StylesQ
Hey all,
For the Video guys out there.... a few questions.
Question 1: I am looking at putting video in a night club, and was wondering what is the best "screen choice" for that environment? I see there quite a few choices in screen finishes (matte, silver, white etc). I'm looking at getting a decent sized motorized one. Any suggestions?
Question 2: What size ratio to go with? full or wide screen? Are music videos mostly widescreen yet like our movie rentals are? I LOVE my widescreen tv... but yet...when i go into most bars etc...I still see "4:3" ratio screens.
Question 3: Are Hitachi Projectors decent for a nightclub?? Lookin' for something pretty decent with nice color/brightness for a 10-12 foot screen, both projector and screen mounted to ceiling.
What are you guys using in your clubs now and how many lumens would be ok? The room would be your typical nightclub light-level.
http://www.hitachi.us/Apps/hitachicom/content.jsp?page=Products/LCDProjectorLifestyle/ProfessionalFixed/index.html&level=2§ion=Products&parent=LCDProjectorLifestyle&nav=left&path=jsp/hitachi/forhome/DisplayTechnologiesGroup/&nId=iD
lol umm I just noticed I have a few more then 3 questions there... oh well.. should make for a good discussion around the dj round table here. :)
For the Video guys out there.... a few questions.
Question 1: I am looking at putting video in a night club, and was wondering what is the best "screen choice" for that environment? I see there quite a few choices in screen finishes (matte, silver, white etc). I'm looking at getting a decent sized motorized one. Any suggestions?
Question 2: What size ratio to go with? full or wide screen? Are music videos mostly widescreen yet like our movie rentals are? I LOVE my widescreen tv... but yet...when i go into most bars etc...I still see "4:3" ratio screens.
Question 3: Are Hitachi Projectors decent for a nightclub?? Lookin' for something pretty decent with nice color/brightness for a 10-12 foot screen, both projector and screen mounted to ceiling.
What are you guys using in your clubs now and how many lumens would be ok? The room would be your typical nightclub light-level.
http://www.hitachi.us/Apps/hitachicom/content.jsp?page=Products/LCDProjectorLifestyle/ProfessionalFixed/index.html&level=2§ion=Products&parent=LCDProjectorLifestyle&nav=left&path=jsp/hitachi/forhome/DisplayTechnologiesGroup/&nId=iD
lol umm I just noticed I have a few more then 3 questions there... oh well.. should make for a good discussion around the dj round table here. :)
Mensajes Thu 01 Mar 07 @ 10:20 am
shooter6
Hey Styles -
I work for an AV Rental company - we use Draper screens, and their website has a handy screen selection guide that might help you make a determination: http://www.draperinc.com/images/2006Catalogs/SelectRightScreensPVC06pgs3_5.pdf
lots of videos are "wide screen" as in "letterboxed". all they do is take a 4:3 image and mask the top and bottom to give you a viewing area thats 16:9. Trouble is, the video image itself is still 4:3, so when you watch it on a widescreen TV or projector, you are simply stretching out an image that is already letterboxed - creating more distortion than when you take something formatted in 4:3 and stretch it. Hopefully I'm making sense.
so - if you really want to go with a widescreen format, then your best bet is to make sure all your components match up. Your source (laptop resolution, HD DVD player, Blu Ray, etc) needs to be 16:9, Your projector should be 16:9, your screen should be 16:9. Thats pretty expensive though - and not yet widely adopted. Plus, to my knowledge all the video collections are still being released on standard DVD (which is 4:3).
Hitachi projectors are not too bad, though they are mostly consumer oriented. You may want to check out NEC's lineup (www.necvisualsystems.com) as they specialize in corporate installations. Also Christie and Barco make rock solid units. Price could be an issue, but I just got a dazzling pair of 4200 Lumen NECs for $3300 each (they were $4500 last year).
To answer your brightness question - obviously, brighter is better. Get as many lumens as you can afford. 3000 will do the job very nicely but you could probably get away with 2000-2500 in a club without much ambient white light (occasional color effects on the screen are part of the show as far as I'm concerned - just don't want to do a constant wash). If your image is too bright, by the way, it becomes a lighting effect itself - can look cool with a visualizer, but it can also take away from the atmosphere on your dance floor.
Also, don't forget that installing the unit requires a mount - budget accordingly as that can add $100 or more to your costs. www.chiefmfg.com
Hope that helps a little.....
I work for an AV Rental company - we use Draper screens, and their website has a handy screen selection guide that might help you make a determination: http://www.draperinc.com/images/2006Catalogs/SelectRightScreensPVC06pgs3_5.pdf
lots of videos are "wide screen" as in "letterboxed". all they do is take a 4:3 image and mask the top and bottom to give you a viewing area thats 16:9. Trouble is, the video image itself is still 4:3, so when you watch it on a widescreen TV or projector, you are simply stretching out an image that is already letterboxed - creating more distortion than when you take something formatted in 4:3 and stretch it. Hopefully I'm making sense.
so - if you really want to go with a widescreen format, then your best bet is to make sure all your components match up. Your source (laptop resolution, HD DVD player, Blu Ray, etc) needs to be 16:9, Your projector should be 16:9, your screen should be 16:9. Thats pretty expensive though - and not yet widely adopted. Plus, to my knowledge all the video collections are still being released on standard DVD (which is 4:3).
Hitachi projectors are not too bad, though they are mostly consumer oriented. You may want to check out NEC's lineup (www.necvisualsystems.com) as they specialize in corporate installations. Also Christie and Barco make rock solid units. Price could be an issue, but I just got a dazzling pair of 4200 Lumen NECs for $3300 each (they were $4500 last year).
To answer your brightness question - obviously, brighter is better. Get as many lumens as you can afford. 3000 will do the job very nicely but you could probably get away with 2000-2500 in a club without much ambient white light (occasional color effects on the screen are part of the show as far as I'm concerned - just don't want to do a constant wash). If your image is too bright, by the way, it becomes a lighting effect itself - can look cool with a visualizer, but it can also take away from the atmosphere on your dance floor.
Also, don't forget that installing the unit requires a mount - budget accordingly as that can add $100 or more to your costs. www.chiefmfg.com
Hope that helps a little.....
Mensajes Fri 02 Mar 07 @ 4:00 am
StylesQ
Hey Shooter... sounds like your the "GO-TO" guy in the forums for A/V questions :) Thanks for the above extensive reply.
Does your company use the Fibreglass Matte White "un-tensioned" or the High Contrast Grey (said in the link the Grey is better for LCD DLP projectors for darker black and more contrast)?
Your right, theres a lot of options to consider for screens. I'm looking for about a 10-12' wide screen... and i'm gonna take your advice and go for a standard 4:3 Is it worth it payin for the "tensioned" screen or is the standard un-tensioned one good enough?
I checked out the NEC projectors too... which badboy model did ya get? (and where from if you don't mind me askin?)
Thanks again man
Does your company use the Fibreglass Matte White "un-tensioned" or the High Contrast Grey (said in the link the Grey is better for LCD DLP projectors for darker black and more contrast)?
Your right, theres a lot of options to consider for screens. I'm looking for about a 10-12' wide screen... and i'm gonna take your advice and go for a standard 4:3 Is it worth it payin for the "tensioned" screen or is the standard un-tensioned one good enough?
I checked out the NEC projectors too... which badboy model did ya get? (and where from if you don't mind me askin?)
Thanks again man
Mensajes Sat 03 Mar 07 @ 8:10 am
shooter6
always happy to be useful ;-)
We actually don't use any of the grey screens because white is more versatile - most of our applications are centered around powerpoint.... but the grey does look great for video. For an install, I'd recommend a tensioned screen - though you'd probably still be happy with an untensioned version. You may want to watch placement though - if you're anywhere near an air duct, the untensioned hanging screens will blow around quite a bit.
We just got a pair of NEC MP2000s - and they are awesome. We also have a good supply of MT1060s, MT1065s, and MT1075s. I don't think any of those are in production anymore, but I do see a few on Ebay for reasonable prices. Personally, I like them because we've got over 100 in use company wide and have had almost no service issues short of lamp replacement.
We get our projectors from NEC - we actually are a dealer. I would offer to get you pricing but to be perfectly honest, you can do much better on the web (not to mention our customer service department is full of clowns). I'm glad I work in the rental side....
We actually don't use any of the grey screens because white is more versatile - most of our applications are centered around powerpoint.... but the grey does look great for video. For an install, I'd recommend a tensioned screen - though you'd probably still be happy with an untensioned version. You may want to watch placement though - if you're anywhere near an air duct, the untensioned hanging screens will blow around quite a bit.
We just got a pair of NEC MP2000s - and they are awesome. We also have a good supply of MT1060s, MT1065s, and MT1075s. I don't think any of those are in production anymore, but I do see a few on Ebay for reasonable prices. Personally, I like them because we've got over 100 in use company wide and have had almost no service issues short of lamp replacement.
We get our projectors from NEC - we actually are a dealer. I would offer to get you pricing but to be perfectly honest, you can do much better on the web (not to mention our customer service department is full of clowns). I'm glad I work in the rental side....
Mensajes Sat 03 Mar 07 @ 8:55 pm
StylesQ
hehe ummm cool.. i'll have to check those other projectors out that u mentioned. btw.. IS there a difference between ones labled "good for theatre and others that say "mulitmedia" purposes... u mentioned you guys rent out for "business" powerpoint presentations.. so i'm assuming the demands for hi-res aren't as great for those as for movies and music videos.
Would u say the NP2000's are an "all round" good all video applications projector? Ya i checked out ebay.. goin for about $3500. 4000 lumens..thats pretty friggen bright! But the resolution is 800:1
Would u say the NP2000's are an "all round" good all video applications projector? Ya i checked out ebay.. goin for about $3500. 4000 lumens..thats pretty friggen bright! But the resolution is 800:1
Mensajes Sun 04 Mar 07 @ 9:25 am