Projector recommendations

[TomHoward]

We have a venue that we are looking for costs for a replacement projector & screen for.

 

Currently we have a Christie LX605 and a Da-Lite 4:3 screen at 12ft width (so 9ft height)

 

We are looking to swap for a 16:9 screen, currently the screen isn't big enough when using letterboxed, so we'd like to keep the same height of 9ft so that gives a 16ft x 9ft motorised screen.

 

The LX605 isn't bright enough on the current screen (that's 6000 lumens), so we'd need to go up in terms of brightness output, plus an increase to allow for the increase in screen size.

 

Does anyone have any recommendations of how much we ought to increase by, and models of screen or projector?

Should we only really be looking at laser now?

Recommendations of suppliers or interested in quoting please let me know. Likely to purchase in summer (academic) but need to get rough costs soon.

[mac.calder]

Off the top of my head, I would look at the following - they are all around the same price

 

Epson EB-L1495UNL 9000 lumen projector

 

Panasonic PT-RZ970BE 10,000 lumen projector

 

Barco G60-W10 10,000 lumen projectors

[timsabre]

The main advantages of laser are (1) longer life with much more constant light output over time and (2) sealed optical path so no dust in the optics. They are quite a bit more expensive, however by the time you've factored in the cost of a few lamps not so much more.

[mac.calder]

They are quite a bit more expensive

 

Not so much any more - at least under 20,000 lumens, laser is cost-comparative (and in some cases, with some brands, your only option). Light output with laser is linear - at 20,000 hours, most lasers are at 50% brightness, and their decline is a nice gently slope... Some brands (like Panasonic) have started running lasers at 85-90% power, which allows it to pretty much coast along at that 85% for most of the life of the projector..

 

Contrast that with a lamp projector, which will have a quick drop at around the 2-300 hour mark to around 75%, then potter along and then hit another cliff and drop further.

Edited January 31, 2020 by mac.calder

[timsabre]

Right, we were recently looking in the 3k lumens area and the laser types seem to have quite a price premium along those projectors. I guess there's a lot more products competing at those light levels.

[TomHoward]

Apologies for a basic question then but is the laser light source replaceable in the laser or is the 20,000 the end of the projector life?

 

Is the 85% drive a recommendation for the Panasonics, I guess there’s not an easy way to tell how hard the source is driven?

[mac.calder]

The "lamp life" is generally how many hours to half brightness. 20k hours is 10 years at 5 hours a day - good chance you will be replacing before you get even close. I know the larger projectors will often have replacable light sources, but I would be surprised if anything under 12k did.

 

The 85% thing on the Panasonic is a setting - just like lamp based projectors often have an "ECO" mode - it then regulates the power to the light source.

 

Below is from a Panasonic 27k projector to give an idea how power/brightness/lamp life correlate.

 

Light Source Laser diodes (Class 1)

Light-source life:

8,000 hours (High Mode, brightness decreases to approx. 70 %)

18,000 hours (High Mode, brightness decreases to approx. 50 %)

20,000 hours (Normal Mode, brightness decreases to approx. 50 %)

43,800 hours (Long Life 1 Mode, consistent brightness)

61,320 hours (Long Life 2 Mode, consistent brightness)

87,600 hours (Long Life 3 Mode, consistent brightness)

 

 

Brightness

27,000 lm (Center) / 26,000 lm [High Mode]

22,500 lm (Center) / 21,600 lm [Normal Mode]

12,000 lm [Long Life 1 Mode]

10,000 lm [Long Life 2 Mode]

8,000 lm [Long Life 3 Mode]

Edited February 1, 2020 by mac.calder

[TomHoward]

Thanks for all the above.

 

We are currently looking at Panasonic 10 / 12ks as above from AC-ET.

 

Looking at the screens, is there a big difference in screen quality?

 

I'm also trying to work out cost between a double-drop / twin motor screen and installing a winch motor to lower a bar with a single stage screen on it.

Currently the screen takes up one of our motor winch bars, but there are about 10 fixed bars it could go on instead with an additional winch installed.

[Stuart91]

I've had bad experiences with one particular brand of double-drop screen. I'm not sure if the problems were specific to this one manufacturer, but it's made me wary of them in general.

 

How far are you needing to drop? One option I've used in the past is a custom screen with additional black fabric above the projection surface. Seems to work pretty well. Get a tab-tensioned model so that the edges don't curl in. There's a limit to how much extra drop you can add, but we've done a 12ft drop above a 6ft high screen in the past without problems.

[ninjadingle]

We've had great results with the Epson lasers - started with the EB-L1300U (8k) in one room around 3 years ago and we've not had to touch it since.Must have put around 80 / 100 out now of various models and to my knowledge only 1 has had to go back.

 

Epsons also have a feature called "Constant Brightness" so you can reduce the power and maintain that brightness across a few thousand hours. In a lot of spaces we run the 8k at around 75% with no issues.

 

Also something to consider if you're using the brighter range (12k+) is Risk Groups - if your projector is RG3 then you need to set exclusion zones to avoid eye damage if anyone looks into the beam. Almost all of ours are RG2 so we're safe, but running a project now that'll use the EB-L1755U projector (15k) and it's starting to become a headache!

[mac.calder]

The pre-manufactured double deploys... I find they tend to be clunky and loud. Most are just using a bigger version of the blind motor used for the screen surface. The plus side is easy limit setting - the down side is the noise - and the need for an ugly fall arrest, as the blind motor is not double braked.