Verdict: Games have never looked so good or been quite as much fun.
Projectors used to mean long, dreadful hours spent looking at images of Auntie Mildred's summer holiday in Blackpool. Luckily, the digital age has put an end to that and now a session with the projector means high-quality home cinema, and the potential for large-screen killing, maiming and general gaming fun.
The Acer PH730 is an HD-capable projector that can provide a 300in (25ft, or 7.62m) diagonal image. A TFT of that size would cost so much that even Roman Abramovich would have to go halves with Bernie Ecclestone to afford it. If you're looking for a truly big-screen experience, a projector is the best way to go. Note the 'HD-capable' part though - the PH730 has a native resolution of 1,280 x 768 (enough for 720p but not full 1080 HD). The PH730 differs from the BenQ W500 in that it uses a Digital Light Processing (DLP) chip rather than beaming light through a small LCD.
In theory, DLP projectors provide a more vibrant image than their LCD cousins, but the average user is unlikely to notice much difference. Unlike the massive projectors used in conference rooms, which have three Digital Micromirror Device (DMD) chips, the PH730 keeps down the size and cost by using only one chip. The DMD chip provides only a greyscale (black and white) image though; colour is added by spinning a 'colour wheel' between the lamp and the DMD. A side effect is 'rainbowing', where colours split into their red, green and blue components. How much this affects you is subjective - it doesn't bother some, while others claim that it feels as if their eyes are being wrenched from their skulls. Thankfully, rainbowing in the PH730 is kept to a minimum, thanks to Acer's use of an unnamed Texas Instruments DLP chip.
While the PH730 is fairly large for a home projector, the clean lines and stylish case make this a decent-looking device. The feet are stylish and sensibly designed for ease of use. There's also a sliding cover to protect the lens when the projector isn't in use. Sadly, the designers seem to have spent so much time refining the projector that they forgot about the remote control. It's hideous, plasticky and feels flimsy; given that you'll probably handle this regularly, it's disappointing.
The range of video inputs is impressive, with HDMI, DVI, VGA, S-Video, component and composite available. The DVI stands out in particular, as the BenQ offers only D-SUB and HDMI as conventional PC inputs. The Acer is also HDCP-compliant, so you can watch movies on protected HD-DVD and Blu-ray discs. Don't even try to use the rubbish 3W stereo speakers, though. Menus are also sparse - unlike the BenQ's - but they're easy to navigate.
The projector is rated at 1,200 ANSI lumens, which is pretty bright considering the PH730 is intended for use in a dark room. However, you can't get away with more than dim ambient lighting, as even a 60W bulb diminishes the image. A backlit keyboard may be handy if you intend to use a projector for gaming. It's also worth noting that you'll need a wall big enough, or space for a large projector screen. Also, with such a large screen area, you need to be a decent distance from the action.
Image quality from video sources is generally very good; HD video looked great even if the colours were a touch oversaturated. We watched 'Fantastic Four: Rise of the Silver Surfer' - which is all action and primary colours - and were impressed by the clarity and accuracy of the image. However, watching films on a massive screen is always impressive. Whether you can game on such a screen is what really interests us.
Again, we were very impressed. We loaded up Doom 3 just to remind ourselves how bad it is, and to inspect the game menus and the rest of the in-game text. Gameplay was a little weird at first, but the graphics seemed clearer than we remembered. The notorious dark scenes retained their mysterious edge and, while it isn't the most complex game in the world, on the large screen it was slightly more impressive. Racing games are much the same, with the action drawing you in. If you have a steering wheel, the sensation of driving is weirdly compelling - we felt as if we might hurtle towards the screen every time we crashed. Whether you're plugging in your gaming rig, Xbox 360, Nintendo Wii or PlayStation 3, the end result is the same. Bigger is better, and the image quality definitely adds to the excitement.
Crisp details such as text can be fuzzy or even difficult to read on projectors. The PH730 exhibited similar issues to those we saw on the BenQ. By blowing up a relatively small, low-res image (the DMD chip is 0.65in on the diagonal, with a resolution of 1,280 x 768), you inevitably see dot-pitch errors, where fine text looks blurry or blocky. This will be less of an issue with higher-resolution projectors, but 1080p units cost two or three times as much as the two projectors we tested this month.
You'll also need to replace the lamp every now and then, as it burns out. Replacements cost £250 and last 2,000 hours in standard mode and 4,000 hours in ECO mode (900 ANSI Lumens), so the PH730 costs 12.5p or 6.25p per hour to run. As these lamps get very hot, projectors have fans to cool them. The PH730's fan is much quieter than the BenQ's, at 28dBA in standard mode and 26dBA in ECO mode.
Conclusion
A projector isn't the ideal display for a PC, as its talents are somewhat restricted to video. However, it enables you to play games on a huge screen, although you might have to squint to read the game text. This Acer PH730 offers great-quality video for watching movies and copes really well with gaming, too. The quiet operation and excellent number of inputs - especially the common DVI connector - also count massively in its favour.
