anyone use a Projector for PC gaming ?

  • Frank Herfjord

I do. It's much better than using the PC screen, even though I have a 24" monitor. The only minus is that trackIR doesn't work too well with it (need to be placed low&too far away).
 
  • Mikkow

if so, is it clear enough ?

It's a question of:

- How big you see the display to be (in that video, it is a large display but it's also very far away, making it probably comparable to sitting close to a 24" monitor)

- The resolution you render at and is projected at (higher the better)

- The light strength of the projector vs how dark the room is.

I'm sure any projector is fine if you sit far away from the image and the room is dark enough.
 
Too bad I can't drive worth ****.

room01a.jpg


room01b.jpg


Works fine for me during the day with the blinds closed, even using economy mode. It's a Mitsubishi HC1500, pretty cheap and looks fine with 16x AA / Supersampling even without 1080p.
 
  • Mikkow

No need to get so envious as if it's unattainable! :) Surely it is a great setup, but many of the effects can be had at far more reasonable costs.

For example, projectors can be replaced by a decently sized widescreen LCD Monitor, just put it behind the wheel and it can be quite huge. It can also be put level to the horizon, so the horizon in game and real life are the same height in front of you, which enhances immersion. Many people with projectors sit below them and look upwards. The closer LCD screen also lets you disable wheel rendering and have the monitor become a window into the game world, like a professional sim cockpit.

Also, with a larger widescreen LCD, you only need that one screen. No need for three.

A surround sound stereo system may sound nice, but you'll be left hearing everything else - CPU fan, box fan, graphics card fan, power supply fan, plasticy gearchange sounds, steering wheel interacting with desk with FF effect sounds, your own desk chair squeek sounds etc. And the surround sound speakers don't sound perfect - sound will bounce off the interior walls/floors/ceiling/objects and get tainted by that no matter what. A set of sealed good headphones can sound superior, and greatly enhance immersion by blocking out all the unwanted environmental sounds. The cost to sound ratio of headphones is something like 1/5 of stereo speakers, meaning for the same cost, the headphones sound roughly five times as good.

The G25 is more or less a must have for awesome immersion though!

Anyway, there are many paths to simracing bliss. This is but one of them.
 
  • Kyle Evers

So how well does a projector really work for for a screen? I may consider selling my computer screen and putting the money towards a projector or wait until Christmas or something and have my parents help me out with paying for it :cool:.
 
So how well does a projector really work for for a screen? I may consider selling my computer screen and putting the money towards a projector or wait until Christmas or something and have my parents help me out with paying for it :cool:.


Games are fine but I wouldn't want to use mine as a primary monitor. Even though I often find myself too lazy to switch back to my LCDs, and I sit there in IRC on a 90" screen, it's still akward and wasteful. The lamps aren't eternal either, I probably have about 500 hours left on mine (out of 2000) so I only use it when I need it.

Used 720p projectors can be found for as low as $500. Throw in a proper screen and you have a $500-$700 90" to 120" screen, that is dirt cheap if you consider LCDs and plasmas.

Of course I'd enjoy having one of those 2560x1600 30" monitors mounted really close to me, but I'm also getting pretty comfortable with the ambient effects an enormous screen offers.
 
  • Kyle Evers

Lol, I found some 1080 projectors for like $275. My wall is white, so I think I could last without a screen for a bit at least. I just want something that looks at least okay, even if it's not great. It's just about the experience.
 

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