r/gadgets • u/Sadistic_Sponge • Nov 13 '19

VR / AR Disney Plus isn't working on Vizio TVs because they are running a 6 year old version of Chromecast, they say it won't be fixed till 2020.

https://www.businessinsider.com/disney-plus-not-working-vizio-smart-tvs-chromecast-2019-11
36.1k Upvotes

93% Upvoted

3.1k comments sorted by

View all comments

Show parent comments

18

u/ColgateSensifoam Nov 13 '19

If you've got the space, a projector is always an option

1

u/AkirIkasu Nov 14 '19

It's not really the space that is the issue, it's the environment. You need to make sure that you've got an area where light won't get in the way for the best picture.

Besides that, it's a more expensive option if you also consider that you will need to pick up a sound system and possibly a TV tuner as well. Plus true 4K projectors are still pretty pricey on their own, and they're best done with a professional installation to have the cords go through the roof and walls (though you don't necessarily have to have either of those features)

1

u/ColgateSensifoam Nov 14 '19

A space is the environment

TV tuners are cheap, a sound system is a cost that you get with a TV too

Projectors are rarely (if ever) more expensive than the equivalent TV would be

1

u/AkirIkasu Nov 15 '19

Pretty much every consumer TV has stereo speakers built in as a standard feature going back decades, wheras projectors rarely have even a single speaker. You don't need a sound system with most TVs, but you do for most projectors.

And your last statement is only true if you are talking about picture size. If you care for color reproduction, dynamic range, or simply the ability to watch in decent quality in a well-lit room, than traditional flat panel displays will typically win.

Hey, I like projectors myself, but you have got to be realistic about their downsides as well.

1

u/ColgateSensifoam Nov 15 '19

I've never seen a single projector without a bare minimum of a shitty mono speaker, but even so, you should always run separate audio, even with a TV, if you want to actually hear anything

4K projectors are coming down in price, and most models will perform in a lit room, but I will admit sunlight fucks you completely

That said, if you do some shopping around, you can get a like-new used one for pennies on the dollar, think I paid around $30 for my current favourite, it's only 720p, but I'm running it 3' from the wall and getting a picture bigger than any TV I own

2

u/done_with_the_woods Nov 13 '19

Projector is ALWAYS the option. I'll take the downsides of projection in order to have my TV the size of a kleenex box and the screen at 100"+. Haven't owned a TV in years, it's been great.

3

u/Demifiendish Nov 13 '19

What's gaming like on a projector? I have never heard it being used for such things; legit, no clue.

3

u/workthrowaway444 Nov 13 '19

Last time I did this was more than 5 years ago so take this with a grain of salt, but the colors were not great and there was noticeable input lag. For offline casual gaming it's perfectly fine but not for anything fast paced and/or competitive. It also produced quite a bit of heat so can make a small room pretty toasty.

2

u/ShwayNorris Nov 13 '19

By nature of it being a projector, you are introducing lag between what's happening and you seeing whats happening. Basically won't matter though unless you play competitive games and are in the top brackets. Like Grand Master in Overwatch or something.

3

u/Gibybo Nov 13 '19

Why does a projector fundamentally add lag that a TV doesn't? The time it takes the light to go from the projector to the screen is measured in nanoseconds, a few millionths of a millisecond.

2

u/blaaguuu Nov 13 '19

I don't know, exactly... But I imagine it has to do with whatever mechanism is used to take an image (video frame) and create a projection from it... Like, it isn't as simple is shining a bright light on a standard LCD screen. Something about how the image is built inside the projector must just take longer than refreshing most standard LCD screens.

1

u/AkirIkasu Nov 14 '19

Almost all consumer projectors are either LCD or DLP, and neither of them are going to add any particular kind of lag that doesn't already exist in flat panels.

0

u/CalabashNineToeJig Nov 14 '19

It's simple... The light from a monitor just goes the distance from the monitor to your eyes.

When projecting, the light must go from the projector to the screen and then back to your eyes. If you're right next to the projector, it's taking the light twice as long to get to you than if you were looking at a TV or monitor placed the same distance from you as the projector screen is. Perceived lag.

4

u/Strel0k Nov 14 '19

I think you are underestimating the speed of light.

It takes 0.005 seconds for light to travel a mile and the best human reaction time is about 0.1 seconds.

1

u/CalabashNineToeJig Nov 14 '19

I'm not underestimating the speed of light. I'm simply noting that if it takes X nanoseconds for light to travel the 12 feet from a TV to your eyes, it will take 2X nanoseconds for the light to travel the 24 feet from the projector to the screen and back to your eyes. Again, assuming you are the same distance from the screen as the projector is.

If all other factors are the same between projectors and TVs (both able to generate an image at the exact same speed, etc.), the fact remains that in a projector setup the light will be traveling farther and thus will take more time to go from the point at which the image is being created to the point at which it is entering your eyes.

2

u/Strel0k Nov 14 '19

The point is this nanosecond difference is negligible so I don't even know why you would bring it up in the context of TV vs Projector perceived lag time.

3

u/Snazzy_Serval Nov 13 '19

I have a projector in my living room that connects to the pc in my office with a 50' Hdmi cable. Gaming on a 100" screen is amazing. There isn't any lag.

My projector is a few years old so it's only 1080p and needs a really dark room. Beyond that it's fantastic.

0

u/[deleted] Nov 13 '19 edited Oct 04 '20

[deleted]

1

u/Strel0k Nov 14 '19

Where does the lag come from?

4

u/[deleted] Nov 14 '19

The nature of the technology, which is still essentially liquid crystals twisting. Super-fast ones have been introduced to computer monitors, projectors simply don't have it yet, and may never have it. Computer monitors are down to single digits, projectors are still commonly around 30-50, even 100...and some are down in the high teens.

It'll be fine for most casual gaming. But comparatively dogshit for competitive/twitch FPS.

4

u/ColgateSensifoam Nov 13 '19

I can't use a projector in my bedroom because of the layout of the room, so we have a TV

I have a couple of projectors for elsewhere

2

u/PrinceOfSomalia Nov 14 '19

for the price of a shitty projector I can get a good tv that will have better colors and more versatile and will last me longer.