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[Josh Billings]

I do a night club with low-ish ceilings and want to project visual effects on the wall and I'm looking for a projector that does the following.

2,800+ Lumens
Can produce a very large + WIDE image in focus from about 35 feet away
Budget under $700 if possible

I have a BenQ MW516 that is ok, but I do wish it was wider. I have the zoom on as far as it will go and as far back in the room as it will go. Thinking of possibly doing a ultra short throw projector closer in the room, not sure if that's a better solution, bud I do need it to be able to do a 300+ inch wide image.

Josh Billings

[Jordan Wolf]

I do a night club with low-ish ceilings and want to project visual effects on the wall and I'm looking for a projector that does the following.

2,800+ Lumens
Can produce a very large + WIDE image in focus from about 35 feet away
Budget under $700 if possible

I have a BenQ MW516 that is ok, but I do wish it was wider. I have the zoom on as far as it will go and as far back in the room as it will go. Thinking of possibly doing a ultra short throw projector closer in the room, not sure if that's a better solution, bud I do need it to be able to do a 300+ inch wide image.

Josh Billings

Josh,

When you say "wide", what do you mean?  Are you referring to a standardized aspect ratio such as "widescreen" (1.78:1) or Cinemscope (2.35:1)?  OR are you needing a solution that is more, shall we say, stretch-to-fit?

If "widescreen", you're looking at around 14ft. of height by 25ft. of width…

More specifics (and pictures) would be helpful.

[Bojan Bajsic]

http://www.infocus.com/projectors/office-projectors/infocus-in120-projector-series/infocus-in126st-projector

some compromises:
you need a pj with a short throw lens,
resolution will not be full hd,
it will most probably be single chip dlp, so rainbow issues

this projector fits your needs and will produce a 25ft wide image about 12ft away.

if this is for some nonstandard visuals and VJ-ing i would guess it is ok, for proper video projection you should look elsewhere, but price will be tenfold.

[Josh Billings]

this isn't for any type of proper projection (movies / presentations or anything like that) more like textures and whatnot

I mainly just want to fill up as wide of an area as possible (this wall is 40 feet wide, but only 15 foot tall ceilings.

If i were to go with the Infocus projector, would that main i can get a really big image, just not in focus from far away? I would really like it to be sharp if possible, but it sounds like i might be asking for too much.

[Bojan Bajsic]

If i were to go with the Infocus projector, would that main i can get a really big image, just not in focus from far away? I would really like it to be sharp if possible, but it sounds like i might be asking for too much.

why would it not be in focus? compared to the benq, infocus is about the same thing, but the infocus has a 0.48 lens. The benq also makes something called the mw817ST http://www.benq.com/product/projector/mw817st, if you like the benq products, but it is about 1000$.

The ST stands for "short throw", and they have 0.48 throw lenses. That is the only difference between those and the ones with standard lenses. You should get the same lumens, resolution and focus in both.

[Josh Billings]

why would it not be in focus? compared to the benq, infocus is about the same thing, but the infocus has a 0.48 lens. The benq also makes something called the mw817ST http://www.benq.com/product/projector/mw817st, if you like the benq products, but it is about 1000$.

The ST stands for "short throw", and they have 0.48 throw lenses. That is the only difference between those and the ones with standard lenses. You should get the same lumens, resolution and focus in both.

Well the projector would be 35 feet away, is that ok for a short throw projector? I thought that to be in focus and big it would need to be close to the screen for short throw projectors.

[Brad Weber]

I mainly just want to fill up as wide of an area as possible (this wall is 40 feet wide, but only 15 foot tall ceilings.

If i were to go with the Infocus projector, would that main i can get a really big image, just not in focus from far away? I would really like it to be sharp if possible, but it sounds like i might be asking for too much.

A projector is going to create an image based on its native format an the brightness is based on using that entire image.  Using the IN126ST as an example, it is a native 1280x800 projector with a 0.48 lens and 3,000 lumens.  At 35' it would provide a 875" wide by 547" high image with 0.9ftL on the screen.  For ceiling mount the projector would need to be mounted 54.7" above the top of the image.  You could run it in 16:9 mode to make the image 875" x 492" but the brightness is still based on the full native 16:10 image.
 
If you wanted a 300" wide image then you'd need to locate the projector 12' from the screen (and 18.8" above the top of the image) and that would provide a 300"x188" (300"x169" in 16:9 mode) image with 7.7ftL on the screen.

[Josh Billings]

How does Focusing work then? I thought it could only Focus for specified distances

Josh

[Brad Weber]

How does Focusing work then? I thought it could only Focus for specified distances

The BenQ MW817ST information says it is limited to a maximum 300" diagonal image and the associated online calculator will not let you enter data that results in greater then a 300" diagonal (252" wide) image.
 
In comparison, the information InFocus offers online for the IN126ST does not identify any limits to the screen size or throw distance.  The product data provided online does not seem to show any maximum image size or throw distance, their projection calculator allows you to enter any distance greater than 0 (I entered a 100' throw distance and it accepted it as valid) and they don't seem to offer an online manual.
 
I think the reality is that the InFocus IN126ST likely has similar limits, they just don't make that information readily available.  The information shown on Projector Central hints at there possibly being a maximum 10' throw distance and 250" wide image.

[Bojan Bajsic]

The information regarding the maximum width and throw distance is informational. It has nothing to do with not being able to focus at that distance.

The answer to the question is that at greater distances and bigger screen sizes, the light output is not enough and they should not say that what is produced is an image. At that point (output lower than say 5ftL) does not have the specified contrast ratio. It does not have proper color (and white) reproduction. The output is basically not an image, but rather "colored visuals". The companies put this information there to protect themselves, so that people don't buy it thinking a 2000 lm projector will give them a "20ft picture" and then b***h about not being 'up to spec', picture not looking good, or even suing the company for whatever reason they come up with.

[Brad Weber]

The information regarding the maximum width and throw distance is informational. It has nothing to do with not being able to focus at that distance.

While true for typical projectors in most applications, I find that to not necessarily be valid for short throw projectors with fixed lenses and a limited range of focus, especially if you want the entire image in focus.

[ProSoundWeb Community]