BenQ MX514 - A Bright Option

Introduction and Physique

Building the Roster

It’s no secret that BenQ has steadily been developing its projector portfolio over the past few years. The Taiwan-based company divided this category into several model groups, each catering to different needs. The M-series in particular focuses itself on being part of their all-around value performers. Living up to the slogan “Bringing Enjoyment and Quality to Life”, the MX514 seeks to meet its elevated expectations.

The BenQ MX514 is a DLP projector capable of XGA (1024x768) resolution in a native 4:3 aspect ratio. It provides a high contrast ratio of 10000:1, coupled with a brightness of 2700 ANSI lumens. The strength of the MX514, however, is its utilization of BenQ’s SmartEco technology, which is a result of incorporating Philips’ ImageCare technology. This feature claims to bring together uncompromised brightness, excellent picture quality, and optimized lamp life while actively adjusting the lamp power for maximum power savings. The feature also boosts lamp life, delivering at least an additional 500 hours.

The body is bulky yet not too heavy, weighing in at 2.45kg. That’s exactly what we would expect from a consumer projector at this price range. Manual controls can be found above the lens for both focusing and zooming. Behind these you’ll notice ten buttons for turning on the projector and adjusting standard options such as the source input and volume. The unit houses a pair of 2-watt speakers for simple audio needs. Obviously, you can’t expect much output from these, so you should rely on them only during emergencies like when someone forgets to bring speakers and nothing else is available. Connections are plenty, providing ports ranging from HDMI, to analog ports such as VGA and audio in/out.

We weren’t particularly fond of the remote control’s feel. Highly elevated soft rubber buttons are what we’ve left behind in the last century. We were content with the build quality of the projector itself, but it would have been nice to have a matching quality remote, considering that it’s used more often than the onboard controls.