Although it is the first projector to bear the badge, Microsoft’s “Designed for Xbox” program is a pre-existing initiative that has seen it work with other manufacturers to ensure their accessories are compatible with the consoles. According to Microsoft, the program already includes “more than 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 just about any projector and expect it to work. But Viewsonic’s senior business line manager, Mia Shen, claims its X2-4K projector was “developed to be considered a true gaming projector” and “went through 63 tests conducted by Team Xbox to become the ultimate console”. compatibility.” In particular, Viewsonic notes that the X2-4K is certified to work with HDMI’s Consumer Electronics Control (CEC) standard, allowing a connected console to control projector functions such as power and volume – though it adds that the feature works with “any of current game consoles” and not just Xbox.

More importantly, the X2-4K is styled in the classic Xbox brand colors of black and green, so it will at least match the color scheme of your Xbox Series X (though probably not your white Series S, sorry). There’s also mention of “Xbox-exclusive combinations of resolution and refresh rate”, though it’s not clear exactly what this means – we’ve pinged the company for more details.

Viewsonic says the X2-4K can produce up to a 100-inch screen when placed just 5 feet away from your wall (it’s a short-throw projector after all – not to be confused with ultra-short-throw) and offers a claimed brightness of 2,900 lumens. That sounds pretty clear though Gizmodo notes that when using the more industry-standard ANSI measurement, that rating drops to 2,150 lumens.

The X2-4K is equipped with two HDMI ports and a pair of 6W Harmon Kardon speakers. Annoyingly, those HDMI ports use the 2.0 instead of the 2.1 standard, and the projector’s frame rate tops out at 60Hz when displaying 4K content. To play compatible Xbox games at 120Hz you’ll need to lower the projector’s resolution to 1440p, but given the lack of games that can max out the console’s resolution and framerate, that might not be too much of a limitation. The X2-4K projector can also run at 240Hz if you’re willing to drop the resolution down to 1080p.