

The TH685P has two HDMI 2.0 inputs, plus a powered USB port, an analog audio input and output, and an RS-232 control port. But for gaming with some room lights on, the Living Room and Game picture modes offer respectable performance. In the better-looking picture modes like Cinema and Sports, this projector is only modestly brighter than the HT2050A, and it has performance issues that make it a poor choice for movie-watching in a dark room (mediocre contrast, color, and black-level performance, plus noticeable light spill around the edges of the screen). The $800 TH685P has a claimed light output of 3,500 lumens we measured a maximum of 2,812 lumens in the Bright picture mode, but that mode is highly inaccurate and looks pretty bad. We tested the BenQ TH685P, which has a 120 Hz refresh rate, low input lag (listed at 8.3 ms for 120 Hz), and support for HDR10 and 4K signal input (downscaled to 1080p). But there are some solid 1080p HDR gaming projectors priced under $1,000. If you want an affordable gaming projector: You won’t find a great 4K HDR gaming projector for under $1,000, so we recommend that serious gamers check out our guide to the best living-room projector for better but slightly more expensive options. In terms of fan noise, it’s one of the quietest projectors we’ve tested. The built-in speaker can’t play very loud, but this projector has built-in Bluetooth, as well as HDMI ARC, optical digital, and analog audio outputs to send audio to an external sound system. There’s no lens shift or zoom, only keystone correction, so it will be trickier to position the image on a screen.

The PF610P has LG’s WebOS smart-TV platform built in (but no Netflix support), and it supports AirPlay 2 and Miracast streaming from a mobile device. And it is only about 35 percent as bright as our top pick, so it’s not an ideal mate for a really large screen or for use in a room with ambient light.

Its color accuracy and detail are excellent, but the contrast and black level aren’t as good as the lamp-based BenQ and Epson picks for movie-watching.

Because it uses an LED light source, it’s smaller than our picks, you won’t ever need to replace a bulb, and it has instant on/off capability. If you have a modest-sized screen (under 90 inches) and want a smaller, smart LED projector: The LG PF610P is loaded with features and delivers a nice-looking image.
