What are the three best laser projectors for creating an immersive room?

An immersive room is a virtual reality space where the walls are filled with projected images that are blended to create an immersive virtual experience. These rooms can create virtual realities that can be used in many ways from architects rendering building plans to training operating room nurses on how to manage specific crisis situations. While you can get all kinds of different shapes and sizes of immersive rooms – they all have one thing in common. Projectors.

Projectors are the only practical way to create an immersive room, and the latest models of projectors now have advanced features that maximize realism. We’ll take a look at the best high brightness laser projectors available for creating an immersive room today from three top projector brands and how they compare.  For this article we’ll look at the following criteria:

• What are the throw ratios available to make it easier to install?
• How accurate is the color on each projector and how well can they be blended?
• What maintenance is required and how much downtime is needed?
• Which models are rated for 24/7 use?
• What do they cost to purchase?

In 2024, hundreds of different projector models are available in the US, but there only a few that would work well with immersive rooms. The three laser projectors that we used for this article have over 5000 ANSI lumens, WUXGA resolution, offer 360° mounting, have short throw lenses, and are from established brands that are used in multiple immersive room projects around the world. These models from BenQ, Sharp/NEC, and Panasonic meet all these criteria. So, what is the differences between them, and would it make a difference in your project?

A short throw ratio is the first major difference between an immersive room projector and a regular projector used in classrooms and home theaters. These projectors must create an exceptionally large image while still being close to the wall to avoid creating shadows when people walk nearby.

These lenses are difficult to make and expensive, just like ultra-wide-angle lenses on a digital camera that capture a large image area while being close to the subject. For most immersive rooms, the projectors use lenses that are “Ultra Short Throw” and have less than a .5 throw ratio specification.

The BenQ LU960UST requires the least amount of space for mounting and has the lowest risk of creating a shadow in an immersive room. The Panasonic PT-MZ880BU requires the most amount of space but has a small zoom capability that offers a few inches of flexibility in a mounting location.

While nearly every company that provides immersive room systems has their own proprietary image blending software, the final image must be produced by the projector.  Here we will look at the color capabilities of each projector and what tools it has that can ensure the images will be properly blended when deployed.

Hollywood producers know that color is the key to creating realism, and immersive rooms are not much different than a digital cinema theater. The baseline color standard used for televisions and home theater, Rec. 709, is a good way to compare different projectors to determine if they can produce complex organic colors like grass, clouds, and shadows in a way that looks realistic like you see in televisions and movies.

Blending images requires that the pixels from one projector match the other projector. All three projectors enable you to adjust managed and adjust individual colors, but BenQ created a “Simulator” mode that prepares the projector for multi-projector blending. It will automatically setup the correct color tables, turn off features that would conflict with the blending software such as dynamic dimming and different types of digital correction, and adjust six other functions so that the projector can run a proprietary blending software effectively.   

BenQ LU960UST uses the same commercial quality DLP imaging chip technology used in every Digital IMAX theater.  This technology is immune from yellowing over time, and is rated to 100,000 hours of life.  If a non-DLP projector begins to yellow, it typically must be replaced. Both the NEC PV710UL-W1-13ZL and the Panasonic PT-MZ880BU use traditional LCD panel technology.

Minimizing downtime and operating cost in a commercial training and immersive room are an important part of the projector purchase decision. While these laser projectors don’t have replacement lamps, there are significant differences between the three models in how much maintenance you will need to build into your operation plan and budget.

If dust gets into the light engine on a laser projector, the laser can vaporize the dust and send it to key components such as lenses or control boards where it can damage the projector. The BenQ LU960UST projector has a sealed laser engine that is qualified as dust-proof using the IP5X industry standard test used for smart watches and industrial equipment. BenQ projectors don’t have any filters that need to be regularly cleaned or replaced.

Both the NEC PV710UL-W1-13ZL and the Panasonic PT-MZ880BU use paper filters that will need to be regularly cleaned and replaced to keep your immersive room running. The cleaning interval will vary by your installation location, but similar commercial golf simulation installations using filtered laser projectors can require monthly filter cleaning.

Since most immersive rooms use three or more projectors, how the filters are cleaned and replaced can take extra time in keeping your room running on schedule. The NEC / Sharp model uses paper filters that are vacuumed, and then replaced after 10,000 hours. The Panasonic filters need to be washed and dried (which takes longer than vacuuming) but can last up to 20,000 hours. Some installations replace filters when maintenance is needed to reduce the maintenance cycle time and minimize the risk of damaging the filters during cleaning.

Most immersive rooms are designed for heavy usage, especially those used for commercial training such as maritime, vehicle, and de-escalation simulations. While all three projector models are commercial grade, only the BenQ LU960UST is certified for 24/7 use. This gives you peace of mind that the projector won’t start losing color and image quality if your utilization rates increase.

While the base projector costs of all three projectors are similar, the BenQ LU960UST is the only model that has an integrated lens designed for room simulation applications. This enables the projector to have a shorter throw ratio than the other two models that require the purchase of a separate ultra short throw lens. Combined with the lower operating cost due to its sealed engine that doesn’t require regular filter cleaning, the BenQ has the lowest total cost of ownership of the three different models.

With immersive rooms growing in popularity every year as an effective training tool for complex environments, projector companies have responded with new models that are optimized for multiprotection blending software applications. While all three models are solid choices, the BenQ LU960UST offers a shorter throw ratio, the highest color accuracy specifications, and the lowest cost of ownership.