projector/screen recomendation

[indcrimdefense]

have a friend who owns a night club, in one area has a projector approx. 20 ft from the screen. due to the lighting the picture quality suffers. is there a cost effective projector & or screen which would help this problem?? projector is i think an infocus?? & screen was free from another customer. as the night wears on, the lights go lower & lower, but was wondering if a better projector & or a different screen would help.

 

[BMXTRIX]

Of course a better projector and a better screen will help. But, cost effective is not typically part of those things.

Realistically, since no information was provided it's impossible to say what upgrades may may make sense for this setup. But, a free screen is not likely to be seriously outperformed by a $1,000 screen. Yet, there are some black screens that cost $3,000+ that will perform great.

Yet, if you are using a 1,000 lumen projector, then it may make more sense to go with an upgrade on that before upgrading the screen.

Still, several thousand dollars, or more, is where I would set the price point for any upgrades if you want them to be of any real significance. (IMO)

Add to that - the 20' distance to the screen is a long ways to throw an image or it may be producing an image that is far to large for the room/environment.

Generally speaking, in a business environement, with typical boardroom level lighting (flouescent) you want a projector to be rated to deliver about 60 lumen per square foot of screen surface area. So, a 6x8 screen = 48 square feet and should have about a 3,000 lumen projector. Real world projector output is typically 10-15% less than rated output, which is already factored in.

 

[The Dukester]

You did not say if the screen is a 4.3 or 16.9 ratio. If it is a 4.3, I would suggest replacing the pj with a pro/business unit in lieu of a consumer model. Consumer models typically are used in home theatres that have complete or near complete light control. Business units have much higher lumen output and look better with ambiet light.

Otherwise, I would look at screens such as the Screen Innovations unit linked here. Either way, it won't be inexpensive to get a good looking pic with much ambient light.http://www.audioholics.com/news/trade-show-coverage/2005-cedia-expo/screen-innovations-mirage-projector-screen?searchterm=scree

 

[The Dukester]

One thing I forgot to mention is that with the Screen Innovations type screens, you typically have a narrow viewing cone or angle, so watch for that. It would be bad for your friend to drop 3-4k on a screen and find out that only half of his patrons would get a good pic.

Some things to check for free before he spends any money is to get the model number off the pj and look up how many lumens it's rated for. That will tell you what to expect from it. Next check the number of hours on the lamp. They can get pretty dim near the end of their life. Also check the lamp setting on the pj. If it's in low/theatre, then try it in high/dynamic. This will boost it pretty much, but also realize that lamp life will be dramatically reduced. Hope this helps.

 

[indcrimdefense]

guys thanks so much for the advice. he & i did not discuss a budget so that is one thing i need to determine. will also try to get more info on the projector which i believe is now quite old. also wanted to mention bulb life may be a factor, as this projector is on 6 days a week 8-12 hours a day.

 

[BMXTRIX]

guys thanks so much for the advice. he & i did not discuss a budget so that is one thing i need to determine. will also try to get more info on the projector which i believe is now quite old. also wanted to mention bulb life may be a factor, as this projector is on 6 days a week 8-12 hours a day.

Lamp life is not under the end users control. Almost all lamps will run about 1,000 to 2,000 hours - and will stop working SOMEWHERE between that range. It's completely impossible to say for sure. It really would help to have a 100% breakdown of the room setup, environment, lighting, screen size, etc. before anything else as that is what is necessary before making a recommendation.

Unless you go to a good commercial display, having a projector on for that time period without any breaks is a big no-no as well (generally speaking) unless it is designed for it.