Film-Tech Forum ARCHIVE: Digital projector for preshow ent.

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Posted by Ramin Hashemi (Member # 2694) on 08-27-2007, 04:38 PM:

We are going to get some digital projectors for the pre-show slides. The screen is about 60 ft away, 12 ft high and 2:3 ratio. I therefore can not use a low end projector without getting off the screen.

I am considering the InFocus IN42, with a zoom lens.

Any advise?

thanks

Ramin

Posted by David Zylstra (Member # 4230) on 08-28-2007, 12:20 AM:

A quick look at projectorcentral.com shows that at 16:9 aspect ratio and a 12' tall image that projector will give you 7FL with a screen gain of 1 . . . . .

Personally I'd go for a model with a higher contrast ratio .. . .

FYI - I have 14 cheaper Infocus projectors (X1a and X2) and so far 7 that were bought in the past year have been in for warranty repair and 6 that were purchased almost 3 yrs ago are pretty much worn out and being replaced since repairs are costing as much as the original price - now the model you are looking at is not DLP so you may not see the issues I have.

Whatever you end up with look into an extended warranty/service contract - if it includes "advance exchange" it would minimize down time if you do need repairs as well as save repair costs in the long run.

Posted by Thomas Pitt (Member # 4322) on 08-28-2007, 01:26 AM:

Most digital projectors I've seen are still 4:3 aspect ratio, to match computer screens (though this will surely change with the shift to widescreen monitors on desktops and laptops). If you use a 'low end' projector, and zoom it in enough so that the top and bottom of the image fall off the screen, you could get full-screen preshow ads.

Just make sure to send the signal to the projector in letterboxed format, or you'd be projecting onto the masking! Also, adjust the black level so that the projected letterbox bars (on the masking) are barely noticeable.

The cinemas I visit actually do this with slide projectors. The slide projectors use 'flat' lenses and project a 4:3 picture - but the slides themselves are in letterbox format, so the projected image never falls off the screen.