Anyone have Home Theater Setups for Gaming

[heatsink101]

I'm conceptualizing a Home Theater setup for my garage, and I was wondering if anyone else uses Projector setups for gaming.

Are there any special considerations? Preference for Battery option? Does it stress your eyes more or less?

 

[Tweak155]

As long as you have a reasonable distance to sit, it's pretty good! Biggest consideration is probably light control, the brighter the projector the better IMO.

 

[Skott]

Get one of those short throw type projectors and you won't have to sit so far back. Ideal for smaller rooms. At least that's what I have heard. WSGF has threads about it. Biggest con about projector gaming is cost. The units are not cheap and replacing the inner light unit can be expensive too. Best kind of gaming experience on a wide screen though they say when it is set up correctly.

 

[cbrunny]

I have a 1080p projector that I game on when I play a controller based game that I don't mind using only one monitor for (my rig is eyefinity). Here is my advice:

1. Light control is the single most important thing there is when it comes to projectors. If you can't control the light, don't waste your money on a projector.

2. Some projectors have different hz than a typical monitor because most movies are still ~24fps. Make sure whatever you get has sufficient hz for your taste.

3. Don't expect to use a keyboard and mouse comfortably unless you spend bucks on a special, probably custom made for best case, lap thinger.

4. Steam Big Picture is less intuitive than it looks but is also really good. Suggest using it.

5. Don't forget to buy pimpin speakers too. With a setup like this, 5.1 or 7.1 should be seriously considered.

6. If you aren't going to play on it as your main spot, don't bother. I use my projector all the time for movies and tv shows. It is primarily for that kind of media consumption and that I can game on it at all is just a bonus. Seriously, I strongly suggest that unless you have oodles of cash lying around or you are going to plan to watch movies and tv on it as well that you don't bother. It just isn't worth the several thousands it will cost to set up something proper.

 

[PrincessFrosty]

I have a home theatre setup, I have an Epson 1080p LCD projector which looks really amazing and has basically no input lag, hooked up to the PC via HDMI, I throw a 125" screen with it which fills the entire internal wall in my living room.

The audio goes through a home theatre system which simply does passthrough HDMI on it, it's a 9.1 surround sound system with tallboy speakers which flank the projector screen and look really nice and sound amazing.

The PS3 is also plugged into that system, I borrow my PS3 dual shock controllers and use a USB bluetooth device to pair it with the PC and then use the motionjoy drivers and configure the input, often it's good to use Xbox controller emulation as an option so that it's 100% compatible with games built for the Xbox controller which is quite a lot of modern games (due to the now defunct GFWL)

If you're going the projector route I would HIGHLY advise you visit somewhere like the AVforums and speak to the experts there and learn absolutely everything you can about projectors before you take the plunge, how to calculate max screen size, what features you most want, how much replacement lamps will cost, which have good input lag, how to control light sources in your room, what kind of max contrast and brightness is best for you, what inputs you need, whether you go DLP or LCD, what refresh rate you want, cabling, noise and heat, room positioning, if you're using lens shift or keystone correction....only when you can answer all those questions should you take the plunge on a projector, especially an expensive one.

Doing it properly is an absolutely amazing and second to none experience that you aboslutely wont regret, not just for PC gaming but console gaming and movies, I watch all my TV and movies through it as well and it looks amazing.

My specs are in my sig but the projector is an Epson 3200TW I believe, and the sound system I recently got was this bad boy http://www.lg.com/uk/home-cinema-systems/lg-BH9540TW

 

[purbeast0]

i have one at home but i strictly do console gaming on it, but that shouldn't really matter.

one of the major reasons i got the projector i did is because the input lag is very minimal compared to other projectors. i did A LOT of research prior to purchasing mine. i ended up getting the panasonic ae8000. this was back in late 2012.

http://www.projectorcentral.com/Panasonic-PT-AE8000.htm

i'm big into fighting games, and fighting games require very quick reaction and precision, so timing is critical, and that was a major reason i wanted minimal input lag.

compared to my ST50 tv (in game mode), i personally can't notice a difference on the projector. i also have an asus monitor that i have played fighting games on, which is the tournament standard due to the low input lag, and i can play just as well on my projector as i can on that monitor. the monitor has less input lag, but i think it might be like a frame more on my projector or so, but the difference to me personally is negligible.

where as when i gamed on my DLP, holy crap the input lag is RIDICULOUS and noticeable. but i didn't even realize how bad it was until i gamed on the monitor.

i sit about 13 feet back from my screen that is 120".

EDIT:

here's some pics of my setup when i finished it:

http://forums.anandtech.com/showpost.php?p=34852983&postcount=887

looks a bit different down there now with some panels i made for the walls.

 

[cbrunny]

http://www.projectorcentral.com/Epson-PowerLite_Home_Cinema_3020.htm

This is the one I have. I did no research on it ahead of time except that it is LCD and 1080p and 2200 lumens. I've noticed no input lag but there might be some. I believe this is a 59hz model though. I found a killer deal on it and jumped in without thinking about it enough. In retrospect everything worked out ok but I really should not have done that lol.

 

[Elcs]

My setup:

42" LED TV 1080p - cheap, cheerful panel from Sony (W7) with somewhere between 10ms and 30ms when set up properly (according to review from big HDTV site)

Denon AVR-X2000 - AVR, centre of any HT setup.

Speakers:
Front L/R - Revolver R33
Front C - Wharfedale Diamond 9.CC
Rear L/R - Wharfedale Diamond 9.1
Sub - REL Q100 with newer sub unit from the people that now own REL

Speakers, I'd buy from eBay. With time and patience, you can end up with older speakers that sound better than new store bought ones that cost significantly more... just be careful and exercise caution.

Projectors... you're in better hands than if I tried to help there

Opinion: Great SQ can be had for reasonably cheap if you're prepared to put in some effort and can make a whole world of difference that you might not hear until you listen to your neighbours £200 little tincan speakers (yes, literally smaller than a tin can )

 

[BurnItDwn]

I have a home theater setup mostly for movies, but I game on it too.

I use IBM Model M keyboard with a PS2/USB adaptor and a USB extension cord, and then a verticle mouse, USB, with extension cord.

Since my projector is only 1080P, it doesnt need nearly as much GPU power as my main gaming setup (eyefinity 3x 1080p), so a single 6870 is good enough for most games.

As far as the projector goes, there are essentially 2 lines of through, you have business/presentation style projectors, and you have home theater/cinema style projectors. For games, you probably would want a home theater projector since they offer usually better picture quality in a light controlled environment, better color, better contrast, but usually not as bright. Also, most of them will natively support 1080p or thereabouts.

I sit about 8 feet back from a 106 inch screen. its good for gaming, but its not ideal for surfing the internet since the edge of the screen is a lot farther away than the center ... This is where a curved screen would be nice ...