Talk to me about projectors...

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Silvrav

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#311866 21-Feb-2024 21:06

What do you guys recommend?

The wife wants to do an outdoor movie night for the eldest birthday coming up mid march and said I must get a projector. Now i can go out and good a $200 cheapi but what I am considering though is to get something more decent and use it in our lounge, move our TV and have a more open lounge area.

Ideally something with around 1500+ lumens to allow for decent day time viewing.

Sound quality not much of an issue as long as it had Bluetooth as I can connect our soundbar to it.

Ideally with some smart features like intelligent alignment, auto focus, keystone correction, onboard android auto etc.

2k native resolution would be great.

any recommendations?

Handle9

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#3198578 21-Feb-2024 23:13

I was looking at buying a 100 inch UST projector at the end of this year and have now decided just to buy a big TV instead. The performance of a projector will always be average at best in a room without light control. ALR screens help but they are not at all cheap.

Given the relatively low cost of big TVs now just buy a cheap projector for outdoor movies and a stupid big TV for inside.

trig42

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#3198599 22-Feb-2024 09:18

Blaupunkt Full HD Projector with Self-Inflatable Screen - JB Hi-Fi NZ (jbhifi.co.nz)

For that price it won't be great (or maybe even good). 200 Lumens, so night time only.

Projector alone is $250. 3.5mm out for Audio.

mentalinc

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#3198614 22-Feb-2024 09:43

Sunset in mid march is still 730pm, not going to be dark until atleast 820 or so...then you annoy all the neighbors with the audio in the now otherwise quiet night..

Keep the movies inside!

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CokemonZ

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#3198635 22-Feb-2024 10:14

I purchased an old office projector from trademe or allheart for this exact purpose - cost about $100, pretty bright but only 1024x800, so a bit weird. Use an old laptop for video and a big bluetooth speaker for sound.

Don't bother with a sub - it just gets lost outside.

Had to download some weird third party app to manage audio/video sync but works pretty well.

Also brought a white roller blind from spotlight to use as the screen.

Disagree with the above comment about outdoor noise - it's no worse than music/a bunch of people talking and if you're done by 10 is reasonable.

networkn

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#3198652 22-Feb-2024 10:33

I have used Projectors in my house for 20 years. I have a 106" motororized screen. We don't have full light control, but can make the room relatively dark. We use it for our Main TV.

Projectors have come a long way, but will trail behind TV's in brightness and features normally. It's not that cheap to get a 4K 120Hz Laser Projector.

The biggest clear advantage is image size. I'd switch to OLED in a heartbeat if I could get one at a liveable price in 90+ inches.

I have a OLED in the bedroom, and it's exceptionally noticeable moving between them, but honestly, once you are engrossed, it's not that big of a deal.

Silvrav

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#3198732 22-Feb-2024 12:56

mentalinc:

Sunset in mid march is still 730pm, not going to be dark until atleast 820 or so...then you annoy all the neighbors with the audio in the now otherwise quiet night..

Keep the movies inside!

If my neighbours (closest being 150m away) can hear me they have super hearing 😛

No worries mate, we live rurally so no worries will any neighbours - the cows on the hill makes more noise then this will.

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JimmyH

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#3198786 22-Feb-2024 15:16

The cheap projector market is a steaming morass of mis-represented specifications and outright lies, so you have to be a bit careful and do a bit of reading and review checking. You will see cheap projectors claiming many thousands of lumens (I have seen 7,000+ claimed), but that is reading brightness at the bulb which is meaningless nonsense. If they don't state ANSI lumens, then my advice is to avoid. Similarly read the fine print on resolution, some will scream 1080p or even 4K in their ad, but when you read the fine print it turns out that they accept that resolution input buy only output a 720p (or even 480p!) picture.

I got one for (I think) $349, native 1080P and 270 ANSI Lumens (despite shouting 7000 fake lumens in the advert). Overall, I'm pretty happy with it. It's significantly brighter than I expected, but really only usable in darkened conditions, and it has bluetooth audio so I can use it with a cheap soundbar without wires. However the focus is a bit janky and It can't focus the whole picture perfectly - if I get the top left sharp then the bottom right is a bit out etc.

But it has been fun and I'm glad I got it. I put a fabric screen up on the trellis of my deck, got a cheap bluetooth-capable Veon soundbar on clearance for $70, and attached a surplus chromecast to it which works with my Jellyfin server. My four year old and his mates loved the outdoor movie nights I staged last winter.

It hasn't had much use lately, as it gets dark too late for the wee fella to be up at night in summer. When winter rolls around again, outdoor movies will be back on the agenda.

Silvrav

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#3203673 6-Mar-2024 10:32

Thanks everyone, info was helpful!

Ended up buying a cheapie epson from trademe - got this one for around a $150 https://www.epson.co.nz/products/projector/EB-955WH.asp

Decently visible in daytime, at least good enough for a movie night for the kids!

https://youtu.be/IgvIyL8vIzI