Panasonic's PT-AX200U 720P front projector is being billed as "an affordable luxury for gaming and home theater enthusiasts."

To show off the AX200's gaming capabilities, Panasonic has recruited Major League Gaming professional gamer Tom "Tsquared" Taylor to demonstrate in person the unit's unique gaming mode.

The gaming mode improves signal processing for 1/3 faster response time over prior Panasonic projectors. By increasing the throughput time of the incoming video, signal processing speeds up by as much as 60 percent.

That kind of boost translates into much less "Game Lag," which is critical for serious gamers and professionals like Tsquared.

Reflex and reaction times for these professionals -- and, more importantly, serious hardcore gaming customers -- have become so fast that the delay introduced by a video projector's signal processing chip can mean the difference between winning an online match or going home empty without a title win.

The gaming mode also…

As if they weren't cool enough, those big golf simulators are getting a facelift. Visual Sports Systems, a provider of interactive, commercial game simulators is breaking into the home entertainment market with its new V-100 Residential Sports Simulator.

Visual Sports has added several golf courses to its roster -- now numbering 55 – "with perfect course reproduction" of the best courses in the world, like Pebble Beach and the British Open. Software options include Photo-Realistic software that uses actual digital images of the golf course; and computer-generated images that look more like a video game.

The complete system includes the Visual Sports computer (PC) console, software, and Visual Sports proprietary object tracking system that records speed, distance, launch angle, and exact location of each shot. Also included is a new quiet, impact-resistant Silencer screen available in display sizes from 8 feet to 16 feet wide. Integrators can add any projector and surround-sound system to the mix.

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A lot of CEDIA Expo attendees will be temped to "get their game on" at the Game Cabinets Inc. booth, David Flagg, president, says.

The manufacturer of classic arcade games recently released a product geared toward the home theater market. It will be fully set up in the booth and integrators can swing by and have fun with it, he promises.

The Stinger is a joystick controller that has a full computer inside, Flagg explains.

"Anything you can do on your home computer you can do through this joystick on your TV." That includes surfing the Internet and having fun with online gambling, using Microsoft Windows Media Center Edition, loading in PC games and using its DVR function, he says, adding that it also has a DVD drive.