BenQ MP515 ST DLP projector

BenQ, in just a span of 3 years, has gone from just another option in the display market, to a name to reckon with, garnering good reviews and an even higher number of recommendation on any tech forum. Today we have one of their products, the DLP projector. These guys have a full line up of projectors, and the MP515 ST is one promising looking “short throw” newcomer, but let’s see for ourselves.

Design and Features
This piece comes nicely clad in a milky white chassis, with an aluminum colored, mildly lustrous casing for the lens. The BenQ logo is embossed on this strip and it looks quite classy. There is 3 x 3 matrix of round buttons too, with one loner power button positioned next to it, topside. The side panels are vented as usual, bearing the same metallic finish. Back panel has a horizontal strip of i/o, comprising an HDMI in, composite, VGA and S-Video in, plus an RS-232 control in. The bottom panel has the two regular screws at the back for height adjustment, along with a central stand that drops down by a mechanical push button, located on the front panel.

This is a short throw model, thus one can place it much nearer to the screen and still get a large image, perfect for small rooms and halls. The ratings dictate 55 inches at 1 meter distance. The max size rated is 300 inches.  The brightness is 2500 ANSI lumen, with a healthy contrast ratio of 2600:1. The native res is 800 x 600, with a manual zoom of 1.20:1 ratio. The max res it supports is 1600x1200, and it also supports 16:9 ratio. And last but not least, it’s a DLP projector, with the usual Brilliant Color algorithm by which one can adjust individual channels of the 6 segment color wheel, namely red, blue, green, cyan, magenta and yellow.