Thread by @GreenCloak_GCC

Hey #ttrpgfamily, since we’re hopefully going to be playing in-person games again “soon,” let’s talk about using a projector to place digital maps and assets on your table for IRL gameplay. (Thread inspired by @StephCampb7 and @n_quests convo) This is a long one! 1/20

I used a projector for tabletop gaming for over a year before the pandemic, and one of my “day jobs” is as an audio/video tech for stage and film, so I’ve got some recommendations and advice to help you get started. 2/20

The first thing to consider is what outputs your computer has. Some have HDMI ports built in, some have VGA, some only have USB. Look at the input ports the projector has or what sort of adapter you’ll need to connect the two. HDMI is my fave. 3/20

Don’t forget to factor in buying a long enough cable to reach from your spot at the table to wherever the projector ends up mounted! When in doubt, buy longer than you need. There’s nothing worse than a precarious cable coming unplugged mid-game. 4/20

That goes for the power cord too! You’ll need to run the power and video cables up, over, down, around, etc to keep them out of the way of people’s feet and your dice rolls. It’s easy to coil and tie extra cable, it’s hard to squeeze out that last inch of reach. 5/20

Next is the brightness of the projector. This is SO IMPORTANT. A lot of pocket, portable, and cheap ones have terrible brightness output. They only look good in a completely dark room. Depending on your budget, get the highest number of Lumens you can afford. 6/20

There are calculations to compare lumens to lightbulbs, but it’s more complex than you need to worry about for this job. You also shouldn’t worry about contrast, saturations, or lamp life. If a projector doesn’t list its lumen output on its product page, it’s probably bad. 7/20

Resolution is also not super important. Even 720p is fine for putting on a table from 5 feet away. Don’t waste your money on 4k unless you also plan on using the projector to watch movies on the side of your house. 8/20

Another thing to look for is the ability to focus & keystone the image. Focus is obvious since you only have so much up/down to adjust between the table and ceiling. Keystoning is stretching the image into a parallelogram to account for angled throws. Not mandatory but nice. 9/20

What’s throw? That’s how far your image has to go to get from the lens to the table. Most product pages talk about how BIG they can make a picture, but we don’t actually care about that here. More important is the MINIMUM throw and how large the picture is at that distance. 10/20

Next let’s talk about your tabletop. You want a neutral colored surface so it shows the image well. Reds, greens, oranges, etc will muddy your picture and colors. White, tan, or light woods are best. I’ve even used a dry erase board/mat for the best of both worlds! 11/20

Ok, let’s get to mounting/suspending. Most consumer ones don’t come with mounting holes, they’re meant to sit on a table/shelf. I rigged up some stands with a bar between & hung the projector by straps to point down. Mine are heavy duty film production gear, so not common. 12/20

You can get a set of adjustable height backdrop stands online, just make sure you put extra weights on their legs so they don’t wobble when people inevitably bump into them. If going the strap/hanging route, tape the straps, or strap in both directions. Redundancy is GOOD. 13/20

One note against the strap/hang method: projectors usually have cooling fans & fans don’t like spinning off-axis. Dangling a projector at a non-level angle will probably make the fan angry. It may make noises and it may shorten the overall lifespan of your projector. YMMV. 14/20

One alternative is finding a high shelf (china cabinet?) to put the unit on and using a mirror (or series of mirrors if you’re fancy) to get the image onto your tabletop. This is probably safer overall (no dangling electronics), but way trickier to accomplish. 15/20

Another alternative, if you have a glass table, is putting the projector on the floor and doing a “rear projection” through the table. Again, safer overall, but more likely someone will kick it. You could also go old school and use the wall! 16/20

Let’s go back to brightness for a moment. You don’t want competing light sources shining directly on the table, so arrange your room lighting to point up/away from the table whenever possible. 17/20

Last, general usage during the game. I like to set mine up as a second desktop. That way I can send pictures and maps to the table while still having a “backstage” on my main laptop screen. You can also mirror your desktop if you just want WYSIWYG. 18/20

Using a projector for tabletop really is cool. It’s definitely an investment of time & $, but it lets you use digital maps (pan, zoom, blur!), artwork, ambient music (built-in speakers), while also letting players gather around & interact with everything in real time. 19/20

Thanks for reading this far! I’d love to hear about your experiences with projectors or any questions you might have about them. Happy gaming, everyone! #ttrpgsolidarity #ttrpgfamily #DnD 20/20

And now that it is complete, hey @threadreaderapp , unroll please.