ProSoundWeb Community

Please login or register.

Login with username, password and session length
Advanced search  

Pages: [1]   Go Down

Author Topic: led video projector vs leko  (Read 2520 times)

Daniel Violette

  • Newbie
  • *
  • Offline Offline
  • Posts: 5
led video projector vs leko
« on: April 23, 2018, 08:25:28 PM »

Hi,

I am looking for an inexpensive way to build or substitute something inexpensive to use as a leko fixture, primarily for front of stage use in small venues, with an audience of let's say, less than 300 people.

I noticed that there are LED video projectors available now that are really inexpensive.

What would be the possibility that this could work instead of a leko lamp to illuminate artists' faces? If not, then why not?

What would be the issues to consider? Adjusting the size of the beam, light intensity, diffusion, color temperature, etc.

Dan
Logged

Jeff Lelko

  • Hero Member
  • *****
  • Offline Offline
  • Posts: 2017
  • Cape Canaveral, FL
Re: led video projector vs leko
« Reply #1 on: April 23, 2018, 08:31:49 PM »

Hi Dan,

Will it work - sort of?  Will it look good - no.  Can you not find something such as an Altman 360Q in your price range?  With the LED revolution they can be had for next to nothing these days!

Why won't a projector look good?  Trying to explain within the scope of my knowledge (which isn't great for projectors), the color temperature of the projector won't look anything close to the warm light of a halogen source, not to mention that most projectors can't do "black" really well - hence they tend to fail at replicating laser effects.  I also can't see how to use gel or diffusion with a projector...  Good luck!
Logged

Caleb Dueck

  • Hero Member
  • *****
  • Offline Offline
  • Posts: 1699
  • Sierra Vista, AZ
Re: led video projector vs leko
« Reply #2 on: April 23, 2018, 08:34:32 PM »

Hi,

I am looking for an inexpensive way to build or substitute something inexpensive to use as a leko fixture, primarily for front of stage use in small venues, with an audience of let's say, less than 300 people.

I noticed that there are LED video projectors available now that are really inexpensive.

What would be the possibility that this could work instead of a leko lamp to illuminate artists' faces? If not, then why not?

What would be the issues to consider? Adjusting the size of the beam, light intensity, diffusion, color temperature, etc.

Dan
Any LED or more likely, laser projector with enough output, that can be hung at any angle, with tight enough beam angle - will cost multiples more than a leko.   Look at the Chauvet DJ EVE50's as ultra-cheap option for shorter throws. 

To get lower in cost - Chauvet SlimParProW fixtures in quantity are very competitively priced, under $200 each.

Sent from my VS980 4G using Tapatalk

Logged
Experience is something you get right after you need it.

Daniel Violette

  • Newbie
  • *
  • Offline Offline
  • Posts: 5
Re: led video projector vs leko
« Reply #3 on: April 24, 2018, 01:09:30 AM »

Any LED or more likely, laser projector with enough output, that can be hung at any angle, with tight enough beam angle - will cost multiples more than a leko.   Look at the Chauvet DJ EVE50's as ultra-cheap option for shorter throws. 

To get lower in cost - Chauvet SlimParProW fixtures in quantity are very competitively priced, under $200 each.

Sent from my VS980 4G using Tapatalk

Thanks for the reply Caleb,

That is exactly what I mean. The EVE50s will cost me around $900 CAD, each with taxes and shipping. I would like two. That is a hell of a lot of money for me. However, I like the SlimParProW and the price is not bad at all. Thanks for the tip. I may also look at the Altman 360Qs as Jeff proposed. I wonder if anyone has successfully made an LED retrofit for these lamps?

Dan
Logged

Daniel Violette

  • Newbie
  • *
  • Offline Offline
  • Posts: 5
Re: led video projector vs leko
« Reply #4 on: April 24, 2018, 01:16:53 AM »

Hi Dan,

Will it work - sort of?  Will it look good - no.  Can you not find something such as an Altman 360Q in your price range?  With the LED revolution they can be had for next to nothing these days!

Why won't a projector look good?  Trying to explain within the scope of my knowledge (which isn't great for projectors), the color temperature of the projector won't look anything close to the warm light of a halogen source, not to mention that most projectors can't do "black" really well - hence they tend to fail at replicating laser effects.  I also can't see how to use gel or diffusion with a projector...  Good luck!

Thanks for the reply Jeff,

I will possibly look at the Altmans; I took a quick look at e-bay and you are right, they can be had cheap. I am not a lighting tech, so I don't understand what you mean by doing "black" and "laser effects". I would just be using to light people from the front. I thought instead of using barn doors, just choose different pictures to project.

Dan
Logged

TJ (Tom) Cornish

  • Hero Member
  • *****
  • Offline Offline
  • Posts: 4317
  • St. Paul, MN
Re: led video projector vs leko
« Reply #5 on: April 24, 2018, 06:15:15 AM »

Thanks for the reply Jeff,

I will possibly look at the Altmans; I took a quick look at e-bay and you are right, they can be had cheap. I am not a lighting tech, so I don't understand what you mean by doing "black" and "laser effects". I would just be using to light people from the front. I thought instead of using barn doors, just choose different pictures to project.

Dan
Lekos and barn doors don’t go together.  Lekos have their own internal shutters that do the framing.  Barn doors are for pars or fresnels.  All of these can work for front wash, with varying compromises.

Video projectors have been used for stage wash - the High End DL series of moving lights are video projectors mounted on yokes with some smarts for aiming and alignment.  In your case, however, this is akin to making a 500-piece Rube Goldberg machine to put your toast in the toaster.

If budget is the deciding factor, go on your local Craigslist and search for par lights or par cans.  You should be able to pick up Par 38 fixtures for less than $10 each, and used cheapo dimmers for $50 for a basic 4-channel tree pack.  This is a modest power system that you can get rolling for just a few hundred dollars including a light board. 

RE LED - I know these are all the rage, but do you really need it?  There are no retrofits that provide acceptable dimming for stage fixtures.  As Caleb pointed out, there are LED wash pars that can work depending on how much output you need, but you’re into more money, for sure. 

RE framing/shutters/barn doors - again, do you need this?  I use ETC Source Four pars and the wider angle lenses are rotatable to provide a rectangular pattern that gets me what I want 80% of the time with no barn doors.  If I take the time to put the right lens in the par - a great feature of the Source Four PAR, I get what I want 90% of the time without having to put barn doors on.
Logged

Jeff Lelko

  • Hero Member
  • *****
  • Offline Offline
  • Posts: 2017
  • Cape Canaveral, FL
Re: led video projector vs leko
« Reply #6 on: April 24, 2018, 05:53:55 PM »

I am not a lighting tech, so I don't understand what you mean by doing "black" and "laser effects". I would just be using to light people from the front. I thought instead of using barn doors, just choose different pictures to project.

Here is what I mean by "doing black".  Imagine you set your projector to show a white circle with darkness all around it - similar to a focused leko.  The "black" around the circle when projected won't in fact be absent of light.  The better your projector, the better your blacks are (I believe this is called contrast in the video world).  As TJ mentioned, there are moving lights that utilize projector heads, but they're not cheap.  If you can't afford a standard leko (even a nicer LED one), any projector you'd be able to buy would be very poor in this regard. 

I mention "laser effects" much in the same way (though I understand you're not wanting to do this).  A lot of people ask why must I buy a $10,000+ Class 4 ILDA laser to do awesome laser animations when I can buy a projector?  This is one reason why - beam presence and crispness aside, any "beams" would have poor contrast due to the grey "haze" also produced by the projector in the areas meant to be black. 

As already recommended, Par 38s can be had for next to nothing.  I have about 3 dozen in my inventory that still see use.  That's most certainly the way to go unless you need the focus/framing/gobos of a leko. 
Logged

ProSoundWeb Community

Re: led video projector vs leko
« Reply #6 on: April 24, 2018, 05:53:55 PM »


Pages: [1]   Go Up
 



Site Hosted By Ashdown Technologies, Inc.

Page created in 0.038 seconds with 25 queries.