What should I look for in a projector?

[bluphoto]

My Camera club needs a new projector and I want to know how to choose one with the features we need.

We will only be using it to view still images, not movies.

Being a photographic club, we need good colour reproduction, good neutral monochrome (b&w) and NO banding/rainbow effects please! I'd also like blacks to appear as black as if the projector was switched off, (doable?)

As for resolution, our current one is 1400x1050. Lower resolutions might look fine too, I don't know. I'd like to see them in action before I buy, but I'm in Aberdeen, Scotland and can't find anyone able to demonstrate them anywhere within 200 or more miles!

We will be roof mounting, so a motorised focus would be nice, but autofocus is not required.

We will be using in a dark room with the projector approx 8ft from the screen. (need an image approx 4ftx3ft).

So far we've been told that we need a £3k+ projector, and also that a £800 would do the job just fine.

How do I decide?

Guy

[kbfern]

For the best black the JVC range is your best option.The HD350 has just been discontinued (maybe one still about somewhere) they were punting the last few out at £2350 ish which was a good discount on the £3k+ they were originally.

You could even get a used one for under £2k.This is Lcos technology so no banding and rainbows.The colours out the box sometimes can be a little off but can be calibrated to improve accuracy.

[kbfern]

As for demo these are in Aberdeen and have good demo facilities,Crustyloafer who is a member on here works there so I am sure he could help.

They have the new range of JVC which are £4k+ but are not much different to the outgoing range so would give you a good indication of what the HD350 looks like.

Projectors & Projector Screens Edinburgh, Aberdeen, Glasgow, Scotland, Newcastle, UK

[ProjectorPoint]

Hi Guy,

Home cinema projectors that most people will be used to on this forum may not meet your requirements in terms of brightness and generally home cinema projector have lower lumens than business based projectors.

For photographic use I would recommend looking at the Canon XEED range of projectors, they have been selected by the Royal Society of Photographers as there projector of choice.

They have a range of projectors in SXGA+ resolution that would meet your requirement for 1400 x 1050 pixels native resolution.

I'd recommend looking at the Xeed SX800 or SX7, these are 2 of the most popular projectors we sell into camera clubs. If you look at your site you will find specs etc.

If required we can even arrange for a demo unit to be sent to you to test before you decide!

Canon optics with the high resolution and LCOS technology offer superb results for photographic use.

Hope that helps.