How to Choose a Gaming Projector: Everything You Need to Know
Gaming on the biggest screen possible is a dream many of us have always held. This is especially true for anyone who grew up in the age of CRTs, where sub-20-inch screens were often the best you could expect. Today, options for larger viewing experiences are more available than ever, and nothing illustrates this potential like the increasingly affordable projector.
Why Use a Projector for Gaming?
Projectors today aren’t the bulky and bank-breaking systems they were just a couple of decades ago. Today, the modern projector market is diverse, with a range of options covering a myriad of use cases. While these naturally tend to be centred on watching films, they’re also now flexible and reliable enough to be used for general display output. This includes gaming platforms like consoles and computers, while also often providing screen mirroring solutions for mobile systems.
Things to Consider When Purchasing
As useful as projectors can be for home entertainment, they present some serious considerations to weigh before making a purchase. The first of these is your direct watching environment. You’ll need a large surface to project onto, so you’ll need room for at least a pulldown screen.
Just as important is the ability to make a room dark. It’s not possible to project darkness, so if you intend to play in the daytime, you’ll need blackout curtains or some other light management system. A projector can also require extra speakers, so ensure you have space for these too.
From here, the hardware specs of the system come into play. If you have a computer or console in mind for play, you’ll need the projector to at least match its output resolution and frame rate. If you’re intending to play 4k 120FPS games on a 1080p 60Hz projector, for example, the result will be compromised.
The other often overlooked part of visual concerns is the input lag, or the time it takes for data processed by a device to be displayed on the screen. For PC players on gaming monitors, less than 10ms of input lag is the common goal. For console players on TVs, 20-50ms of input lag is more common. Having too much lag makes you feel disconnected from the action, which can ruin the experience. Remember to check this in projectors, which can have much higher input lag, and check if they have special game mode options to reduce this lag.
With this knowledge and your budget in mind, it’s time to go looking through reviews. It’s not about buying the most expensive system; it’s about matching your needs to the cost-appropriate device. Consider if you’re a fan of playing online casino titles like live blackjack games. A projector here could add a lot to the experience in releases like Classic and Multi-hand Blackjack, but you won’t need super-high frame rates or the lowest input lag for a great experience. If you’re playing Cyberpunk 2077 on an RTX 5090 with maxed-out options, however, the same projector wouldn’t match up.
Check out professional and user reviews before making a choice, while also considering the future potential upkeep costs for lamps. LED and laser lamps can last tens of thousands of hours, while ultra-high performance lamps can burn out at 4,000. Plan ahead, make a decision carefully, and remember to turn your system off when it’s not being used!
