Longer throw projectors?

[Abe]

Hi All,

 

We are looking to replace quite a few old projectors that are beginning to die with increasing regularity. Unfortunately, in the 5 or 6 years since these were installed, the commonly available throw ratios of low to mid range projectors appears to have been reducing steadily. Standard throw ratios for most manufactures are now in the range 1.5:1 - 1.9:1. I have found a few going as high as 2.2:1, but many of our existing installations need around 2.4:1.

 

The only models I have found so far that cover this throw range are the Casios which have a much larger zoom range and go up to a throw ratio of 2.8:1. There are other advantages with the Casios such as solid state light source, 5 year warranty etc., but they are nearly twice the price of many education projectors with a 3 year warranty and money is tight.

 

At the moment it looks like we will have to go for the more expensive Casio option for up to a quarter of our classrooms, where moving the ceiling mount could cost more than the difference in price, but I was just wondering if anyone was aware of any other standard projector models with a throw ratio range covering 2.4:1?

 

Cheers,

[Marc-Engineer]

The reason most makers are shortening the through (so they tell us) is to eliminate the shodow effect and to reduce the danger of teachers looking in to the bight (high in UV) light emmited from the lens.

 

The better option is (in my opinoin) to pay for a pole move and use a cheaper (safer) projector i would recomend the new Epson X9 as it comes with 3 year on site cover including lamp.

And has very low lamp cost out of its 3 years.

 

Marc

Projector Engineer

[DarrenC]

Marc,

 

You obviously have some affiliations to Epson and I know they are a decent quality projector manufacturer but calling the casio's unsafe is neither fair nor clever.

 

Abe,

 

You're options are pretty much either replace in the current position with the casio's (you may need to adapt the mount) or have a new install with a cheaper alternative. If you are looking at minimising the cost I wouldnt say epson would be the first call as they are a premium brand and as such a bit more costly than some alternatives.

 

It really comes down to a number of things; cost, quality and inconvenience. I will have a check through all the manufacturers but I think currently the only option is to go with the casios.

 

Just as an aside what mounts are your current projectors on as you may be able to put a T bar on them to get the mounting point nearer to the board (really not pretty but cheap).

[laserblazer]

We are in a similar situation here and moving the pole is the lesser of the two evils. We have pretty well standardised on Hitachi projectors. The price is good, they are pretty bomb-proof and the filters are easy to get at and clean.