OT: Looking to buy a Video Projector

xberk wrote on 3/19/2016, 11:17 PM

I need a Video projector for an event that will have 75-100 people. The room is 56 feet by 40 feet in size. The screen in that room is 8 foot wide and 6 foot high .. Budget is max, $800 .. Love to spend less. We'll be showing videos with sound (some HD) from a laptop. Might be doing Skype. There's a PA system in the room for a podium mic, but I"m not sure what the audio inputs are at this point to tap into the PA system ..

I was thinking of something like this: https://www.infocusdirect.com/projectors/in119hdx-1080p-projector

Comments

PeterWright wrote on 3/20/2016, 4:02 AM

Will you have ongoing use for the projector?

If it's a one off, I would hire.

farss wrote on 3/20/2016, 7:52 AM

Projectors with inadequate light output are the bane of my existence.
For video the projector budget is off by at least an order of magnitude. Unless the venue is as dark as a cinema you need a quite significantly powerful projector for video. For a screen the size quoted you'd need at least 6,000 lumens.

Bob.

musicvid10 wrote on 3/20/2016, 10:40 AM

I quite agree with the 6,000 lumens recommendation.
An EIKI LC-XL200A will run you about $3,000 US.

Rent a commercial projector. Roll the cost into your bill rather than buying a "church basement" model.

xberk wrote on 3/20/2016, 2:34 PM

Renting from the hotel seems a bad bet. Here's their price list:

Boardroom LCD Projector 3500 lumens .. $375 a day
Ideal for groups of up to 25 ..

Ballroom XGA LCD Projector 650 Lumens .. $475 a day …
Ideal for groups of 50-200.

The room is fairly dark -- not Theater dark, but fairly close. I'll check some local rental houses. THe event will be in Phoenix, AZ ... This is most likely a one off event .. could be repeated but maybe not for 2 years. Renting sounds good unless it goes beyond the $800 we have to spend.

musicvid10 wrote on 3/20/2016, 5:31 PM

Be careful there -- the "hotel's projector" often comes with their dedicated projectionist -- at at a separate hourly rate.

Don't know where you're located, but those daily rates sound a bit overblown, too.

xberk wrote on 3/20/2016, 10:21 PM

The event will be in Phoenix, Arizona .. they don't say it comes with a projectionist.
I think it's an outside Vendor.

I just found out we used a 2500 lumens Casio back in 2012 in a similar size room for this same event. I remember it being OK. Not dazzling.

I know lots depends on the lighting. I think we'll have sort of emergency lights on that can't be turned off, otherwise, no lights.

musicvid10 wrote on 3/21/2016, 9:55 AM

Rent the ballroom projector (I think you meant 6500 lumens); you'll be glad you did.
For almost any event, "lights off" does not equate to "dark room." As others have hinted, light pollution and screen distance are your biggest enemies.

xberk wrote on 5/12/2016, 7:16 PM

Just to wrap this up. We choose a PJD7828DLP projector (Viewsonic) .. Worked out very very well in our meeting room of 40 x 56 with the lights on and even better with the lights off. Ran all kinds of things off the laptop, including Powerpoint, Websites, Video files (720 and 1080), still images, and PDF files. Mostly we ran an HDMI connection but we even ran an iPhone directly into the projector's VGA to do a live FACETIME session. We projected the FACETIME onto our 8 foot screen with no issues, using the iPhone headphone jack for audio. I will say we had a sparkling fast Internet connection in that meeting room.

I'd recommend the Viewsonic 7828 highly. Less than $600 for Full HD.