Main Hall Projector Suggestions

[Warwick_Tech]

Hi all,

 

given it's 2022 approaching 2023 (yikes) the idea of a main hall projector is quote 'totally old school'

 

Does anyone have any ideas on alternatives? I think a TV 100"+ would be expensive, and video walls vary wildly in quality.

 

Anyone have any ideas?

[Boredguy]

It depends on the size of the image your wanting, and how your hall is setup.

 

A couple if us have recently just installed a 5000 Lumen Laser Viewsonic projector to replace aging ones because it was more cost effective than a screen for the size of image.

 

Our main hall has a 3 meter wide projection screen (and while it's still a 4:3 screen the projector can do 16:9), which works our to about a diagonal display area of 1355 inches (if I trust the online calculator).

Considering the projector was only around £1700 which is similar price we paid for a 65" Display panel.... it was a no brainer especially as the hall has a stage so having a very large movable screen isn't really an option.

[chazzy2501]

Yeap, still projector, for a hall with 300+ people you'd need a 200" plus screen (ours is approx 270") about 6 times the area of a 100" tv.

 

we use just installed a Epson EB-G7200W it was £2100 a 7500lumin beast looks good even on our rubbish backing. (lens is motorized, so it could go where the old projector was to save costs!)

[thimon]

I’ll ask what will sound like a total newbie question. How do you know that the replacement projector will fit the same screen size area onto the projector screen / area? Ours really needs replacing and I’m getting quotes for suppliers to do a whole AV refresh of the sports hall, however I’m expecting mega £££ quotes.

[Jawloms]

You use a calculator;

 

https://www.projectorscreen.com/projector-screen-calculators

 

Stuart

[Boredguy]

I’ll ask what will sound like a total newbie question. How do you know that the replacement projector will fit the same screen size area onto the projector screen / area? Ours really needs replacing and I’m getting quotes for suppliers to do a whole AV refresh of the sports hall, however I’m expecting mega £££ quotes.

 

It's actually down to the maths. If you know what size your projected image needs to be, and the current throw distance, then most manufactures have a throw chart available.

 

The Viewsonic LS750WU we included on it's spec sheet the maximum throw distance (which was 1 meter further than our current pole location).

 

Units like this one, and the Epsons also have "Quick Corners" so even if your projector is slightly out of alightment, you can make the image look square.

Projectors in this type of range also have adjustable lenses to move the image, plus digital/optical zoom in case your slightly too far away and can't make the image smaller via the normal dials.

[chazzy2501]

ACTUAL MESUREMENTS! this is projection is 4.2m wide 5m diagonal. so 196" diagonal this pic is from the back of the hall 25m from the screen.

 

 

This is projected onto regular cloth, so were loosing a lot of brightness, I grumbled to management but oh well. it still works but could be much better.

Edited October 5, 2022 by chazzy2501

[steveg]

We replaced ours with an Epson PU1007W - have been really impressed with it. We just painted the wall with projector screen paint. Looked at alternatives to projectors but nothing comes close in terms of price / size

[chazzy2501]

I asked AVPartmaster! I told them the projector I had already (Sanyo XM100L) and asked for a suitable replacement. They also sold me the new bracket to fit the existing unicol pole as well. easier than calculating distance and drop.

[Boredguy]

Yep the team over there are good like that. As I knew the distance and checked the features for the unit I wanted, I just cut out that middle man step, plus needed it PDQ as the old one had a failing bulb, and a donated one turned off mid use 4 days before Open Evening... so overnight delivery of a new unit was in order before we could get a PO authorised.

 

Any good AV supplier should be able to provide alternatives if you let them know what you currently have.

[Aprice]

We've had a BenQ large Venue laser based unit fitted in one of the new builds. It's an impressive bit of kit and looks the business but wasn't cheap.

 

https://www.benq.eu/en-uk/business/projector/lu9245.html

 

In a primary we did not to long ago it was a Panasonic (Laser again) Believe it was a PT-VMW60, look to be about £2200.

[lmgtfy]

I can recommend the Epson EB-L630U projector. It's 6200 lumen and laser. You can get it for less than £2500 including a 5 year on-site warranty.

 

https://www.projectorpoint.co.uk/epson-eb-l630u?utm_term=epson%20eb-l630&utm_campaign=Epson+Business&utm_source=adwords&utm_medium=ppc&hsa_acc=2198859800&hsa_cam=1601666824&hsa_grp=127736964619&hsa_ad=582527314941&hsa_src=g&hsa_tgt=kwd-1428071824793&hsa_kw=epson%20eb-l630&hsa_mt=e&hsa_net=adwords&hsa_ver=3&gclid=Cj0KCQjw1vSZBhDuARIsAKZlijT2J6nDfzVwXFShEeFK463SIYpTNbdzqefFZ0u8VA0TsSXEAKcxGUYaAhMKEALw_wcB

[BenQ_Chris]

Hi, at BenQ have a wide range of options that could work for you. We have both lamp and laser light sources and fixed and lens options; allowing for a huge degree of flexibility. We even have wireless casting solutions if you decide to move away from actual cables too. If you'd like to know more drop me a message and I'll see what I can do to help.

 

Thanks, Chris.

[SamanthaD]

Hi. My recommendation is to forget the projector spec for now. Work out your screen size first - here's the maths part. You need to know the furthest distance the screen will be viewed from, the height you want the bottom of the image to be, and ideally the normal font size used in PowerPoints etc. You then need to work out the font size as a percentage of the screen size (24pt = 32 pixels. 32/10.8 (1% of 1080) = 2.96% so 3%).

 

Once you know this chuck it into the basic decision making calculator on the AVIXA website - https://www.avixa.org/standards/discas-calculators/discas/bdm - also know your normal eye level and display ratio (1200mm is standard for seated on chairs - will be lower if your students sit on the floor, 1.77 display ratio for 16:9 screens). Make sure you use the same units throughout!

 

Based on this will give you how big your screen needs to be, plus how close anyone viewing the screen should be. This last one can be changed by adjusting the screen height if needed.

 

Once you know that, look at your projector throw if you have a fixed position for your projector so you can work out your lens requirements. Only then should you be thinking about lumens output! (There's maths for that too - but the documents that cover it are charged for so can't link to them here).

 

Food for thought, but this is how we design University lecture spaces. Hope it helps.

[MartinT]

We went for an 8000 lumen laser projector and high reflectivity motorised screen. You can't really match it with any kind of flat display.

[jthompson]

Laser projector with no need for regular lamp replacements or filter cleaning. School halls are usually okay in terms of brightness levels, epsecially if you're projecting into a stage area.