Large projector recommendation

bog_savage

Looking for a recommendation for a projector and sound system for a community center .
Screen size 300-400 inches
Room is 50x100 feet approx

imp1

That is a massive image size, are you sure you need it that big? Is your measurement the width, or diagonal (still big either way)
If it is for movie nights, public meetings etc, then an 10 or 12 foot wide image might do.

bog_savage

Was measuring stage today and found I had overestimated alright .
250inch diagonal would be more like it .
Current screen is 120 inch and its tiny for the people from 3/4 way back

imp1

There are quite a few options there, but you are into serious pro end eqpt.
Snipped by Mod

The Ritz

Mod Comment

Hi imp1,

If you want to give some advice to the OP, you’d be very welcome to post it here. The purpose of the forum is for giving advice and sharing knowledge - An invitation to PM doesn’t add anything of benefit for other users of the forum.

I’m sure you’re aware that Boards forums are not suitable places for pursuing commercial interests and I’m assuming that in this case such a request for a PM should not be viewed as seeking a business opportunity.

Thanks.

Mod Hat Off

I’d be very interested in any advice you could offer the OP - I’m familiar with domestic sized projector installations and would like to know what type of equipment is involved in an installation of the size described by the OP.

Cheers,

Ritz.

imp1

Ritz,
No problem.
We do commercial installations, and I did not want to be seen to recommend any manufacturer for commercial gain, or seem to be knocking any other makes for similar reasons. I thought discussing the specific requirements for the OP privately might be best, but no problem in any case.

Anyway,
The image size the op is looking for is very large, people sitting in the front rows would be turning their heads over and back, up and down, and be very uncomfortable viewing pretty much anything. It would be better for those in the middle rows, and probably pretty good at the back.
To get an image size like this, while maintaining brightness over the whole of the screen, you would probably be looking at multiple projectors and edge blending, where the picture is essentially split into 2, or 4 and overlaps, needs a processor to look after the techie side.
There are quite a few projectors out there that would do this, but you might be looking at €5k each.
An option would be to turn the room around by 90 deg, so the room is only(!) 50 ft long - that way you might get away with a much cheaper solution - though it depends what you want to show- is it for movie nights, or for financial presentations in PowerPoint with lots of detail. If you think of cinemas, they tend to be wide, rather than long.
In terms of a sound system, a room like that should have the acoustics, in terms of reverberation time, investigated before you did anything (reverberation time measurements, and control if necessary, might be the best first step before you did anything at all).
The sound system requirements depend on what you need it for, purely to go with the projector/movie nights, or meetings, discos etc. ???
Lots to think about, but if you want to ask anything, then feel free.

bog_savage

Thanks for the advice imp1
As you can see I'm new to this so trying to get a handle on all the options.
Current setup is a 120' screen on side wall and a borrowed entry level projector.
Used for the odd meeting and presentation .
Recently we had a video release & screening which had a packed house and demonstrated
what would be possible with better equipment .

Basically trying to do the most I can with €5000ish ,with main purpose being movie night/cinema style experience
Probable being a little over optimistic ;-)

And as you said ,acoustics should not be overlooked .
Reverberation will be a big issue

imp1

For €5k you should be able to get a decent enough projector to fill a 120'' screen for movies or presentations, with enough left over for a sound system, but possibly not enough to include fitting.
The fitting side is easy enough as long as ceiling height isn't huge, and there is something there to hang on to, cable runs could be as simple as 220V and HDMI, try and keep the HDMI to 15m max and don't buy the cheapest you see, even a good one is only about €40 but they do go walkabout.
A simple sound system with 4x full range wall speakers, an amp and a 4 channel mixer - entry level - €2k should cover that, entry level radio mics are about €200 each, wired mics start at €10 for very poor units, €30 gets a decent mic and even the TOTP style Shure SM58 is only €120.
So €5k would buy you a lot of boxes for you to open and fit - though warranty would go out the window after a post delivery test if you were fitting yourselves, there's a good chance of things being dropped, improperly connected etc, but if you have a DJ or similar handy, probably easy enough to do.
What it would all sound like is another problem that should be considered early. A lot of community centres, village halls, school gyms, sports centres etc are built to a fairly generic plan, and acoustics in them are often terrible. A PA system does not help, and turning it up and up makes things worse. If conversation between 3 or 4 people, in an otherwise empty hall, is difficult, or if people routinely raise their voices to be understood, it is likely you have an excessive 'echo' that should be solved first.