I think 4:3 and 16:9 are probably most common. I haven't used one personally, but I had a friend who did - although he ended up using it more for TV and consoles than for PCs. They should work great for retro-gaming since you don't need hi resolution modes (the price goes way way up as you approach HDTV resolutions).

The latency is going to be higher in the more reasonably priced models since they're aiming at people who want to use them for static images like PowerPoint presentations, but I doubt it'll be anything too horrible if it's a newer projector.

For the keyboard/mouse I'd recommend getting a lapdesk like you would get for a laptop, but just use it as a surface for the keyboard and mouse. You could even go wireless if you don't play a lot of modern first-person shooters.

The two main limitations I've seen with projectors are the relatively low resolutions in all but the highest-end ones, and the bulbs. The resolution wouldn't be that big a deal with an older system... 1024x768 seems to be about the norm for midrange projectors, and that's just fine for use with a Win9x gaming box. But it can be a bit limiting with modern stuff.

The bulbs are the most significant consideration, though... they only tend to last for maybe 2-3000 hours, and replacements usually cost almost as much as a new projector. That makes the things less than ideal for everyday use.

I can't really comment on response times or input latency, simply because I can't see it unless it's really bad. 50ms is close enough for me, on both points.

Maybe wait until they make decent LED projectors.

h-a-l-9000 wrote:

Maybe wait until they make decent LED projectors.

I wonder if they will though. Makes me think about how consumer printers are all about selling replacement ink cartridges now.

There actually already are some LED projectors, but they're only small palmtop-type devices with really low resolutions. I expect it will be awhile before there are any that will project a large screen at a decent resolution, but I'm sure someone will eventually come out with one, even if it doesn't take over as the standard.

HunterZ wrote:

h-a-l-9000 wrote:

Maybe wait until they make decent LED projectors.

I wonder if they will though. Makes me think about how consumer printers are all about selling replacement ink cartridges now.

They can make a nice profit on replacement bulbs.

The problem I've had running old PC's (VGA), especially under DOS, on a projector is the awkward display timings and resolutions used by many games and applications. Modern projectors seem to have difficult handling these non-standard VGA modes. I don't know why TFT monitors seem to handle this better. The technology is the same.