Re: LCD projectors?

**"Christopher P. Lindsey" t*@spamfodder.com**

> Kirk, your experience is similar to mine and thanks for all that 
> input.  Have you tested any of the low end machines and if so, what 
> do you think of them?  Any particular models to recommend for or 
> against?

Hi Nan,

   The two biggest factors with multimedia projectors is the brightness
   (measured in ANSI lumens) and the resolution.

   Almost all affordable projectors have a maximum resolution of 1024x768,
   so your presentations should never be set for anything larger than
   that.  I run my laptop at 1280x1024 and my home machine at 1600x1200,
   so anything that I do has to be rescaled if I want it to look right.
   If you're using your own machine, you'll need to make sure that its
   display is set to 1024x768 as well; the few times that I've tried
   my laptop at 1280x1024 on a projector the screen gets a bad case of
   "the jitters."  :)

   As far as brightness goes, I use a 2200 lumen projector[1].  We need
   to draw the blinds when I show anything and some of the DVDs that
   I've watched lost detail normally visible on TV, but for 99% of all
   applications that will work.  If you'll be in a bright room that
   can't have the light sources blocked or dimmed then you'll have to
   consider brighter projectors in the 3500+ lumens range.  Of course,
   that drives the price up significantly.

   I find that having a remote control is invaluable, especially for
   those rare occassions that you need to display a dark image and might
   need to up the brightness level a little.  It's much better to aim
   and click than to go fiddle with the projector.  I'm also a stickler
   on inputs.   Most projectors run the full gamut of connection types,
   but you absolutely want a standard VGA connector and RCA input jacks.
   S-video isn't necessary, but it's really nice to have.  Remember that
   you can use this to watch DVDs at home (just project it onto a nice
   big wall), so you might as well get one with those inputs.  :)  We've
   talked about doing a 'drive-in' movie with some friends.  We'd just
   project the movie onto the garage door and everyone parks behind it.

   I don't know too much about brands any more, unfortunately.  We've been
   happy with the Sharp Notevision line, but the market has changed so
   much since we purchased it..

   One last point.  Before you purchase anything, you might want to see
   if you can rent it somewhere first.

   Hope that helped, at least a little.

Chris

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[1] http://www.ult.com/sales/nv6.html
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