Projector and VERY high ceiling

[Little-Miss]

My head mentioned the other day that he would like to have a projector installed in the hall instead of having to wheel one round on a trolley...ok fair enough, it's his money....but now i think of it, the ceiling is really high, its an old victorian building...there's nowhere at the back it could go i dont think...plus it's quite a long hall...

 

Anyone in the same situation have one installed at their school and how?

 

Why am i thinking about this now?!

[steveg]

How high is really high? I've installed one in a hall that had a height of about 5m to the top of the pitch inside, and it wasnt really a problem. I did turn down a job where it was a 7.5m ceiling though.

 

You can get 3m poles as standard, so provided the roof isn't over 3m above the top of where you want the screen if should be ok. Obvoiusly its going to be a long cable run, so good quality cables are important.

 

I'm not sure if they have made any very bright ones yet, but might be worth lookng at an ultra close range projector -we've just had one installed in a suite, and to get an image big enough for a smartboard it has to be just 42cm from the wall - If you could boom mount one you could easily get a large image. Just an idea, not sure if it would work!

 

Steve

[Andrew_C]

If you were to go for a Unicol support similar to this you could substitute a standard 50mm ali tube of whatever length you need up to very long (5m or more).

 

Or can you rear-project, perhaps from the next room? Won't work if the screen is on an outside wall though!

[EduTech]

This might be a stupid idea but its worth a go..

 

Do you have anywhere in the hall you could maybe d REAR Projection.. so that the projector is close but behind the screen?

 

We have this.. as we dont have anywhere to mount it on the ceiling.. its basically on a wall.. and we have a screen that comes up and down which is infront of the projector..

 

Very good i must say.. but as i dont know what position ur in i cnt say but its a thought

 

James

[localzuk]

Our hall has roughly a 10m high ceiling, and we had a projector installed in there recently. The projector is an optoma hi-lumens model and we have a 15ft drop down screen at the front of our stage which is lowered for use.

 

We had no problems getting it done and it cost about £3k for the whole install IIRC.

[Little-Miss]

oooh.....rear projection, i would have never thought of that....hmmmm

 

May play with this idea...

[JezR]

Have a look at one of these

 

 

Sanyo PLC-XL50 Short Throw Projector

 

http://www.misco.co.uk/applications/SearchTools/item-details.asp?EdpNo=304543&CatId=0

 

 

It will mount on the wall above the screen.

 

Jez

Edited September 28, 2008 by JezR

[Guest Guest]

You can also get projectors which hang off a boom on the wall

[MkII]

We did the very long pole and even longer cable run to the projector (with a motor driven screen which is "well sexy" lol).

Short throw directly above or on a boom arm, or rear projection sound far better ideas. Just for the loss of quality over the long cable run perspective. We had a sound system fitted at the same time for about £3k total. We used an old small 19" network rack at the side of the stage behind the curtains and breakout boxes on the front of the stage for all your inputs.

[rush_tech]

oooh.....rear projection, i would have never thought of that....hmmmm

 

May play with this idea...

 

Yes we have a rear projection in our hall, its mounted on one of the lighting rigs with an electric screen in front of it. Cleverly hidden behind a curtain when not in use, revealed by a high tech device consisting of a bit of rope and a coat hanger but thats another story:D

[elsiegee40]

... revealed by a high tech device consisting of a bit of rope and a coat hanger ...

 

Another piece of 'Blue Peter' technology in schools. It's amazing what you can achieve with the simplest of tools in schools!

[laserblazer]

We have a hi-lumen Epson mounted on our hall ceiling and a 3m x 3m electric screen. As luck would have it, with the screen up it overfills the back wall but with a bit of care and enginuity, it can produce some smashing backgrounds for assemblies etc. The projector can be controlled over the network, which is handy because the IR remote is a bit hit and miss unless you stand exactly in front of it, on the stage. It can look a bit naff if Mary or Joseph has to start fiddling with the remote during a performance.

[Sirbendy]

We have ours hanging from a drop pole connected to our lighting rig. Also got a motorised screen. Ours is just a normal NEC VT5something, I think. Been in 3 years now.

 

Hint: Make sure all cables are tight. Our PAT testers loosened one and left it loose - vibrations of kids in/out gradually loosened it until the final Year11 leavers presentation broke the connection and stuffed the presentation right up..

 

I wish you could get "lowerable" poles though..scaffolding towers for servicing is an arse.

[dirtydog]

our hall ceiling is very high but luckily it has a lighting bar towards the front so we hung it off of that. We put a 5000 lumen's or so Sanyo, you buy the unit then lense to fit - have you checked if you can get a lense to throw from the back of the hall?

We have a motorised screen and a breakout box at the side of the stage for plugging in. I fitted it all with our technician and I'm pleased to say it gets used loads!

[Andrew_C]

I wish you could get "lowerable" poles though..scaffolding towers for servicing is an arse.

You can. I don't know any mfrs but the stuff used in TV studios for lighting has been adapted for projectors. I'll have a little dig and see what I can find.

[elsiegee40]

Our hall projector is secured to a projector trolley (fixings designed by caretaker) and stored in a cupboard in the hall.

[witch]

We are looking at a boom projector or a short throw - the ceiling is high and 'wobbly' so I think vibration would be a problem

And - you have to think - how would I clean the filters? We have no scaffolding tower so I couldn't get up there anyway

[sjatkn]

I wish you could get "lowerable" poles though..scaffolding towers for servicing is an arse.

 

You can! Draper Aero Mounts for LCD and DLP Projectors

 

There are others which mount on lighting bars, but I don't have time to find that link at the moment.

[alan-d]

We have a good setup fairly local you. If you want a demo or look then PM me. It was installed by Dolphin Media but could be done by any competent installer.

[bossman]

Ours is mounted on the rear wall and projects across the Hall with a special long range lens as our ceiling was very high. We wanted easy access by maintenance staff (us) using step ladder (small) instead of rear projection which may mean you have to have the projector up a height meaning maintenance becomes a problem.

[Andrew_C]

instead of rear projection which may mean you have to have the projector up a height meaning maintenance becomes a problem.

Rear projection doesn't require high mounting per-se. It may in your case, but all you need (loosely) is the projector at the top OR bottom of the screen. Normally, if at the top it will be inverted.

[Little-Miss]

We are looking at a boom projector or a short throw - the ceiling is high and 'wobbly' so I think vibration would be a problem

And - you have to think - how would I clean the filters? We have no scaffolding tower so I couldn't get up there anyway

 

That was my argument with the head, looking at the ceiling, he could have it mounted up there....but i wont be cleaning it!

[chrbb]

The caretaker does the filter cleaning at one of my schools, as the ceilings are higher and the 'big steps' are needed. We do the bulb changing together with me at floor level mainly in fits of laughter because he's a dead ringer for one of the chuckle brothers so we have alot of 'to me to you'

 

@Little miss - Who changes the light bulbs in the hall at present?

[Guest theeldergeek]

My head mentioned the other day that he would like to have a projector installed in the hall...

 

usl-av.co.uk

 

They've recently kitted our hall out with a projector/electric screen combo and did a fantastic job. Our hall ceiling has to be 30 feet high at least.

 

They've also kitted out our new 6th form with 13 interactive boards and the installer has done a VERY neat job indeed.

 

Highly recommended. Veronica is our contact there.

[kxv2020]

Have you looked at these...

Hitachi Digital Media Group - LCD Projectors - Education