Denise Brunner Posted August 30, 2011 Share Posted August 30, 2011 I am looking for a video projector to add to my display. Not looking to spend tons of dollars. I do own a projector, but its bulb life is only 2000 hrs and about 2200 lumens. Not sure if buying replacement bulbs ($130.00 at a pop) is a good idea or if it is worth buying a new projector. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jem5136 Posted August 30, 2011 Share Posted August 30, 2011 The projector you have now sounds like a pretty good projector for what you will be using it for, so if I were you, I would go ahead and just replace to bulb. But I don't use a projector in my display (not yet anyways ) so I don't know much about how long the projectors should run, which really should only be during the show hours so they don't ever heat, and all the fun stuff. But I would defiantly replace the bulb before replacing the entire projector because even if you do get a new projector, you will eventually have to replace the bulb anyway. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Denise Brunner Posted August 30, 2011 Author Share Posted August 30, 2011 The projector is an Optima 721 that I have been using for speaking engagements for the last couple of years. Additional question, how are people turning them on and off, and does the cold effect the bulb life span ??? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MikeH Posted August 30, 2011 Share Posted August 30, 2011 Denise Brunner wrote: The projector is an Optima 721 that I have been using for speaking engagements for the last couple of years. Additional question, how are people turning them on and off, and does the cold effect the bulb life span ???Mine has an auto shut-off. If there is no display (picture), it will shut off after a pre-determined time ( I have mine set to 4 mins). I use mine indoors, I shoot a projection onto a window.MikeH Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
displaysinmotion_will Posted August 31, 2011 Share Posted August 31, 2011 Denise I use several projectors in my show, What we do to keep them from freezing, in the enclosures we built for them we put a heating blanket below them attached to a relay, when the power to the projector is turned off the heating pad comes on. Now as far as turning the projector off & on there are Several ways of doing this: 1. Many projectors have a serial connector or USB on them, these are for connecting to home automation systems to be remotely controlled, this is the method i currently use and on the back of my projectors there is a 12v "trigger" connection what this does is output 12v when the projector is on and I have hooked to that relay I mentioned above to turn of the heating pad. 2. Another way is to hack the remote or power switch: in the first two years of my display I had some cheap projectors that didnt have the features above so I either opened the case of the projector and soldered a pair of wires to the power switch of the projector then ran those wires out of the case to a relay connected to a lor channel. The same could be done to the remote if you don't feel comfortable opening the projector. 3rd I don't recommend this method at all because the projector won't be able to cool down after you turn it off: you could directly connect the power cord to a lor channel then program it in a background sequence just like a radio sign to stay on the entire time of the show, then power off. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
t.vanhouts Posted September 1, 2011 Share Posted September 1, 2011 Last year we used a video projector also a optima in our garden. To keep it from freezing we put a frost protector in the enclosure. This keeps the temperature just above the freezing point. When timerswitch 1 turns on the mainpower a few minutes before the show, it projects a clock that I use on the windows background.5 minutes after the show timerswitch 2 cuts of the mainpower of the display and switches a relay that cuts of the sync sigal from the computer to the projector. The projector shuts down after the cool down period because it doesn't get a sync signal anymore.After a few minutes timerswitch 1 shut down the mainpower for the projector. The configuration of the projector is set to turn on automaticly after powerloss so it turns on the next day and the cycles starts again.This way you will save a lot of power and bulb life.The diference in temperature between off status and working status is about 25 degrees. That's perfect within the workinglimits of the projector.Hope this helps. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
EasternAlliance Posted September 3, 2011 Share Posted September 3, 2011 I came accoss this the other day, Ultra Projecter, i dont have one, but am considering adding video to my display and this looked like a good option. has anyone heard anything about these. http://www.ultraprojector.com/index.htm Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
james morris Posted September 3, 2011 Share Posted September 3, 2011 i have one i bought it month ago it works good it has a 2 gig card in it holds about 2 hours of videos in it i have about 1 hour of videos in it so far halloween Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Denise Brunner Posted September 3, 2011 Author Share Posted September 3, 2011 I just returned mine, thought the image was not bright enough for my display. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
WhitePlainsNY Posted September 12, 2011 Share Posted September 12, 2011 I just purchased a video projector from the manufacturer on eBay. The cost with shipping was only $195. for a new projector. It can use VGA, S-video, component video, and HDMI. After researching for forever, I found this to be the best for those of us that are budget conscious. It's bright, easy to use, and the best part is that the replacement bulbs are only around $26 each. I was impresssed by the 2000 lumen brightness on a cheap white fabric shower curtain rear projected from inside my house.Search for Digital Galaxy DG-737. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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