How to Choose an Ideal Gaming Projector for Your Video Gaming Room

The idea of creating a dedicated gaming cave / room almost always revolves around the chance to bolster your gaming experience with a dramatically larger screen. For many gamers, this specifically means a desire for a 100+ inch screen, which can only be accomplished with a gaming projector.

BenQ console gaming projectors lineup is the best for your game room

This article will provide you with some of the main things you should take note of when deciding on which projector to buy:

Knowing Which Console you Plan to Use With Your Projector

Finding the Right Brightness Level for Your Gaming Room / Cave

Identifying the Right Throw Ratio Based on Your Projector’s Location

Other Important Specifications

Knowing Which Console you Plan to Use With Your Projector

You’re probably aware of the fact that though there are various different consoles on the market right now, each console tends to excel at different types of gaming, with corresponding technologies and specifications to match. Thus, to ensure that you choose the right projector for your console(s), it’s best that you understand in greater detail the performance level of said console and then look for a projector with specs that can support it. For instance, knowing that a high-performance console such as Sony’s PlayStation 5 can pump out images at 120 frames per second, you might want to consider a projector that can also hit that frame rate (within your budget constraints of course). But if on the other hand your gaming cave is centered around the family-based gaming of a Nintendo Switch, you can just look for a projector that’s compatible with the type of games that you’ll be playing or go with a portable projector that features low input lag / latency.

There’ll be more discussion later in this article regarding some key specs to look out for in a projector, but you can also click the link below for more on gaming-related specs:

Finding the Right Brightness Level for Your Gaming Room / Cave

Finding the right brightness level for your dark gaming room

Dark Room

Finding the right brightness level for your dim gaming room

Dim Room

Finding the right brightness level for your lit gaming room

Lit Room

Finding the right brightness level for your bright gaming room

Bright Room

Given that the projector you’re choosing is going to be the centerpiece of your gaming room / cave, you’re going to have to take into consideration the status of the room itself, particularly in regards to brightness.

You should already know intuitively that a brighter room – say a room where the lights are usually on or with plenty of outside light shining in – will require a high-brightness projector, while a darker room – e.g., a room where you can turn off the lights or close the curtains – can support a projector with lower brightness values. But something you might not take into account is that this requirement is further amplified if you want a larger screen, as the larger you want the screen to be, the brighter the image will need to be.

To make quick sense of it all, the table below will help you figure out the most suitable brightness values for your projector in ANSI lumens, which is the industry standard unit for measuring projector brightness, based on the above-mentioned factors:

Size	Dark Room	Dim Room	Lit Room	Bright Room
Size 120"	Dark Room 750	Dim Room 1500	Lit Room 3000	Bright Room 6000
Size 100"	Dark Room 500	Dim Room 1000	Lit Room 2000	Bright Room 4000
Size 80"	Dark Room 300	Dim Room 700	Lit Room 1300	Bright Room 2800

Unit: ANSI Lumen

Identifying the Right Throw Ratio Based on Your Projector’s Location

Front projection

Side projection

Ceiling projection

The next major item you should pay attention to when choosing your gaming projector is its throw ratio, because it helps identify whether the projector is able to produce the screen size you desire from a given distance. Throw ratio is calculated by dividing the projection distance (the throw) by the screen width, as such, prior to calculating the ideal throw ratio for your situation, you will need to first determine what type of projection method you will be using in your gaming cave.

For most gaming projectors, the three basic projection methods are front, side, and ceiling projection. Once you’ve decided on the projection method, coming up with the throw ratio that you will need to look for in your prospective projector is simply a matter of measuring the distance from the projector’s most likely position to where the projection screen (or wall) which you will project on will be located.

The following table lists throw ratios for various screen sizes based on the type of projection method and distances:

Projector to Screen Distance	4.9 ft – 8.2 ft	8.2 ft – 13 ft
Projector to Screen Distance Throw Ratio Suggestion	4.9 ft – 8.2 ft Short Throw Projection	8.2 ft – 13 ft Short Distance Projection
Projector to Screen Distance 150"	4.9 ft – 8.2 ft 7.5ft – 9.2ft	8.2 ft – 13 ft 12.3ft – 16ft
Projector to Screen Distance 120"	4.9 ft – 8.2 ft 5.9ft – 6.6ft	8.2 ft – 13 ft 9.8ft – 12.8ft
Projector to Screen Distance 100"	4.9 ft – 8.2 ft 4.9ft – 5.6ft	8.2 ft – 13 ft 8.2ft – 10.7ft

*The table above is for reference only, you should base your plans on the actual room size, arrangement, and furnishings.

Other Important Specifications

As mentioned in earlier in this article, finding the right projector for your gaming console will require you to be cognizant of certain values found in either the console or the projector’s specifications table. Here are a few of the specifications most gamers tend to focus on when it comes to projectors, with links that go into further detail regarding each:

Input Lag / Latency

Input lag / latency is a value, measured in milliseconds, that defines how quick the projector projects an image produced by the gaming console. It is one of the key specs for players of first-person shooters, as FPS games tend to rely heavily on quick reaction time, which input lag contributes to.

Click on the following links for more information on Input Lag:

Gaming Projectors and Input Lag

Learn More

Does Projector Have Input Lag

Learn More

Resolution

Resolution is a quality you are probably already quite familiar with, but we still want to remind you that with most gaming room setups averaging a screen size of more than 100 inches, you’ll probably want a projector that can support up to 4K resolution in order to get the visuals right.

ANSI Lumens

As indicated in the section above on brightness, whenever you are checking out a projector’s brightness value, you should always make sure it’s listed in ANSI lumens. That’s because ANSI (American National Standards Institute) lumens is the most objective measure of brightness for a projector, which is why, as its name attests to, it is the standard unit used industry-wide.

For more on ANSI lumens and how it’s the most accurate measure of brightness, click on the following link:

Is There a Difference between ANSI, Light Source, and LED Lumens?

Learn More

How to Choose an Ideal Gaming Projector for Your Video Gaming Room

Knowing Which Console you Plan to Use With Your Projector

Finding the Right Brightness Level for Your Gaming Room / Cave

Identifying the Right Throw Ratio Based on Your Projector’s Location

Other Important Specifications

Knowing Which Console you Plan to Use With Your Projector

Finding the Right Brightness Level for Your Gaming Room / Cave

Identifying the Right Throw Ratio Based on Your Projector’s Location

Other Important Specifications

Recommended Articles

Gaming Room Setup: How to Build the Ultimate Gaming Projector Room

What Should My Video Gaming Room Have? Gaming Room Ideas: Setups for PC, Console, and Party Gamers

Gaming Projectors Better for Split Screen and Local Co-op with 120” Screens

HDMI Cables for Connecting PlayStation or Xbox to Gaming Projectors

Why brightness matters to projectors? How many lumens do you need?

Gaming Projectors and Input Lag: What You Need to Know Before Your Purchase

Projector Input Lag and Gaming Performance

How to Connect Your Gaming Console and Soundbar to Your BenQ Projector

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How to Choose an Ideal Gaming Projector for Your Video Gaming Room

Knowing Which Console you Plan to Use With Your Projector Finding the Right Brightness Level for Your Gaming Room / Cave Identifying the Right Throw Ratio Based on Your Projector’s Location Other Important Specifications

Knowing Which Console you Plan to Use With Your Projector

Finding the Right Brightness Level for Your Gaming Room / Cave

Identifying the Right Throw Ratio Based on Your Projector’s Location

Other Important Specifications

Recommended Articles

Gaming Room Setup: How to Build the Ultimate Gaming Projector Room

What Should My Video Gaming Room Have? Gaming Room Ideas: Setups for PC, Console, and Party Gamers

Gaming Projectors Better for Split Screen and Local Co-op with 120” Screens

HDMI Cables for Connecting PlayStation or Xbox to Gaming Projectors

Why brightness matters to projectors? How many lumens do you need?

Gaming Projectors and Input Lag: What You Need to Know Before Your Purchase

Projector Input Lag and Gaming Performance

How to Connect Your Gaming Console and Soundbar to Your BenQ Projector

Knowing Which Console you Plan to Use With Your Projector

Finding the Right Brightness Level for Your Gaming Room / Cave

Identifying the Right Throw Ratio Based on Your Projector’s Location

Other Important Specifications