Help me decide (please)- Viewsonic Pro8200/Optoma GT750/Epson 8350

Not sure what the input lag time's are on the pro8200 but assume is low. Think the biggest question between the GT750 and the Pro8200 is if you plan to game in 3D. Seems most hardcore gamers are choosing the GT750 over current 1080P projectors for the 3D gaming. Few reason's for it but biggest is the native 720P 60fps per eye. 1080P 3D projectors can do 720P 60fps per eye but is converted to 1080P and has some strange effects in video the native 720P of the GT750 renders it better.
If planning to do 2D only then I would choose a 1080P projector with a low input lag, more important if you play competitive shooter games with friends/people in link or online.

I am very satisfied with my GT750. Note it is only 720p (others 1080p) but most console gaming is limited to 720p. 3D imho is a huge factor in gaming and you won't want to go back to the 2D version. I use my proj mostly for 3D movies and TV watching/sports and it is pretty competent there especially given the price. Plus it is short throw...meaning it mounts much closer to the screen. Big advantage if using Kinect or PS move.

All 3 projectors you picked would be good for gaming , I would think.
What I did in deciding which to buy was read ALL the reviews on Amazon and Newegg and other places to see if there are problems with the unit. For example, iris problems, white specks, conversion problems, dust blobs, short bulb life, short warranty, ect. And I especially looked at the bad reviews (why they didn't like it) and the user comments that others gave in following up what the "negative review" said. Hard to tell if PJ is good after writing a review the day you bought it, so look for people that say they have owned it for over 1 year and then decided to review it.
Then read the 3 forums that pertain to the 3 PJ's you listed, and look at posts from the last 2 or 3 months, so you have current info, not stuff that was fixed with firmware or solved. Current state of how people see the PJ.
Read the PRO reviews but these guys get tons of PJ's and don't know day to day problems. The PRO has compared tons of these PJ's so they give take on how these PJ's compare with each other.

Now things I looked for was:
Warranty
Brightness
Low lag for gaming (which all 3 you picked are good for).
Portable (so I could take to friends house and play on their wall, if I wanted to.
Internal Speakers so I could go portable but has option to add external sound.
User problems , if a NUMBER of people report the same problem, be very careful, because it is a pattern, and it's a roll of the dice. Don't think only "other" people have problems. Warranty on these is important because they are not cheap and very expensive to fix.
Check bulb prices too.
Also how many hours bulb gets, REAL world numbers not fantasy NUMBERS.

The Benq w710st has a better picture than the Optoma.
That one should be added to the mix. The bad part about the 720p projectors is most of them are 3x color wheels.

Here is a quote from Cobra 889 from the HC4000 thread post #275
Wasn't able to find info quickly on the Pro8200 for actual input lag tested, guessing close to the same as the HC4000.

Personal opinion but I would go HC4000 over the pro8200 if can swing the extra cost. And between it and the GT750 would deppend on how competitive you are in FPS etc in multiplayer games because every ms advantage can help. PQ quality the HC4000 will kill the GT750 in my eye's for movies and some games. All games color wise.

Here is my friend's thread on comparing the models, Coderguy, he did a great job laying it all out for everybody.
http://www.avsforum.com/t/1391476/coderguys-top-projector-picks

He suggests that both the hc4000 and pro8200 would be good for gaming.
Things to also consider is brightness, sharpness, cost, bulb life, warranty.
Also, he says the pro8200 would be lowest in Rainbow Effect. Some people are bothered by Rainbow Effect, maybe you or maybe the other people watching with you, I don't know.
The hc4000 is about 300-400 dollars more .
Hc4000 has 2 years warranty, pro8200 has 3 years.

Maybe Coderguy will offer his comparing of the two for gaming.

What type of lighting conditions are you talking about, because the pro8200 would be better for non-light controlled environments, I think. Meaning if you were in living room and some lights were on or some windows were not covered it would still look good, I think the hc4000 is not as bright and might look faded if not in bat cave. Coderguy can offer his take on that, since I don't have the hc4000.

I have a H9500BD projector and do a good amount of COD MW3 linked with 7 others through switch gear not over the internet and with them on LCD screens and me on my projector I am very competitive with the coming around corners and both firing I win as many as I lose so the 30ms of lag it has tested with via against lcd laptop screen likely 40-50ms actual input lag I think you would be happy with the HC4000 with similar lag times. The GT750 have tested better with input lag vs both, but image quality is not as high so is a pick your poison deal like most everything .

The two obvious advantages the GT750 have are input lag and 3d capable HDMI 1.4a compliance.

Yeah, there are good choices out there to game on, and I think it's good that you check out all your options. It is your first PJ and you just graduated school, so this is a NICE graduation gift you are getting for yourself. Congrats!

Another thing to think about is if you are gaming alone or with others, are you watching the Movie by yourself or with others. How big a room? How much light?

How big a regular HDTV do you game on now or watch movies/football games on now?

I have a 42 inch hdtv I game on and for me, I like it about that size for MW3 or BF3 or other stuff like that, and for movies /TV shows many times my stuff is not saved in high def so having a super large screen to watch crap quality stuff on it is NOT a good experience. ON a HDTV 42 inch it looks ok. Now you could if you were on PC have multiple windows opened when using a PJ so you could adjust movie size window so it does look good if poor source, and surf the web in side window. That is cool. I have 3 or 4 windows going at one time, a few web pages open, docs, skype, gadgets like time, weather, etc. Nice setup with PJ using a PC.

Also, the advantage of bigger hdtv sizes is you can view it in any lighting situation, you don't have to worry about 4,000-6,000 bulb hours, usually you get over 50,000 hours on HDTV , so you can use it all you want.

Now where the PJ does shine is if you are playing with other people split screen or for wii, or watching a high quality movie or football game on BIG SCREEN in darker room by yourself or with others. Because it's very cool, like going to the movies. Also, a portable unit like the pro8200 and some of the others, are small to carry with you, whereas bigger size hdtv's are not easy to take with you. I am a portable gamer and it is cool to go to someones house and they play on their hdtv screen and I play on the big screen. Or we both play split screen using the PJ.

Also, how far away from the screen will you be able to sit, you got to be back further than with a 42inch screen, if too close it's too overwhelming. I don't like sitting close when I go to movie theater. I have to be about 8 feet back to really enjoy my PJ at home.

For me, it's a special experience , so I don't use my PJ that much if I'm by myself. But it is cool to take to friends home or watch with others or watch High Def football or Blu-ray movie, very cool. Thing to ponder.

Also, there are small LED PJ's , I don't know anything about them from actual use, but they have about 30,000 hours on them and are a little bit cheaper, but it may suck for gaming, I don't know and the majority are not in 1080p, 720p at best and even lower res.

Now some people are in bigger rooms than I usually am in, and a PJ would be very cool to watch all the time, and buying a bulb every couple of years is a drop in the bucket and well worth it to watch on 120 inch screen.

I have seen the Viewsonic Pro8200 come in around 18-25ms for lag time, however I am not sure if the person doing the test used a CRT or LCD monitor. I would have to go back and find where it was tested, but do not remember which thread it was in.

The Pro8200 is better than the Optoma for image quality (VS has DC 3 + 1080p), but not quite as good as the Mits hc4000 or Acer 9500bd (although not that far behind either). The Viewsonic is much brighter than most projectors.

If you're a hard core gamer or play a lot of FPS's then I would definitely suggest the GT750. Numerous sources have tested it and it truly does have a 0ms response time. Anything over 5-7ms and you could notice some lag, especially in MW3 or BF2. Most 360 and PS3 games are in 720p so not a lot of reason to go with a 1080p. The crazy short throw on it also comes in handy if you'll be in a dorm room or the likes (5ft=100" screen).

Generally 25-50ms is where hardcore online gamers claim to first notice a tiny bit of lag reflected in their Multiplay score, not 5-7ms. Even 25ms is nothing, but the problem becomes that it is added to your latency that exists online already. I am not a multiplayer gamer, but I am just saying...

I am also aware of the fact that technically even the tiniest amount of lag could determine the result of a tie breaker if two people clicked the mouse at the same time, but that would be a very uncommon occurence when playing over an Internet connection. I can explain it statistically, it is uncommon because in most online multiplayer games people have over 20ms lag to start with and the average spread in lag-time between the entire group of people playing online is much larger than that, so it exponentially randomizes the chances of that lag intersecting with another (making it irrelevant). 7ms is 1/143rd of a second. For statistical sakes, let's say someone was accurate 100% of the time and the lag always mattered ALL the time. Well in this one case if you were one of the world's greatest FPS gamers with the fastest reaction time and you were playing on a local LAN connection, then it could matter a bit.

Keep in mind that if you could click the mouse once every 7 milliseconds, that means in 1 SECOND you would have just clicked the mouse 143 times. I know that is comparing apples to oranges, but my point was only to show how fast 7 ms really is and to put it into perspective.
Edited by coderguy - 8/20/12 at 3:29am

Fozzman76,

The Epson is the current reigning LCD Champ as far as having the least Input Lag, as it is measured at 16ms. As such it bests 99% of all PJs in existence, including DLP units. The average "ms" spec. for 'good' PJs is 24ms

I personally have neither seen anything in print as far as "ANY" projector having absolutely no input lag. Not that such might not very well be true, but rather than posting what amounts to being hearsay, how about a link to such information. I'm sure a great many would appreciate and value some definitive information on that subject.

Thanks in advance !

Here's the link to one of the reviews showing 0ms response time: http://www.projectorreviews.com/game-projector-blog/review-optoma-gt750-gaming-projector.html

There were a few other reviews that also tested it and got the same results but I don't have the time to search for them now, Google "GT750 0ms" or "GT750 response time" and you'll find them easily enough. Before buying the GT750 I read just about every review on the web about it (only exaggerating a little bit sadly), this was just the projector that worked best for me. It's been over a month now and I still love my GT750.

Thanks Derek......,

.....and please take no offense Fozzman76. It did seem a bit incredulous as specification. I suppose it is tied to the fact that the 750 is not 1080p, but a WXGA unit designed as stated to be optimal for Gaming 1st, and Home Theater use 2nd.

But everything is here for a purpose, and I happen to have need for a Short Throw PJ for a Display, so hey.....I'm on board it seems.