Gaming Projectors Buyers Guide

Choosing a Gaming Projector

What sort of projector should I consider for Gaming?

For the best results in a video gaming projector you would look at very similar features that you would find in a home theatre projector; accurate colour, good contrast, and quiet operation. On top of that you would want to add in low input lag and depending on your setup more brightness or even a shorter throw distance so you can use it as more of a portable machine.

What is input lag?

Why isn’t there a measurement for projector response time?

Projectors do not suffer from low response times like TV’s or monitors due to the very small size of the DLP or LCD panels they use. The panel making up the picture measures a mere centimetre or two diagonally and is then magnifed with a lens to make the big picture avoiding motion trails.

What brightness level do I require?

Brightness is a tricky one. You might be forgiven for thinking the more the better but it is more of a balancing act. Super bright projectors like you would find in a conference venue sacrifice colour accuray and contrast to acheive it. Usually it is best to find a projector that is built for home theatre that way colour accuracy is at its core. From there you would consider the room you are using 2000-2500 lumens works great is a dimmed room. But if there is a bit of extra light coming in you can get projectors that have a little more power at 3000-4000 but still offer good colour.

What are the main factors that determine image quality?

For a dedicated home theatre room, there are 2 main specifications to consider before making your purchase. These are:

A Native Resolution is essentially a measurement for the number of pixels being projected. Usually this is represented in a number of pixels width to height e.g. 1920 pixels width and 1080 pixels high. Projectors can accept signals higher and lower of the native resolution but will have to convert or compress the signal to display in the native resolution.

The most common resolutions for home theatre and gaming are:

The recommended resolution for home theatre and gaming applications is WUXGA or UHD (1080p of 4K) though we find 1080P will be faster and more responsive to gamiing as it offers a lower input lag. The 1080P resolution will result in a widescreen high detailed image perfect for Full HD games and Bluray Movies. With a 4K projector you will be ready for the new 4K disks and gaming consoles out now.

Contrast Ratio is another important specification of a home theatre projector. Contrast defines how far the whitest whites are from the blackest blacks. If the peak white value is significantly different than the peak black value the signal is said to have high contrast resulting in well defined & detailed shading. A contrast of 1000:1 means that the blackest black on the image will be 1000 times blacker than the whitest white.

For a dedicated home theatre projector, that will be used in a darkened room, a high contrast ratio greater than or eaqual to 10,000:1 is best. For data projectors and some multi-use projectors a high contrast is not required as ambient light in the room reduces any ill-effect that a low contrast may cause. If you plan to use your projector mainly in a lit or even semi-lit room, the contrast ratio is not of vital significance.

What else should I look out for when buying?

There are some cheaper projectors ($300-$500) being advertised by some retailers as being great for home theatre. These offer low resolutions and generally offer extremely poor image quality. At Just Projectors, we have declined offers from our suppliers to sell these "HD compatible" projectors as we feel they simply do not offer the quality that is required for home movies.

There are also special requirements for golf smulation we have a write up here it that is the sort of gaming you are doing.

What projectors do you recommend for Gaming and home theatre?