Hey,

Has anyone tried pico8 (or any retro gaming stuff) via a pico projector? I was thinking about those low res (720p-) you can get for cheap ; maybe led powered? I have no idea, never owned a projector.

Technical note:

If you want to get a 720-or-so projector and you like to run pico-8 with pixel-perfect scaling (no partial pixels when each original pixel is scaled up), then you might want to look for something with a vertical resolution that's a multiple of 128.

For a while there were a bunch of projectors that were 768 vertically. That would work well.

It's not that big a deal though. You can always use non-perfect scaling or, in the case of 720p, go with a pixel-perfect size of 640, leaving a 40px border on the edges.

Otherwise I know very little about projectors, other than you need a dark room and a good surface, so I'll leave it at that.

Most of those really cheap projectors in the <$100 range have built-in scaling. (They may say they "Support" 720p, but they only project at some much lower resolution.)

Not necessarily disastrous for Pico-8, of course! Even those Brookstone Keychain Projectors have 320 x 240 native resolution. So, in theory that'd work for Pico-8.

I worry that the scaling algorithm would muddy the pixel art, but maybe that's an authentic 8-bit experience.

Heh, don't remind me about the horrors of RF connectors on real 8-bit computers.

<shudder>

You don't want authentic, trust me.

...you know...

I just had a fun idea. Sorry, nothing to do with Pico-8, only the subject of pocket projectors. I wonder how well it would work to run an array of these little $25 pocket projectors behind a semi-spherical screen, using spiffy stitching+reprojection software to give a wide spherical field of view.

You'd probably need too many for it to be practical. Like, even 720p-equivalent resolution would require 12 of them. Even with the current buy-1-get-1-½-off sale, plus a $60 code, plus free shipping, that still comes to $210, which would get you a 2-3 real, better 1080p projectors, albeit without the option to arrange tiny sections at will. ;)

Still, what a fun idea to play with. :)

Anyway, sorry, had the thought and had to share it.

Who says I don't want authentic?

As far as I'm concerned, Pico-8 isn't a real 8-bit experience until I need one of these :

"Damnit, I had the HDMI plug upside down. What a pain."

"Shut up kid. You didn't need a screwdriver and a third hand."