Home Movie Projectors: BenQ GP500 Vs. Nebula Cosmos Laser 4K

Should you be in the market for your first home cinema projector, you’re very likely considering two popular options. Those are the BenQ GP500 and the Nebula Cosmos Laser 4K, both successful entries that are selling well worldwide and proving a hit among first time home theater projector buyers. While both offer 4K ultra HD projection, there’s more than just the resolution to take into account, as the ways in which 4K is rendered differ and matter. Top of these factors is the 4LED technology used on the BenQ GP500 as its light source, compared to the laser that the Nebula Cosmos Laser 4K equipped. We’ll explore that, and other factors you should consider.

Simple specifications don’t convey the full story behind brightness. In many cases, too much brightness can be a bad thing, causing eye fatigue and drowning out detail. The two projectors in question offer a good example of this. The Nebula Cosmos Laser 4K reports over 1800-lumen brightness, while the BenQ GP500 is stated to have 1500 lumens. You might think that makes the Cosmos immediately better, but it doesn’t. 

First of all, the stated brightness applies to an image that’s entirely white, or simply a white screen. It doesn’t really tell you how your movies, TV shows, and games will benefit from the brightness specification. Just like 4K or 8K, having lots of pixels isn’t enough. You need to have good pixels. Brightness is the same. Raw light isn’t enough, you should look for refined, smart brightness. 

For first time projector buyers, the way brightness works may appear different than what they’re used to, as projectors are even more sensitive to room lighting conditions. Of course, sufficient projector brightness is a must. Home cinema won’t work well with a 500-lumen projector, but will you notice the difference between 1800 and 1500 lumens? Most likely not, or the extra 300 may just drown out fine details in bright scenes, or give you a headache if you’re in a very dark room. You should read up about the intricacies of projector brightness, in any case. 

As for the comparison at hand, the Nebula has a slight advantage if you intend to use it outdoors or in very bright rooms, while the GP500 is more balanced and has just the right amount of brightness. It doesn’t over-illuminate scenes and performs better in typical home cinema situations. 

There’s more than brightness to look at when considering a good home cinema projector. Arguably the most important factor is color accuracy and coverage because that’s how you get impressive-looking visuals that are faithful to the original cinematic material. Increasingly, the DCI-P3 color space is taking over from more limited color gamut standards, like Rec. 709 and sRGB or Adobe RGB. DCI-P3 is a favorite in the digital streaming era, and the color space to aim for. The more of this color space your home projector covers, the better your movies will look when projected. 

The BenQ GP500 was designed for DCI-P3, achieving 90% coverage. By comparison, the Nebula Cosmos Laser 4K uses a blue laser that is only 92% of Rec. 709, and that means the GP500 offers approximately 30% wider color gamut. Importantly, the GP500’s laser delivers true reds, while the Nebula settled for faded reds that appear more like orange on-screen. Everything from people’s skin tones to trees, costumes, and explosions thus looks better and more accurate with the GP500, by a considerable margin. 

HDR is obviously important, and ties in directly to both brightness and color range. The long and proven track record of BenQ’s image professionals shows in the GP500, with better HDR tone mapping and dynamic contrast. The Nebula Cosmos Laser 4K tends to crush black levels and overexpose bright segments of the screen. Conversely, the GP500 is once again better balanced, resulting in superior HDR performance with far better detail retention and depiction in bright and dark areas of the screen when watching streamed content or Blu-ray discs that are formatted with HDR metadata. 

Premium BenQ LED projection quality assurance gives you up to 30,000 hours of light source life span on the GP500 with no color decay or degradation. The GP500 was designed to be robust, preventing dust and other debris from entering delicate components to ensure long lasting quality and performance. We find that the Nebula Cosmos Laser 4K isn’t as durable, and so if you go with it, make sure to keep it clean and avoid dusty environments. The Nebula is more likely to develop color decay and image dimming with time, and we don’t believe it can reach the 30,000 hours of the GP500 without showing significant image quality changes. 

Much of the GP500’s superior durability has to do with its use of 4LED technology. You can read more about this technology here to better understand its benefits. 

Part of the attraction of a starter home projector is the all-in-one ease. If the projector you pick has excellent audio built-in, then you don’t need to invest in an external sound system, nor worry about the extra installation hassle and cable clutter. 

The GP500 once more leverages BenQ’s proven industry experience, tapping into award-winning treVolo audio design. Its integrated speakers aren’t just powerful, they’re optimized for the projector’s chassis to prevent distortion and rattle. They also generate a simulated 360-degree sound field that covers an entire room with theater-grade audio performance. So, no matter where you sit, you feel as though audio focuses on you and get a cinematic experience. 

As with brightness, raw power isn’t enough. The Nebula has more watts delivered via its speakers, but doesn’t do a very good job of refining its output or generating an authentic experience. It does sound loud, but we think the GP500 again does a better job with remaining true to what movie makers want to express. 

If you know that image quality, and especially color, are vital for your enjoyment, then the GP500 is your choice. The same applies to audio, as the GP500 provides a much more sophisticated and theater-like sound experience. While portable, the GP500 is better suited to indoors usage, so whether you want to watch movies in your bedroom, living room, or dedicated media room, it’s just as impressive. It’s essentially a portable home cinema projector. 

By comparison, the Nebula Cosmos Laser 4K is a portable projector with touches of home cinema. But with its raw brightness and loud sound, it’s more appropriate than the GP500 for outdoors use, so if you’re camping or having a backyard movie night, the Cosmos is a good choice. 

For refined home cinema without the cost and bother of setting up a full-size projector, the GP500 is an excellent choice.