# Window FX Mini Vs FX Plus, Vs Atmos DDK



## frightrisk (Oct 30, 2008)

No contest, The AtmosFx people do everything better, for one, second, the HD projector is an order of magnitide better and brighter than the others. There is a tradeoff between brighness and resolution. The 320x240 projectors that have been around for a while use a 25W Halogen bulb you can buy anywhere and are brighter than any of the under $100 led projectors. If you need higher than 800x600 native resolution (and most application really dont need it for our use) check the atmosFX more expensive projector with the animations, or buy a projector with 1280x800 and get the animations separately. Check the wattage. Any projector that uses under 100 watts doesn't have a bulb bright enough to do much. 

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## Jezebel82 (Oct 4, 2007)

I bought and immediately returned the Windowfx Plus. For $90 the quality was much worse than the $50 Atmosfx projector I got at Home Depot last year. The included videos didn't even compare to Atmosfx.


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## nflguy (Aug 28, 2017)

Jezebel82 said:


> I bought and immediately returned the Windowfx Plus. For $90 the quality was much worse than the $50 Atmosfx projector I got at Home Depot last year. The included videos didn't even compare to Atmosfx.


So the 2016 window projector home depot sold was made by atmosfx but the 2017 one isnt?


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## frightrisk (Oct 30, 2008)

nflguy said:


> So the 2016 window projector home depot sold was made by atmosfx but the 2017 one isnt?


I think there is some confusion her. Last year, 2016, HD sold Window FX. And it had AtmosFear videos. It was $69-79 if I remember. It is only 12V at 2.5a, so a maximum 25W. That means the LED bulb has to be less than that. Not bright. of Not sure if HD sold another one online. I can't remember the specifics, but the WindowsFX people were related to AtmosFearFX. They split off from them or something. They sold the old projector AtmosFearX sold. Then AtmosFearFX improved their offering. Basically, check the NATIVE resolution of the projector (not the maximum res it can accept and then downconvert) and look at how many watts of power the unit draws. That will tell you how bright a light it has. I wouldn't get anything that doesn't have 90W LED panel. Therefore, the projector will use over 100W. The other projectors like the lightblast, use a 25W halogen bulb. It is complicated because traditional bulb wattage translated to brightness, but LED bulbs are not the same. Keep in mind that the LCD and motherboard for each class of projecor is made by 1 Chinese manufacturer. Therefore, if you find one projector in this price range, you can easily find all the others under different names. This applies to the AmosFear projectors. You can buy them cheaper on ebay and Amazon if you don't want the bundled videos, though I think it is a good value. Atmosfear may have used a modified firmware, not sure. I know they did on their media player which is also a well known Chinese box. They added the trigger and the code to handle the seamless transition between static scene and scare scene.

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## gingerjay (Sep 4, 2017)

Atmos posted an article a few months ago highlighting all the differences (with pictures) between the Home Depot projector and their projector.

https://atmosfx.com/blogs/community/comparing-the-digital-decorating-kits

They also have a brand new HD projector available for pre-order. Looks like a resolution of 1280x720. Seems to be a pretty good deal bundles with all the movie clips you get. What are your thoughts?

https://atmosfx.com/collections/projectors/products/digital-decorating-kit-plus


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## nflguy (Aug 28, 2017)

frightrisk said:


> Keep in mind that the LCD and motherboard for each class of projecor is made by 1 Chinese manufacturer. Therefore, if you find one projector in this price range, you can easily find all the others under different names. This applies to the AmosFear projectors. You can buy them cheaper on ebay and Amazon if you don't want the bundled videos, though I think it is a good value. Atmosfear may have used a modified firmware, not sure. I know they did on their media player which is also a well known Chinese box. They added the trigger and the code to handle the seamless transition between static scene and scare scene.


Do you have the name of the off brand boxes that use the same board I should be looking for on amazon or ebay?


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## frightrisk (Oct 30, 2008)

nflguy said:


> Do you have the name of the off brand boxes that use the same board I should be looking for on amazon or ebay?


You can search by resolution to get the 60-70 800x600 ones vs. The $180-190 1280xi00 ones. Here are some notes from high to low:

WOWOTO H8 Video Projector DLP LED 1280x800 HD 3D Support 1080P Android System WiFi&Bluetooth. Only 1000:1 contrast ratio, $399. 100" picture at 10'. No left/right keystone. Android OS, streaming, apps, tons of features. Same as Optoma Intelligo-S1. The iCodis CB300W is $5 less.

Best valur NEW projector. Epson VS240 SVGA 3LCD Projector 3000 Lumens Color Brightness. 800x600. Uses regular bulb ($50 to replace) $299. Also the VS640 for $329

Fixeover GP100 Projector HD Ready 1280 x 800 Pixels for your Digital Home Theater. Native 1280x800! 5'8" LCD size.

Fixover/GooDee/Tenker/CiBest/iRulu/SimpleBeam/ViviBright/Croyale 1280x800 1080p Projector (Croyale is a bit different) LCD $179-$199. There is also a WIMIUS
Projector, Video Projector HD 1080P. that adds SDCard support that the others don't have and it looks cool with the bubble top lens that is bigger than the case. They all use the 5.8" LCD and a 100 watt LED flat array

Fixover specs:

Model name:GP100
Product Type:simple Projector Video Entertainment level
Native Resolution:HD Ready / 1280 X 800Pixels Physical resolution
Lamp Life and Type:LED light source,above 30,000HRS
LED Luminous efficiency: 95percent;3500ansi Lumens
Peak Brightness:380 lux
Contrast Ratio :3000:1/static,10,000:1/Dynamic
Max. Supported Resolution:full HD (1920 X 1080P) @60Hz

Aspect Ratio: native 16:9, compatible 4:3
Display Type: a Single LCD Panel Hybrid LED Light Source Imaging Optical Engine
LCD Size : 5.8inch Liquid Crystal Display
Throw Ratio: 1.45:1
Image Size (Diagonal): 40inch to 200inch
Projection Distance:1.2 to 5meter
Best screen size/Distance: 60 to100inch/ 1.8 to3 meter
Speaker: 4ohm,5W X 1(SRS Sound Technology)
Noise Level: 32dB
Model name:GP100

Package Includes:

1X Fixeover Projector
1X Remote controller(battery is not included)
1X VGA cable
1X three in one AV cable
1X User manual
1X Power Cable

The less expensive projectors are 800 by 600 and under $100. You can look at them and see how similar they are. You can see the focus and keystone are next to each other and look the same. The backs are identical, same buttons on top, etc.

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## nonsense (Sep 18, 2010)

gingerjay said:


> Atmos posted an article a few months ago highlighting all the differences (with pictures) between the Home Depot projector and their projector.


Wait, so a $200 projector is better than a $70 projector?


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## frightrisk (Oct 30, 2008)

nonsense said:


> Wait, so a $200 projector is better than a $70 projector?


Lol. Um...yeah. 

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## nflguy (Aug 28, 2017)

frightrisk said:


> You can search by resolution to get the 60-70 800x600 ones vs. The $180-190 1280xi00 ones. Here are some notes from high to low:
> 
> WOWOTO H8 Video Projector DLP LED 1280x800 HD 3D Support 1080P Android System WiFi&Bluetooth. Only 1000:1 contrast ratio, $399. 100" picture at 10'. No left/right keystone. Android OS, streaming, apps, tons of features. Same as Optoma Intelligo-S1. The iCodis CB300W is $5 less.
> 
> ...



frightrisk thanks so much for the help, you are a rock star. Will start looking at what is best for my setup and comparing these this week.


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## apwelsh (Oct 15, 2017)

People, Wattage has absolutely nothing to do with projector brightness. All things being equal, it can give you some clues, but that is about it. Brightness is measured in lumens. I know nothing about the quality of the units in question here, but if you are concerned about how bright the projector is, look for the higher lumens. An traditional incandescent 100W bulb produces around 1600 lumens. That same 1600 lumens can be created using LED with only 14W. The LED can produce a more true color than incandescent bulbs, and LED, using less power, run cooler, meaning longer life and less care required. Incandescent bulbs work by heating up a metal filament to melting point, in a vacuum, so that metal cannot melt. This creates the glow, and the colors produced are limited by the elements in the metal being used. LED light projection is a process of converting Electrons into Photons, that does not require such old technologies. If you can get an LED projector for this type of use case, then go with LED. They cost less to operate, and are easier to maintain.

With that said, the quality of the image is likely to be a concern, so look for something that has a good resolution.


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## mindful (Oct 3, 2017)

apwelsh said:


> An traditional incandescent 100W bulb produces around 1600 lumens. That same 1600 lumens can be created using LED with only 14W.



There are currently no affordable projectors that produce 1600 lumens using LEDs, The LEDs in projectors are not identical to the LED lights that you buy to replace incandescent bulbs. 

A problem is that the knock-off projector vendors are giving false lumen information (1000+ lumens) to increase sales, Reputable vendors like Epson, Optoma, BenQ, and Aaxa (among others) provide more trustworthy info, listing between 50-750 lumens for their LED units. Conventional bulbs from reputable manufacturers (like in the Epson VS240 mentioned above) are about 3000 lumens. 

Lumens is the proper way to gauge brightness, but only if you can trust the data that the manufacturer is providing about their devices. Since most of the cheap LED projection devices on Amazon and eBay are from unknown vendors who are deceptive in their descriptions, the lumens specification rating is not reliable.

So it is the case that right now, the higher wattage units using halogen bulbs are much brighter than the lower power LED units; even though brightness is not necessary related directly to power consumption (wattage) as was pointed out in the post above.


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## frightrisk (Oct 30, 2008)

As the previous poster alluded to, I think you may have simply taken what was said out of context. While I am not a projector expert, microelectronics (EE) and the physics of light are part of my area of expertise. We are not comparing wattage for DIFFERENT projector technologies, we are ONLY talking about the cheap LED projectors. What I was trying to make simple here for people shopping for projectors is that the lumen specs are all nonsense with these projectors, so we have to use another way to try and guess what's in the projector. What we have to compare is price and watts. If they are under $180 here in 2017, they almost certainly can't contain a 90-100W LED array panel. We can also look at how many watts they consume and know what power LED panel is in the unit. If it is rated to consume only 40 Watts, it also can't possibly have a 100W LED light source. In my tests with several projectors, the 90 or 100W COB LED panels produce about 300 lumens which is equivalent to the old LightWare MVP800 with a 400W halogen bulb. According to the manufacturer specification, set to high brightness, the 800 can produce 270lumens. This pretty much exactly what I measured using the standard testing procedure and a lux/lumen meter. I also tested the actual power consumption of these units. Two of the chinese units that claim 3000 lumens, but use a 90-100W led panel also tested at about 270-280 lumens. The other projectors that are under 100W are typically rated for 30W input power. That means they can only be using a 20W led panel since the ratings are purposely rated for more than what a device consumes and we have to account for the other circuitry like CPU, RAM, 5V power to a USB stick, sound amplifier, cooling fan, etc. I mentioned these tests in another thread (post #17) http://www.halloweenforum.com/halloween-props/180897-projector-newbie-2.html#post2311009 :

Lightblast/Wonderwall/etc. low resolution but uses a cheap, easily available 50W Halogen tracklight bulb - 45 Lumens

WindowFX 75050_THD (the LED unit home depot sold last year rated at 30W input) - 23 Lumens!

That said, the 23 lumen WindowFX unit, rear projecting FearFX videos from about 6 feet away through their shower curtain like projection material at a window is perfectly acceptable in a fairly dark yard. However, it would never work for the Hollollusion effect through a scrim in that same window.


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## mindful (Oct 3, 2017)

Thank you for the detailed clarification. We're all on the same page here. Yes, you are right that I missed that this was only referring to LED projectors. I only added my post to give some context, as the reference to "1600 lumens can be created using LED with only 14W" could be very misleading to a new buyer, especially in light of the false brightness specs. 

Accurate real-world data, like the brightness measurements you've provided are exactly what's needed. These specs should be coming from the manufacturers. I'm wary about buying clone units at all as it encourages the vendors to lie even more in their descriptions, but perhaps it's inevitable. The exact same type of spec inflation has occurred among LiPO power-bank manufacturers so that it's now extremely difficult to know the storage capacity of power banks sold on Amazon/eBay before you purchase and can actually measure it.


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## frightrisk (Oct 30, 2008)

And we haven't even talked about the contrast ratio claims! 

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