Gaming on DLP or LCD Projector

[TantrumusMaximus]

I am building a home theater room soon that will utilize a projector. I'm planning on building a HTPC with a very large amount of storage and the HTPC will double as my gaming rig for LAN parties so I will be spending some cash on it 🙂

Question:

Has anyone played anygames on DLP or LCD projectors? I imagine that the refresh would be pretty good. I saw an article over at THG that reviewed 6 projectors sub $2000 and it sounded like they would be pretty capable for gaming. But I'd love to hear some real feedback from someone who has done this and what I should look for as features go.

Thanks!

 

[MaverickBP]

if your gonna do it...go DLP. www.avsforum.com this is the site where all your questions can be answered. The guys and I will take care of you over there. Just do a little reading in the forums and you'll get a wealth of info.

 

[TantrumusMaximus]

Thanks for the information, I'm definately going DLP from what I've read so far. I won't be building my Theater/Gaming room setup for about a year so I'll have a lot of time to research.

I was in one of those Mall based Sony Style stores at lunch and they had a projector there that I checked out and it looked like crap. I forgot to get the model or whether it was DLP or LCD.

 

[Jeraden]

I have a DLP projector and play XBOX on it, looks great and plays fine. PC Gaming doesn't work too well for me since there really isn't anywhere to put a keyboard/mouse conveniently when all I have in the theater is a couch and some recliners. But as long you have like a desk or something you can use for that, you're set.

Also, distance might be an issue - unless you have your pc right next to where you are sitting/gaming, you are going to have to go wireless for your keyboard/mouse, and then it will control like crap from that distance. You really don't want your pc right next to your seating area or its too noisy/distracting while watching a movie.

 

[Paktu]

I used to work at a movie theater that had a DLP cinema projector (one of only ~100 in the world). You can take a guess as to what I would be doing around 3AM...

 

[Boogak]

Originally posted by: Jeraden
I have a DLP projector and play XBOX on it, looks great and plays fine. PC Gaming doesn't work too well for me since there really isn't anywhere to put a keyboard/mouse conveniently when all I have in the theater is a couch and some recliners. But as long you have like a desk or something you can use for that, you're set.

Also, distance might be an issue - unless you have your pc right next to where you are sitting/gaming, you are going to have to go wireless for your keyboard/mouse, and then it will control like crap from that distance. You really don't want your pc right next to your seating area or its too noisy/distracting while watching a movie.

Same, I have my XBox and HTPC hooked up to an Infocus X1 DLP in my media room. XBox looks fantastic, I tried playing some Unreal Tournament 2004 on the HTPC but it was uncomfortable trying to use a keyboard and mouse in my recliner so I've given up PC gaming on it.

 

[YOyoYOhowsDAjello]

I recently hooked up an Infocus 4805 to my computer. Widescreen games like CS:S look very nice on it. I think the new DLP chip has something like 5ms response time...

I have it hooked up with the ATI DVI to component adapter $29 at newegg and it looks great. With the adapter you can select a wide variety of resolutions from 480i up to 1080i and everything in between. It even has special resolutions to help you display the whole computer screen in case there are overscan issues.

Here's some crappy pics I took including some CS:S. This is with a 2.0mp camera though... It looks a lot clearer in real life.

 

[TantrumusMaximus]

Same, I have my XBox and HTPC hooked up to an Infocus X1 DLP in my media room. XBox looks fantastic, I tried playing some Unreal Tournament 2004 on the HTPC but it was uncomfortable trying to use a keyboard and mouse in my recliner so I've given up PC gaming on it.

Well that sounds good. I'm still going to try to come up with a comfortable solution to pc gaming on the projector. I think when I do the room perhaps I will have a table or something situated behind the viewing area for using a kb and mouse. Plus I'm hoping more options will be available for cordless kb+mouse by then.

I have it hooked up with the ATI DVI to component adapter $29 at newegg and it looks great. With the adapter you can select a wide variety of resolutions from 480i up to 1080i and everything in between. It even has special resolutions to help you display the whole computer screen in case there are overscan issues.

Is this adapter used to take computer resolutions and convert them to native HDTV resolutions? Is that its purpose?

------------------------

One more question: Is a DLP projector fast refresh like a CRT or will there be significant ghosting like >25ms response LCD screens?

Thanks for all your feedback.

 

[YOyoYOhowsDAjello]

Yeah, the adapter gives you resolutions that are tv and in a format that the projector will display and take up the whole screen. Native HD is 720p minimum, and this adapter lets you output that exactly.

If you get a 4:3 projector like the X1, you wont really need this since you'll be able to natively display regular computer resolutions.

The adapter has dip switches that let you toggle options for it like what resolutions you want to be able to select and if you want to use 16:9 mode.

As for ghosting, it's very good. This is kind of a strange example, but there's a game called Jardinians (i hope i spelled that right) and it's like breakout with a white ball moving on a black background. I don't notice any more "tail" on the ball when it's moving on the projector than when I'm using my crt monitor.

 

[Busithoth]

I've gamed on X1 as well.
definately recommend DLP.

PC gaming was OK, but issues mentioned are valid (wireless or noisy being the choice)

I use the Gyration Suite when projecting, but I hate gaming on it, my hands are too big, and the layout ain't the best...

it worked fine with steering wheel and pedals, though (NFSU2 would have you bust out laughing at the driving games in arcades...)

 

[TantrumusMaximus]

I really appreciate the feedback. The proj I will be purchasing will for sure be HDTV capable so that ATI adapter or something like it will most likely be needed.

How bright will a projector be compared to a plasma TV when the projector will be in a dark room on a screen? Is it even comparable? The reason I ask is the Sony I mentioned above really looked like crap.... the blacks were grey and the brights weren't bright. Is this the norm with projectors?

I plan on building a basement viewing room that will be about 15' - 18' wide by probably about 20' deep. The plan will be to build a HTPC that will be as quiet as possible. My system now is very quiet... all 120mm fans and such and is around 25db I imagine, so if I use that noiselevel as a reference it should be good. By the time I build this system I am hoping that the selection of quiet cases, ps, and cooling components will evolve since it seems HTPCs are getting more mainstream.

I'm glad that gaming on a projector is doable as the gaming will play second fiddle to viewing movies obviously. The big question is what projector will I choose and how to bring it all together, sound system, pc, control interface, the input devices etc etc? 🙂

 

[YOyoYOhowsDAjello]

The rating on my projector is 750 lumens in regular and 600 in eco-mode. I have mine in eco-mode and it has to be pretty dark to watch it.

I'm in a dorm room, so my options for room choice are..... limited... heh. I have to put cardboard up in the windows during the day to block the light out. Watching with the lights on in the room is not an option. With any projector, complete darkness will be best. I wish I could say something like "your room can be at lightness level 4.3 before the image starts to look bad". I'm not really sure how to rate how dark the room can be, but if you're going to be in a basement with small/no windows, that sounds perfect. If I'm too lazy to put the cardboard up, I have to wait until about an hour or so before the sun is completely down before the light levels are good.

As for sound levels, I'm sure my 4805 would be too loud for you. I don't mind how loud mine is because I have 2 computers running with a lot of fans going so I'm used to the background noise (plus I tend to have the volume up pretty high on my sound system.... gotta make the sound as big as the picture hehe). There are plenty of projectors with low sound levels though.

Projector Central is a good resource on a lot of this stuff. One of the nicest features is their screen calculators. You can search for projectors and then when you find one, you can see how far back it should be for a given image size, how far seating should be away ideally, and what gain on your screen would be good for having an image with good brightness for your chosen screen size.

As of right now, I think in the sub $2000 category, most DLP projectors tend to be EDTV while you can get a good LCD based one with HD. For me this wasn't an issue because #1 I'm cheap and didn't get one until I managed to get a 4805 for $999 including a 76" screen, and #2 I don't have plans to have anything broadcast in HD anytime soon. DVDs are basically EDTV so they look great on the projector.

Things are changing pretty quickly in the projector world though. In another year I bet there will be several options for HD DLPs that are of excellent quality right around the $2000 mark. There might even be some now, but as I mentioned earlier, I'm a cheap guy and didn't want to spend more than $1300 so I wasn't considering HD.

AVSforum is a great resource for anything HT. They have tons of threads on Projectors for every price range, HTPCs, Speakers, Receivers.... EVERYTHING!

I found shopping for Audio equipment even more exciting than projectors. I'm glad to hear you're going to get some nice sound to go with your system. It makes me shake my head when I go see someone's setup with a big 65" RPTV and a $99 DVD/HTIB set of crappy speakers.

 

[REMF]

it is a real shame that all the TI widescreen DLP chips coming out are specced to the TV standards, and therefore rubbish for gaming due to unsupported resolutions.

best we can hope for is high-res 4:3 DLP's at 1600x1200 or higher. 🙁

 

[YOyoYOhowsDAjello]

Originally posted by: REMF
it is a real shame that all the TI widescreen DLP chips coming out are specced to the TV standards, and therefore rubbish for gaming due to unsupported resolutions.

best we can hope for is high-res 4:3 DLP's at 1600x1200 or higher. 🙁

You make it sound like getting a widescreen projector is the end of the world heh.

It's not that bad. I mean I have a 76" 16:9 image and when I switch to 4:3 mode it's still 62". If you don't have a DVI to component adapter, you can do 640x480 native on the 4805, or it will scale down 1024x768 or 800x600.

With the electronics industry going widescreen more and more, it seems like it's the computer industry that's the one that should accomodate tv resolutions imo.

It's not like there aren't great affordable 4:3 DLPs either. Benq for example makes some pretty nice ones right around the $1000 range.

 

[REMF]

TI should make their new DLP's in 1920x1200, not 1920x1080. that is all.

 

[vshah]

yes, i have...only on the xbox though as my comp is in storage right now (just moved)

i have a panasonic AE700u, 1280x720 projector, 1000 lumens


i only have a few PHOTOS, but you get the idea 🙂. thats about 70% as big as it can get with acceptable performance

-Vivan

 

[Cheesetogo]

Originally posted by: REMF
TI should make their new DLP's in 1920x1200, not 1920x1080. that is all.

I don't see why, as most people buy widescreen projectors to watch movies on, which are widescreen (16:9 which would be 1920x1080) If the projectors were 1920x1200, then you would always have black bars on top and bottom. Plus, I have no idea why you would spend $5000++ on a projector and expect it to be made for the computer. (And if they are that expensive it should not really matter what resoulution they are as they are so expensive that very few people could buy one. Projectors that expensive are for movies.

After going on TI's website it does not seem like they even make a 1920x1080 chip, only 2048x1080. http://www.dlp.com/business/default.asp

I found a projector that's 2048x1080, it looks to me like somthing that would cost way more than $5000, probably around $30K. Here's the link http://www.digitalprojection.com/projectorsheets/projectorspecs_lightning.htm

 

[Boze]

Originally posted by: Cheesetogo

Originally posted by: REMF
TI should make their new DLP's in 1920x1200, not 1920x1080. that is all.

I don't see why, as most people buy widescreen projectors to watch movies on, which are widescreen (16:9 which would be 1920x1080) If the projectors were 1920x1200, then you would always have black bars on top and bottom.

You will already have black bars on the top and bottom, oh wise one... considering not a single mother freaking movie director shoots movies at 1.78:1, which is what you get if you further simplify 16:9 (in other words, if you divide). There are two widely accepted aspect ratios for shooting movies today (and in the past 30+ years and longer). 1.85:1 and 2.35:1. There are different aspect ratios, of course, but they are so rarely used they might as well be non-existant.

Originally posted by: Cheesetogo

Plus, I have no idea why you would spend $5000++ on a projector and expect it to be made for the computer.[/quote]

Because of the name of the game today is convergance, my friend. With any luck in five to ten years every single computer sold will also have a built-in HDTV tuner / DVD / HD-DVD player (or DVD/HD-DVD-ROM drive, if you want to be more precise) along with software to control said devices and a nice multi-function remote. I'm sure us power users will have to buy all this crap seperately when we build our new PCs, but the HTPC, and to a much lesser degree, Windows XP Media Center Edition steps in the right direction.

 

[ponyo]

Originally posted by: vshah
yes, i have...only on the xbox though as my comp is in storage right now (just moved)

i have a panasonic AE700u, 1280x720 projector, 1000 lumens


i only have a few PHOTOS, but you get the idea 🙂. thats about 70% as big as it can get with acceptable performance

-Vivan

Very nice. If I was to buy a new projector I would get that Panny but my wife won't let me upgrade yet. 🙁

 

[Cheesetogo]

Originally posted by: Boze

Originally posted by: Cheesetogo

Originally posted by: REMF
TI should make their new DLP's in 1920x1200, not 1920x1080. that is all.

I don't see why, as most people buy widescreen projectors to watch movies on, which are widescreen (16:9 which would be 1920x1080) If the projectors were 1920x1200, then you would always have black bars on top and bottom.

You will already have black bars on the top and bottom, oh wise one... considering not a single mother freaking movie director shoots movies at 1.78:1, which is what you get if you further simplify 16:9 (in other words, if you divide). There are two widely accepted aspect ratios for shooting movies today (and in the past 30+ years and longer). 1.85:1 and 2.35:1. There are different aspect ratios, of course, but they are so rarely used they might as well be non-existant.

True, you already would have black bars, but if you're on a 16:10 projector then the black bars will be even bigger.