From Refresh Rate to Brightness: Things to Look For in a Gaming Projector

The simple answer to whether or not projectors support gaming in general, is that the vast majority of projectors on the market, as long as they feature an HDMI port, are able to support console games, PC games, and to a lesser extent (depending on whether the projector features wireless projection capabilities), mobile games. But gamers looking to transition to the use of a projector, most likely aren’t satisfied with a projector broadcasting just basic visuals. They want to take full advantage of their console’s high-powered specs to create a truly immersive gaming experience. In order to do so, they will need to check a projector’s level of support in a few key areas, with refresh rate, standing head and shoulder above all others.

For gamers, one of the biggest concerns with using a projector is that the projector might not be able to keep up with the video output of their next generation consoles; a projector’s refresh rate value reflects its ability to do so. Refresh rate refers to the rate at which a projector projects the images in a video broadcast (you can think of it as equivalent to its frame rate). A projector with a higher refresh rate allows for smoother motion in a video, reducing instances of blur as a result of movement. For gamers this means clearer visuals with more realistic action.

Basic video content, such as movies, is usually created with a 24 or 30Hz refresh rate/frame rate, with some hitting the 60Hz benchmark. For many gamers though, a 60Hz refresh rate should not be the benchmark; instead, it should be the floor. That’s because both the PS5 and Xbox Series X can push out visuals of up to 120Hz, so only a projector that supports such refresh rates are able to ensure the most optimal gaming experience available.

But is refresh rate the only thing a gamer should focus on when selecting a projector? Not quite.