some video projector newbie questions

[wonxega]

I understand that the answer to most of these questions is going to be "it depends on <instert something here>", so I'll try to be very specific as I need some real answers so I'll know what are the proper ones to buy. I can't just find and rent all the different kinds of video projectors and test each one in all my settings they are going to be used to make a decision. I also understand that there is no single true answer to some of the questions, but the most probable solution or the solution you think is best based on your experience is a good answer too.

1. DLP or LCD?
I think I understand how both technologies work and also cons of each. I will list them here and please tell me whether I'm missing some important info.

1) DLP's color wheel causes "rainbow effect" for some people.
2) Each micromirror on the DLP chip can be damaged and appear as either black or white dot in the projection and the only way to fix it is replacing the DLP chip. Damage to LCD chips (panels) is less frequent.
3) LCDs individual pixels have a lot more noticeable gap between each other as the projection distance increases.
4) The contrast is generally better on same price DLP than LCD projectors.

Aside from these both types of projectors use the same lamps, same lenses and same input/output.

From what I've gathered the rainbow effect and the LCD dots isn't a huge problem for most people and DLP chip damage is not very frequent and replacement chip is not expensive ($50-$100). So many people prefer DLP projectors just for the better contrast, in general.

Is this accurate? If you disagree, please mention why.

2. Lenses.
I know there are short throw and long throw lenes. But I don't know what is the general min/max distances for each. I also don't know whether they are standardized, meaning lenses from one projector or at least one projector manufacturer can be used on other video projectors.

3. Lamps.
Same as with lenses I don't know if they are standardized. I wouldn't want to buy a projector for which replacement lenses/lamps will be hard to find or be expensive for example after being discontinued.

4. How many lumens?
I understand that this depends on distance, projection size, amount of ambient light and the projected video itself and how much bright is bright enough for each person. But I hope you can give some educated guess if you've used projectors in the situations I'll describe here.
5M – 25m distance. Mostly indoors (discos, lounges) but hope to project on small buildings too (advertisements, cultural buildings or during openings of shops/restaurants/etc).

[He2neg]

you´ll find this questions in the Forum a lot :

viewtopic.php?f=7&t=11829&p=48450&hilit ... tor#p48450

[wonxega]

None of my questions are answered in that thread or any of the threads linked from there.

[Zoltán]

the lamp question is just about the same as with inkjet printers and cartridges, all manufacturers will have different lamps/housings, but with big manufacturers you will have replacements for 5 years for sure.

I would get high resolution, high lumen say 6K (and up), with interchangeable lenses.
read about throw ratios to decide which lens you need.
Panasonic has some light models with relative high lumens.
lenses will not be compatible with other manufacturers generally, except maybe in the upper class.

distance doesn't matter for brightness if you are projecting the same size image.

if you really need high brightness for large outdoor projections, there are 40K barco projectors which can be stacked, but they are insanely expensive to buy, but can be rented.

[chenthemagician]

1. DLP or LCD?

DLP


2. Lenses.

Lenses have a parameter f, depending on what that is, you can determine the maximum and minimum distances for the size surface you wish to cover, this will corelate with how much light will be reflected from said surface, and depending on said surface, may absorb some of the light, and thus reducing the brightness of your image on surface.

calculation is as follows - if f = 1, and your surface width is say 10 ft wide, your distance from lenses to surface will equal 10 ft.

distance from lenses to surface = f x width of surface, and depending on which format you use, be it 4:3 or 16:9, you will do the simple math to get your height.

depending on the projector, if it has a removable lens, they have relatively standard set that will work across the line. This goes from smaller lumens projectors like from 4000 lumens to say probably 8000 lumens and then a different set for the higher lumens above 10k lumens.


3. Lamps.

Lamps are standardized to a point, their overall design and function will be the same, but the lamps must go with the appropriate projector or else you may have serious and potentially fatal implications.

4. How many lumens?

anything on a building will require multiple projectors, preferably in a stacked format, if you get 4 x 8000 lumens projectors stacked correctly you get a nice ~32K lumens projected image, you could start out with 5Ks first, these are relatively cheap now, then as you go along you can up your equipment.

5M – 25m distance. Mostly indoors (discos, lounges) but hope to project on small buildings too (advertisements, cultural buildings or during openings of shops/restaurants/etc).

[wonxega]

OK. The "calculator" in the projector central seems powerful but a bit confusing at this point to me, I'm sure I'll figure it out.

What do you think about this projector, Epson Powerlite 1960? http://www.epson.com/cgi-bin/Store/jsp/ ... V11H473020

I saw videos of someone using stacks of them for church projection.
While its 3LCD, I can't find anything close in that price range ($1400) doing 5000 lumens.
I'm thinking of getting at least two projectors for 3d mapping, so its not like I can find and buy 2 of the exact same model seller refurbished 5000 lumen projectors either.