STACK #232 February 2024

TECH FEATURE

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Group effort If you’re getting together with others to study, a projector can be a brilliant way of sharing your screens for collaborative learning. Look for a model with multiple inputs so more of you can easily share.

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PROJECT PROJECTOR

BIG GAME PUNTING! You can’t study all the time. Sometimes you need to blow off some steam and chill out, and for many of us that means a spot of gaming. The more immersed you are the better, so whether you spend your gaming time on a PC or prefer the couch-friendliness of a PlayStation, Xbox, or Switch, then the size of the screen can make a – literally – huge difference.

Projector types DLP: These use micro mirrors and a spinning colour wheel to create an image. They’re compact and deliver a high-quality picture with minimal motion blur. Good for gaming and general use. LCD: This technology uses three liquid crystal panels to beam a bright image with high colour accuracy and deep blacks. Good for home theatres and business use. LED: These projectors can be DLP or LCD. LEDs are used in portable and short throw projectors, deliver high brightness and colour, and have a long life. Good for on-the-go use and short-distance projection. LASER: As the name suggests, these use a laser to create light instead of a lamp and have a long lifespan. They’re extremely bright, with high colour accuracy and true blacks. Good for large rooms, some theatres, and for viewing HDR content.

Y ou want to be able to get fully immersed in a twitch shooter, an intense story adventure, or even go exploring and platforming merrily. But above around 65 inches or so, the price of conventional TVs starts to rapidly escalate. While the best televisions boast gaming features, if you’re looking for that giant-sized immersive experience, then you’re facing a significant investment. To go properly big, especially on a budget, it’s projector time. Up until recently, buying a projector was an expensive proposition, and not all were ideally suited to gaming. Things are changing though, with many home projectors proving to be great allrounders for gaming as well as movies and TV. Here are five key things to look out for when you’re considering a projector that you plan to use for gaming. Latency Also known as input lag, this is the primary thing to look for in big screen gaming. It’s the measurement of the time – in milliseconds – that it takes for your console or PC to display vision on the screen so that you can react to it. Ultimately, the lower that number is, the better the gaming experience. Refresh rate This refers to the number of times per second – measured in hertz, or Hz – that a projector refreshes its image. A refresh rate of 60Hz is most common for gaming with a projector, although 120Hz support can be desirable for faster moving games such as shooters.

Peak brightness Brighter really is best when it comes to projectors – the more ANSI lumens that one boasts, the better for being able to perform everywhere, from the dingiest games den to the brightest entertaining area. Anything above 1500 lumens should be a good all This one’s a simple equation: the higher the resolution, the better the picture. If your projector has a very low resolution, then the high-resolution output from modern consoles will look smeary and may disappoint. Sound An immersive soundscape is a vital aspect of the gaming experience and many gaming projectors feature in-built speakers with more watts than their home theatre counterparts. But you’ll always get the best results from a soundbar – or headphones for more intimate audio. round performer. Resolution

TOP PICK

BenQ TK700 4K HDR Gaming Projector This is a keenly priced 4K Ultra HD with HDR gaming projector that offers a speedy 16ms input lag at full 4K (even less at lower revolutions), up to 240Hz refresh rate depending upon screen resolution, and high brightness at 3,200 lumens. It can project a stunning 4K image of 100” from 2.5 metres away and has two HDMI 2.0 inputs that make it a great partner for the PlayStation 5 and Xbox Series X. Oh, and it’s a reliable choice for movie watching, too!

PROJECTOR TECH: DLP RESOLUTION: 3840x2160 ANSI LUMENS: 3200 LAMP LIFE: Up to 15,000 hours MAX. SCREEN SIZE: 100” HDMI INPUT: 2

34 FEBRUARY 2024

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