The first ‘Designed for Xbox’ projector arrives in the US next month for $1,600

Although this is the first projector with the badge, Microsoft’s “Design for Xbox” program There is a pre-existing initiative that has worked with other manufacturers to ensure that their accessories are compatible with its consoles. According to Microsoft, the program already includes “over 15 categories”, such as headsets, gamepads and racing wheels, as well as a range of displays from 2021.

To be clear, you can plug your Xbox into almost any projector and expect it to work. But ViewSonic senior business line manager Mia Shen claims that its X2-4K projector was “developed as a true gaming projector” and “put through 63 tests conducted by Team Xbox to ensure ultimate console compatibility.” gone.” Specifically, ViewSonic notes that the X2-4K is certified to work with HDMI’s Consumer Electronics Control (CEC) standard to allow a connected console to control projector features such as power and volume — though it adds that the feature works with “any current.” gaming console ”and not just Xbox.

More importantly, the X2-4K is styled in the classic Xbox brand colors of black and green, so at the very least it’ll match the color scheme of your Xbox Series X (though maybe your white Series S, Excuse me). It also mentions “Xbox exclusive resolution and refresh rate combination,” though it’s unclear what that means — we’ve pinged the company for more details.

ViewSonic says the X2-4K can project a display of up to 100 inches when placed just 1.5 meters (about five feet) from your wall (this is a short-throw projector – not to be confused with ultra-short-throw shouldn’t be) and delivers a claimed 2,900 lumens of brightness. Although it looks bright gizmodo notes That rating drops to 2,150 lumens when using the more industry-standard ANSI measurement.

The X2-4K is equipped with two HDMI ports and a pair of 6W Harmon Kardon-branded speakers. Unsurprisingly, those HDMI ports use the 2.0 rather than the 2.1 standard, and the projector’s framerate tops out at 60Hz when showing 4K content. You’ll need to lower the projector’s resolution to 1440p to play compatible Xbox games at 120Hz, though given the lack of games that can max out the console’s resolution and framerate simultaneously that may not be much of a limitation. Can The X2-4K projector can also be played at 240Hz if you’re willing to drop the resolution down to 1080p.