Main Hall projector replacement

[timbo343]

We currently have a Short Throw projector in the main hall projecting on to a 3m wide 4:3 screen (the width of the image is about 2.7m)

 

The projector is an old NP600S at 2600 lumens and is showing it's age. The projector is currently around 2.7 - 2.8m away from the screen.

 

We have been looking options but we are struggling to find a suitable projector as a replacement.

 

The main hall has a pelmet hanging from the ceiling which is located about 2.25m away from the screen and there are LED lights at 1.8m from the screen.

 

A projector with a throw distance of up to 1.5 - 1.6m would be ideal if there was such a thing.

 

Can anyone help suggest a projector please?

 

We would be looking at 3500 to 4000 lumens.

[DaveTheTech]

Last lot of projectors I looked into were Casio, we went with LED verisons. Which I think were a fairly new thing - at least at an affordable price.

The one for the hall was massive. I definately should have had help installing that one!

 

Great projector, bright enough that we only needed to drop the lights at the front of the stage if we were watching a video.

[robyholmes]

Can you do rear projection? We've done that on to a 4m wide screen using a Hitachi LED projector. It gets used as a backdrop for productions too as you get no shadow. Does need around 3.5m behide the screen mind.

[hallb15]

I've used avpartsmaster for years for all my projectors until we replaced them all with SMART interactive flat panels.

https://www.avpartsmaster.co.uk/projector-i44

 

Also, projector central has good info on all projectors and their throw calculator is very useful.

https://www.projectorcentral.com/projectors.cfm

 

Or get in touch with Ross at VeryPC - he'll sort you out.

https://very-pc.co.uk/verypc-for-education

[VeryPC]

Thanks for the mention @hallb15 !

@timbo343 please feel free to drop us a PM if you need any further assistance after checking out the webpage that you've just been referred too!

 

- Ryan

[timbo343]

Quick question...

 

Would it make sense to get a 16:9 projector and run it in 4:3 mode until we are ready to move to 16:9. We then have essentially bought the projector and then we just need to upgrade the screen and then re-position the projector when ready?

 

Bearing in mind we dont have the funds to replace the screen at the moment which is a 4:3 screen and the available space above the stage is at a premium.

[hallb15]

It's an idea. Bear in mind that the diagonals of a 16:9 projected image will be wider than 4:3 when selecting your projector.

 

Time for a bit of maths...

4:3 ratio is 1.33 to 1. So if your current screen is 3M wide, then it's height must be 3 / 1.33M = 2.26M. Diagonally this is 3.76M (using Pythagoras)

 

16:9 ratio is 1.77 to 1. So to get the same 2.26M high image, the screen would have to be 2.26M x 1.77 = 4M wide. Diagonally this is 4.59M.

[timbo343]

It's an idea. Bear in mind that the diagonals of a 16:9 projected image will be wider than 4:3 when selecting your projector.

 

Time for a bit of maths...

4:3 ratio is 1.33 to 1. So if your current screen is 3M wide, then it's height must be 3 / 1.33M = 2.26M. Diagonally this is 3.76M (using Pythagoras)

 

16:9 ratio is 1.77 to 1. So to get the same 2.26M high image, the screen would have to be 2.26M x 1.77 = 4M wide. Diagonally this is 4.59M.

 

Thanks for the maths.

 

We decided to stay with the 4:3 screen for now. The projector will allow for 16:9 / 16:10 (obviously not true wide resolution) but we don't have the budget to fork out for a screen that will give a 3m high image in wide screen. I worked it out (could be a little wrong with the maths) at a 240" diagonal image which is getting in to the cinema installs and trying to find a reasonably priced motorised screen that big is difficult.

 

We would still be able to project a 3m wide image in widescreen on the 4:3 screen, it's just that when in wide screen it looks narrower.

[Protec]

Most of the primary schools here had a standard Hitachi projector for the huge hall screen. They worked quite well. The projector in one was nearly flush to the ceiling so had quite a bit of keystone correction!