Are there any ideal projectors for 4:3 RGB gaming ?

[Anthony1]

So, I've owned various projectors since around 2003. I have tried hooking up my Super Nintendo and Sega Genesis, and other such consoles to these projectors via RGB. Some of the projectors I've had, could actually natively sync with the rgb signals to some degree, other times I had to use a XRGB type device, or a Kramer FC-14 or something like that.

Problem is, it never was a completely ideal experience. Mainly because I either had to go through some type of transcoder, which affected the picture quality enough to kinda defeat the purpose, or I could hook it up directly, but sometimes the video signal would get kinda screwy, or it just wouldn't work quite right all the time. Also, the vast majority of the projectors I've owned are 16:9 projectors, and I had to run the games in a 4:3 "mode", but I'm sure there is some level of distortion or compromise or whatever, by not using a native 4:3 projector.

I'm guessing there must be some type of 4:3 projector out there, that would be absolutely ideal to use with old school retro systems that can output RGB.

Does anybody know of anything ? I know some people will say that a CRT projector is the way to go, if you really want to go all-in with that retro experience in RGB via projection, and I actually briefly looked into CRT, but it's just too much drama, and the things are just too huge. I think I'd settle for a DLP or LCD 4:3 projector that happens to have a good track record with SNES and Genesis and other systems like that.

Any suggestions ?

[Fudoh]

I doubt that any new 4:3 projects are still manufactured. On the other hand you can certainly find myriads of old LCD data projectors for next to nothing. On projectors you're most often dealing with considerably more lag than on your next best TV set though.

I don't see any reason why to bother with 4:3 projectors. If you get a modern (cheap) 16:9 beamer and use a XRGB, the results should be fine. You can run it in 4:3 if you like. You'll also have more luck finding lag-numbers on modern beamers.

[Anthony1]

I'm pretty sure they still make some 4:3 projectors now for business presentations and stuff like that, but I doubt any of them would synch with 15.75k kHz or even look very good in terms of video quality. Most are just designed for powerpoint type presentations and stuff like that.

Of course, maybe I could find a used projector from a number of years back, and still somehow get a brand new bulb somewhere ?

I just feel like if I really want proper 4:3, I need to use a projector that is truly 4:3.

[cools]

Epson EMP-TW10H. Tested with CPS2, a supergun and some excellent SSF2T players with no complaints about lag. Gloriously nice image on maximum zoom.

Be lucky to find one that doesn't need the polarizer replacing due to age/burn though

[Anthony1]

According to the Epson website, it's showing that the EMP-TW10H is a 16:9 native projector.

I still think that a 4:3 native projector would be ideal, but I'll keep my eye out for this particular Epson, if it seems to play nice with 15.75 kHz sources.

[Ed Oscuro]

Hey there Anthony1 - I remember your early forays into promoting RGB back in the day. Wish I'd paid closer attention back then!

I recently discovered that Sony manufactured some professional displays with a RVP prefix - these are rear projection screens. These appear to be their highest-end projector TVs. One person on eBay has one that looks like a good example of the line, and at what looks like a good cost. They also appear to support lots of resolutions. Aside from the bulb lifetime (which should be really good anyways) and the physical size (weight should be pretty manageable if you have two people) it seems like an interesting other direction for projector sets.

Wish I knew something a bit more topical unfortunately. Unless somebody made projectors with CRT type electron beam scanning, I wouldn't mess around with them for retro gaming - unless you could find a really fast and low pixel persistence model, which would of course probably be in a newer set. And even then you'll need a scaler.

[neorichieb1971]

Projecting a 4:3 image in a 16:9 ratio just means borders. I've never seen a projector distort an image before.

[cools]

Invisible borders. Wide screen is fine for a projector as long as it has aspect ratio control. Image size is controlled by the zoom on the lens not by the outer borders of any bezel.