Ever since broadband speeds have picked up pace in India and consumers have started getting access to HD-Plus, 4K and even 8K video content, demand for devices that support high quality video has been soaring in the country. Television-makers have risen up to the demand already and so have projector-makers, it seems. A series of new projectors now support 4K HDR playback and offer cutting-edge audio. Leading the charge is BenQ’s TK800M, offering great specs and design.

Slippery when white

The BenQ TK800M is rich with impressive features. Before we get to those, let’s take a look at the body. The device looks elegant and well-designed, though it weighs nearly 6 kg. The white exterior can get dirty pretty fast, especially if you are going to mount it on your ceiling, which makes cleaning it a real chore. The device is a little smooth on the edges, which makes it a little prone to slips and falls.

That said, when it comes to the performance department, the BenQ TK800M packs a punch. To start with, it has what the makers call True 4K UHD 8.3 million pixel resolution. And that’s quite impressive. Images and video are rendered with great clarity and honesty. In fact, it requires some good hardware to get optimum results. You should get an HDMI cable that supports real 4K to make this happen. The device offers a good 3000 ANSI lumens high brightness to deal with ambient light in the room.

Shine bright

For starters, lumens basically means brightness and if the number is higher, it means the way the projector negotiates ambient light would be much better. If you have, say, a 3000 lumens projector, it will ideally deliver good images and video in rooms with sufficient ambient lighting. Darker environs will need lesser lumens. The BenQ TK800M, targeting home buyers and retail consumers, aims to offer better home-viewing experience, which basically means living rooms with suitable ambient lighting. And the device delivers quite an impressive performance here.

Further, as you would have guessed by now, delivering such crisp and sharp output (4K, HDR) would require very good lens power and in all likelihood, the lens would need replacement sooner than expected. But the BenQ TK800M comes with a one-year warranty (or for 1000 hours), which given the price, is not very adequate. Such high performance parameters would generally call for a longer warranty period.

Football mode

The BenQ TK800M has something special for sports lovers. There is an impressive football mode for what it calls an immersive audio-visual football experience. This mode works well with other kinds of sport as well. The cinema mode is — as we have observed in several other similar projectors — a work in progress. Yes, it delivers a great viewing experience, but we feel that Indian living rooms and India-made (processed) videos would call for a better understanding of the ‘cinema’ mode from projector-makers. Now, visuals go dull for no reason when we switch to the cinema mode and the overall viewing experience is a little compromised. That said, BenQ TK800M is one of the best among its peers when it comes to offering a cinematic viewing experience.

That’s because, among others, the projector uses the 0.47” single-DMD (digital micromirror device) DLP (data loss prevention) technology. It helps deliver vivid colors without blemishes. The projector is optimised for HDR and offers auto-colour mapping, which helps bring out life-like colour and tone on images.

Impressive audio

BenQ’s CinemaMaster Audio+ 2 audio-enhancing technology does an impressive job. Usually, projectors fall short on audio. Most projectors rely on external tweaks or software and hardware for optimum results. But the BenQ TK800M doesn’t compromise here. It combines exclusive equaliser algorithms with materials such as magnesium and rubidium alloys to produce quality audio without distortion.

Another impressive component is the short-distance projection with 1.1x zoom. Users can project a 100-inch screen at a distance of 3.32 meters; ideal for home environs. The native resolution of 3840 x 2160 pixels along with a contrast ratio of 10,000:1 makes this a hassle-free affair.

Delivering impressive visual enhancement faculty, the BenQ TK800M is one of the best home video projectors in town, even though it is priced on the heavier side. If you are a visual puritan, this will suit your needs quite well.

Price: ₹1,99,000

Pros: Sleek design, good looks, clear visuals, easy to set up and adjust screen size

Cons: Slippery body, no Bluetooth for audio

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