5 Reasons Soccer Viewing and Gaming are Better on Projectors

Fans of soccer would do well to consider an upgrade from their plain old TV to a projector. Big, bright, and more lifelike, projected images leave the rigid form factors of even the biggest TVs far behind. Whether watching matches or playing FIFA or PES, fans of the beautiful game definitely glean much more enjoyment with projectors. Especially now that technology means gaming projectors handle even the most response-dependent games just as well as big format TVs, except with even larger displays. Want your football team’s latest match on a 120” screen? Feel like a 100” pitch is the only way to enjoy the latest from EA Sports in glorious 4K HDR? Then you need a sports projector, because no TV offers screens that big with image quality so good at a price even remotely non-astronomical.

Luckily manufacturers like BenQ have moved to address the growing audience for sports projectors, with specific modes catering to soccer a reality. Yes, you get picture and sound modes designed to highlight the turf, accentuate player sounds, focus on the live audience, and so on.

For the sake of clarity, you can consider the TK850i, a superb smart 4K HDR projector for sports, movies, and TV. It can also handle gaming of course, but the TK700STi would be preferable for that, delivering 4K 60Hz for smooth gaming on your console of choice or PC. If you want even higher framerates, there’s the X1300i, which offers 1080p 120Hz. The latter two models have total input lag of 16ms and 8.3ms, respectively. That’s not noticeable to most people, and lower than most current TVs.

And if you want to watch or game soccer on the go with a portable projector, then the BenQ GS2 has you covered, casting a bright 500 lumen 720p image onto nearly any surface, with a three hour battery life. That’s enough for even a prolonged footie match with extra time and penalty shootouts.

Now let’s look at those five reasons. 

After the depressing effects of COVID-19 on global sporting events, it appears like things are in a state of upswing and recovery. In most parts of the world, soccer leagues are coming back, with live audiences and all. Championships are set to resume in Europe with UEFA EURO 2020, and if you’re in North America then the MLS and CONCACAF are also back in action. So, fans have lots of catching up to do and tons of joy to look forward to. Naturally, the FIFA and PES video game franchises will both get 2022 editions towards late summer or early fall of this year. Even more to anticipate! 

In the past you may have had the excuse of saying that projectors aren’t really good for more than movies and TV. That they’re not suitable for fast-moving sports content and gaming. None of that is the case anymore. The models we listed above and many others all offer parity with the best TVs in terms of performance, except on an exponentially larger and more affordable screen. 

We touched on this above, but now’s the time for a closer look. Carefully engineered to deliver the best of the spectacle of sports, this mode uses algorithms that highlight everything from the turf (or grass) to commentators, spectators, players, even uniforms. It’s a combination of audio and video enhancements and refinements that helps you feel like you’re attending the match in person. BenQ Sports Mode actively looks for materials, colors, and sounds to enhance that are intimately linked to enjoyment of a good match. It really makes a difference and you won’t feel like going back to just regular TV viewing after experiencing BenQ Sports Mode on a giant screen. 

Well, perhaps we’re exaggerating slightly. But for dedicated FIFA and PES gamers, projectors tuned and designed for responsive gaming deliver an experience on a whole different level. Yes, the word “immersion” is overly used, but there’s simply no better way to put it. If you want to feel as one with your futbol passion, then sitting back in front of a 120” screen with a super responsive projector is an eye-popping way to enjoy soccer gaming. 

Big screen TVs weigh a ton and are designed to stay in place until you get a new one. That’s not the case even with full-size projectors, which are lighter than TVs. But then you have portable projectors, which are super light, compact, and still capable of big screen display. And that’s in almost any location, even during the day! Want to have a tailgate party before a match? Portable projector. Want to watch your team play while enjoying good times with friends in the backyard? Portable projector again. We love TVs, but with all due respect, they can’t do that. Portable projectors can, and with displays much bigger than anything TVs can muster.

So there you go, five reasons. We could have gone for eleven, but that would have required a referee, possibly. Have fun!