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Things to consider when buying a gaming projector

Advice Guide - Gaming Projectors

If you’re like us, you like to dabble in a bit of gaming. Be that first-person-shooters (FPS), real-time-strategy (RTS), racing games or sports games, we all love to play on big screens.

But first, are projectors that good for gaming? Well, if you are looking for a truly immersive experience, then absolutely, a projector is the way forward. So, here are the key things to look out for when purchasing a projector for playing video games…

DLP vs LCD

Two of the most frequent technologies in projectors, the main difference between the two is that DLP uses mirrors to reflect light through a colour wheel, which results in arguably the best contrast of any projector. The downside to DLP is that there can be what’s called a ‘rainbow effect.’ This is where sometimes the merging of the colours sometimes does not take place before the picture is fully formed, thus you can catch a small glimpse of single colours before they merge into the image.

LCD, on the other hand, shines a light through three primary coloured LCD panels. These typically produce the best colour and pixel definitions, eliminating to so-called ‘rainbow effect’.

Refresh rates and resolution

One key thing about projectors and gaming are the refresh rates. DLP projectors that support 120Hz refresh rates are widely available, though they usually come with a resolution limitation of 720p, because they tend to use an HDMI connection. However, HDMI 2.0 is becoming more and more popular, so expect this issue to fall away.

In terms of resolution, Full HD (1080p) is currently considered to be the most cost effective. Like with 4K gaming monitors and 4K TVs, 4K projects are currently very expensive and will likely remain so for a few years to come.

What games can I play?

While you can play any games on a projector, you do need to take into account the small delays in projectors. So, while you could theoretically play an online FPS on a projector, these are a genre of games to avoid, unless you can reduce the lag with some technical wizardry. Adventure games and driving games are probably the optimal games to play on projectors, due to the immersive nature of these genres.

Cost-efficiency

So how much does this all cost? Current markets suggest you can buy a good 1080p DLP projector for less than £500 and get a good five years out of it. Projector technology, while continually advancing, does not develop that quickly, however, and while 4K is still expensive and relatively new, you could end up buying a projector now and get a good four to five years out of it before having to invest again.

So there you go, considerations to ponder if you’re interested in turning your living room into a dedicated gaming suite using a projector. And honestly, why wouldn’t you?

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