi cable runs in the wall and ceiling to connect to the projector. I have no issues with any of this. I also use a SteamLink into the projectors HDMI 2, allowing me to broadcast my high end gaming computer onto my projector screen over my wireless network. None of this is hard to set up by the way, for you people that are less than handy (my wife forbids me from using power tools). Lets talk about the picture: PRO: PRO ONE: The picture is awe inspiring, it truly is wonderful in native 16:9 resolution (this matters). PRO TWO: The throw distance to 120 inches is about 11-12 feet, so you need to make sure you have that much space between the projector to the screen or wall. In the event you dont, you may want to invest in a laser projector. PRO THREE: The different picture modes include cinema (most true to color tones according to cnet), and vivid image (which is fortunately very watchable). This projector is exceptionally easy to set up, ceiling mounting was a breeze. PRO FOUR: Even with ambient lighting, the picture is still very easy to watch,. CONS CON ONE: The picture only has a vertical lens shift. This means you need to point the picture DIRECTLY PARALLEL at the surface youre blasting at. If you dont, you will end up with a slight or pronounced trapezoid. BenQ, like all others, uses a keystone to fix this, but it is not very precise, and not recommended (it scales your picture. Best to just make it parallel). If you cant, youll have do what I had to do, which is use the vertical lens shift. This allows the lens to be tilted down (in the machine), to avoid keystone adjustments. Unfortunately, it does not also have a horizontal lens shift, that would have been a nice feature. CON TWO: This is not a 4k machine. However, I have read mixed reviews about 4k capable projectors, and decided to wait until the technology was truly fleshed out. Audio: I didnt have my sound bar set up right away, so I heard the audio on this for a few nights. It is VERY impressive for being a stock machine. I of course recommend a home system, however kudos to BenQ for going big on the little machines audio capabilities. Notes: The projector has a light up remote. This is very cool. The projector itself has a status light on top (or bottom if its ceiling mounted like mine). While not BRIGHT BLUE like so many other lights, it was enough to distract me. A simple piece of tape fixed the issue. Overall, compared to say the Epson 2150 (which is most comparable to this, and easy to find side by side reviews for), this projector wins hands down. It destroys lower level projectors with its deeper and richer blacks. It does get outclassed by the next weight class, such as the Epson 3150. The Qotoma UHD 60, and the BenQ 2550A. However each of those is at least 500 more than this projector. You SHOULD use a screen for this. An investment like this should be made fully, not half way. I am also not an AV expert, I recommend you to look up reviews on CNET. BenQ offers a reward for review program, which is why I am posting this. They absolutely do not include any guidelines on what to say. All thoughts are my own. I would rate my set up at 1300 or so investment, as entry level.

Good projector for the price the picture bright and crisp. My issue with it is the sound from the projector randomly go out over hdmi.

Projector works great. I am not an expert nor have I ever had a projector. I watched tons of videos and read so many comments. In the end, I bought this model and it is worth every cent. It would be great if it came with a projector mount. Nevertheless, the quality is amazing. Movies, gaming, youtube videos. During the day, it still looks pretty good. Get you some curtains of course.

Great price for great results. BenQ always has a good product. Our last projector lasted 17 years!!

The BenQ seems clearly meant for more home theater use with connected devices such as an Amazon FireStick, Roku, etc., desktop/laptop computers, Blu-Ray players, cable or satellite TV and the like, since it has no native ability to directly view TV signals or video sources with no such devices attached. The BenQ gets the nod over most 1080p projectors Ive seen however, in its ease of setup. One click of the (backlit!) remote and it was ready for ceiling mounting, and right out of the box displayed excellent color and brightness, with only minor tweaking--and some owners might say NO tweaking is needed. We ordered 3d glasses and movie discs, and are pleased with its performance while viewing 3d on our large commercial screen. UPDATE 05/20/2019 After approximately 5 months of use, weve changed our overall impression from four to FIVE stars. The HT2050A continues to impress us with its black levels and better contrast. I am convinced that if we could take measures similar to those used in a commercial theater--blackout curtains, and low wall/ceiling/floor reflectivity, as well as minimal lighting for theater entrance/egress--we might see contrast nearly as good as our local cineplex offers. Its vertical lens-shift and sturdy versatile mounting-points make it easier to mount, as long as you have it horizontally centered to the screen, so as to avoid loss of focus on either the left or right side, and of course one side being taller or narrower than the other. We continue to enjoy this device, and prefer it to our LCD TV. UPDATE--Three years later . . . We continue to enjoy watching video these days--especially since March of 2020, for obvious reasons--and despite the almost every day usage are still on the same original bulb, with a continued bright image and video quality. We might have purchased a 4k projector when we got this one, but at the time 4k projection was rather new, and it made sense to give the tech to advance a bit longer, and for prices of 4k projectors to stabilize, given the paucity of actual 4k content that was available in 2018. Whenever we have visitors they have been surprised at the sharpness and contrast of our 2050A--several guessed that it might be a 4k projector (yes, I know thats naive, but most folks watch their HDTV from too far away to see the detail in even a 1080p image, much less a 4k image!) We continue to enjoy watching our three-year-old Benq, that has had ZERO problems for the entire three years weve owned it. NOTE: The only less-than-great issue we have is not with the projector itself but with all the 4k streaming devices (Amazon FireTV, Roku 4k, etc.) that exhibit an AWFUL gray haze over the entire projected image. I suspect it is because of the HDR signal that most LCD and OLED TVs can interpret for improved contrast and dynamic range, but a 1080p projector of this vintage was not designed with the HDR feature in mind. And although I have not attempted to use one of these devices on another brand of 1080p projector (Epson, Optoma, Viewsonic, etc.) I have little doubt that all of them would experience the same issue. We first noticed this phenomenon when we connected our Amazon 4k FireTV stick to the HT2050A, and were surprised when the Roku 4k device did NOT go all gray on us when we used it. THEN Roku updated its software/firmware and now we get the same unwatchable gray picture. (For those who wonder why we would attach a 4k device to a 1080p projector, I should add that it made sense to us to future-proof accessories as much as possible rather than purchase a device that would have to be upgraded later. Of course a case could be made that we might have purchased a 4k capable projector! But again, in 2018 there was much less 4k content than today--and still, in August of 2022 a majority of content over-the-air/cable/satellite, continues to be in 1080p format, though streaming is catching up faster than cable/satellite. But as long as you stream or view TV from a streaming device that was not made for 4k displays, there should be no problems. However it is my hope that someone somewhere will be making the software/firmware of services and devices to adapt to the characteristics of the displays to which they are connected, so that they will disable the HDR functions, etc. for use on displays that do not have this feature.

Hi Would like to be short. Ill try: This is the PJ to buy if you dont want to spend $3000 or more for a great Picture. Lets get it out of the gates: Cinematic Experience requires a large picture... It begins IMO at 100 inch diagonal. For that , at this point in time you need a Front PJ .. This PJ can light up a 10 feet wide neutral (1.0) gain screen with ease.. any gain and it would go 15 feet IME . You need a good screen... a decent one. There are bargains out there.. a subject for a different review. I havet tested 3D... So ... Perhaps this is the best PJ under $1000. It rivals the color quality of many well -reviewed projectors that cost 4 times (or more) as much. Out of the box, the colors are spectacular. The picture is bright, very bright. 10 feet wide screen is lit easily .. No issue.. The image remains BRIGHT. Color accuracy is spot-on. There are weaknesses when out of the box .. I dont know if they can be alleviated through ISF. Lack of uniformity. if you project a white field it is not uniformly white ... I have not measured it but it is there and so far doesnt bother me much om most movies (maybe on all movies i have watched frore the 3 weeks Ive acquired it ...) .. Contrast could be better .... Shadows details is clearly lacking ..perhaps can be improved with calibration... The issue is that most people that would acquire a $700 PJ would not bother to have it calibrated for $700 .. So unless you can calibrate it yourself ... I can but havent :D... What else? is a con? I dont know yet .. still not glaring. There are PJ that do beter of course. They cost a lot ore and for most people ... including videophiles ., they may not even notice ;) A few issues: Once you go front PJ, the room must be dark, very dark. IOW please control the lighting.. No light is better ....else get a big flat screen! No PJ works well with ambient lighting present . Room color better be neutral.. grat yo blackish.. Else Contrast is lost . On this PJ contrast can be lost easily Get yourself a good mount. They dont cost much these days.. I got this one: v Suptek White Universal Projector Ceiling Mount Bracket for $18 at Amazon and it is good. Screws are over specs... Huge screws for a relatively light PJ but better be safe than sorry with PJ falling .. over people with dire consequences ... Get a HT system or a good sound bar .. The sound system in this or any PJ is a joke... This PJ needs to be closer to the screen than most . Can be an advantage .... or not. Installation must be carefully planned: POwer source on the ceiling, Long HDMI cable...IR repeater system, etc. Dont expect the electronic keystone correction to work for you . Vertical lens alignment is not that great either so ...Align the PJ with the screen and ... prepare to get your jaw off the floor :D 10 years ago that kind of performance was only attainable by PJ costing $10,000 or more .. Some of those old time greats may have had better lenses or better white-field uniformity , even better contrast .. Choose the area of superiority that suits you most but not overall better than this $700 machine ... not a slam-dunk ... rather subtleties that may be lost on many... Enthusiastic recommendation!!