BenQ's new projector optimises the picture using AI

With its AI Cinema Mode, the BenQ W2720i promises to improve your autumn viewing.

Hollywood isn't too fond of AI – see the recent writers' strike – but in this case it could make an exception. BenQ's new AI Cinema Mode uses artificial intelligence to optimise the picture depending on the viewing conditions and the type of content being shown. So it should help Hollywood movies look their best.

AI Cinema Mode features on the new BenQ W2720i home cinema projector. It can adapt the image to ambient light to give more accurate colours and details, enhance the picture to best suit what's on screen, and optimise the brightness dynamically.

It also promises to make the projector a doddle to set up, meaning you can enjoy an as-the-director-intended experience without having the foggiest about colour calibration. BenQ has an entire team tasked with calibrating colour, which means the 2720i meets commercial digital cinema standards like DCI-P3, giving you a cinema-style experience right in your lounge.

Each unit comes with its own factory calibration report, proving its D65 colour temperature and colour accuracy, which should make for vibrant, true-to-life colours as the director intended.

It supports the HDR10+ format of HDR, which should be improved by the Global Contrast Enhancer, Local Contrast Enhancer and Dynamic Black technologies onboard. The 'Global' tech enhances the contrast across the whole image, while 'Local' zeroes in on specific parts within a frame. Dynamic Black, meanwhile, optimises the contrast dynamically, adapting the light output to match the content on-screen. Which again, should make it true to the director's original vision.

The eco-friendly LED should run quietly and give you up to 30,000 hours of movie time, so no need to replace the bulb (not unless you're watching a lot of films). It can produce a 120-inch screen from a distance of just 2.7m, so pretty close, though not as close as ultra short throw (UST) projectors. It should be simple to accommodate into most rooms too, with features like 1.3x zoom, Auto Screen Fit, 8-point Corner Fit, and Vertical Lens Shift making it versatile.

Want to stream? Not a problem. Android TV is at hand courtesy of a streaming stick that comes bundled with the device. That will give you access to all the big hitters like Disney+, Netflix and Prime Video. And with three HDMI 2.1 ports (one of which doubles as an eARC), and SPDIF, you can connect a soundbar or surround sound set-up.

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The W2720i is available now for £1999 (about $2600 / AU$3900). Find out more here.

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