A good LED (portable) projector

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Level 1

6 points

A good LED (portable) projector

Dear All,

I am looking, but have a hard time to fine, a correct, not necessarily state of the art, LED projector for my week-end house. However, things get a bit complicated because... There will be different people using different devices wanting to watch different things through the projector. Here's the list of input sources (material we'll connect to the projector):

plain old PC with Windows (probably ranging from XP Pro to 7) with VGA connectors (still widespread);
Portable Macs with Mini DisplayPort
iPhone
iPad
Satellite dish (with corresponding tuner and hardware, I guess with, although will have to check, RCA connectors)

As the house is quite small, the room where the projector will be installed is quite small too. The projector will have to be hung to the wall, above one of the windows. The distance to the wall is 3.7 meters or 12 feet and 5 inches. If possible, we would like to avoid having to close all the shutters in order to see what is on the screen and there are no dark curtains. So I guess that lumens and contrast ratio are of importance.

I would like to place flat speakers behind the screen so the projector will need to have some kind of audio out (3.5mm stereo mini jack preferred).

Finally, if possible, we would like to have one of those smaller LED light source semi-portable (we don't need one that runs on battery though) projectors as it will be in a fixed place. These projectors use much less energy, the (LED) light source lasts much longer and heats much less...

To summarize

The input sources will be:

RCA
VGA
HDMI
Mini DisplayPort (I know adapters exist so this one is optional, really)
If they are switchable by remote it is good, but obviously autosensing would be best...

Output source

Stereo audio (mini-jack 3.5mm preferred)

Light source

LED

Does this "miracle" projector exist?

Best regards,

Peter

P.S.: no, I don't need the apparatus to vacuum the floor and wash the dishes, although if it does it, I wouldn't complain 😉

++++

MacBook Pro 2.5GHz, Mac OS X (10.7.1), RAM 4 GB, HDD 500 GB

Posted on Sep 12, 2011 7:31 AM

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Answer 1

John Galt

Level 10

141,150 points

Sep 15, 2011 9:41 AM in response to Peter Deli

At first glance the LED light source is going to be a limiting factor, since your room is not completely dark. The brightest LED projector I could find is the Samsung F10M at 1000 lumens. That's not very bright given your room dimensions and limitations. Room darkness, image size, and seating position are all interrelated. Also, they call it a "data" projector implying it's not designed for movies. If you don't intend to show movies you have more options. LEDs are wonderful and will last forever, but they're just not bright enough yet. With a weekend house it will be years before you'll replace a conventional UHP lamp. You'll want to upgrade your projector by then anyway.

Autosensing is fairly standard, but don't get too fixated on a Mini DisplayPort when you can get an mDP to HDMI adapter for about ten bucks.

I got the impression you want a standalone projector with its own audio amplifier, but you should consider connecting it to a receiver since you won't find any projector with an integral audio amplifier sufficient for your stated goal of speakers behind the screen. You will not be satisfied with the few watts of built-in audio some projectors have, and I don't even know if it's anything except monaural. The receiver can also perform video upconversion and automatic switching from a variety of sources, including VGA, composite video, component video, digital audio etc. to the projector's HDMI input.

Be careful with the idea of speakers behind the screen. That may seem like a good idea but it will introduce some limitations that you may not want. If your goal is a home theater, audio is on the order of 80% of the whole experience. For 7.1 or .2 surround sound, figure on spending at least several hundred dollars on speakers alone, and some purists will tell you that's not enough. Your room size suggests 80 to 100W per channel which you will not find available in the projector itself.

The calculator at Projector Central is a good place to start with manipulating all the interrelated variables with projector specifications. Start your research there then do your shopping at Projector People. Their prices are the most competitive. The podcasts from The HT Guys can be educational too.

I designed a home theater for myself, including building a dedicated room for the purpose (when I learned about all the considerations involved I realized that's the only option). Despite my experience as an electrical engineer I found the variety of audio and video formats, the relationship of room conditions to equipment limitations, and the ever-changing standards and technological improvements to be a daunting challenge. Power, cabling, and acoustics also required very specific construction criteria. The only good part was that the longer it took to design everything, the cheaper all the equipment became. Few projects are like that 🙂 It took a couple of years but the eventual result is spectacular.

Good luck!

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