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[Leroy Dunning]

Hey,

I've been trying to find someone who makes a smaller (2000-2500 lumen) projector with a short-throw (or wide angle) lense, something less than 1.3:1.

Used to be Sanyo had some, but it seems they quit making them.  Does anyone know who makes something along those lines?  DLP or LCD, doesn't really matter too much.

Thanks for you help.

Cheers,
Leroy

[Brad Weber]

How short throw are you looking for?  What are you trying to do with the projector?  Is this portable or installed?  Ceiling or desktop?  Any minimum resolution?  Any desired price range?  Zoom or fixed lens?

Were you by chance thinking of the Sanyo LNS-W32 0.8:1 lens?  Like most of the very short throw lens options (1.0:1 and less), this is an "on axis" lens intended for rear screen applications and requires that the projector be on the horizontal and vertical centerline of the screen, it can't be at the top or bottom of the screen and there is no lens shift.  Such very short throw lenses also sometimes result in a bright spot in the center of the image and some optical aberrations near the corners, you can only spread out the image so quickly without having some  issues (or larger costs).

The NEC WT610 comes to mind as a 2,000 lumen, very short throw option (projects a 60" H x 80" W image with the front of the projector only 26" from the screen).  But it is pretty much a special application projector and has a fixed throw and location for any specific image size, so I have no idea if it is feasible for your application.

[Leroy Dunning]

Brad,

Thank you for the prompt reply.  Sorry I did not include some more detail in the original post.  I'll give it another try...

I am looking for an XGA or better projector with a lens ratio of at least 1.25:1, zoom would be nice, but not essential.  As for price, I'd like to see something under $4k.

The projector would be for use in some of the smaller breakout room type settings where they try to cram in too many people and get aggravated by the amount of floor space the projector eats up.  They would almost always be front projected from a table, stand, cart, etc.  Flying the projector would work some of the time, but often it is either not feasible, or not within the client's budget.

While I am familiar with the Sanyo LNS-W32 lens, it wasn't what I was referring to in the original post.  I was thinking of projectors more along the lines of the XU-55, or XL-20 (1.25-1.9:1) or the XU-46 & XU-31 which go down to 1.1:1.  Their line used to have a handful of projectors with wide lenses, but now it seems that 1.45:1 is as low as they go.

While this would definitely be better that 2.0:1, I crossing my fingers and hoping someone could point me in the direction of a better option.

The WT610 does look interesting, I'll have to check into that a little more.

Thanks again for the reply.

Cheers,

Leroy

[Brad Weber]

Looks like the Sanyo PLC-XU86 goes down to 1.2-1.95:1 and list price is right at $2,500.  I also looked at Canon, Sharp, InFocus, NEC, Mitsubishi, ProjectDesign and Christie, there just doesn't seem to be a lot of shorter throw options until you get up into a little more expensive projectors.

[Don Boone]

I've been pleased with the NEC NP1000/2000 series. They are a little pricey but the price has dropped over $400 in the last couple of months. 6 different lenses. You can do a 100" diagonal with 8 ft throw and that's not a zero axis lens.
It would be nice if they sold it without a lens so you didn't have a useless lens left over when you used a optional lens.

Don

[Brad Weber]

I would also highly recommend these and with the optional short throw 1.18-1.54:1 zoom lens you can indeed get an 80"x60"image with an 8' throw.  The only reason I didn't suggest them is that even with a standard lens they are at or over the <$4,000 budget noted as being desired and are probably well over that with the NP02ZL short throw zoom, since as Don noted you cannot order the projector without the standard lens and have to purchase the short throw lens as a separate accessory.  As I alluded to previously, it is the more expensive "install" projectors like these that typically have a wider range of options available for lensing.  However, the NEC NP1000/2000 models are definitely worth considering if the budget went up a little.