Digital Projectors Which One?

[gillyworld]

So having taken thousands of pictures with my Canon 10D I would like to be able to project them for talks etc. Anyone have any recommendations for projectors, I'm not so interested in features just picture quality

Thanks

[mvs]

That's a broad question.....kind of like asking out of the blue what kind of camera one should get without giving any needs/wants. :D :D

If you're not much worried about features, what kind of $$ do you want to spend and what kind of light environment are you going to use the pj in?

[JZaun]

That is a big question. B&H photo handles around 35 models. In focus X2 uses the new DLP image projection. At 1600 lumens it is bright enough for a dim room but not a bright room. It a excelent projector that can be used for digital display, DVD, CD, PC TV ets. I have used the X1 which is dimmer, 1000 lumens so this one in use and will probably be the one I order.

http://www.bhphotovideo.com/bnh/controller/home?O=NavBar&A=FetchChildren&Q=&ci=3644

JZ

[robertwgross]

Some digital projectors are good to use in a dim room only. Others can be used in a brighter room. Some are good to use in a small room only. Others can be used in an auditorium. Some have very high resolution. Others do not. For nearly all, the resolution is bad as compared to the resolution of your camera. Some have good dynamic range. Others do not.

---Bob Gross---

[Jon]

How big a room? How dark? How high resolution (800 x 600 or 1024 x 768 are the "affordable" sizes)? How portable? You need it to work from a memory card or CD as well as from your computer? How much you want to spend?

[robertwgross]

Earlier this year, I attended a club meeting, and some guy had a "digital slide show" using his Mac and Apple projector. As a result, three of us (photographers) sat on the front row to look for detail.

It was crap. The projector's resolution was really bad, and we could see all of the jaggies. The projector's dynamic range was really bad. The whole thing looked like it was about 2-3 stops overexposed.

By about ten slides in, the three of us left. We couldn't stomach any more.

---Bob Gross---

[Kadath]

As a Home Theater buff, the pj I most covet is the Sony Qualia 4:

http://www.projectorcentral.com/Sony-Qualia-004.htm

http://news.sel.sony.com/pressrelease/3947

Sam

[OviV]

As a Home Theater buff, the pj I most covet is the Sony Qualia 4:

http://www.projectorcentral.com/Sony-Qualia-004.htm

http://news.sel.sony.com/pressrelease/3947

Sam

$30K :shock:

[robertwgross]

$30K

Goodness! $30K for equipment like that?

I could get a good camera for that much.

---Bob Gross---

[pcasciola]

Since you mention you will be projecting them for talks, I assume you will be in a meeting room, maybe not completely darkened like a movie theater? If that is the case, you will probably want a DLP projector of around 1500-2000 lumens. I would not recommend the Infocus X2. It's the lowest resolution available (800x600), although it is cheap.

I was shocked at how well the business projectors can display digital pictures. You can get a 1024x768 bright projector for around $1500 new these days. I have an Infocus LP430 that is very dated now, and needs to be upgraded, but I was surprised at how well it displays digital pictures

This is a picture I dug up from a couple of years ago when I first set this up, and was projecting a picture that was taken with a Coolpix 5700 (yeah, sorry I was a Nikon guy, but I've changed), and the picture of the projected image was also taken with the 5700. This is in my living room, not completely darkened, and projected on a 120" pull down screen.

http://www.casciola.com/pics/lp350.jpg

[Aylwin]

If you're mainly interested in displaying static images and bringing the PJ along with you for talks and such, then I'd recommend an LCD projector. LCD is generally cheaper and brighter (for the same small size) compared to DLP. This would probably be useful for you since I'd assume your talks won't be held in completely dark rooms.

Personally though, I own a DLP PJ which I use mainly for video.

General advantages:
LCD - brighter, cheaper
DLP - higher contrast, smoother video

Still, both technologies are continuously improving and the lines of difference are getting narrower.