BenQ TH685 1080p Gaming Projector with HDR and HLG, 8.3ms 1080p@120Hz Low Input Lag for Gaming, 3500 Lumens High Brightness, Enhanced Game Mode

Product Information

Alternatively, choose a bare bulb without housing if you already have experience with replacing bare bulbs and are willing to deal with the more challenging replacement process. The TH685’s digital vertical lens shift fits perfectly into any room offering a dynamic range of projection heights.

To put the projector through its paces, we played some games, watched some films and binged on two shows – the color-rich Central Park on Apple TV Plus and the heart-warming Ted Lasso. A projector zoom allows you to increase or decrease the size of the projected image without moving the projector. The display of third-party trademarks and trade names on this site does not necessarily indicate any affiliation or the endorsement of PCMag. Even when watching HDR, with the lamp running at full tilt, fan noise is low enough and constant enough to be relatively easy to tune out.One of the biggest gaming hurdles projectors still deal with is input lag—the amount of time it takes a button press on a controller to cause a reaction on screen. Vertical lens shift allows you to correct this distortion so that you can place the projector below or above the projected image (e.

I was also pleasantly surprised by how sharp and detailed game titles look given the lack of (upscaled) 4K playback. The game picture mode on the BenQ TH685i turns on the projector's Fast Mode, which disables image correction and enhancements like keystone correction and shortens the time it takes to display the image by using an algorithm, therefore leading to a lower input lag. It's hard to see details in dark scenes in games, and almost impossible if you have dark and light areas on the screen at once. Enough to hide shadow detail and depth, too, ensuring that dark scenes look far less convincing than bright ones. The BENQ TH685 generic lamp is a bare bulb without plastic housing and is produced by an authorised manufacturer of generic bulbs.Gain and bias calibration allowed me to improve the overall grayscale, but there were still some inaccuracies in the midtones due to elevated luminance. Also like a puppy its breath is hot and its bark is loud -- when you sit too close to any projector you can feel the heat as well as hear more fan noise.

Finally, as we've seen numerous times before with very bright single-chip DLP projectors, the TH685 is more prone than I'd like to DLP's rainbow effect, where stripes of colour flit over stand-out bright edges and objects. This experience is certainly helped by the fact you don't feel aware of any lag while running, driving or shooting your way around a game landscape. In the Bright picture mode the image is noticeably and unpleasantly green but measures an impressive 2,782 lumens.The TH685 was an exception, but as I mentioned when I reviewed it, although the 4K HDR version looked liked it might be a little improved over the 1080p SDR version, the two were so similar that I couldn't confirm it in the absence of a side-by-side comparison. com and PC Magazine are among the federally registered trademarks of Ziff Davis and may not be used by third parties without explicit permission.

TH685’s digital vertical lens shift offers adjustable projection heights to fit perfectly into any room. Voices are delivered particularly well, always sounding clear and pronounced, and there’s lots of audio detail, too. Though this does, before anyone gets too carried away, reflect the fact that this is a full HD projector, at a time when the majority of home entertainment projectors are starting to offer real or at least pseudo 4K playback. If you're hoping for a one-stop solution to meet both your gaming and movie needs, however, I'd suggest trying to find a bit more money for something more versatile. When it comes to other less game-specific features, the TH685 carries an auto vertical keystone adjustment for straightening the image’s edges, and a digital lens shift.

For something better suited to the outdoors, though, check out our guide to the best outdoor projectors. Fast Mode can be enabled in the other picture modes as well—although the Fast Mode option is off and grayed out with HDR. If you plan to put the projector out of reach, there’s also a basic remote included that has all the same features and gets the job done.