Acer's Predator Gaming Projector Can Be Yours For $5,000
Acer announced the availability of its Predator Z850 gaming projector, the "world's first" projector designed for gaming. If you want the new device to become the envy of your next LAN party or the cornerstone of your gaming sanctum, you'll have to cough up a considerable wad of cash—the Predator Z850 costs $5,000.
The Predator Z850 features an ultra-wide aspect ratio of 24:9, effectively displaying a 50 percent wider image compared to traditional 16:9 displays. The 1920 x 720 image can be stretched up to 120 inches (diagonally) from a distance as small as 18.5 inches, saving space requirements usually associated with projectors. The 3,000-lumens laser diodes provide an impressive 100,000:1 contrast ratio for rich and vivid colors, even at massive screen sizes.
To connect your PC, the Acer Predator Z850 sports two VGA inputs, two HDMI inputs and an RCA input. To save yourself from a potential mess of wires, the Z850 can be paired with an optional wireless HD kit to stream content.
Acer appears to be a lone wolf in a whole new market segment (which it seems to have created itself), and the $5,000 price tag could perhaps be the starting point for high-end laser projectors of this nature. Until a competitor presents us with an alternative, we'll have to assume Acer is giving us a somewhat fair price for the Predator Z850, since projectors aren't cheap; but we can't imagine we'll be seeing many of these in the wild anytime soon because of its steep cost. Still, it's nice to dream.
Derek Forrest is an Associate Contributing Writer for Tom’s Hardware and Tom’s IT Pro. Follow Derek Forrest on Twitter. Follow us on Facebook, Google+, RSS, Twitter and YouTube.
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Derek Forrest was a contributing freelance writer for Tom's Hardware. He covered hardware news and reviews, focusing on gaming desktops and laptops.
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TechyInAZ I can see why this product is all alone. Why would anybody want to game on a projector? LED monitors look so much better than a colorful wall.Reply -
David Dewis ReplyI can see why this product is all alone. Why would anybody want to game on a projector? LED monitors look so much better than a colorful wall.
I have a projector to game on and watch movies with. But its full 1080p. When you have a dark room, it ats a great experience having a 100" screen. I do usually play on a 4k monitor and 4k tv though. Depends on the game and the situation. -
Nyhil116 What self respecting gamer would pay $5,000 for a short throw projector with a resolution of 1920x720... Seriously wtf? Maybe if it had a 5760x2160 resolution or even 3840x1440 would be good... But even then you would need to have gsync and more than 120hz to make it worthwhile... The price is far to high for what you would get.Reply
On a side note though, having the ability to do a ultra wide custom wrap around screen at 3840x1440 with gsync and a high refresh rate would totally be worth spending $5k so long as the 120" curved screen came with it lol. -
Quixit $5,000 is a stupid price for this, you can get a better 1080p projectors for less. I was expecting something like GSync support to justify the price, but nope.Reply -
gggplaya 1980 x720 for $5000, wow, i'd never buy this for personal use. But i guess for tournaments and things like that in public spaces, it makes sense.Reply -
rantoc Replyat least it the resolution is low enough that a low end system could max it out :D
Yeah even a console is enough, shame! -
rantoc Seems Acer really have catched up to the "Gaming" trend... make a standard product a few % better for a few cents, label it "Gaming" and take 5-10x the money for it and the sheeps will comeReply -
turkey3_scratch Well, if you own a movie theater, you're already rich enough probably to own this projector.Reply -
Nossy LOL. More like $500. You can get a 4k2k projector of high quality like a Sony or JVC for around $5,000.Reply