GAMES IN AV AND HOME CINEMA incredible visuals of the games that are being created today. We want sharp and detailed images during fast motion for fast-paced games. But the most important specific requirement for gamers is low input lag, which refers to the delay between the display receiving a signal and it being displayed on the screen (display lag), or the delay between pressing a button and seeing the game react. There have been a few articles on gaming websites in the past months about using projectors for gaming. They usually identify Texas Instruments’ DLP technology as the most suitable projection technology, as it has important advantages over competing technologies like LCD and LCoS where gaming is concerned. Since most integrators will already be familiar with some of these, such as superior brightness and motion blur performance, we’ll focus on input lag as being the most important specific gaming requirement. It all begins with the imaging device itself. DLP uses a DMD imaging device that has a response time that is measured in microseconds versus LCD and LCoS panels which have response times measured in milliseconds. The implementation of any technology by a specific manufacturer can make a huge difference, but this means any LCD or LCoS based projector starts with a significant disadvantage where gaming is concerned. Any image processing (such as upscaling or motion smoothing) takes time and therefore adds further input lag. To overcome this and get closer to DLP performance, many LCD and LCoS projectors feature a gaming mode. In practice this means disabling most of the aforementioned image processing. Doing so however introduces other limitations. These can include no HDR in gaming mode, lower resolutions and deteriorating motion blur performance, all of which are inconsistent with the high-end gaming experience we are looking to create. In DLP projectors, these compromises are largely unnecessary. But in addition to the natural advantages of the DMD device, processing can be further optimised. As it happens, the requirements for high-end gaming line up very well with the requirements of the professional simulation market, where often they are mission critical. A market leader in
simulation, Barco for example has developed some cutting-edge technologies, used in the iconic BMW Motorsport Simulator for instance, with Barco Residential projectors benefiting from these innovations. One example is Single-Step-Processing (SSP), a unique feature that combines several key image processing steps into a single step, not only avoiding loss of detail, but resulting in sharper images and less latency. This further cuts down processing
controls that disappear when watching a movie. All of this enables us to offer clients even more additional value from their existing investments. For many integrators, their existing experience centres can therefore be a great place to start giving clients a feel for the ultimate gaming experience. Some recommended games with incredible visuals are Star Wars Battlefront, Battlefield V and Call of Duty Modern Warfare, or Forza Horizon 7, F1 2020 and Project Cars 2 if you want to show off sim-racing. The newly
time, and consequently input lag, resulting in significantly better gaming performance.
Games like Grand Theft Auto V have huge budgets and production values to match
GAMING IN A HOME CINEMA
Let’s not forget many of our customers already have a great Digital Canvas for gaming with their existing dedicated home theatre. With the emergence of gaming as a spectator sport (e-sports), it can even be your own private gaming arena to share with friends and family. Gamers can benefit from Cinemascope capability, as most games can natively render in this aspect ratio and higher resolution for an even more immersive experience. Theater design also offers opportunities. Some theater seating manufacturers, for example, are adding gaming specific features, cleverly integrating gaming
released Microsoft Flight Simulator is an incredible feat and also makes for an impressive demo. Even Real Time Strategy games can look incredible on a High-End gaming canvas. Just fire up Ubisoft’s ‘Anno 1800’ on the big screen and you will see what we mean. Be sure to use a high-performance PC gaming rig so you can max out all the visuals. And the future? We’re edging closer and closer to Star Trek’s Holodeck. Let’s start by taking one small step for our custom integration industry, one giant leap for our client’s gaming experience!
Games crossover with titles like The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt finding success as games and TV series too
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