If you like to play big and have a projection screen in the living room, then you are probably considering buying a good gaming projector. In this article we are going to make things easy for you since we are going to tell you what are, in our point of view, the best projectors for gaming that you can buy at this time to be able to play to the fullest in the living room.
While 4K and now even 8K TVs are getting all of the industry’s attention, projectors are still a huge niche for those with enough space to enjoy them. Obviously there are projectors and projectors since not all are the same, what we are going to define here is the list of those that we consider to be better to play, either to the console or to a PC connected to them.
What characteristics should gaming projectors have?
As we have said before, there are many projectors and although we can find quite decent devices at low prices, when we talk about a list of “the best” and “gaming” we are talking about high-end projectors, with very high technical characteristics that allow us to enjoy the maximum of the gaming experience.
Thus, when preparing this list, we must establish minimum levels to be able to consider them “gaming projectors”. When we talk about enjoying games, what less is the projector capable of emitting at native Full HD resolution, so this is one of the requirements; In addition, we establish as a requirement that it has a vertical synchronization frequency of at least 120 Hz at 1080p resolution , although as you will see, most are capable of emitting at 4K resolution although in many cases reducing the refresh rate to 60 Hz, equally valid for an excellent gaming experience.
The best gaming projectors you can buy
Next we are going to tell you which are, from our point of view, the best gaming projectors that you can buy today. Keep in mind that as high-end products – and even premium – some of them have quite high prices, although there are others that have a fairly acceptable price tag taking into account the high technical characteristics they present.
Optoma UHD51, the best gaming projector
With a DLP technology sensor signed by Texas Instruments, this gaming projector has native 4K resolution and its refresh rate is 120 Hz, so if you are looking for the best of the best you can stop looking because here you have it. In addition to the aforementioned, it has a dynamic contrast ratio of 500,000 to 1, HDR technology, a maximum brightness of 2,400 lumen and has the particularity of being able to operate with 4: 3 and 16: 9 aspect ratios.
In addition to the aforementioned, it has Puremotion interpolation technology for a more fluid image display, has a color accuracy of 100% Rec. 709 and also allows it to be used both on the table and hanging from the ceiling. Quite a wonder.
BenQ W2700, the best color quality
The manufacturer sells this projector as the best for cinema quality, and it is really one of the best colors it is capable of emitting thanks to its CinematicColor technology that provides 95% coverage of the DCI-P3 color space. Of course, it is an HDR projector with native 4K resolution (also compatible with lower resolutions) that operates at a vertical refresh rate of up to 120 Hz, ideal for gaming.
Its maximum brightness is 2000 ANSI lumen and the lens also uses DLP technology, with a lamp that has a durability of 4,000 hours in normal mode but up to 15,000 hours in SmartEco mode.
BenQ X1300i, the best to use with consoles
When we talk about the next generation consoles, the PS5 and the Xbox Series X, there are some specifications that really become more important, such as 4K resolution or 120 Hz refresh rate, so this projector is ideal for that because it is capable to operate at 4K resolution and 60 Hz or 1080p and 120 Hz, also with an input lag of only 8.3 ms.
The BenQ X1300i offers a maximum brightness of 3,000 HDR-enabled ANSI lumens and 10-bit color depth. In addition, since its lamp is LED, its useful life is about 20,000 hours, so you will not have to worry about having to buy a replacement for a long time.
Optoma UHD30, the best in quality / price
Although 4K is already very common in TVs, it is not so ubiquitous in projectors and even more so when we talk about relatively inexpensive products. But the Optoma UHD30 brings projection to 4K resolution at a much more reasonable price and does so with some extra features that make it one of the best gaming projectors you can buy, such as its 4K resolution with 3400 ANSI lumen that allows projection without loss in screens of up to 300 inches, or its response time of only 16 ms.
Like the previous one, this projector is capable of emitting at 4K resolution and 60 Hz or at 1080p resolution and, be careful, up to 240 Hz vertical refresh rate.
Optoma CinemaX P2, the best high-end projector
If you want your projector to cause a sensation in games, the Optoma CinemaX P2 will be a great ally for you. This projector is short throw so you don’t need to have a huge room to use it, and with 30,000 ANSI lumen laser projection you won’t have to worry about a lot of ambient light in the room.
This projector is capable of displaying images at 4K resolution and 60 Hz and has the option of running the image with 8 bit color depth or with chroma subsampling to allow for expanded color depth. Therefore, you can choose to play at 1080p and 120 Hz or 4K and 60 Hz resolution but with HDR. Mind you, with an input lag of 67 ms it’s not the fastest projector, but it’s quite acceptable for non-competitive games.
Epson EF-100, high quality at a low price
One of the advantages of having a projector is that you don’t need to dedicate as much space to it as a television. Not only does the Epson EF-100 require little space thanks to its small form factor, but it is one of the easiest initial setup of all; It incorporates an Android TV dongle that is inserted into the projector’s housing and makes it a smart device with which you will not need to connect a PC or a console to use it.
When you want to play games, you can disconnect the Android TV dongle and connect your console or PC via HDMI; You’ll get a brilliant high-resolution image with support for 10-bit color depth and 40ms input lag, pretty decent for gaming.
Samsung the Premiere LSP7T, the best projector for short throw
Sometimes you want to be able to enjoy games on a giant screen but you don’t have enough space to place a projector far enough away, so that’s where short-throw projectors come in and this Samsung model is probably the best of all. . This projector allows you to use it with 120-inch screens from just half a meter away, and it provides you with 4K resolution with HDR10 + and 2,200 ANSI lumen of maximum brightness with 83% coverage of the DCI-P3 color space.
It is a laser projector capable of operating at 4K resolution and 60 Hz or 1080p and 120 Hz and that also incorporates Tizen operating system, so in addition to being able to connect your PC or console to play in the living room you can enjoy your movies and series Streaming favorites (has RJ-45 network) without the need for additional devices.