Digital projector advice

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 Robert Durran 23 Sep 2017
Can anyone give me a recommendation for a digital projector? I am looking for something which will give comparable image quality and "impact" in a room suitable for, say, about fifty people as I get sitting looking at a good quality monitor. Within reason willing to pay as necessary for a good one.
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 nickprior 23 Sep 2017
In reply to Robert Durran:

Sony VPL-HW45ES

Bought this one for a camera club with occasional use for rooms of 50+. Very pleased with the quality. Works well in rooms where total blackout cannot be achieved. Quiet enough to talk over. Zoom feature genuinely useful. We can do imaging software demos with it without losing the cursor in blur. Most of all it does justice to even the most subtlest of coloured images.

We discovered that image quality was also affected by screen quality - the flatter the better. May well be worth budgeting for screens too.

We got good advice from ProjectorPoint, as well as demo machines to try in our usual environment. We tested two in the end, a Canon and the Sony. Both streets ahead of the machines under £1000.
OP Robert Durran 23 Sep 2017
In reply to telemark:

> Sony VPL-HW45ES

Mmm....... Sounds superb, but £2000 a bit much! Am wondering whether an Optoma H183X for about £350 would be good enough. Gets great reviews, but maybe I need to spend more?
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 nickprior 23 Sep 2017
In reply to Robert Durran:

The Optoma does look good but the reviews I've seen seem to view it as a home projector. If you're showing material to a medium roomful you'll need something a little more beefy if you want emulate tv performance I think. But a lot depends on the expectations of your audiences, and what you're showing. Simple Powerpoints with solid colours need less performance than a projector for images with delicate cloud colours for example.

The other thing to bear in mind is how much control you have over the environment you're using the projector in. Is it truly dark, or will you have to cope with some daylight? How far away from the screen can you place the projector? (Zoom facilities are surprisingly useful, not just a gimmick.) Do you have control over how high the projector is relative to the screen? (Keystoning and vertical display adjustment are useful facilities - the Optoma doesn't have the vertical display adjustment). As ever the less ideal the environment, the more you'll have to spend!

Would recommend a chat with the Projector Point people - my experience is they will suggest things that meet your budget but will also indicate where you may struggle. We were considering £300 projectors but were firmly told to spend a bit more, and we're very glad we did. YMMV of course.
OP Robert Durran 23 Sep 2017
In reply to telemark:

Thanks for your advice.

> The Optoma does look good but the reviews I've seen seem to view it as a home projector. If you're showing material to a medium roomful you'll need something a little more beefy if you want emulate tv performance I think.

At the moment I use a big HD TV at home for showing photos but it just lacks the impact of a bigger screen I used to use for non digital slides. I sometimes do talks/slideshows for clubs and so on and just use the projector provided. I can't stretch to £2000 so I may need to settle for the best quality home projector I can afford

> But a lot depends on the expectations of your audiences, and what you're showing. Simple Powerpoints with solid colours need less performance than a projector for images with delicate cloud colours for example.

It's as much about my own expectations - I just find it unsatisfactory to go to the trouble of taking some decent photos but then have to show people an inferior version!

> The other thing to bear in mind is how much control you have over the environment you're using the projector in. Is it truly dark, or will you have to cope with some daylight? How far away from the screen can you place the projector? (Zoom facilities are surprisingly useful, not just a gimmick.) Do you have control over how high the projector is relative to the screen? (Keystoning and vertical display adjustment are useful facilities - the Optoma doesn't have the vertical display adjustment). As ever the less ideal the environment, the more you'll have to spend!

I've been looking into all these things and the keystoning and a shortish throw would be very useful at home.

> Would recommend a chat with the Projector Point people - my experience is they will suggest things that meet your budget but will also indicate where you may struggle.

I now like the look of the BenQ 2000 which gets rave reviews (including from Projector Point) especially for colour and image quality at the price (about my absolute limit at £800).
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 nickprior 23 Sep 2017
In reply to Robert Durran:

> I now like the look of the BenQ 2000

Looks like we have a winner! Would be worth auditioning it before buying if you can - check the shadows for detail. Otherwise looks good.

OP Robert Durran 23 Sep 2017
In reply to telemark:

> Looks like we have a winner! Would be worth auditioning it before buying if you can - check the shadows for detail. Otherwise looks good.

Thanks, yes, it sounds good, with the one proviso that blacks/very shadowy shots can suffer from a "grey" lack of contrast . I found a very favourable review on a proper photography website, rather than the others really aimed at movie watching.

And to the loser who has systematically "disliked" all my posts in this thread: piss off and get a life. Some people........

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