# Projector Newbie



## Bruzilla (Jun 3, 2011)

Should work fine.


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## kindo (Sep 10, 2015)

Sounds like it will work however that native resolution is pretty low. your not going to get nice clear images out of it. Your going to see a lot of pixelation if you try to make the projection a good size. it all depends on what you plan to project with it, singing pumpkins would work fine since there's no need for a lot of detail but if your looking to project a life size figure you might want to look around for one the has a better native resolution. one that i used last year is a cheaper one with a decent native resolution and lumens it isn't available on amazon anymore but something with those specs would be great. it worked way beyond what i was expecting. 

https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B01HPCY4UC/ref=oh_aui_detailpage_o06_s00?ie=UTF8&psc=1

I have 2 from that company and they both work super well and at a decent price. the one you show will work but i just want to give you a heads up about the quality of the image. don't want ya to pay all that money to get it home and be like well this sucks.


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## Skipswift (Sep 5, 2017)

Thanks kindo. I ordered a 1280x800 projector with 3000 lumens and a 10000:1 contrast ratio. Just waiting for it to arrive. Any recommendations on what kind of mesh/net to get to project onto and where to get it? atmosFX talks about creating a "Hollusion" by projecting onto mesh:

https://atmosfx.com/pages/hollusion-mode

Also, any suggestions for good (inexpensive) halloween content? atmosFX seems more than a bit pricey.

Thanks!


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## gingerjay (Sep 4, 2017)

Skipswift said:


> Thanks kindo. I ordered a 1280x800 projector with 3000 lumens and a 10000:1 contrast ratio. Just waiting for it to arrive. Any recommendations on what kind of mesh/net to get to project onto and where to get it? atmosFX talks about creating a "Hollusion" by projecting onto mesh:
> 
> https://atmosfx.com/pages/hollusion-mode
> 
> ...


Which projector did you buy? I am thinking about buying Atmos' new projector that is $299 and comes with 20 scenes. Specs similar to yours.


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## Skipswift (Sep 5, 2017)

Hi gingerjay. Unfortunately I don't know the brand. I bought it off craigslist based on specs alone.


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## wackychimp (Jul 16, 2009)

You'll be happier with the 3000 lumen over the 1200 one. For anything outside, the more light, the better.

Post pics of your show!


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## kindo (Sep 10, 2015)

Sounds like a pretty decent one. I used a cheap shower curtain from walmart and a slightly thicker one from amazon. i found the one from walmart worked better than anything else. Also I've done a few animations my self for last year. I haven't had the time to work on any this year at least not yet. I do plan on looking in to it soon though. Here's the thread with the vids. http://www.halloweenforum.com/halloween-props/147252-3d-animations-projections.html


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## Scary Papa (Jan 31, 2012)

Skipswift, I bought a shower curtain liner from walmart and a windeo curtain sheer from walmart. I liked the window curtain sheer better. Both were around $5. AtmosFX has some videos on Youtube with suggestions on what to use for different projections. Good luck with your project.


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## frightrisk (Oct 30, 2008)

*Buyer beware on projectors*



Skipswift said:


> Hi gingerjay. Unfortunately I don't know the brand. I bought it off craigslist based on specs alone.


Did you find out the brand yet? The model number? Just a note of warning here to all; unless you purchase a name brand projector (Epson, BenQ, etc.) I can promise you they are lying about lumens. You mentioned Craigslist, so it may be a used decent unit. Be careful also as the bulb for most of those projectors costs more than the projector. 

The person who bought the iRULU, can you tell me what you paid for it? It shows now as unavailable anymore, but I think I saw that one before when I wrote a review for 2017 on projectors. If it was around $200, then it was one of the new 300 (approx.) lumen units out of China using the same motherboard, LCD, and LED panel. They all say they have 3000 lumens, which is untrue. They have 1/10th that. Look at the power consumption. If it is over 100W, then you have a 100W LED. If it is under 100W, you have a 24W LED and the brightness is more like 30-70 lumens. 

All that said, it doesn't mean that 300 lumens won't be perfectly acceptable for your haunt. It depends on too many things to really know. Front or rear projection, source material subject brightness, contrast, etc., type of screen, distance from the screen, darkness of the area... I could go on. But as an example, my singing pumpkins using a lightblast low-res projector with a replaceable 50W halogen bulb from home depot works great. I never replaced the unit because my video isn't hi res and anything brighter would ruin the effect. I have a decent amount of ambient light in that section of the yard and I have string lights and electronic candles all around it. My front projected scene in the graveyard onto gray chiffon fabric that needs to look like a hologram uses a hi-res projector with 300 lumens (probably identical in specs to the iHULU). It is just enough if not more than enough because the yard is fairly dark there despite tombstones in front and behind that are lit. I also have 2 more projected scenes from inside the house onto windows. One of them uses more than 300 lumens, the other uses an old 800x600 vga projector that takes a standard 400W halogen bulb. I have two of these because I loved them so much and could pick them up on ebay for less than $30 bucks. last one I got I paid $11 for plus shipping. It has the main bulb and a spare on a sliding carrier. If one burns out, it takes 10 seconds to slide the carrier over and keep going. I have an identical unit front projecting directly onto my white garage door that also is more than bright enough at night with my scene and house lighting all around it. The true 3000 lumen projectors have a lot more going for them than lumens, they have true 10,000:1 contrast ratios, keystone correction, much better color, etc. Watching a movie blown up to 20' would look much better on a professional projector, but for most of the Hallowindow and FearFX videos with dark backgrounds and limited colors (dancing skeletons, wraiths, etc) you don't need all that. For the portraits, maybe, but you aren't usually projecting those.


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## Skipswift (Sep 5, 2017)

Won't know what brand it is until it arrives. But I do know it's a LED unit. While I don't expect 3200 lumens, I would expect at least 2000/2500.


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## frightrisk (Oct 30, 2008)

Just a quick note on that UC46. It is native resolution of 800x480, which is not HD. Minimum HD is 1080x720. Not that this VGA resolution isn't still pretty good. Older projectors like the 2 Optima EZ Pro 550s I have and bought for under $50 do 800x600, though they don't have an HDMI input and you have to have a separate DVD player or media player. Also, the UC46 only consumes 55 watts maximum. Therefore, it can't even do 300 lumens, let alone 3000. It is probably a 30W or 50W LED. But again, that may be more than enough for many applications. What I like about this unit is that is has SDCard support and a 5V USB power out. The "all in one box" convenience is nice. I would recommend something like this for singing pumpkins or rear projection from a small window onto a shower curtain. Probably not bright enough to do a scrim effect. 

My guess is that the Chinese manufacturers are not technically lying, the LED COB Panels can probably produce 2 or 3k lumens for the 100W ones at full power, but shining through the fresnel and glass/plastic lenses and going through an LCD panel cuts the brightness significantly. You have to compare like to like. I always get a new projector and run it next to another projector with the same image at the same size and compare. My newer cheap ($185) HD projector has a 100W led chip in it and is identical in brightness to my EZ Pro that has a 400W halogen lamp in it. That unit has 300 lumens. So I am giving a best guess that a 100W LED projector is 300-700 lumens. You would have to borrow a true 3000 lumen projector and compare side by side with your new projector, but if it is one of the Chinese projectors, it won't even be close to 1000 lumens. And there is no HD 100W media player projector under $180 in 2017. One of these days I am going to get a light meter and compare as many projectors as I can. 

If anyone wants to spend more for a new projector, but a LOT less than a brand name semi-professional projector, here is a great review of the one I have. The case is a little different than mine, (https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B071DV2PXZ/ref=oh_aui_detailpage_o04_s00?ie=UTF8&psc=1), but they are probably 20 or more units under different names that are the exact same unit with slightly different cases. The internals, the menus, the lens, and the back of the unit are all identical:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=16m61qRI3E4


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## Koob (Sep 22, 2017)

I use these projectors for Halloween / Christmas : ZTE spro2 
https://www.amazon.com/ZTE-Spro-Sma...&qid=1506096490&sr=8-1&keywords=zte+projector

Android projectors are awesome cause you can install android studio and create an app to do what ever you want... 

Here is my code for playing singing pumpkins from pumpkin "http://www.themightymicroscope.com/windowcreeps/" : 
https://github.com/yakoob/IoT/blob/...tion/halloween/singingpumpkins/ViewVideo.java

I use subtitles linked to each video to send events to a message broker that my Finite State Machine app and controls other IOT devices like smoke machine or philips hue lighting ect... 

FSM: https://github.com/yakoob/IoT/blob/.../yakoobahmad/actor/halloween/Projector.groovy

Arduino Sound Detection to input values for lighting: https://github.com/yakoob/IoT/blob/master/arduino/sound_detection/sound_detection.ino
FSM Lighting: https://github.com/yakoob/IoT/blob/.../com/yakoobahmad/actor/halloween/Light.groovy

FSM Smoke: https://github.com/yakoob/IoT/blob/.../com/yakoobahmad/actor/halloween/Smoke.groovy
Arduino Smoke: https://github.com/yakoob/IoT/blob/master/arduino/smoke/smoke.ino

see more @ yakoobahmad.com


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## kindo (Sep 10, 2015)

exactly, very good points. The IRULU that i got work super well. Much better than i was expecting. I bought a lower res one first then the one i suggested popped up so i grabbed it. i believe i got it for around $180. Not sure what the true lumens are but it is pretty bright. plenty for what i need it for. It's the one playing in the video.


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## Skipswift (Sep 5, 2017)

The unit in the video looks a lot like the unit I bought. Will confirm when it arrives. Now I just need to find the right projection material to create the hologram effect and string together a few scary videos. Some of the atmosFX vids without backgrounds are nice, but they're outrageously expensive and I read they have title screens in the loops too 

kindo - your props are amazing. I wish I had the talent and the time to create some props.


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## kindo (Sep 10, 2015)

Thanks! it does take a great deal of time. i'm still learning. I have a great passion for prop making and halloween so i can do it all the time without it getting old. Been doing it since i was a we lad. It can be done by just about anyone if you have the time and passion. 

I own just about all the atmos stuff except for the new ones. there's no title screen in between loops. nice and clean. If you could use a skeleton or zombie walking animation i might have the time to make it. Any idea on what you want in a video?


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## Skipswift (Sep 5, 2017)

Your styrofoam work is super realistic. I may try to make a few headstones next weekend.

As far as projections - I like the more "realistic" and less animated projections like atmosFX's Phantasms and Ghostly Aparations. I may project on my porch or on the roof above my porch and hoping to make it look like my house could actually be haunted vs cartoony.


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## frightrisk (Oct 30, 2008)

Well, I did some testing with the standard procedure and a lux meter and here are the actual lumens of some projectors. I used my LightWare VP800 as a comparison because the manufacturer and independent test rated this at 300 lumens:

LightWare VP800 - 280 lumens, so right about what I expected especially since on an incandescent bulb, it dims over time

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

WindowFX 75050_THD (the unit home depot sold last year) - 23 Lumens! Yet surprisingly, you can actually use this in some situations

Fixover/GooDee/Tenker/CiBest/iRulu/SimpleBeam/ViviBright/... any of the new Native 1280x800 5.8" LCD projectors that cost $180-$200 - 287 lumens

So any of the claims of 3000 or even 2000 lumens aren't even close. But there is a lot of misinformation out there. People may be thinking 300 lumens is 3000 lumens and that is where some of the claims of "you need a 3000 lumen projector" come from. So while a 2000 or 3000 lumen projector may be what you need for some applications, most of what you want to do can be done with 300 lumens. You only have 2 choices to get more than 300 lumens; buy a used quality projector or get something new like the Epson VS240 with 3000 lumens and 800x600 SVGA resolution for $300.


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## floorlizard (Sep 25, 2017)

Ok! I have read through this thread and I think I am even more confused 
I want to do two projections outside; the pumpkins and some of the phantasms and ghostly apparitions. The pumpkins will be fairly close to the projector (within 6 feet) and the others will be projected between 'cemetery arches' that will be approximately 10 feet from the projector. I would also like to do at least one projection inside (possibly two depending on projector cost) on a window. Can anybody give make/model information on projectors that would work well for each of these applications while keeping price as low as possible. All suggestions are appreciated.


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## frightrisk (Oct 30, 2008)

floorlizard said:


> Ok! I have read through this thread and I think I am even more confused
> I want to do two projections outside; the pumpkins and some of the phantasms and ghostly apparitions. The pumpkins will be fairly close to the projector (within 6 feet) and the others will be projected between 'cemetery arches' that will be approximately 10 feet from the projector. I would also like to do at least one projection inside (possibly two depending on projector cost) on a window. Can anybody give make/model information on projectors that would work well for each of these applications while keeping price as low as possible. All suggestions are appreciated.


What is the ambient lighting? Streetlights? I am doing the exact same thing as you. I have a streetlight, but it is partially shielded by a tree. The part of the graveyard where the front projected images onto scrim go is in that shade. The pumpkins are in a fairly well lit area. Any projector will work for the pumpkins. A projector 200 lumens or better (see my last post ) should work for the other yard projection. The 200-300 lumens should also be fine for your indoor projection depending on the video, throw distance, material you are projecting through,size of the window, etc. If you want blindingly bright, you have to spend $400 on a real projector, but try one of the $180 ones and see what you think. Here are a few more thoughts. Hope they don't make it more confusing for you 

1. A moving image is more forgiving of low resolution than a static one. A video moves so you don't notice the pixels. So HD vs. WXGA is not very noticeable especially considering the distance the view will be from your projection!

2. You are projecting at night with ghostly scenes, not a full color movie with a wide dymamic range. Skeletons are black and white. Phantasms characters are green or blue. They will look stunning with an under $200 100W 1280x730 projector as long as you don't have a streetlight in the front yard and your floodlights on.

3. You aren't projecting a huge image from a great distance. At 10' from a scrim or screen, your image is probably only 6 or 8 feet diagonally, you don't need a lot of projector for that.

4. You aren't just buying a projector, you are buying an integrated media player that can use USB sticks so there are no separate devices/wires.

So while I like these projectors that are $200 less than the next step up, keep in mind they are just pretty good toys. They are great for halloween and Christmas, they can do a decent backyard movie or one on a white wall at home at night, but they don't have true keystone correction, good color adjustments, strong edge to edge brightness, etc. That is what you pay for in an expensive projector in addition to brightness. There is a reason the replacement bulbs cost $200 or more. They are mounted in a special carrier with reflectors and lenses to correct for all sorts of things a professional environment demands.

My personal recommendation would be to purchase any of the Fixover/iRULU/GooDee/CiBest, etc projectors I mentioned above. Just search amazon or google 1280x800 led projector and if you look closely, you will see they are all the same specs. The back is identical and the cases are different. One of them adds SDCard support in addition to USB sticks. I have the Fixover GP100 and it is pretty good. Otherwise, you are going to have to research and find an older projector on eBay that a church or business is getting rid of because the bulb is getting old, or buy a new Epson VS240 or something from BenQ or Optima.

Sent from my SM-G900T using Tapatalk


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## electriclott (Oct 18, 2015)

Thank you for that education on projectors Frightrisk. I am also a newbie to projectors, but I am looking to dip my toe in this year with maybe some singing pumpkins or a small window projection. I was looking at the Window FX kit that Home Depot sells for $89, but after reading your post I may rethink spending any money there. Although I wounder if that projector would be good enough for pumpkins in a low ambient light conditions. I think you said that those projectors are 27 lumens, or at least last years model was.


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## floorlizard (Sep 25, 2017)

Thanks a ton for all of the help and information. Any chance this model would be any good for any of the things I am wanting to do?


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## floorlizard (Sep 25, 2017)

Due to site limitations, I can't post links until I have three previous posts. The next one will have the link


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## floorlizard (Sep 25, 2017)

https://www.groupon.com/deals/gs-10...g*1165673589_k*newshoppers_m*VideoElectronics


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## frightrisk (Oct 30, 2008)

That is the same as this projector:

https://www.aliexpress.com/item/Pro...&terminal_id=115d2902d8c74e2594401ba4301748fb

It is only 640x480, so VGA resolution and they list it as 100lumens. I would guess half that, but hey, at least they aren't claiming it is 3000 lumens  Because there is a no return policy on the groupon one, I would either buy it from somewhere else for the same price or buy a better one. One interesting thing about this one is it is very tiny. Palm of your hand tiny. So it would hide well inside something for say, singing pumpkins. It probably would not work for projecting on a scrim from 10' away, but if you bought one with a return policy, you could give it a try.


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## floorlizard (Sep 25, 2017)

I ended up ordering the DBPower T20 on Amazon. With Amazon's great return policy, I felt like it would be worth picking it up to see if it will work with one of the two or three decorations I am planning to do that won't call for higher resolution (Singing Pumpkins, etc). I may splurge a little ($400ish) for a nicer projector to use for the centerpiece of my display. I will let you know how things turn out when I receive the one I bought on Amazon. Are you familiar with it? Thoughts on it's viability?

https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B01LZRUY6Q/ref=oh_aui_detailpage_o00_s00?ie=UTF8&psc=1


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## floorlizard (Sep 25, 2017)

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OoAITXBLKkM

Here is a test video with the dbPower T20 that I picked up from Amazon for $50ish


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## floorlizard (Sep 25, 2017)

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OoAITXBLKkM

Here is a test video with the dbPower T20 that I picked up from Amazon for $50ish


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## frightrisk (Oct 30, 2008)

floorlizard said:


> I ended up ordering the DBPower T20 on Amazon. With Amazon's great return policy, I felt like it would be worth picking it up to see if it will work with one of the two or three decorations I am planning to do that won't call for higher resolution (Singing Pumpkins, etc). I may splurge a little ($400ish) for a nicer projector to use for the centerpiece of my display. I will let you know how things turn out when I receive the one I bought on Amazon. Are you familiar with it? Thoughts on it's viability?
> 
> https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B01LZRUY6Q/ref=oh_aui_detailpage_o00_s00?ie=UTF8&psc=1


I have seen it. It is one of the better ones in that price range. Is isn't as bright as the $180 ones I mentioned, but has a decent resolution. Can't wait to see your test!

Sent from my SM-G900T using Tapatalk


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## gingerjay (Sep 4, 2017)

frightrisk said:


> I have seen it. It is one of the better ones in that price range. Is isn't as bright as the $180 ones I mentioned, but has a decent resolution. Can't wait to see your test!
> 
> Sent from my SM-G900T using Tapatalk


Thanks for all your analysis frightrisk. I debated and debated on whether to pick up the DDK+ from AtmosFX for $299 since it comes with 12 Halloween scenes or picking up one of the $200 Amazon projectors. I don't like how Atmos has a no return policy on their projectors. 

Ulitmately I found what I believe to be a great deal on a brand new Epson Powerlite W29 off craigslist for $250:

https://www.bhphotovideo.com/bnh/controller/home?A=details&O=&Q=&ap=y&c3api=1876%2C%7Bcreative%7D%2C%7Bkeyword%7D&gclid=EAIaIQobChMIvL2Hx_LN1gIVCYlpCh0PIQuEEAYYAiABEgJ3lvD_BwE&is=REG&sku=1122636&smp=y

I am going to purchase an AtmosFX download and give it a try tonight. I'll let y'all know.


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## mindful (Oct 3, 2017)

floorlizard said:


> Here is a test video with the dbPower T20 that I picked up from Amazon for $50ish


Thanks for uploading a clip. It looks decent, but the lighting is exceptionally dark and it is very difficult to tell how it compares with other projects. 

I tried a DB power project 2 years ago. Advertised at 1000 lumen, at the time I thought it was a bit dim, but it wasn't until I got a name brand projector that I realized the 1000 lumen rating of the DB Power was maybe only 20% as bright at the 450 lumens of the LG! The Chinese projector lumen ratings are falsified to the point that they are useless. 

I would love know how the DB power T20 compares with a name brand unit with more reliable lumen ratings. Do you have access to any other projectors for comparison?

I looked at the T20 this year, but recalling my previous experience with DB Power I decided to purchase an Aaxa unit. I am very satisfied that it is actually delivering 550 lumens to the screen.


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## aviator24 (Aug 26, 2015)

Been reading up on this thread. I have a $200 credit to use at walmart.com. Trying to decide, as many of you have stated above, they inflate the claimed specs online. I already have one of the $50 mini projectors that does a surprisingly good job on a window with a cheapo walmart shower curtain and some AtmosFX videos on a USB stick I scored 2 years ago.

I also have the AtmosFX 3DFX Form however and my current projector does a terrible job on that (so I have not been able to use it). Hoping to find a decent projector that will work better from walmart.com? Kind of limited by going there I know...

Thinking of this one?
https://www.walmart.com/ip/2017-On-...ema-3D-Effect-1080P-HDMI-Multimedia/501904519
Worried it may not be any better than the one I have now?
Or ??? IDK?


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## mindful (Oct 3, 2017)

The walmart unit looks to be similar to many of the dozens of clones listed on Amazon. That is, the 5000 lumens claim from an LED is misleading. The 1080p / 1920x1080dpi specs are technically correct, but still quite misleading since the native resolution of the unit is 800 * 480. So it will definitely be darker and not as clear as the manufacturer wants you to believe from the way they advertise it. 

I guess the upside is that maybe you can try it to see if it works for you and take it back to the store for a refund if it isn't good enough. If you do get it, please tell us how it works. 


Being a picky but frugal shopper, I've tried to balance the many projector parameters for myself, with great difficulty. This may not be helpful for buying from Walmart, but my general advice is:

- The brightness specs (lumens) of all the clones is inflated to the point of being useless
- The brightness specs and build quality of the name brand projectors (Epson, BenQ, ViewSonic, Optoma, Aaxa, etc.) are much more reliable 
- The cheapest units are LCD, whereas DLP tend to give shaper images and are smaller, but usually a bit more
- For a clear image, you'll want a high *native* resolution. 800x600 is probably the minimum, and 1280x800 is better.
- I don't believe anyones 30,000 hour claims for an LED bulb, especially not anyone who is lying about their brightness specs
- If you really want bright and cheap(er), a conventional name brand (eg, Epson VS240) may be better than anything LED options. The bulb won't last as long (5000 hours) as an LED (25000+ hours) but the picture/price will much brighter while it is working which can still be quite a few years.

I think the projectors get noticeably better above $180, and for $300+ you can have the best display in the neighborhood. I decided to get a used/refurbished name brand unit instead of the one of the Chinese clone projectors. I'm quite happy with the picture.


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## floorlizard (Sep 25, 2017)

Ok, Mr. Mindful... I have my semi-decent unit for my pumpkins. Now, for my main display, which will be projected onto a fabric stretched across an opening in an archway that is to look like the entrance to a cemetery, what would you suggest? It will be the centerpiece of my display, so I want it to look AMAZING! However, I don't want to spend more than $350ish. Also, the image will be projected from behind and within a 4 foot space. Any suggestions?


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## mindful (Oct 3, 2017)

floorlizard said:


> Ok, Mr. Mindful... I have my semi-decent unit for my pumpkins. Now, for my main display, which will be projected onto a fabric stretched across an opening in an archway that is to look like the entrance to a cemetery, what would you suggest? It will be the centerpiece of my display, so I want it to look AMAZING! However, I don't want to spend more than $350ish. Also, the image will be projected from behind and within a 4 foot space. Any suggestions?



My post from above still applies; I think you should be able to find a very suitable projector between $200 and $325. For outdoor viewing where ambient light may be an issue, you may want serious brightness, so something equivalent to an Epson VS240 (about $300 new with 3000+ lumens) will be very bright compared to anything with an LED bulb. The resolution is only medium quality at 800x600, but probably good enough depending on what you're displaying.

I have an Aaxa 500 lumen unit with 1280x800 resolution which projects a 4x6 foot image on a walmart shower curtain in my window. It ran me about $250 (refurbished) and is nice and bright in my window, though it is not usable until after sundown because the shower curtain reflects ambient light to the viewer. You'll probably use scrim for an outdoor graveyard display, which will introduce different optical dynamics depending on its properties.

Since you're rear projecting, you'll want the projector to be off-axis with the viewers, or else they'll be staring into the very bright "eye" of the projector. So for off axis projection, the "keystone" adjustment will be important. I'm not familiar with anything beyond Aaxa and LG units, but these are electronic adjustment which are quite flexible. The mechanical adjustments (what is probably available on your pumpkin projection unit) are usually not as good, allowing maybe 15 degrees or less.

If you don't mind spending a bit more, I'd buy a unit with 1280x800 resolution, since this unit will still look good (both very bright and very sharp) even a few years from now.

I'm not an authority on projectors by any means, just a person who has really wanted to like the inexpensive devices and has been very frustrated that they never work nearly as well as the manufacturers tell you that they will. The false lumen ratings are particularly infuriating because they appear to be completely arbitrary. Imagine if car dealers could just lie about the horsepower in their cars: 200HP, 800HP, 10,000HP! It makes this very important specification completely useless.

(gets back off soapbox and apologizes for ranting)


Good luck and let us know what you end up with. Please also post any insight (good or bad) about the unit from walmart. The more genuine info that is posted, the easier it is for everyone to understand what will work for their displays.

It would also be good to hear other people's views on projector pros and cons.


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## frightrisk (Oct 30, 2008)

I would add that you consider distance, focus, size of image and offset from dead on center to the screen. All the under $200 projectors only have a vertical keystone adjustment. They do this by tilting a Fresnel (pron. Freh- NELL) lens that sits in between the LCD and the projection lens. This is a flat piece of plastic like those bookmark magnifiers. Concentric circles cut to refract the light. It bends the light to channel it into the projector lens. When you tilt it, it makes the image into a trapezoid. It gives you about 15 degrees of adjustment at the expense of sharpness in the plane of adjustment.

So in simple english, if you turn the projector on its side and move the projector to the side of the doorway to hid it and move the hotspot away from the eyes of the viewer, you will be able to correct the skew of the image to a maximum of 15 degrees as measured from the angle beteen the projector if it was pointed strait and the center of where you are actually pointing. That should work for you, in my opinion. But try to keep the projector on a tripod or other raised surface level with the center of the doorway since you can't correct for that keystoning.
Just FYI, many expensive projectors adjust the actual image and can correct a larger range and keystone in both the vertical and horizontal axis.

Next is throw distance and image size. Without a zoom lens, your only control of image size is moving the projector closer or farther to the door. So you need to make sure that sweet spot is available in your room or that you can move furniture 

And lastly, you need to make sure the projector can focus at that distamce, which shouldn't be a problem in the range of a small window to a 120" screen (diagonally measured)

I have tested the Fixeover projector for around $185 and am very satisfied with it. I use 5 projectors in my display, 2 brand name used projectors, 2 cheap projectors and this one. This one does 720p native and downconverts 1080p. If the hallway is relatively dark and the light in the room behind sthe screen is dim but still reading light bright, it will be stunning.

Here is my opinion/recommendation:

Fixeover GP100 1280x800 resolution. Many clone units out there (Goodee, Tenker, CiBest, etc) around $190.

Epson VS240 800x600 native, but don't scoff at that, especially for a moving image. It is better than DVD quality, SVGA. 3 LCD chips! One for each color, red, greed and blue. 3000 true lumens. I haven't looked at the difference between that and the VS250 other than price, but this is the next step up for haunters.

Something interesting are the new DLP minis. They have a full Android OS, can download apps, have wifi and bluetooth... they are more like laptop projectors. Lots of possibilities with something like this such as streaming from youtube or a media server in your house. Look at the Wowoto H8 for $399. Same as Optoma Intelligo-S1which is a brand name (but a lot more). The iCodis CB300W is $5 less than the wowoto and also the same guts.


Sent from my SM-G900T using Tapatalk


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## Jottle (Aug 17, 2006)

frightrisk said:


> I would add that you consider distance, focus, size of image and offset from dead on center to the screen. All the under $200 projectors only have a vertical keystone adjustment. They do this by tilting a Fresnel (pron. Freh- NELL) lens that sits in between the LCD and the projection lens. This is a flat piece of plastic like those bookmark magnifiers. Concentric circles cut to refract the light. It bends the light to channel it into the projector lens. When you tilt it, it makes the image into a trapezoid. It gives you about 15 degrees of adjustment at the expense of sharpness in the plane of adjustment.
> 
> So in simple english, if you turn the projector on its side and move the projector to the side of the doorway to hid it and move the hotspot away from the eyes of the viewer, you will be able to correct the skew of the image to a maximum of 15 degrees as measured from the angle beteen the projector if it was pointed strait and the center of where you are actually pointing. That should work for you, in my opinion. But try to keep the projector on a tripod or other raised surface level with the center of the doorway since you can't correct for that keystoning.
> Just FYI, many expensive projectors adjust the actual image and can correct a larger range and keystone in both the vertical and horizontal axis.
> ...


Love your recs. I was looking at this one, which I assume would be worse than the gp100 you recommend. It just happened to be on sale today. 

Checked out any other projectors recently that you recommend? I want to play videos via usb on a loop, and i"m assuming all the ones that have usb inputs will be able to let me loop files and not have to keep going back to the projector to reply all. That espon VS240 looked great and probably doesn't have inflated specs like the china knockoffs, but it turns out (reading reviews) that the epson doesn't play mp4 files from its usb input. So woudl you still recommend the gp100 clones as a best value for quality in the ~$200 range? You can find these for as low as $165 with no warranty on amazon these days. 

I plan to project from inside onto a shower curtain during dusk and into the night. I tried last year's Home depot window projector, and of course it was garbage. I know a gp100 won't work at dusk either, but thinking it might be a good fit for after 7:30p or so when the sun has mostly gone down.


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## Lisa Brown Shine (Aug 15, 2015)

Hey all! So I’d like to jump in here and ask a couple of questions. I’ve read all the post on this thread, and any others I can find about projectors, and I’m still confused. I want to be able to do the Halloween/Christmas stuff , but I also want to use a projector to watch movies or ball games etc. in the back yard. Will the projectors y’all are discussing do that too? Also, I was hoping to find one that I can just pop in a thumb drive or a sd card with mp4 files and use it that way, with no computer or DVD player attached. From my own research and the post above, it looks like the Epson won’t do that....the Epson was the one I was leaning toward. Can anyone point me toward a reasonably priced $200-400 projector that can do both digital decorating and be used for movies etc., that works with mp4s on sd card or thumb drives? I know that’s a lot to ask, but I don’t even know where to start. Thanks


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## victor-eyd (Aug 13, 2007)

Most, if not all, projectors that are used for display haunting will also work for showing movies or even playing cable tv or streaming videos. Connectivity options is what you're looking for. The Epson is a "traditional" projector in the sense it needs a device to show data, ie computer, dvd player, etc. that is hooked to up to one the input ports in the back. The newer projectors nowaday also have a built-in video player. Many of the Chinese clones have this so all you need to do is have your movie or video in an acceptable format, like mkv or avi or mp4, have it saved on a SD card and insert to play.

Sorry if this starts to sound gibberish but the simple answer to the Epson is if your dvd player or cablw box has hdmi or even composite (yellow RCA) just plug it and enjoy. Using hdmi also transfers audio so the epson will play audio on it as well


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## RyanH (Oct 16, 2010)

I have a line on what I think will be a good projector to do a full home projection. It is 340 Canadian for this model.....Benq MX850UST

This is my first time trying to do a whole house projection so if you have experience doing this and you don’t think this projector will work please let me know. 

BenQ Short Throw MX850UST XGA Ultra Short Throw 2500 Lumen DLP Education Projector
by BenQ
Be the first to review this item 
Available from these sellers.
The Smart Eco mode is designed to use only the exact amount of lamp power a projector needs to deliver the best contrast performance
<0.5W Standby Power Consumption
Hassle-Free Projector Maintenance - The upper lamp door is designed for IT managers to replace the projector lamp safely and quickly
Security Bar to Discourage Theft
LAN Control with Crestron and PJ-Link and 20W Sound with Microphone Input
Native XGA (1024x768) Resolution
2500 ANSI Lumens; 13000:1 Contrast Ratio
0.45 Ultra Short Throw Ratio
LAN Control; Smart Eco Mode
20W Speaker; SRS WOW HDTM; Mic Input


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