Need some serious help

[allstar780]

I need a projector for an independent theatre in town... they have a screen that is approx 1.1:1 ratio (14 feet wide, 13.5 tall) and they will be projecting from 28-30 feet away.... right now they use an epson media projector... they need something a little better...

I can easily research and recommend projectors, if someone can tell me what I need. I basically need to know the biggest 16:9 image that could be thrown onto this screen at this distance.... I have no clue how to do the math

[Big Daddy]

Originally Posted by allstar780

I need a projector for an independent theatre in town... they have a screen that is approx 1.1:1 ratio (14 feet wide, 13.5 tall) and they will be projecting from 28-30 feet away.... right now they use an epson media projector... they need something a little better...

I can easily research and recommend projectors, if someone can tell me what I need. I basically need to know the biggest 16:9 image that could be thrown onto this screen at this distance.... I have no clue how to do the math

You need to check Sony's professional projectors:

http://pro.sony.com/bbsc/ssr/cat-pro...at-largevenue/
http://pro.sony.com/bbsc/ssr/cat-pro...at-ultrahires/
http://pro.sony.com/bbsc/ssr/cat-pro...digitalcinema/

[allstar780]

thanks for the suggestions... theres a few in the large venue category that i had already looked at... any idea why the contrast on some is so low? like 700:1 ? the current projector they are using is 800:1 and they want something with deeper blacks (without changing screens)

[Brain Sturgeon]

Well, the biggest 16:9 image that you can throw onto that screen would be 14'x7.87'. The screen is obviously taller than that, but for a 1.85 image, you are limited by the screen width.

There are relatively few options to properly light up a screen of that size with a good quality image, and almost all of them are 3 chip DLP. If you are looking for best image quality on a 14' screen, the current front runners for image quality would be the Barco DP-2000, Christie HD-6KM or HD-10km, Digital Projection Titan Pro Series II, and the Sim2 HT-5000. All of these machines are $50k+ -- what's your budget? As far as the throw distance, all of these projectors are available with multiple lens solutions, one of which is sure to work for a 28-30' throw.

Outside of these beasts, the new Sim2 C3X Lumis may be able to properly light up a 14' screen with a good image. A couple of users at AVS are going to try it, although I believe they are using 14' wide scope screens.

It is very difficult to engineer a projector with very high light output (think 2000+ lumens calibrated @ D65) and high sequential contrast. The Barco listed above does about 2000:1 although there are mods to make it better. The Christie listed above has been measured about 16000:1 with a DI, and the HT-5000 at about 6000:1. The ANSI is very high in these machines though-- probably north of 700:1. Don't get too hung up on the sequential contrast though-- there's more to image quality than just this measure. Except for sequential contrast torture sequences (fade to black, starfields, etc), even a 2000:1 on/off projector can produce a stunning image. See these projectors in action before you make a decision based on a number.

[allstar780]

well thanks brain... those projectors are way out of the budget though... The customer has told me $6000-$7000 max... it is just for an NPO Theatre... they show local indie films and the like... basically the brands I am able to order in through work are Optoma, Sony, Panasonic, Epson, Samsung, Toshiba and Hewlett Packard... They are currently using an Epson Powerlite EMP-7700p so anything that will do the screen size/throw distance and outperform this would be an improvement... oh the other downfall is that it has to be rather quiet because it isnt in a projection room, rather it just sits on the ledge of the balcony (like 5 feet from people)

Edit: Should also add that the projector should be 1080P (they do have some film submissions on blu!) and absolutely MUST have HDMI, Component, VGA and S-Video (pretty standard but still)

[Brain Sturgeon]

Originally Posted by allstar780

well thanks brain... those projectors are way out of the budget though... The customer has told me $6000-$7000 max... it is just for an NPO Theatre... they show local indie films and the like... basically the brands I am able to order in through work are Optoma, Sony, Panasonic, Epson, Samsung, Toshiba and Hewlett Packard... They are currently using an Epson Powerlite EMP-7700p so anything that will do the screen size/throw distance and outperform this would be an improvement... oh the other downfall is that it has to be rather quiet because it isnt in a projection room, rather it just sits on the ledge of the balcony (like 5 feet from people)

Edit: Should also add that the projector should be 1080P (they do have some film submissions on blu!) and absolutely MUST have HDMI, Component, VGA and S-Video (pretty standard but still)

Hmmm... That's going to be real tough in that price range. To light up that large of a screen with a good quality image is not easy. You could try one of the current crop of consumer projectors from the brands you mention, but most of them are not good with screens larger than 12 feet or so, unless you are going with a high gain screen. The one projector that comes to mind that might fit that budget would be the InFocus 777. It is a 720p three chip DLP that is very bright and throws a very nice image. However, it is no longer in production, so you would have to find it used or luck out with a retailer that still has one. I would guess a used one would be in the range of about $8k. A Sim2 C3X could also do the trick, although it would probably be in the $10k range. A used one might fall into your price range. I don't think you're going to be able to find a 1080p projector of enough light output and quality to produce a decent image on a 14' wide 16:9 screen; but my standards for video are likely higher than most, so you may want to demo some PJ's that you have access to, to see if something in that price range will work for you.

However, honestly speaking, for any commercial application, you are not going to find a projector that can do what you are wanting to do with a screen of that size in the $6-7k range unless you switch to a high gain screen like a Vutec Silverstar or a DaLite High Power.

[kpkelley]

For a screen of that size, you are going to need a multimedia projector like the Optoma EW1610. It's a WXGA projector with 2700 lumens and can handle a screen of that size, but it's not technically a 1080p projector. It doesn't have an hdmi input, but it does have a dvi input.

Other wxga projectors are:

Panasonic PT-FW300NTU
Epson Powerlite 1735W
Samsung SP-A400B
Toshiba TDP-WX5400U - 5400 Lumens
Toshiba TDP-EW25U

[Phil Taylor]

Have you considered stacking 2 or 3 projectors of the same model?