My latest review is of the BenQ LH730 Projector. While primarily marketed for its capabilities in office and education environments, I wanted to see if the LH730 could also serve as a viable option for consumers.
First, some background: the BenQ LH730 is an LED projector, touting 4,000 lumens of brightness and removing the need for frequent bulb changes. BenQ says the LED lamp can run for approximately 20,000 hours at full brightness and 30,000 in its dimmer “eco mode.”
Priced at around $1300, it supports a 1080p maximum resolution with a refresh rate of up to 60hz, using DLP for its projection system. While it supports HDR10 and HLG, you won’t find Dolby Vision compatibility here. Also, there aren’t any built-in apps; you’ll be relying on streaming devices or an attached computer for content.
It has two HDMI inputs (both HDMI 2.0 with HDCP 2.2 support) along with a 3.5mm audio output jack. There is a built in speaker but it’s passable at best. As visible in the review all of the ports appear to be upside down – that’s because the projector is designed to be hung from the ceiling vs. placed on a table. It will work fine on a table (and its automatic keystoning feature produces proper ratio images) but you will need to dig through the settings to flip the output around.
For my testing, I placed the projector approximately 10 feet from the wall, getting a screen size comfortably within the 75 – 80-inch range. Even when downscaling 4K content to the native 1080p, the image quality remained quite good. Images were clear, with the projector handling some ambient room light without the picture washing out.
I also connected an Xbox Series S and was pleased with its gaming performance and image quality, although it does introduce some input lag that might limit its utility with some games. In fairness the lag here is on par with consumer oriented projectors I’ve reviewed recently.
There is a manual zoom and focus control attached to the lens for fine tuning the image. Its zoom ratio is limited at 1.2, and sadly, there’s no autofocus feature. You do get manual controls on the projector along with a remote for adjustments.
Despite having an LED lamp on board, the projector consistently averaged around 300 watts of power consumption. But it generates far less heat vs. the traditional halogen bulb projectors I’ve reviewed in the past.
Overall the BenQ LH730 could be compelling for institutions. Its brightness, low maintenance needs, and solid image quality make it a sensible choice.
Disclosure: BenQ sent the projector to the channel on loan. They did not review or approve this post or my video before it was uploaded and all opinions are my own.