Straight out of the field, the GP520 is ready to Auto Cinema mode, which is designed to robotically management as a lot as doable, to the purpose the place it leaves you with only a few settings you possibly can regulate. It will not even allow you to change the ability setting (labeled Brightness, as a result of adjusting energy adjustments brightness in lumens). As a substitute, Auto Cinema robotically adjusts energy primarily based on each the present ambient gentle stage and the space from no matter you are utilizing for a display. (Larger distance means a much bigger picture dimension, which wants extra lumens to take care of the identical brightness.) Many individuals will see no cause to modify to another mode.
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Nonetheless, those that are choosy or simply wish to experiment produce other selections. The menus provide a complete of six preset image modes for SDR content material (together with Auto Cinema) plus a Person mode, which is the one one that permits you to set distinction, saturation, sharpness, hue, shade temperature, and wall shade. Not one of the modes affords a traditional brightness setting (which really units black stage). The black stage of our evaluate unit was completely set only a contact excessive. Most modes provide acceptable or higher shade accuracy, however in my preliminary exams, I rapidly narrowed my most well-liked selections right down to Auto Cinema and Cinema.
(Credit score: M. David Stone)
Between the 2, Auto Cinema provided higher shadow element with default settings, but it surely exhibited some blue shift (which most individuals do not discover bothersome). Cinema provided higher shade accuracy. Though it did not maintain shadow element as nicely with its out-of-box settings, altering the Native Distinction Management setting from Off to Medium (which Auto Cinema makes use of by default) largely erased the distinction on that rating, giving Cinema the sting total. For formal testing, I used Cinema with the Native Distinction Management set to Excessive. The one different change I made was to show off body interpolation. Even on the default setting of Low, it nonetheless added a digital video impact.
For HDR enter, the GP520’s menu affords an image mode named after the present HDR connection sort—HDR10, HDR10+, or HLG—plus a Person mode in every case, and two extra modes on the HDR10 checklist solely: HDR Auto Cinema and HDR Recreation. For HDR10 motion pictures on disc, the selection between HDR10 and HDR Auto Cinema was near a toss-up, however Auto Cinema delivered a barely brighter picture total, making it my most well-liked alternative.
(Credit score: M. David Stone)
In my formal exams with SDR enter, the GP520 delivered good picture high quality throughout the board, scoring properly on all the pieces from shade accuracy to shadow element to distinction in each darkish and brilliant scenes. For the HDR10 variations of the identical motion pictures, the identical was true for shade accuracy, shadow element, and distinction in brighter scenes, however the darkest scenes in our take a look at suite had middling to poor distinction. As I’ve famous in different critiques, poor efficiency in these scenes will not usually be a deal breaker for most individuals, since few motion pictures or TV exhibits have a couple of or two scenes that darkish, if they’ve any in any respect.
The 3D assist works with DLP-Hyperlink glasses and requires manually switching to 3D mode, with selections of High-and-Backside, Left-Proper, and Blu-ray 3D (out there solely when linked by way of HDMI and taking part in a Blu-ray disc). I did not see any crosstalk in my exams, and 3D-related movement artifacts had been on the low finish of typical for current-generation projectors—sufficient to note, however not sufficient for most individuals to seek out annoying.
(Credit score: M. David Stone)
In my testing, I noticed a couple of rainbow artifacts (the pink/inexperienced/blue flashes that DLP projectors can present). Nonetheless, I am fairly delicate to them. For those who do not see them simply, you could not see them in any respect. Even so, in the event you’re involved about seeing them, it is all the time finest to purchase from a supply that enables free returns so that you can provide the projector a take a look at run your self.
Players will admire the projector’s assist for computerized low-latency mode (ALLM). Utilizing the Recreation Increase setting (which turns off keystone correction to supply the shortest lag), I measured the enter lag with a Bodnar 4K Lag Tester at 17.8 milliseconds (ms) for each 1080p and 4K enter at 60Hz.
(Credit score: M. David Stone)
Word that I bumped into an intermittent drawback when connecting to a PC. The primary time I attempted, the GP520 negotiated a 1080p connection, with Home windows 10 exhibiting 1080p because the beneficial alternative, and giving no possibility for switching to 4K even in Superior settings. Methods like turning all the pieces off and again on generally gave me a 4K connection, however not all the time, leaving me with no dependable technique to make the issue seem or disappear. At this writing, BenQ is attempting to duplicate the difficulty in order that it may well tackle it.