All your office and communication needs coveredChoosing the right projector
Helpful hints before buying a multi-media projector
These machines enable you to project from a computer or laptop, a DVD or VHS video player.
Although very sophisticated in features, they will only project the image fed to them, which means much of their use is determined by the laptop or other devices which connect to them. Many people, for instance, expect the projector to come with ‘PowerPoint’ whereas all it can do is project images created on ‘PowerPoint’ or other software on the computer.
Projectors are designed for school classrooms, conference centres, lecture rooms, and most can be used portably or permanently mounted from a wall mounted shelf/bracket or from the ceiling. Rear projection gives even greater versatility for positioning in awkward situations.
Many of our church customers have problems because projectors are not designed with churches in mind!
So below are some thoughts which may be helpful to churches considering acquiring a projector.
Thoughts for churches
Projection distance is often an issue in traditional church buildings. Projectors are designed to give a large image from close up, as in a school classroom, or business meeting room. The difficulty with many churches is that the projector often needs to be a distance away from the screen which can cause problems, especially if the projector needs to be used in other locations as well as the church. Again this needs considering before the projector is bought. There is usually a compromise solution to suit most applications.
Brightness is measured in ANSI (American National Standards Institute) lumens, and it is important to determine what is appropriate for each individual situation. Some suppliers will lend a projector to test how a model performs before purchase. This is well worth taking advantage of. The clarity of image is also affected by the resolution of the projector. Most are now XGA (Extended Graphics Array) resolution, some models are still available with SVGA (Super Video graphics Array) resolution, which generally are not suitable for most church applications, as most computers/laptops sold since 1998 are XGA, and XGA gives better picture quality for DVD film projection as well as computer data. As a guide, 1400 lumens seems a minimum level for church use, and 2000 – 2500 lumens are probably the most popular selling models.
The projectors have speakers to broadcast sound, but these are suitable for small room use only. Sound output needs to be through an existing sound system or external speakers bought separately. This is easy to do, but needs thinking through.
Prices are volatile, and generally dropping. However the lowest price may not be the best value – even if the brightness rating seems high for the price offered. Often the combination of features on lower priced machines does not suit church use.
Lamp replacement cost needs thinking through before buying. An overhead projector lamp costs from £5 to £20 and is usually rated to give between 50 and 100 hours, life. Video projector lamps cost from £250 to £400, and are rated to give from 2000 to 5000 hours’ life!
Having the projector installed permanently, either mounted from the ceiling or on a wall bracket, is possible; usually this entails cabling to a remote control point as part of the installation. It is worth using the projector in real use situations before having it permanently installed in order to spot any potential problems. It is also worth bearing in mind that most projectors can be used for rear projection (i.e. projected onto the screen from the rear) which can help solve issues with projection distances and light problems.
Unigraph free trial service
If you want to try out a projector to see if it is suitable for your situation, please contact James Parkes on 0114 275 2801 or email james.parkes@unigraph.co.uk - James will be pleased to arrange a few days trial completely free of charge.
