Hello all, I am new to this forum, but after much searching on the net, it seemed like the best place to get the information i am looking for. I work for a government owned auditorium that is looking to expand into showing movies once a month. I have been put in charge of finding a projector that will work in our space. We currently own a 20' high by 30' wide glass beaded screen that is mounted on one of our battens. Our projection booth is 75' from the screen and is positioned in the center of the screen. Movies will be played on a standard dvd player and the projector will also be used for presentations generated from a laptop. The price range should be less than $6000.00. Any recommedations?

For the kind of manchine needed to throw that size from that distance, $6k probably gets you a time share on a lens cap.

You might find something used, but I doubt it.

For the kind of manchine needed to throw that size from that distance, $6k probably gets you a time share on a lens cap.

Hahaha! I think there is a zero missing!

If there is a zero missing, you might try one of these:
http://www.barco.com/corporate/en/products/product.asp?gennr=1718

Otherwise, think used 3 chip D-cinema DLP. That is, a digital projector intended for a real movie theater that is being upgraded due to being obsolete.

Try Projector Central's used listings:
http://www.projectorcentral.com/used_projectors.cfm?bll=3000&bul=any&wll=any&wul=any&prll=any&prul=any&res_family_id=any&city=0&state=0&country=0&trig=1

Good luck.

DVDs will look incredibly bad at that size. 35mm gear will be cheaper to purchase and operate in such a venue... don't rule it out. You might be able to get set up for $6000 if you buy used equipment, stick to optical for the sound, and are able to tie into the venue's existing sound system. The folks at the Film-Tech (http://www.film-tech.com) forums would be a good resource.

http://192.67.78.42/mf/drexel/img/supers2.jpg

Be sure to go through the proper channels when publicly exhibiting movies...

It will be tough to fill the screen width without a lot of lumens. Some possibilites are below. They are all 4:3 and the long throw lenses are usually extra so not all might fit your price range. If you want 16:9 used is your only option.

Infocus IN42
Infocus LP850
Boxlight Pro 4500
Canon LV7575
Hitachi CPX1250
Panasonic PTD5600
NEC NP2000
NEC NP4000
Sharp XH-PH50

Joking aside, an ~$6K projector blown up that large (especially using a low quality source like DVD) will probably look pretty bad. Additionally, all the flaws in digital projectors will be plainly obvious. With that budget, the resolution won't be that high so you'll see an obvious grid pattern in the image (screen door), the black levels and associated contrast probably won't be very good and the image will be pretty dim considering how large your screen is.

Do you have curtains you can draw in on the sides? If you are willing to shrink your screen size down a bit, something like the Sanyo VLP-WF10 might work for you (16:9, 4000 lumens). It is $6K without a lens and probably another few grand for a lens which should work with your throw. It is a few years old now and doesn't have great contrast, but with your budget you shouldn't be expecting much.

Here is a review (http://www.projectorcentral.com/sanyo_wf10.htm) from projector central. Hope that helps.
-Matt

Thank you all for helping me with this project. This being a goverment owned building, they always try to start out with as small a budget as possible. Having the information you have provided will help me direct them into a larger budget or passing on the idea of movie projection. If they decide to increase the budget, I will return for more great information. Thanks again!!!

Thirdoctive,

If you are still around, I think I can be helpful to you.

Three years ago, I was asked to find a digital projection solution for an IMAX theater. The theater was used for both IMAX movies and guest speakers. For the guest speakers, they wanted a projector capable of filling a good portion of the screen. So we demoed the NEC-GT6000:

http://www.projectorcentral.com/NEC-GT6000.htm

We had it making a 40'X30' image and much too our pleasant surprise, the 5100 lumen projector was bright enough. The IMAX screen is supposedly a gain of 2 but I think it is more like 1.5 from my visual inspection. So 5100 lumens on a screen that was 1200 square feet with a screen gain of 1.5 gave us an image brightness of 5100 / 1200 X 1.5 = 6.375 Foot-Lamberts

You have 30X20 inch screen that is glass beaded which should give you a gain of about 2.0. This means that to generate an image of at least 6 Foot-Lamberts you will need: 6 X 30 X 20 / 2.0 = 1800 lumens.

That is not that difficult so don't listen to these naysayers. The biggest problem is probably going to be your long throw requirements. You are trying to create a 30 foot wide screen from 75 feet. That is a throw-ratio of 2.5:1 and falls into the "long throw" category.

One projector that will probably work for you is the Canon SX6. It has 3500 lumens and does do a max throw-ratio of 2.43 which should be very close to your needs.

http://www.projectorcentral.com/pdf/projector_manual_3206.pdf

From the picture of page 28 you'll notice it has a fixed vertical offset which might add a little complication depending on how big and the location of your projection booth window. You'll have to move the projector/screen up or down to get things to line up.

Now, the projector is rated at 3500 lumens but you will probably only get about 2500 out of it (Cannon exaggerates a little) and you will be using it at the longest throw setting which will mean the lens will have a small apperature (F2.5 instead of F1.9) so you will probably lose another 500 lumens. So as is often the case, a 3500 lumen projector becomes a 2000 lumen projector very quickly.

Here are some other considerations:

How much ambient light is there going to be INSIDE the theater? You can get away with less than 10 foot-Lamberts in a totally dark theater but not in a room that has a lot of ambient light.

How much ambient light is OUTSIDE the theater? Good movie theaters have dark lobbies that allow the movie-goers to get dark-adapted before actually entering the theater.

How much use do you expect out of the projector? Bulbs are $400 a piece and will only give you 2000 hours depending on the projector. If the projector is used an hour a day, your fine.

How are going to get your video/audio signals back to the projection room? Do you need a projection room at all? Today's projectors are very quite. (A good source for cables is monoprice . com)

Anyway, I don't mean to scare you and I think you can do this project. With the info you've given I think the Canon SX6 would be your best option.

-Mr. Wigggles

Ps. DVDs will look O.K. and the SX6 can handle HD if you need it to.

Be sure to go through the proper channels when publicly exhibiting movies...They're the government, they don't have to go through channels. ;)

This being a goverment owned building, they always try to start out with as small a budget as possible.And I am sure we all appreciate that. :D Who's the audience for these films going to be?

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