Today, almost accidentally I’ve learned that BenQ has released 6 new DLP projectors on the market that are 3D Ready, meaning 3D DLP Link compatible (active shutter glasses), meaning that they should also be 3D Vision compatible. Now what the hell did BenQ do (or actually didn’t do) so that the word regarding its new interesting 3D-capable projectors didn’t get out and not a lot of people know about them about two weeks after their announcement and they seem to be already available on some markets? They did a release of the type “by the way” not focusing on these projectors and their 3D capabilities at all and that just because they’ve labeled the projectors as models suitable for Education…
The six new 3D Ready models from BenQ are the standard throw MP626, MP670, MP776, MP777, and the ultra short-throw MP772 ST and MP776 ST. They are all with native XGA resolution or with other words 1024×768 pixels (4:3 aspect ration, not wide) with brightness ranging from 2500 do 4000 ANSI lumens. As I’ve already mentioned BenQ labeled these projectors as suitable for educational purposes, just mentioning that they do have 3D capabilities that are good for illustrative needs in schools etc. Ok, this may be nice, but considering that these projectors start at quite affordable price, although a bit more expensive than the ViewSonic’s similar models, things may start to look good for all the 3D enthusiasts out there.
Checking through BenQ’s website I could not find a lot of details regarding especially the 3D capabilities of the projectors, but from what little info I could find and after looking through the manuals of the above six new models I can conclude that these are based on the same DLP technology that the ViewSonic models I’ve written about use. This of course means 120Hz refresh rate and active shutter glasses that will separate the frames to 60 per eye, so that the brain can build the stereoscopic 3D image from the two frames showing a bit different view. This of course means that the projectors should also be compatible with Nvidia’s GeForce 3D Vision, but I still don’t have access to any of the new models to test it myself, but in general you should be able to get 120Hz refresh rate by using the analogue DSUB15 connectors. Then in the 3D Vision driver setup you should choose CRT display and you should be able to start enjoying videos, pictures and of course games in stereoscopic 3D on the big screen provided by these projectors. Unfortunately I still don’t have access to any of these new models, so that I cannot confirm their 3D Vision compatibility at 100%, but it should be there…
Update: I just got a confirmation that BenQ MP670 does indeed work with GeForce 3D Vision form someone that already has the projector (although they are not officially certified as 3D Vision compatible), but there were some problems getting the projector to work at 120Hz. So it was needed to force it at 1024×768 resolution with 120Hz refresh rate in order to make it work, but no problems after that, otherwise only up to 60Hz refresh was selectable. So the other 5 new 3D Ready projectors from BenQ should be compatible too, but you can expect having trouble setting them up, so be prepared for problems!
Here is the second video comparing the 120Hz Samsung 2233RZ LCD display with a 60Hz Benq G2220HD LCD display and in this video you can see bigger difference compared to the one comparing the LCD with CRT at 120 Hz. The freeze frames below are from the original video, before being compressed and uploaded to youtube, so that you can compare the detail level of frames displayed on both monitors. On the freeze frames you can clearly see the advantages of the 120Hz LCD panel – less ghosting on fast moving objects, less tearing of the image with vsync set to disabled and more fluid movement of the surrounding area when you are panning faster in the game.
Take a note of the lights in the back of the last freeze frame, they do seem tripled on the 120Hz Samsung and just doubled on the 60Hz Benq monitor. Now this is clearly visible only on stop frames, but when looking at the video it is more like an advantage than a disadvantage. The thing is that this “tripling” of the objects makes the movement more fluid and natural that the doubled version, where you are like skipping the central part and the image seems much more jumpy.
I’ve already written what are the official specifications of Samsung’s 2233RZ 120Hz display, but today I’ve decided to verify how good the display actually is when it is being used in 3D mode with GeForce 3D Vision. As I already showed you Samsung 2233RZ locks the brightness level at 100 and contrast at 75, so there are the settings I also used when testing the display.
The first big surprise came because of the very good coverage of the SRGB, something that you don’t normally expect to see from a TN monitor, so here Samsung 2233RZ performed great. The black point I measured at the above settings was also quite good, considering that the display is set at high level of brightness and the maximum brightness level of white was pretty close to the value Samsung rates their product. The black point was at 0,293 cd/m2 and the maximum measured brightness for white was 285 cd/m2 while Samsung it at 300 candles per square meter which is pretty close, especially having in mind that brightness is important for 3D Vision. The contrast ratio considering the above actual measured values was 973:1 which again is pretty close to the rating of 1000:1 provided by Samsung and in 3D mode we don’t care much about the dynamic contrast values…
Now, up until now the Samsung 2233RZ performs very well especially considering it is based on TN panel, but unfortunately when I tested it see how the display performs in terms of color reproduction I was a bit disappointed. Now, don’t get me wrong… the display is great and it performs very well, but it seems it needs a bit of color calibration to make it even better and after calibrating it, it actually does give even better results. Before doing a calibration the display has some problems sustaining constant gamma value over different brightness levels, the color temperature also cannot be sustained at a certain value and the blue color needs a some tweaking. After a good color calibration these can be fixed quite good and thus the image representation becomes better and maybe, just maybe this may reflect into better gaming experience when using the monitor with or without 3D Vision… ;)
