Review on 🎮 Enhanced Gaming Experience with BenQ TK700STi 4K HDR Gaming Projector: 4K 60Hz, Low Input Lag, 3000lm, 100” Display, PS5 & Xbox Compatibility by Russ Mashlan

BenQ submitted a review of the device to my YouTube channel (My life in gaming) where we showed it TK700STi along with several other projectors in a row. Well, games on projectors. I've included some screenshots from the episode to illustrate this overview. I've only been using projectors for about 3 years - mostly old ones and they're pretty sloppy. I say all of this to say that my direct experience of the current TK700STi competitors is somewhat limited, but I have years of experience analyzing video game image quality in general. Frame lag (about 17 milliseconds from my readings). From what I've heard it's quite difficult to find such a low lag among other 4K capable projectors. However, this low latency only applies to 1080p and 2160p input signals. 480p and 720p cannot use "fast mode" which means the delay is more than 34 milliseconds (about two frames). The biggest problem for me is that I really want better black levels. I've been using an LG OLED TV since 2017 and have a whole collection of CRTs for retro gaming, so black levels are important to me. I can't say for sure you'll find darker black levels among projectors in this price range, let alone low-latency projectors for gaming, but black screens in a dark room still feel pretty gray to me. Dark games really give me the DLP "rainbow effect" too - look it up if you're unfamiliar. some people see it and some don't. However, games still look fantastic with sufficient brightness and color, and of course perceived black levels improve in such scenes. There's also a "Smart Eco" mode that's supposed to extend lamp life and improve black levels in dark scenes, but it makes colors do really weird things, so I'll stick with the "normal" lamp mode even though it's used Turn on the lamp fastest (probably, lifespan 4000 hours). Otherwise, the image quality is really solid. HDR looks great and colors appear in both HDR and SDR modes. I recommend the game mode setting "RPG" because the colors are much more natural and the black levels are better than in "FPS" mode. When I look at the screen up close there is a slight chromatic aberration from the lens, but personally I don't see it when I'm sitting on the couch. This is a short throw projector, meaning it can produce much larger images in a small space. You can get an approximately 100 inch image when the projector is about 6.5 feet from the wall. What's most interesting to me is how the TK700STi (and most other relatively inexpensive projectors) actually renders a 4K image. As it turns out, the main imaging chip is actually 1080p but capable of 4K projection using a technique called "pixel shifting". That's something BenQ would probably rather not know, but the reality is that for me personally, this is actually a point in its favor. This is because TK700STi can display original 1080p image when using Nintendo Switch 1080p signal for example! Matching the console's output resolution to the display's native resolution almost always results in a cleaner picture, since you don't have to upscale the lower resolution signal to the higher resolution (although 1080p can just be an integer upscale to 2160p, virtually all do). TV soft scale anyway). While I'm sure a true native 2160p imaging chip will have potential clarity benefits for native 4K content, PS5 and Xbox Series X often don't display games at native 2160p anyway, especially in 60fps performance modes. So basically I feel like nothing. Value is lost due to the pixel shifting technique, while the ability to have native 1080p is a plus for those who still use a lot of 1080p content. I think it's a really sensible compromise that helps keep the price down - still quite expensive, but nowhere near the quality of premium projectors. Projector manufacturers seem to hide the pixel offset as a shame, but I don't know, I'm oddly intrigued by it. I know it's unlikely someone reading this will understand what I'm talking about, but for those interested, you can actually play classic consoles via OSSC and RetroTINK 5X with great scanlines and very low latencies. Even Super Nintendo and NES work with RGB modification, which are the trickiest consoles when it comes to interacting with modern displays. OLED TV is personal to me, but I like it as an alternative display. It does its job as a projector with very low latency, which is useful for my old 1080p consoles as well as my newest 2160p consoles and my vintage consoles through my favorite upscalers. And I think he deserves a good grade for that. Had I felt it could replace the TV in my living room I probably would have been more disappointed and would have given it a lower rating. I think one day I might go in that direction. eg "someday" is probably at least 10-15 years from now. but at the moment I'm just not sure if any projector is right for me in all respects, at least not one that isn't much more expensive. and I seriously doubt many of them have nearly the same low lag as they are not game oriented. At least BenQ is marketing it as a gaming projector, so you know what you're here for. But for those of us addicted to OLED's black levels, the TK700STi is a fun gaming screen alternative, but not exactly the centerpiece of a living room.