ViewSonic PX706HD Gaming Projector Review - Special Features

Posted on October 22, 2018 by Nikki Zelinger

ViewSonic PX706HD Gaming Projector Review – Special Features: Low Input Lag, Portability, 3D Ready, Compatibility with PC, Mac, and Smart Devices, PC-Free Presentations

Low Input Lag

ViewSonic claims the PX706HD has an input lag of 16ms. First, let me put this in perspective. Acceptable lag times range from 16ms to 50ms, with 50ms or a little bit higher being acceptable to all but the most hardcore, high-speed gamers. You know the type – those that compete, or have about a million Twitch followers. For those of us who game for the fun of it, 50ms would be just fine.

33ms to 40ms is pretty good. It’s totally fine for those of us who are not competing, and just want to play a little Horizon Zero Dawn or FarCry 5 after work or on the weekends. The ViewSonic measured at 33ms, as mentioned, which translates to just over one frame behind on a 30fps game, and 2 frames on a 60fps game. My Epson Home Cinema 5040UB, a $2,500 home theater projector, measures at around 31ms or so, and I don’t notice any lag issues on my games.

Now, to the ViewSonic PX706HD. It measured at an impressive 16.4ms – but only when you have 3X Fast Input on. That feature is located in the Display Menu. When it’s turned off, the projector measures at 33ms input lag. Not bad, but if you’re a serious gamer, you’ll want to turn on 3X Fast Input before starting up your gaming session.

Portable

The ViewSonic PX706HD is highly portable. The projector weighs just six pounds, and measures 11.5” wide, 8.7” long, and 4.5” tall. It can easily be packed up in a backpack or shoulder bag and taken to a friend’s house for some friendly gaming, projecting on their wall or paired with a low-cost portable screen like this one from On The Go Screens (full disclosure, Art is partner in this company). My brother currently has this particular one.

I mentioned on the first page that split-screen co-op seems to be a thing of the past, which is a real shame for those of us who have friends that we like to hang out in the same room with. One day, my fiancé and our friend were playing GTA V online, in our respective houses. They wanted to play in the same room, so we had our friend, Mike, come over with his PS4.

I set him up with one of the projectors I have here, and projected it on our wall, next to our mounted screen. My fiancé, Jake, was playing on our 92” screen, and Mike’s gaming station was projecting around 60”, I think. It was about as big or larger than his 4K TV. So they hopped in a session of GTA online and started wreaking havoc in the virtual representation of Los Angeles and surrounding areas. Personally, I’d be really interested to try this with FarCry 5’s online game mode, where you can hop into your friend’s campaign game and fight some cultists.

This is our workaround for the lack of good split screen co-op games available for PS4. Two projectors side by side, playing online together.

The picture above shows the setup we were working with. This was a totally fun experience that can easily be replicated with your friends, and with any online game. Simply bring your ViewSonic PX706HD and gaming console to your friend’s house and project on their wall while they play on their TV. Keep in mind that you and your friend will have to game on the same type of console – two PlayStations, or two Xbox consoles. The two brands haven’t made nice and come up with a solution that allows cross-platform gaming – yet. I still have hopes!

3D Ready

Whether you’re looking to watch 3D movies or play 3D games, the ViewSonic PX706HD has got you covered. This kind of immersive experience is what some gamers and movie fans love. I’m not aware of any current 3D games, as the majority of which came out pre-2014. But, you will be able to watch those 3D movies if that’s your game. Somewhat related – you can hook up your PlayStation VR (different from 3D). For me, until 3D or VR gets to the level of Ready Player One, I’m not interested. That movie ruined VR for me and now I need a haptic suit or I’m just unequivocally unimpressed.

A scene from Ready Player One as projected by the ViewSonic PX706HD Projector — I need this suit and the totally immersive VR experience from Ready Player One. What do you think - another ten years or so? Less? I'm hoping less.

Compatibility with PC, Mac, and Smart Phones

The ViewSonic PX706HD has a USB-C port for projecting images, video, and audio. It also provides fast charging for chargeable devices that are plugged in. The projector is compatible with PCs, Macs, and smart phones, making it suitable for presentations.

It’s not likely that a gamer is going to be presenting, but if you wanted to give a presentation at your high school or college and look like a badass, the PC706HD’s high lumen output and multiple OS compatibility will do the trick. And it’s probably better than whatever outdated projector they’ve got installed in the classroom.

Next up is our tour of the hardware, where we will discuss the projector as a whole, and then go into further detail. We’ll cover the inputs and connectors, lens, control panel, remote control, and the menus. After that, we’ll get into the good stuff – Picture Quality and Performance. See you on the next page!

ViewSonic PX706HD Gaming Projector Review – Special Features: Low Input Lag, Portability, 3D Ready, Compatibility with PC, Mac, and Smart Devices, PC-Free Presentations

Low Input Lag

ViewSonic claims the PX706HD has an input lag of 16ms. First, let me put this in perspective. Acceptable lag times range from 16ms to 50ms, with 50ms or a little bit higher being acceptable to all but the most hardcore, high-speed gamers. You know the type – those that compete, or have about a million Twitch followers. For those of us who game for the fun of it, 50ms would be just fine.

33ms to 40ms is pretty good. It’s totally fine for those of us who are not competing, and just want to play a little Horizon Zero Dawn or FarCry 5 after work or on the weekends. The ViewSonic measured at 33ms, as mentioned, which translates to just over one frame behind on a 30fps game, and 2 frames on a 60fps game. My Epson Home Cinema 5040UB, a $2,500 home theater projector, measures at around 31ms or so, and I don’t notice any lag issues on my games.

Now, to the ViewSonic PX706HD. It measured at an impressive 16.4ms – but only when you have 3X Fast Input on. That feature is located in the Display Menu. When it’s turned off, the projector measures at 33ms input lag. Not bad, but if you’re a serious gamer, you’ll want to turn on 3X Fast Input before starting up your gaming session.

Portable

The ViewSonic PX706HD is highly portable. The projector weighs just six pounds, and measures 11.5” wide, 8.7” long, and 4.5” tall. It can easily be packed up in a backpack or shoulder bag and taken to a friend’s house for some friendly gaming, projecting on their wall or paired with a low-cost portable screen like this one from On The Go Screens (full disclosure, Art is partner in this company). My brother currently has this particular one.

I mentioned on the first page that split-screen co-op seems to be a thing of the past, which is a real shame for those of us who have friends that we like to hang out in the same room with. One day, my fiancé and our friend were playing GTA V online, in our respective houses. They wanted to play in the same room, so we had our friend, Mike, come over with his PS4.

I set him up with one of the projectors I have here, and projected it on our wall, next to our mounted screen. My fiancé, Jake, was playing on our 92” screen, and Mike’s gaming station was projecting around 60”, I think. It was about as big or larger than his 4K TV. So they hopped in a session of GTA online and started wreaking havoc in the virtual representation of Los Angeles and surrounding areas. Personally, I’d be really interested to try this with FarCry 5’s online game mode, where you can hop into your friend’s campaign game and fight some cultists.

The picture above shows the setup we were working with. This was a totally fun experience that can easily be replicated with your friends, and with any online game. Simply bring your ViewSonic PX706HD and gaming console to your friend’s house and project on their wall while they play on their TV. Keep in mind that you and your friend will have to game on the same type of console – two PlayStations, or two Xbox consoles. The two brands haven’t made nice and come up with a solution that allows cross-platform gaming – yet. I still have hopes!

3D Ready

Whether you’re looking to watch 3D movies or play 3D games, the ViewSonic PX706HD has got you covered. This kind of immersive experience is what some gamers and movie fans love. I’m not aware of any current 3D games, as the majority of which came out pre-2014. But, you will be able to watch those 3D movies if that’s your game. Somewhat related – you can hook up your PlayStation VR (different from 3D). For me, until 3D or VR gets to the level of Ready Player One, I’m not interested. That movie ruined VR for me and now I need a haptic suit or I’m just unequivocally unimpressed.

Compatibility with PC, Mac, and Smart Phones

The ViewSonic PX706HD has a USB-C port for projecting images, video, and audio. It also provides fast charging for chargeable devices that are plugged in. The projector is compatible with PCs, Macs, and smart phones, making it suitable for presentations.

It’s not likely that a gamer is going to be presenting, but if you wanted to give a presentation at your high school or college and look like a badass, the PC706HD’s high lumen output and multiple OS compatibility will do the trick. And it’s probably better than whatever outdated projector they’ve got installed in the classroom.

Next up is our tour of the hardware, where we will discuss the projector as a whole, and then go into further detail. We’ll cover the inputs and connectors, lens, control panel, remote control, and the menus. After that, we’ll get into the good stuff – Picture Quality and Performance. See you on the next page!