Projector advice

Wynnie12

Hi, I'm looking at purchasing a projector that would have a throw distance of approx 5.5 metres and give a screen size of approx 100".

Any recommendations appreciated.

Was looking at the Optoma 142x but seems like it will not have the throw distance for my needs.

Budget €500

Cheers

Nelbert

Your throw distance is quite high for a screen that "small" hence the difficulty. Projector central have a calculator and there is nothing within that budget intended for home entertainment use.


Main options would be;
reduce throw distance (likely incur additional expense with ceiling / cabling)
flip your thinking and investigate ultra short throw projectors (likely double your budget at least; for example I'm looking at the Optoma GT5000 for a long room where throw distance would have been similar to your suggested one)

mossym

some of the higher end units would probably get there, i have a jvc dila and i think it would probbaly do it. i have it at 4.5m on a 120" screen and there is plenty of scope to go smaller. yuo're not getting that for 500 euros though.

the corpo

Hi,
Hope it's ok to hijack this thread! I'm looking to get a projector for a school hall. We have an ideal place to put it above the stage, about 14 feet back from the wall. What feature do I need to look for in a projector to indicate the potential image size I can get, from such a throw distance?

The Ritz

Hi,

What's your budget for the projector, what size image you want to project and will it be projected in darkness or will there be ambient light ? Also, what sources will you be using to display on the projector, what are you using it for ?

The size issue relates to what range of projector you can afford, what the throw ratio should be to achieve X screen size from 14 ft, and the light issue relates to whether you want a high quality image in near complete darkness or a very bright projector that can compete with other light sources, albeit with lower image quality.


Cheers,

Ritz.

the corpo

The Ritz wrote: »

Hi,

What's your budget for the projector, what size image you want to project and will it be projected in darkness or will there be ambient light ? Also, what sources will you be using to display on the projector, what are you using it for ?

Ritz.

Thanks for the reply!
The budget would be sub 500, but if absolutely required it could go higher.

Ideally, it would be great to push it past 200". It'll primarily be used by teachers to run educational software off a laptop, so 4K screenings of the Last Jedi are probably not on the cards

The hall has no blinds, though only small windows really high up, but will only be moderately dark in the daytime with lights off, so needs to be reasonably bright. That said, the wall to be projected on is sheltered by an overhead arch, which the projector will sit on the inside off, so should never direct light sources on it.

Hope that makes sense!

The Ritz

Hi,

That explains things a bit better. I don't mean to be negative in replying to you but a couple of problems come from your proposed installation. You'd need a fairly "short throw" projector to get an image 16.5ft wide (or diagonal) from 14ft distance, for instance this distance calculator https://www.optoma.co.uk/projector-distance-calculator/h183x for a projector in your budget suggests a throw distance of between 25.5 - 28.5 ft for a 200" wide image. That projector, available from Richersounds.ie, has 3200 lumens (a measure of the brightness of the projector) and I reckon you'd struggle to light up a screen that size for any decent result. A similarly priced projector from Elara.ie http://www.elara.ie/productdetail.aspx?productcode=ECE3540010 throws a 120" image from 14ft.

I think you should contact a local office supplies co and ask them if they rent out projectors for a day - ask for a short throw projector - and use that to check what kind of a result you'd get in your proposed location, it might help you decide how to proceed.


Cheers,

Ritz.

imp1

Don't think there is much chance of any office supply company renting projectors. Trying a local audio visual hire company might be a much better bet - not many of them would have projectors in your budget range, 2 or 3 times - i.e. up to €1.5k installed might be more realistic for that size image in that environment. That should get something useable, but with very little 'wow'