Projector help (1 Viewer)

[Steve Garrett]

We are a volunteer fire department building a brand-new fire station. I am looking to outfit our multipurpose room with a projector and screen. This room measures 40' x 40'. This projector would receive a signal from HD cable and also would like to be able to hook up a laptop for presentations. With a budget of around $2500 what would be a suggestion for a projector and screen. The screen can be fixed, electric, or pull down. Looking for suggestions on screen size, projector, and screen. Also where is the best place to purchase? Thank you!

 

[schan1269]

Are the presentations going to be done with the room lit or darkened?How high is the ceiling?There is an entire class of projector called Large Venue. Any if them will create a 200" image, with many capable of 300". If your ceiling is high enough.

 

[schan1269]

Here are two projectors, if you need what they can do...

http://www.projectorcentral.com/parts_compare.cfm?pid_2=7726&pid_3=7528&remove_compare_list=7173

 

[Type A]

A 34 dB rating for a 2013 projector is just depressing. Not that I have a better suggestion but damn.

 

[Jim Mcc]

We need more info before helping you.1) What will the seating distances be? This is what determines screen size.2) Will projector be ceiling mounted? How far from the screen?Depending on your answers, you may not need a "large venue" projector.

 

[Steve Garrett]

The ceiling height will be 10' and yes, it will be mounted from the ceiling. As for viewing, the majority will be from 20' to 25' away.

 

[Steve Garrett]

Wow! 5000 lumens? I had no idea that much brightness was needed. I need to check on the type of lighting that will be installed.

 

[schan1269]

You'll also have to decide how much of that 10' you want to devote to a screen size. An 8' height works out to 196" and 7' works out to 171".

Do you want/need an image that big?

Also, do you want/need to ability to switch between 4:3 and 16:9?

 

[schan1269]

Using the Optoma EH501 in this...
http://www.projectorcentral.com/Optoma-EH501-projection-calculator-pro.htm (you can do the other projector)

You can have a 171" image in a really bright room with the projector mounted at 18'.
It will do a nicer image(the longer the throw the tighter the final beam....less "angle") mounted at 25'...but loses 4fc in room brightness.

 

[schan1269]

Lastly...

Using the 25' distance...165"-190" is ideal(in my opinion)

 

[Jim Mcc]

Steve, are you aware that you need to keep the room reasonably dark with a projector? If you're going to watch with a bunch of lights on, you'd be better off with a large TV.

 

[schan1269]

Both of these Large Venue projectors can handle 30% lighting. I'm sure their presentations won't require home theater levels of picture quality.But when they want that, turn the room lighting down to

 

[Steve Garrett]

I think The 165 inch screen will be more than sufficient for what we will use this for. 90% of the use for this projector it will be simply for watching HD cable when we are at the station. This will be for basic use only, we are not looking for a high quality system, just something decent. I'm also looking for suggestions for a screen as well. It can be a fixed screen or electric just looking for what would be the best material to use and/or screen manufacturer. Thank you everyone for your help.

 

[Jim Mcc]

Steve, do you care if the projector is DLP or LCD? Will most viewing be done with the room reasonably dark?

 

[schan1269]

You could just paint the wall. There are light grey chalkboard paints that can double as a screen.You can always get a pull down later if you can't find a good mixture of paint. Would make the wall double duty.

 

[FoxyMulder]

Using the Optoma EH501 in this...
http://www.projectorcentral.com/Optoma-EH501-projection-calculator-pro.htm (you can do the other projector)

You can have a 171" image in a really bright room with the projector mounted at 18'.
It will do a nicer image(the longer the throw the tighter the final beam....less "angle") mounted at 25'...but loses 4fc in room brightness.

The problem is that real world figures tend to be way off the quoted Lumen figures after calibration.

 

[schan1269]

I understand all that. I doubt this projector is going to be used as "home theater esque".It is more than bright enough to do what they will be doing. Big room, big gun of a projector.

 

[FoxyMulder]

I understand all that. I doubt this projector is going to be used as "home theater esque".It is more than bright enough to do what they will be doing. Big room, big gun of a projector.

I guess so, certainly for the price it should be brighter than the competition.

 

[Steve Garrett]

Steve, do you care if the projector is DLP or LCD? Will most viewing be done with the room reasonably dark?

I really don't know the difference between the DLP and the LCD projectors. I would guess it really doesn't matter. The room has no windows however at this point I don't know how the lighting will be controlled. Thank you!

 

[Steve Garrett]

You could just paint the wall. There are light grey chalkboard paints that can double as a screen.You can always get a pull down later if you can't find a good mixture of paint. Would make the wall double duty.

I have thought about just painting the wall, would light grey be better than white?