Well, I'm only a professional hardware and software reviewer for several computer magazines for 16 years, creator the software CDs that have shipped with every Epson projector since 1999, the writer of 3 Epson projector user guides and service manuals in 2009 alone, and I've been playing video games with projectors since the Warbirds convention in 1997.
So perhaps you might accept me as an authority on the subject when I say that, at least where it comes to projectors intended primarily to be hooked up to computers (and therefore have either a VGA or even a DVI port), THERE IS NO APPRECIABLE LAG WHEN PLAYING GAMES. It's just like using an LCD computer monitor.
And even Epson's most expensive Home Theater 1080p projector ($3500) still has a VGA port. They aren't going away anytime soon.
I don't mean to be indignant, but I'm pretty sure about this.
-Llama
I am but a humble computer user, a gamer if you will. I have dealt with experts many times. Most are good at what they do. I believe that you are a great writer and technologist though at 16 years you are still a young pup.
In any case, I checked the back of my computer and there is No VGA connector on my video card just a pair of DVI connectors (XFX GTX 275 from NVIDIA). Maybe I bought the wrong card? Going to Newegg I did find a few (not a lot) cards that still offer a VGA connector on the high-end cards.
So the fact is that now a days (that is a funny term eh?) video cards are mostly being offered with DVI and the newer HDMI connectors.
I am using a projector based upon LCD technology. This is digital technology. My video card and computer are also both based on digital technology (we had analog computers in our science lab back in college, but they were eclipsed by the Intel 8088 and Motorola 6800 based digital computers). If I was to get a video card that was equipped with a VGA connector it would have to convert the digital information to Analog, because that is what VGA is. Then the projector would convert it back to digital information for the tiny LCD panels inside the projector. As I recall VGA works quite well with CRT monitors they are analog. The AE4000 PANASONIC projector also has a VGA connector on it. But it also has 3 HDMI connectors on it. I am watching in 1080P. This is pushing the upper limits of what VGA is capable of (1600X1200) though I am sure someone is working on improving on that.
WRT lag, I think at best you can say YMMV. I think it “depends” on what projector and what computer hardware you have as to whether you will see a performance degradation using VGA as compared to DVI/HDMI. If you can bypass all of the internal processing that goes on in a home theatre projector you will get better performance in terms of lag.
What about quality? Many users have reported an improvement after switching to DVI on their LCD panels and arguably some have not. However, and this is a big however (but I still didn’t capitalize it) at what cost in quality and for how much difference. The AE4000 offers options/settings to eliminate much of the extra processing involved in watching home theatre, which would greatly increase lag.
I move my mouse and the pointer moves. I don’t perceive a difference. That is to say I have ‘NO APPRECIABLE LAG WHEN PLAYING GAMES’. This has been the case of others who purchased the AE3000/4000 series of PANASONIC projectors. So my mileage with my setup is what I designed it for. I am pleased since I don’t have a problem with LAG.
Where is the VGA technology going? Can you say 8 track tape or VHS? Maybe, stranger things have happened.
Infidelz
