Resolume Forum

I know the software side of things and have worked with lighting equipment, but never video projectors.

What are the characteristics which you use when choosing a video projector?

Like with lasers it's power in Watts, modulation, divergence, speed of optical scanners, angle of scanners. max few watts for indoor and more than few watts for outdoor setting. Thats it pretty much.

What are the characteristics you need to consider when choosing a video projector?

Like does it being DLP or LCD matter?
Do the lenses differ much when it comes to angle?
Lumens vs contrast ratio?
How throw distance affects brightness?

I know it depends on the setting, amount of ambient light, etc, but I don't even have a general idea yet.

Basically I'm new to this hardware and have no idea what matters in the specifications to choose the one I need.
I know most of the specs for consumer products are just a marketing trick like "megapixels" and "lumens" and don't tell much about the quality of the product. So I thought the only place I can learn what I need is here where people actually use the stuff professionally.

bump

have a look here: viewtopic.php?f=5&t=11712&p=47842&hilit ... dlp#p47788

Thank you.

However, I'm pretty lost.

Answers saying "it depends on X, Y and Z" doesn't help much if I'm not told how and what X, Y and Z affect. Like can I get some approximate numbers on actually how throw distance, projection size and ambient light level affects how many lumens, contrast ratio, what lenses and type of technology I need, not only that they do?
Because otherwise you're just telling me you go by intuition from experience and my question can't be answered.

Saying for example you personally prefer DLP projector doesn't tell me whether DLP technology is superior to LCD, and/or whether its the opinion of the majority of users, or if you're just telling your personal taste which might not be based on any objective difference.
I have to search the internet and then I find contradiction views. Perhaps maybe some articles are outdated mentioning cons of one technology which has been resolved on newer models?
Like saying that X based projector is generally better than Y when it comes to contrast, or saturation, or life expectancy... what does it mean? I can understand it both ways. Either you mean , for example, a 3000:1 contrast is easier to achieve with/is more common/is cheaper for DLP projectors than LCD, or 3000:1 on a DLP projector is sharper than same 3000:1 contrast on a LCD projector. What is it?

DLP projector might suffer from the spinning color wheel artifact. Okay. But how do I know on the particular DLP projector that is an issue for most people or not. What spec should I look for? And what number should I aim for? Same goes for the color fading issue with LCD projectors.

Video projector lenses... still confused. I found few articles explaining what each term used for video projector lenses is, but that's all I found. What are the types of projector lenses, can a projector lens be used on any projector (both officially and unofficially, by modding and if the latter is a good idea and people actually do it if yes), or just from a specific brand, or just for specific series from that brand? Do I attach it on top of the stock lens, or replace? If depends on company/model/type, where can i get this info?

This is why I love wikis. Info is as hard to find when it comes to animated lasers. In fact I feel exactly the same way as when I was starting to learn about laser projectors and trying to choose my first one.
Hope you guys will bear with me while I'm taking my first steps here.

blue wrote:Thank you.

However, I'm pretty lost.
Answers saying "it depends on X, Y and Z" doesn't help much if I'm not told how and what X, Y and Z affect. Like can I get some approximate numbers on actually how throw distance, projection size and ambient light level affects how many lumens, contrast ratio, what lenses and type of technology I need, not only that they do?
Because otherwise you're just telling me you go by intuition from experience and my question can't be answered.

Throw ratio does not affect brightness if you project the same size image with the same lumens.
The rest what you need depends on what you want to do.
For example if you want to project from a short distance a large image , you can use either multiple projectors or one with a short throw lens.

Saying for example you personally prefer DLP projector doesn't tell me whether DLP technology is superior to LCD, and/or whether its the opinion of the majority of users, or if you're just telling your personal taste which might not be based on any objective difference.
I have to search the internet and then I find contradiction views. Perhaps maybe some articles are outdated mentioning cons of one technology which has been resolved on newer models?

because neither is superior, but different.

Like saying that X based projector is generally better than Y when it comes to contrast, or saturation, or life expectancy... what does it mean? I can understand it both ways. Either you mean , for example, a 3000:1 contrast is easier to achieve with/is more common/is cheaper for DLP projectors than LCD, or 3000:1 on a DLP projector is sharper than same 3000:1 contrast on a LCD projector. What is it?

a higher contrast ratio is better.
a higher contrast can be achieved for the same price with dlp projector.

DLP projector might suffer from the spinning color wheel artifact. Okay. But how do I know on the particular DLP projector that is an issue for most people or not. What spec should I look for? And what number should I aim for? Same goes for the color fading issue with LCD projectors.

Video projector lenses... still confused. I found few articles explaining what each term used for video projector lenses is, but that's all I found. What are the types of projector lenses, can a projector lens be used on any projector (both officially and unofficially, by modding and if the latter is a good idea and people actually do it if yes), or just from a specific brand, or just for specific series from that brand? Do I attach it on top of the stock lens, or replace? If depends on company/model/type, where can i get this info?

look for projectors with exchangeable lenses, no modding is needed.
all the big projector manufacturers have them.

This is why I love wikis. Info is as hard to find when it comes to animated lasers. In fact I feel exactly the same way as when I was starting to learn about laser projectors and trying to choose my first one.
Hope you guys will bear with me while I'm taking my first steps here.

what will be your first job where you will need a projector?
if you know what is to be achieved, it is easier to point in the right direction.