Design
The LW500 features a traditional but refined design, with a compact but stocky body that is twice as wide as it is tall,
11.7x 4.7x 9.02 inches to ensure enough room for all the components and the required cooling mechanism. There are lots of fans and vents placed on either side of the body, with another small vent out front. The front also houses the massive crystal clear multi-lens array that features low dispersion lenses to keep chromatic aberration to a minimum.
The bottom panel is plain and hosts adjustable feet on each corner for easy height and angle adjustment. The top features the BenQ logo and various buttons for all the necessary controls. Other than that, the rest of the IO is hidden in the back, which includes an HDMI-1.4b port, an HDMI-1.4a port, a USB-A port, an RS232 connector, a 3.5mm jack, a Kensington Lock, and the usual power input. The setup is rounded off by a 2W speaker that should be enough to fill a regular size room.
Internals
The projector is powered by a laser light system, which has a native resolution of 1280x800 but can project 1080p footage at 60Hz with ease. The laser system is highly efficient and reliable, with a 20000:1 contrast ratio, 98% 709 colour gamut coverage, 1.55-1.7 throw ratio, and a vertical Auto Keystone function that allows you to orient your display properly and set zoom distances of up to 1.1x. It can stream with a relatively low input lag of up to 33.4ms and project up to 1.07 billion colours for a vibrant image.
The great thing is that you can enjoy this performance for up to 30,000 hours before you even have to think about replacing the light source. You can even extend this life cycle by using the SmartEco mode, which optimizes the brightness and colour settings to improve longevity. Lastly, it comes with special Instant On/Off features, which can get the device ready for streaming in just 8 seconds of the restart. The streaming itself shouldn't be an issue, as you can easily connect your smartphones, tablets, computers, speakers and even servers with the projector over WiFi and Bluetooth.
Price and Availability
The BenQ LW500 WXGA projector is currently on sale in the US and Canada for a starting price of $699. The company is planning to launch it in other markets as well, through its own retailers, as well as third-party platforms like Amazon and BestBuy.
