BenQ HT2060 1080p HDR LED Projector Review (2024)

BenQ HT2060 1080P DLP Projector

The BenQ HT2060, released last year, has replaced the popular HT2050A lamp-based projector which ProjectorCentral reviewed back in 2018. The 1080p-resolution HT2060, with an reasonable $999 MSRP and street price, has a solid foundation to build off while adding improvements in many areas just due to the advancement in technology over the years. Most notably, it brings BenQ's latest generation solid-state LED light source, which eliminates lamp replacements and promises more consistent performance over the life of the projector. At the same time, it adds 4K signal compliance and HDR support, while carrying along the HT2050A's low-latency gaming capabilities. It also comes with the promise of solid out-of-box color accuracy courtesy of BenQ's CinematicColor features. Let's see how it measures up.

Features

The HT2060 is a single-chip DLP projector utilizing a 0.65-inch, native 1080p DMD from Texas Instruments. This is combined with a solid-state 4LED light source capable of providing 20,000 to 30,000 hours of life (depending on the light source power mode) and a listed specification of 2,300 ANSI lumens. Our measurement of the HT2060's brightness did fall short of that by 17.5%, ultimately coming in at 1,897 ANSI lumens in the Bright picture mode that uses the Native color temperature, which is locked and cannot be changed. This is still within the 20% tolerance of the current ISO 21118 lumen specification that relies on the same measurement technique. Luckily, during my viewing of the HT2060, I did not experience any rainbows artifacts which can occur with some single-chip DLP projectors.

Despite its 1080p resolution the HT2060 is capable of accepting a 3840x2160 UHD signal. It's not as sharp as one would see with a pixel-shifting full 4K or native 4K projector but it does have a relatively sharp image nonetheless except for the finest of details in an image, which is to be expected. Additionally, the HT2060 offers support for HDR10 and HLG for both 1080p and 4K UHD, which is a welcome addition for a projector at this price point. It, however, does not support wide color gamut beyond Rec.709 that might be provided with a WCG filter such as that found on some other BenQ Home Cinema projectors. Therefore, the DCI-P3 coverage for HDR content is fairly low, coming in at 82.2% in 1931 xy and 83.2% in 1976 uv. This was evident in some content that would normally have heavily saturated green, cyan, and blue. Rec.709, the standard gamut for HDTV, measured spot on for the BenQ's 98% stated specification with coverage of 98.7%.

The HT2060 has a published specification of 500,000:1 contrast while using light source dimming, though when measuring the native contrast ratio in Normal Light Mode it came in at 1479:1, and 4,016:1 when utilizing Smart Eco.

The HT2060's lens features a 105% offset to the screen and a 1.15 - 1.50 throw ratio. Equipped with a 1.3x manual zoom and focus, as well as a vertical lens shift with a +10% range, the HT2060 is easily set up and fine-tuned for image quality using these controls and adjuster feet. While I wouldn't consider it a lifestyle portable, at 14.4 x 4.6 x 9.6 inches (WHD) and 7.9 pounds, the HT2060 is compact enough to be moved around and set up temporarily. In situations where ideal placement isn't achievable, manual and auto 2D vertical and horizontal keystone adjustments are available. It's important to note that using digital keystone or warping can affect image integrity, so it's advisable to take the time to install the projector properly to avoid relying on keystone adjustments. However, in temporary setups, keystone adjustments can be a viable solution. To determine the installation location and throw distance for a preferred screen size, refer to the ProjectorCentral BenQ HT2060 Projection calculator.

Capable of being table or ceiling mounted, the HT2060 offers standard front and rear projection methods. It's worth noting that to maintain image quality, a screen size of 60 inches diagonal to 150 inches diagonal is recommended. Based on the distance chart provided in the HT2060 instructions, I found it to be accurate, as my installation required a distance of approximately 8 feet.

Like most of BenQ's home cinema projectors, the HT2060 utilizes CinematicColor for accurate color reproduction. More than anything, this is mainly just a commitment by BenQ to provide image accuracy that adheres to recognized production standards for film and television in an effort to stay true to the director's vision. This was evident during my time with the HT2060. By using the Normal color temperature setting, the accuracy seen in the Filmmaker mode was pretty good out of the box. Combined with its coverage of the Rec.709 color space and good contrast delivered by the projector in its Smart Eco mode, the image quality was quite good.

The HT2060 also offers Fast Mode for low latency gaming. It's important to note that Fast Mode is only available when the signal frequency is 30Hz, 60Hz, or 120Hz. In scenarios where a different frequency is sent to the HT2060, Fast Mode is grayed out and not selectable. With Fast Mode active, I measured 18ms of input lag for 1080p/60Hz and 4K/60Hz signals, and 9ms with 1080p/120Hz.

Additionally, the unit includes two 5-watt treVolo-tuned stereo speakers, which are actually very capable. There are five available sound modes, including a user mode that grants access to a 5-band EQ. Ultimately, though, the built-in speakers are not a substitute for a dedicated sound system.

The HT2060 also supports 3D via DLP-link glasses, though only with the 3D Frame Packing format, which shouldn't be much of an issue for users watching 3D via 1080p Blu-ray. During a brief test, 3D proved to be quite enjoyable, with minimal crosstalk and good image depth. I would have liked to see a little more brightness out of the image overall, but the HT2060 performed well.

In terms of connectivity, the HT2060 offers a simple jackpack that includes two HDMI 2.0b inputs, one USB 2.0 Type A input supporting 2.5A power delivery and Service, one S/PDIF optical audio output, 3.5mm audio in and audio out jacks, and an RS-232 serial connection. There are no ARC or eARC capabilities on the HDMI ports, but with no onboard streaming platform there's less reason to have this feature since the projector never behaves as a source component. If you do have an outboard sound system, such as an AVR, you will likely connect your sources directly to that and send the receiver's HDMI output to the display.

I actually liked the HT2060's included remote quite a bit. It's a standard remote that features a backlight button and provides direct access to various menu functions such as color temperature, gamma, contrast, brightness, test pattern, Filmmaker mode, HDR, picture mode, etc. Some buttons do not function if the associated features are not supported on the HT2060, such as Cinema Master and Dynamic Iris, but the ability to go directly to the desired menu option without navigating the menu is very much appreciated.

Performance

Color Modes. The BenQ HT2060 technically offers 10 picture modes, though out of the box, without unlocking ISF picture modes, 8 are available. One of these is 3D, which is only accessible when the HT2060 is in 3D picture mode. The main picture modes provided to users are Bright, Living Room, Filmmaker, and User for SDR, and for HDR, there is HDR10 and Filmmaker (HDR). HLG is also available when an HLG HDR signal is received.

Out of the box, the HT2060 offered fairly accurate picture modes when using Filmmaker for SDR and HDR10 or Filmmaker (HDR) while viewing HDR content. The Normal color temperature was closest to being accurate, although white was slightly off and a little too warm. Any combination of Normal CT with any of the picture modes for SDR or HDR provided an accurate image, with the exception of Bright, which had a heavily green bias and was locked to its Native color temperature setting. Visible errors in the color gamut were mainly in the hue of Blue, Magenta, and Cyan, with some slight oversaturation visible in Red.

The HT2060 provides access to standard 2-point white balance controls for adjusting color temperature beyond the main setting, as well as a standard CMS (color management system) for adjusting color points. Gamma controls are also provided, which accurately track their menu selection, meaning that a setting of 2.3 tracks as 2.3 and so on. However, the common global saturation and hue controls, known usually as Color and Tint, were not found in any of the picture modes.

As suggested above, if a user chooses to utilize the HT2060 without calibration, the ideal picture mode would be Filmmaker for SDR, For HDR, the HDR10 mode or Filmmaker would work. Simply setting the color temperature to Normal and adjusting the gamma to taste or your viewing environment is all that would really be needed, in addition to using either the Normal or Smart Eco settings for Light Mode.

I began calibration of the HT2060 using Calman Ultimate calibration software from Portrait Displays, a Colorimetry Research CR-250 Spectroradiometer, a Colorimetry Research CR-100 Colorimeter, and a Murideo 8K Seven Generator. The HT2060 was calibrated to 100-inch diagonal on a Stewart Filmscreen Studiotek 130 G4 screen. Prior to beginning calibration, I ran various measurements to confirm what I saw in OOTB viewing.

Pre-calibration measurements of the HT2060 were overall acceptable; they weren't exceptional, but they also weren't poor. Measurements confirmed this with the reported dE values. DeltaE (dE) is the metric used to determine visible errors, with anything over a dE of 3 being visible, anything over 2.3 being a just noticeable difference for trained eyes, and ideally, anything below 2.3 should not be visible to the eye.

The measurements of the Filmmaker Mode picture mode, with the color temperature set to Normal, resulted in an average of 4.2 dE and a maximum of 6.4 dE for grayscale. Gamut came in at an average of 3.4 dE and a maximum of 6.7 dE, and an average of 3.1 dE with a maximum of 6.8 dE for a 150+-point Color Checker.

Fixing the HT2060 was actually quite easy as it really only needed very small adjustments of the color temperature Gain controls, and as demonstrated by the pre-cal measurements, the gamut was almost perfectly aligned out of the box. With some simple changes to the CMS the gamut was dialed in nicely.

Post calibration DeltaE errors for grayscale resulted in an impressive 0.7 dE average, and 0.9 dE max, alongside an average of 1.4 dE and 2.3 dE max for the gamut. A large size ColorChecker showed a 0.8 dE average and 2.3 dE max. Post-cal HDR saw averages of 4.3 dE to 3.6 dE within grayscale and color gamut. HDR did fairly well in measurements though it lacked overall luminance, a common problem for projectors. One important note is that the HT2060 has a 5-position HDR brightness control ranging from -2 to +2. The setting should ideally be left at the middle 0 mark, as changing this value results in either over-tracking or under-tracking of the EOTF.

The devices I used for reviewing content post-calibration were Apple TV 4K, and an Oppo UDP-203 UHD Blu-ray player.

1080p/SDR Viewing. The first movie I watched was Tron: Legacy on Blu-ray via an Oppo 203. The image was generally good. Subtle differences in color shades were well presented, such as the difference in the lights within the suits compared to the lights on the discs and the light cycle trails. Contrast was also good, providing good shadow detail in the opening scene as the camera panned towards the house in 1989 when Flynn was telling Sam the story of The Grid. I didn't feel that any detail was missing in any of the scenes. The whites were clean, the contrast was decent, and the colors were accurate. Overall, the HT2060 did a great job with this movie.

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4K/HDR Viewing. For 4K HDR viewing, I first selected Spider-Man: Far from Home on 4K UHD via the Oppo 203. It was displayed at the projector's native 1080p resolution, but with HDR rendering. The scene that stood out the most was when Peter and Mysterio were fighting the fire elemental. The saturation of the elemental was very good, with oranges, reds, and yellows coming through vividly, though the explosions fell short, clipping and displaying more white than the expected colors. Other parts within the scenes generally did well, such as the lasers coming from the drones and shots inside the illusion before Peter used his shock webs. Skin tones were accurately presented as well. The main weak points were the clipping in the explosions and some lack of saturation in the greens seen in Mysterio's lasers.

The last movie that I watched was Once Upon a Time in Hollywood in 4K HDR via Apple TV 4K. This movie is not a particularly bright HDR movie in general, with a very low average light level of around 215 nits. Consequently, it wasn't as afflicted by lack of brightness as some challenging HDR movies and it displayed very well on the HT2060, with great skin tones and correctly saturated colors. An example was when Leonardo DiCaprio's character was having lunch with Al Pacino's character. The lighting in the room was accurate, and the waiter in the background had a nicely saturated red coat that appeared correct, just as the handkerchief in Pacino's pocket showed the same deeply saturated red. So the HT2060 does very well with less-bright HDR movies, where it has an easier time rendering the colors one expects to see.

Conclusion

The BenQ HT2060 is a basic, no-frills projector and everything it does, it does well. It provides good performance with great color accuracy, good contrast, and good latency. Despite topping out with 1080p resolution, it's able to accept a UHD HDR signal and does a decent job with HDR content. I do feel it lacks some key features that some projector enthusiasts may want. Along with the additional sharpness you get with full 4K resolution, it would be nice to have a WCG (wide color gamut) filter to allow for more coverage of the DCI-P3 color space, though that would have required a brighter light source to counter the associated loss of brightness. Additionally, some sort of integrated smart platform or internal streaming dongle would have been nice and made the HT2060 more competitive (though this is easily worked around using an external streaming device).

But if those things aren't a deal-breaker for you, the HT2060 offers a high price-to-performance ratio within its limitations. Ultimately it is a solid all-round performer and a viable solution for someone's first projector or an upgrade to their aging projector, one that would not disappoint for movie watching or a casual gaming experience, and is recommendable among today's 1080p budget projectors.

For more detailed specifications and connections, checkout our BenQ HT2060 projector page.

To buy this projector, use Where to Buyonline, or get a price quote by email direct from Projector Central authorized dealers using our E-Z Quote tool.

The BenQ HT2060 is also sold outside of the United States of America as theBenQ W1140.Some specifications may be slightly different. Check with BenQ for complete specifications.