HDTV / DLP Projection gaming?

Editer · July 1, 2004, 6:04pm

Anyone using a DLP Projection TV for gaming?

Read the following in a review of a Samsung DLP set on Amazon.com. Could this really be true? First I’ve heard of such an issue.

Some dude on Amazon.com:

Reviewer: Nathan Haase from Apache Junction, AZ United States
Everyone talks about how beautiful the graphics are on these tvs. Get an xbox with component output and you’re in Halo Heaven. Try playing MVP Baseball or Top Spin on these pieces of junk. You’ll find that the video and audio delay is too much to handle. Try swinging at a 95 MPH fastball and you’ll find that the ball is in the catcher’s mit before you even start to swing. Turns out that these digital displays require more video processing time. So they decide to delay the audio to match. Unfortunately all video gamers must now suffer from this. Any game that requires quick reaction time like stopping a moving line at a certain point on a bar is impossible. It’s really sad that something this serious is often overlooked. I took my xbox to a circuit city and tried it on all the digital displays. They all had the same poor result. I try it on a cheap $200 tube tv and it’s perfect. Not many people know about this, at least nobody I’ve talked to. So keep this delay in mind.

Case · July 1, 2004, 6:48pm

DennyA:

Anyone using a DLP Projection TV for gaming?

Read the following in a review of a Samsung DLP set on Amazon.com. Could this really be true? First I’ve heard of such an issue.

[quote=Some dude on Amazon.com]Reviewer: Nathan Haase from Apache Junction, AZ United States
Everyone talks about how beautiful the graphics are on these tvs. Get an xbox with component output and you’re in Halo Heaven. Try playing MVP Baseball or Top Spin on these pieces of junk. You’ll find that the video and audio delay is too much to handle. Try swinging at a 95 MPH fastball and you’ll find that the ball is in the catcher’s mit before you even start to swing. Turns out that these digital displays require more video processing time. So they decide to delay the audio to match. Unfortunately all video gamers must now suffer from this. Any game that requires quick reaction time like stopping a moving line at a certain point on a bar is impossible. It’s really sad that something this serious is often overlooked. I took my xbox to a circuit city and tried it on all the digital displays. They all had the same poor result. I try it on a cheap $200 tube tv and it’s perfect. Not many people know about this, at least nobody I’ve talked to. So keep this delay in mind.

[/quote]

Well, lessee, we’ve played Jet Set Radio, Amped, Mech Assault, Halo (PC, curiously enough)… no problems that I could see.

One issue with this guy may just be screen size. You can easily see the entire screen on a small TV. It’s the same reason hard core RTS gamers will prefer a 17-inch tube to a larger display – it’s easier to absorb the whole thing.

Joel · July 2, 2004, 6:40am

I used to game on an Infocus X1 and am getting ready to purchase an X2. Never had any problems at all. My guess is there’s some sort of magic post-processing going on that he hasn’t figured out how to disable.