PCA Forums

What does a guy need to look for when buying a multi media projector.
What is considered good and what not?
The use would be mainly powerpoint presentations in a room that holds about 120 ppl. So they should be readable from about 50ft.
Any tips, or links?

The BIG thing is the bulb. How much does it cost, and what is it's expected lifespan.

The bulb can cost a few hundred alone.

things to consider with projectors:

1. native resolution...make sure it can handle the desktop resolution(s) of the pc's that will be hooked up to it. most new ones will be ok...but double check and see if it is a 800x600 or 1024x768 native, etc

2. brightness (measured in LUMENS). what type of room lighting will be used during the presentations? if you will have normal office lighting you will want something brighter than if the room will be dark. 700-800 lumen minimum...i would recommend 1000-1300 if possible. the brightest i have at the office is 3500 and it is BRIGHT. that is on a 10' screen in an auditorium...and it looks far better than most movie theatres as far as brightness, etc.

3. contrast ratio. the higher the better, just like with LCD pc monitors. go for a 400:1 or better. this will make the blacks look black and the whites look white.

4. bulb life. average is 1000 hours. some stretch it to 1500-2000 hours with optional "bulb saving" modes that run at lower brightness levels. alot of replacement bulbs run $300-500 EACH.

5. features. input types (VGA, composite, S-Video, component, DVI)...do you want/need LAN capability, mouse control via the projector remote, etc.

for a decent office projector, expect to pay around $2000+ (new).


.02


edit: brands to check out....InFocus, Proxima (higher end InFocus line), and Sanyo.

thanks for the tips, this will give me now at least some idea what i should be looking for.