Gaming Projector Vs. Gaming TV - Are Projectors Good for Gaming?

Yes, projectors are good for gaming given you choose the right ones. New gen gaming projectors deliver dedicated, rich gaming experiences on displays twice bigger than anything TVs manage without sacrificing response and while offering 120Hz, 4K, and more.

Budget TVs are notorious for bad input lag in the area of 30ms or more, which may affect gaming for a lot of people. Certainly good TVs with dedicated gaming modes have low input lag, but so do new gaming projectors. They’re at parity for the most part, and the old myth of projectors being sluggish is now just that, an old myth. Furthermore, good gaming TVs cost proportionally a lot more than projectors with the same performance once we figure screen size in.

To illustrate, the BenQ Gaming projectors offer 1080p 120Hz with input lag of around 8ms and true 4K 60Hz at 16ms. Those are very impressive numbers that create smooth and responsive gaming on massive screens, unlike the limited and rigid form factors of TVs, which also weigh a lot more than projectors and therefore aren’t meant for repositioning. Your average gaming TV weighs around 45 lbs. The BenQ TK700STi weighs a mere six pounds. That’s an added extra we’d like to highlight before we forget. New generation projectors are far more compact and lighter than big screen TVs, whose screens aren’t all that big when compared to projectors yet the end result with them is a large, heavy device you’ll never want to move until you get a new one. By comparison, a fully fledged gaming projector is practically portable.

In any case, if you’re on a good gaming projector you get to enjoy large format viewing of your favorite titles regardless of genre, be it first person shooter or story-rich action RPG or anything else. And with the advantage of better mobility, you’re not locked in to a specific location for the entire lifespan of the product.

If you want the biggest screen possible, only projectors do that. We don’t want to downplay TVs or say anything bad about them, we love TVs and BenQ even makes them for select markets. We just don’t want to maintain any illusion here. Realistically, TVs are capped at 75” for most people, and under 100” if you’re very well off and money isn’t a thing for you. For a lot less money you easily get a great gaming projector that’ll gladly do up to 180” displays if you have the space for a screen. Definitely 100”-120” is effortless, and the relative cost of the projector leaves TVs far behind. The wow factor of games on screens in that size class can’t be denied, nor can it be done by anything other than projectors tuned for gaming from the drawing board onwards.

Thanks to recent developments, there are projectors that are on equal footing with TVs in terms of resolution, input lag, latency, refresh rate, HDR, and color depth, all while having an edge in terms of important image quality specs like contrast. Modern gaming projectors have left issues such as ghosting and lag in the past, and match TVs in terms of gaming performance. 

Read more: Does Screen Size Affect Input Lag and Gaming Performance?

Sounds like a fancy tagline but it’s true. In the past, projectors were either for cinephiles on the top of the line or simple light throwers with little refinement. None of that with modern gaming projectors. Just like their TV peers (but again, better because of the much bigger screens), new models for gamers feature modes carefully designed and tested by engineers for specific game styles. BenQ gaming projectors have the sub-menu in the on screen display, which opens up Fast Mode for the absolute minimal latency, Detail Adjustment for sharper, cleaner visuals if desired, and three main game-genre modes. That’s sports, first person shooter, and role playing. All told, you get a sophisticated experience that matches TVs easily in terms of features and implementation.

Having said all that, after choosing a gaming projector, setting it up may prove a little more challenging than what you're used to with TVs. You have to take room size into consideration and find an empty wall to project onto or free space for a large dedicated screen. You also need to make sure ambient lighting in the room is as close to optimal. While projectors don't suffer from the issue of reflections that often manifests with TVs, their picture quality is best in dim settings without overly bright lights.  

Advances in technology have brought us true short throw projectors that don’t need big rooms to shine. The BenQ TK700STi offers true 4K on a 100” screen from just two meters away, which is really not much. Three meters will give you 120”, five will bring that up to 180”. Do the math and realize TVs have nothing on this.

We know you want to see what your games look like on a big screen. A screen bigger than anything a TV can offer. You know what to do, so don’t deny yourself. For the price of a TV that’ll lock you into a 75” rectangle you can easily get the same gaming experience on a screen twice that size. Most definitely food for thought.