eean Posted June 26, 2007 Posted June 26, 2007 It's that time of year again and the annual "I can't see my projector" winge has started. This year, the head has decided he wants something done. Our projectors are 1500 lumens. We already have blinds, but obviously not good enough. It's a Victorian school so the windows are large and high. Apart from going down the blackout blind route (which is not ideal) or chucking out our projectors and putting in brighter ones (also not ideal) are there any other options? Someone suggested film on the windows that tints it - anyone tried this? Do you know who installs it/Costs? Thanks.
t_guest Posted June 26, 2007 Posted June 26, 2007 hi eean we had the same problem we use big black card which just pops onto the windows and it makes the room darker or you could use these i came across today Blackout Drapery Kit
Ric_ Posted June 26, 2007 Posted June 26, 2007 I have that 'magical' film on my office windows... it's great for watching the kids up to no good on the field! It's like one-way glass!!! Doesn't have a massiv effect but it cuts out the brightest of the light - I suspect different shades of darkness are available and I have no idea where it came from or how much it costs. Be warned too that the kids WILL attempt to peel it off. @callum: Seriously... why the quotation marks?
john Posted June 26, 2007 Posted June 26, 2007 I love that film, its cool, I love having fake 1 way glass, need some for the office at work then I can spy out but kids are not instantly spying in.
accura2000 Posted June 27, 2007 Posted June 27, 2007 We use film all round our school, we recently added new blinds to most of the classrooms as the film was pretty useless as i let too much light through.. Plus you get teachers moaning that there is not enough natural light coming into the class anymore.. Too much light, not enough light... You can't win! Give them a marker pen, that'll solve it!
enjay Posted June 27, 2007 Posted June 27, 2007 Perhaps I'm missing something, but surely putting film on the windows is much the same as pulling the blinds, except that you can't remove it on darker days? Doesn't sound like a good move to me... Do you have monitors on the PCs as well or just the projectors? If the former, you might want to consider using powered splitters, as these greatly increase the brightness. If you're concerned about making the room too dark to work in once the blackout blinds are down, you could consider just using thick blinds on the windows which allow light to shine directly on the board and leave the others as normal - that might be a suitable compromise.
eean Posted June 27, 2007 Author Posted June 27, 2007 Perhaps I'm missing something, but surely putting film on the windows is much the same as pulling the blinds, except that you can't remove it on darker days? Doesn't sound like a good move to me... Yes, that was one of my concerns. The thing is that the blinds are pretty much pulled ALL the time, even on overcast days. Most of the blinds are pale fabric blinds. I was thinking, perhaps, that with the film with blinds could be open in the winter and both together would be OK in the summer. Something Photochromic - that changes like transition sunglasses would be even better! Do you have monitors on the PCs as well or just the projectors? If the former, you might want to consider using powered splitters, as these greatly increase the brightness. Already have powered splitters. If you're concerned about making the room too dark to work in once the blackout blinds are down, you could consider just using thick blinds on the windows which allow light to shine directly on the board and leave the others as normal - that might be a suitable compromise. There are SO many windows, I think the ambient light is really the problem. My room (unusually) has metal Venetian blinds and I've put card on the windows that shine on the board. Still, I can't watch a DVD on a summer's day because of the light coming through the corridor windows (which isn't even in direct sunlight). We use film all round our school, we recently added new blinds to most of the classrooms as the film was pretty useless as i let too much light through.. Plus you get teachers moaning that there is not enough natural light coming into the class anymore.. Have you had to get black-out blinds or normal ones? What is it like now? It's one of those impossible problems. Projectors are 2 years old now and the first bulb has gone @ £295 it could be worth just going for £300 projectors. But then, the fixing will be wrong and instillation will add another wack to the price! Do the short-throw projectors on the new smartboards not suffer so much from this problem because they are closer to the board? My physics isn't good enough to work out if that matters!
enjay Posted June 27, 2007 Posted June 27, 2007 Do the short-throw projectors on the new smartboards not suffer so much from this problem because they are closer to the board? My physics isn't good enough to work out if that matters! Yes, we normally buy 2000 Lumen projectors but our short-throw ones are only 1500 - our supplier assures us this is acceptable because of the shorter distance (which makes sense).
eean Posted June 27, 2007 Author Posted June 27, 2007 Yes, we normally buy 2000 Lumen projectors but our short-throw ones are only 1500 - our supplier assures us this is acceptable because of the shorter distance (which makes sense). What short throw projectors do you have? Is it the ones on the new boards? The only short throw ones I could find were the REALLY short throw - £2k ones. As most of ours are on canterleaver, it would be relatively easy to hack a bit off the end to bring them closer.
enjay Posted June 27, 2007 Posted June 27, 2007 The ones on the SMART 680i - I *think* these are 3M DMS800 projectors, but yes, bought separately they are something like £2k but remember that includes the installation, speakers, cabling and wall plate.
accura2000 Posted June 27, 2007 Posted June 27, 2007 We use film all round our school, we recently added new blinds to most of the classrooms as the film was pretty useless as i let too much light through.. Plus you get teachers moaning that there is not enough natural light coming into the class anymore.. Have you had to get black-out blinds or normal ones? What is it like now? No, we opted for standard vertical fabric blinds, it allows enough light through for lighting the room, but allows us to direct the light away from the boards. This is a huge improvment and the board are really viewable now.
eean Posted June 27, 2007 Author Posted June 27, 2007 That might do the job then. Do you know who installed it?
starscream Posted June 28, 2007 Posted June 28, 2007 We tried painting some windows. But it flaked off. Ok I didn't but the caretaker did. I wouldn't have....
tom_newton Posted June 28, 2007 Posted June 28, 2007 We use film on the windows in soton - it works very well to reduce the temperature in summer, but light ingress is not particularly lessened. Maybe thats just down to the film we used tho. I think we fitted it ourselves, being enterprising little scamps, as we are.
Firefly_Transport Posted June 28, 2007 Posted June 28, 2007 We had a special film fitted by AWF (0121 693 2412) (http://www.appliedwindowfilms.co.uk) Resonable and very professional service/costs. The windows are designed to act as one-way in the day and to dramaticly reduce solar input. They should be able to assit you with details on film types.
accura2000 Posted June 28, 2007 Posted June 28, 2007 Im am getting the detail fishd out for you and i will post them as soon as i have them.
accura2000 Posted June 28, 2007 Posted June 28, 2007 eean, We used a company called Alpha Blinds, Eastmead Avenue, Ashford, Kent, TN23 7RX Tel: 01233 661466 Hope this helps.
Recommended Posts
Create an account or sign in to comment
You need to be a member in order to leave a comment
Create an account
Sign up for a new account in our community. It's easy!
Register a new accountSign in
Already have an account? Sign in here.
Sign In Now