Presentation Projectors
August 7th, 2008
For business purposes the most important aspect of presentation projectors is the brightness. To determine brightness values, look at the rated ANSI Lumens, which is a measurement in light output, and the most important part of the projector’s lighting power.
Because the technology used to achieve high brightness levels is expensive, projectors used for presentations tend to cost more than for home use. You may find that you may need to spend about 2,000 dollars in order to use a presentation projector in a well lit room. If you spend much less than that, you may find yourself with a projector that requires a completely dark room for the images to be seen.
In a meeting or conference environment you will probably need a certain ambient light level that allows participants to be able to write notes or refer to written material. The distance from the projector screen also affects the brightness of the image displayed.
The second most important feature in a business presentation projector is the noise level. The noise output of the projector’s fan may be distracting, and interfere with the speakers aural presentation. Some presentation projectors may list the noise output in decibels, which is difficult to relate to and is relative to other noise levels in the space.
Acoustic characteristics of the room will have a big effect on the overall sound. The best choice would be to test the projector in the space to be used and with a typical number of people present to determine the impact on overall sound quality.
For fixed presentation projector installations the quality of the sound and projected image can be adjusted to the desired outcome. For portable presentation projectors the ambient conditions are usually beyond your control, and some compromises may have to be made in projector brightness and acceptable weight.
