Video projector

[misterbassman]

Hi everyone,

 

I'm looking to buy a video projector. I have £1500 to spend and am looking for something around the 2000 lumen mark, It needs to be XGA and only needs the standard inputs, RGB and composite. It should be suitable for rear projection (which most nowadays are).

 

I am also looking for prices on a rear projection screen, 4:3, 2m - 2.5m wide

 

If anyone has any suggestions or experience I would be grateful.

 

thanks

 

Dan

[misterbassman]

Having looked around a bit more does anyone have any experience of optoma projectors, because this almost seems to good to be true.

 

http://www.videoprojectors.co.uk/_catalogu...roducts_id=2350

 

Dan

[slim_mcslim]

used a little optoma recently - no different to anything else out in the field really...

 

looking the link you listed - it does look too good to be true!!! but it certainly seems worth checking out - probably not so suitable for rear projection due to the lenses.

 

I would err towards the sanyo's myself, they are most common projector in uk, and have largest number of service outlets - and you get better lenses (better meaning short throw) as standard - most of their range seems to come with 1.3 - 1.9 zooms where as cheaper projectors come with 1.8 - 2.4 ich the difference being you will need more room behind or infront of your screen.

 

 

I would reccommend the sanyo xu-55 which is a bit more than your budget - but it is as bright as my barco 6400 3000 lumen projector on a 3m screen, its very small, very quiet and if you shop round you might find it cheaper

[mikienorth]

used 3 sanyos in a show recently, not sure on specs or costs but they are very, very, very good. A german co even make a table to turn them via DMX control into a sort of moving light style projector

It's a table on a yoke with variable focus controls, and is rather special, especially when combined with a green hippo.

PM me and I'll suggest further info for the above

[peter]

We bought an HP projector from ebay for around that price back in 2002, and it was capable of 2000 lumens. I can't find the exact model number at the moment - PM me if you want me to have a search for it. Inputs were only by composite and VGA, but you can buy an expansion module to add RGB if you need to. I imagine the price would be a lot lower now though. PC World stocked it at the time.

[tlc]

http://www.ivojo.co.uk/

 

This is a great place to research all the info you need on types of LCD projectors.

 

You can perform searches via price or by required output power.

 

It has machines from cute and cuddly domestic size costing less than £1,000 to £25,000 arena beasts

 

(there are some good guides /info sheets as well)

 

Prices seem to be as good as anywhere , though eBay is a good source of machines if you know what you want.

 

As ever be sensible about who you buy from on eBay ............. remember many re-sellers reset the lamp hour meter to give the impression they have had minimal use.

 

http://presentation-systems.co.uk/

This is the old version of the same site , it has the advantage of still holding loads of technical specs on discontinued models.

[Bobbsy]

...as for your second question, the rear projection screen, Rosco have rear projection material in either black or light colour which you can stretch and mount how you want. By memory, it comes in a 2.8 metre wide roll and Stage Electrics will sell it to you by the metre....I think I bought about 2 x 2.8M for around £30 a couple of years ago.

 

Bob

[MikeR]

probably not so suitable for rear projection due to the lenses.

 

How, in your opinion, does a lens make a projector unsuitable for rear projection?

[tlc]

http://presentation-systems.co.uk/

This is the old version of the same site , it has the advantage of still holding loads of technical specs on discontinued models.

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

 

 

It is not obvious at first that the older machines are still on the site. They are not searchable directly

 

Say you do a search (for example) for NEC projectors and choose a current model you will get a URL which ends with the current model number

 

ie http://presentation-systems.co.uk/nec-vt570.htm

 

for the currently available vt570 model

 

change the number in the last part of the url to an older model eg the vt560

and get

 

http://presentation-systems.co.uk/nec-vt560.htm

 

this page loads the data for the older model

(often with links to the full pdf user manual)

 

Remember this only works on the old site , not the ivojo.co.uk new site

 

 

Having access to all these old user manuals and specifications is very handy for buying older machines second hand

these rarely come with the manuals and manufacturers often delete specs on older models from their sites to save space.

[andy_s]

Gerriets also have a range of projection surfaces, and made me a circular one suitable for front and rear projection at a reasonable cost and quite quickly. (I did have to have a frame custom built, which cost about £1400)

 

If you want one complete with frame, I've used Fastfold screens which concertina into a small box for storage, are self supporting, and reasonably quick to put up and dismantle. I don't know who makes them, but I've hired from Gordon Audio Visual in the past, and they have a sales dept which might be able to help.

[slim_mcslim]

How, in your opinion, does a lens make a projector unsuitable for rear projection?

 

 

cheaper projectors tend to come with longer throw lenses, and in a (standard) rear projection situation space is usually at a premium, and in order to fill a 10' screen you may not have 25' to spare. longer throw zoom ratios are a lot more use for front projection!

 

the lens itself is not unsuitable for rear projection!

 

we use as standard for rear projection fixed focus 1.27:1 lenses which give us a throw distance of 14' for a 10' wide screen

[tlc]

How, in your opinion, does a lens make a projector unsuitable for rear projection?

 

 

cheaper projectors tend to come with longer throw lenses, and in a (standard) rear projection situation space is usually at a premium, and in order to fill a 10' screen you may not have 25' to spare. longer throw zoom ratios are a lot more use for front projection!

 

the lens itself is not unsuitable for rear projection!

 

1.27:1 lenses which give us a throw distance of 14' for a 10' wide screen

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

 

Always remember you can bounce the image from a mirror to reduce the projection distance

Projecter setup can compensate for any left/right reversal this introduces.

 

You can rarely half it (unless you have a large mirror or a small screen) but useful shortening of the distance can be made.

Purists will look for a front silvered mirror (expensive) but this is not essential

[andy_s]

 

 

If you want one complete with frame, I've used Fastfold screens

 

further to the above - I was looking for Hall Stage and came across this - they call it Easi-rect, but it's what I meant by Fastfold....

[Pete McCrea]

Da-Lite make fastfolds.