My laser projector is crystal clear, colorful, bright and the fan never kicks on. It can do 4K/60Hz or 1080p/240Hz. Highly recommend. I have a 120" gray screen a couple meters away and I code on it all the time.
Nowadays it's even easier with the wealth of ultra short throw projectors on the market, if you have the budget. Personally I got an open-box long-throw projector for half-off at $1500, plus a $500 mid-budget screen. Definitely worth the investment.
Optoma UHZ50. It's not a high-end model and a lot of people have reported issues, but I've had none and I think it was a no-brainer at 50% off on an open box.
It's not true 4K in that it's natively 1080p, but has a mirror that rapidly shifts the laser, allowing it to show "4K" albeit at 60Hz instead of 240Hz. Not quite as clear as true 4K, and if you get really close to your screen you'll see pixel lines corresponding to 1080p, but it's not noticeable from even two feet away.
It's also a single laser, not triple laser, so it's not quite as vibrant or bright as a triple laser, but it's also way less expensive.
Personally, I leave it on 1080p/240Hz when gaming and it's very lush. Paired with the right screen, it can be vibrant and have great black levels. I've been using it for a year and a half almost daily with no problems. I recommend it if you can find it at a good price, but if I got a projector today I'd probably look for an ultra short throw out of convenience. If you have a higher budget though, I'd recommend looking at some higher-end models.
The noise varies quite a lot, the main issue imho is that they're close to useless when daylight is in the room so you're going to be mostly working with the blinds drawn if you're hoping to work on it.
A little bit. You could get an ultra-short throw projector which sits close to the screen, and sit on the other side of the room. Projectors still draw more power than monitors; but, with new tech like LED and laser lighting, it doesn't matter that much.
