Office Projector Advice

When considering which projector is best for your business needs, you should pay particular attention to the following specifications:

Brightness

Measured in ‘ANSI lumens’, the most important thing a brightness rating of a projector should tell you is how well the projector can cope with ambient light. Hence, if you’re looking to install the projector in a room that doesn’t have blinds, you should be looking at projectors of 2000 lumens and above.

Exactly what brightness is suitable for your room is not something you can work out scientifically. The more ambient light that hits the screen surface, the brighter your projector will need to be.

The important thing to remember is that a projector can only make the screen lighter, so dark colours will never be truly rendered in a really bright environment. Reducing the ambient light hitting the screen surface is more effective than buying a high powered projector. Easy ways to do this are:

       Choose carefully where you install your screen (place it in the darkest area of the room if possible)

       If you have spot-lights throughout the room, turn off the lights nearest the screen when projecting.

Resolution

Resolution is the number of pixels that your projector can display. The most common resolution currently is 1024 x 768 pixels, or ‘XGA’ resolution. The second most common is 800 x 600, or ‘SVGA’ resolution.

XGA is more expensive, but has two major advantages

       To achieve the best picture quality, your projector’s resolution should mirror your laptop/PC resolution. As XGA is a more common format it is more likely that you will achieve the best picture quality with more PC’s if you choose XGA resolution

       XGA projectors are better at displaying fine lines and small text. This is because they have approximately 60% more pixels available to display the image.

Throw Distance

Projectors all have different lenses, so they produce different size images according to the lens they use.

Once you’ve chosen your projector, consider where you will place the projector (especially if you are ceiling mounting it) and check that the screen size you need is possible from that distance. You will probably find our screen size calculator useful for this.

For high-end projectors it is often possible to change the lenses and achieve smaller or larger images, giving you more flexibility over where you put the projector. However, replacement lenses can be very expensive.

Casio projectors are excellent if you need a large degree of flexibility in positioning your projector.

LCD or DLP?

If you are using your projector solely for Powerpoint presentations, we generally recommend LCD technology for its colour accuracy. If your application is ‘colour sensitive’ (eg. graphic design, colour-coded process diagrams) then we would recommend LCD over DLP.

Contrast

Contrast adds depth to your image. This isn’t generally considered too important when displaying Powerpoint presentations, as they are generally quite ‘flat’. If you are also using the projector for showing movies, however, contrast comes into play.

Ceiling mounts

Please speak to our sales team for advice on ceiling mounts. There are too many types to mention here, but here are some of the factors you need to consider;

       Do you have a false ceiling or a solid ceiling?

       Do you need to dismount the projector occasionally?

       Do you need security against theft?

       Do you want the projector to be hidden away?

       Can you drill into your ceiling?

       Where will your cables run?

It will save you time to consider these questions and then discuss your options with us. You may also want to consider wireless projectors for ease of installation.

Warranty

Manufacturers differ in the quality and service level they offer with their warranties. ‘Return to base’ is the lowest level of support. If you depend on your projector, check to see what level of support is offered with it in the event of a problem.

Spare bulbs

Don’t forget to order a spare bulb. Rarely is a presentation ‘not that important’, so having a spare on hand is sensible insurance against embarrassment!

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