I am new to the forum, have had a look about and done some research, but would appreciate some expert help! I am currently nearing the end of my 4th Year Uni project. It is a portable gliding simulator and can bee seen in all it's glory at http://tomsglidersim.blogspot.com/
The image for the sim will be projected on to a curved screen and I am currently looking for suitable projectors. I am mainly looking at short throw projectors as there isn't a whole lot of space. The toshiba I specified is one example. However, the throw is a it _too_ short, and would mean mounting it just above the pilot's head.
Can anyone advise as to a good projector avaliable in Australia for around the $2000AUS or less? Needs to be WXGA, 16:10, and pretty bright as will be used in a tent. Most importantly the throw needs to be around 2.5m
There is so much to choose from that I'm a bit lost. Any help would be much appreciated!
If you have a special applications projection project, plan your budget accordingly, and obviously as part of the design, look for the projector well ahead of any design as you must build to accomodate the projector you can afford - not the other way around.
Gives a singe projector capable of a 2m image from 2.5m with WXGA. Since you didn't specify a screen size, this is the ONLY one which meets that criteria.
You could possibly have many more options if you could afford custom lenses. Likewise, a minimum of 50 lumens per square foot - or about 500 lumens per square meter - is a minimum for a 'normal' indoor boardroom environment. I'm not sure any projector will really be able to handle the ambient light you are talking about - and almost every simulator in the world operates in a light controlled environment.
I wish you luck.
AV Integrated - Theater, whole house audio, and technology consultation during the build and installation process in the Washington, DC metropolitan area.
Ah i did miss the screen size, sorry. It has a diagonal size of 3m.
I did indeed plan the project to projector limitations, as well as a number of others, such as aircraft size, trailer size, trailer weight and balance . . . the list goes on. Budget issues were also dependent on gaining grants for the project. It is not always so black and white as 'plan your budget and design accordingly'
I already know that certain projectors will give me certain results and affect the design further in certain ways eg projector over pilots head, or smaller than full size image. I was simply hoping to pick the brains of people with more knowledge than me, to get the most suitable result.
Now, don't get me wrong, because the design and build looks really good, but when the project is this far into completion, it seems like the projector, which is an integral part of making it all work, would have been decided upon - or at least a half dozen options selected - before the very first piece of hardware was assembled.
While 2.5m is just to short, and reqiures a smaller screen. If you could get the projector at 3.5m, then you would have 7 projectors to choose from, most of which seem to hit close to your budget.
The reality that you don't have 3.5m throw distance is not necessarily because you couldn't have had it, but because you are asking after everything is all done for a critical component to fit. So, you will have a few compromises at this point - the question is which you want to deal with now.
Does look very cool though.
AV Integrated - Theater, whole house audio, and technology consultation during the build and installation process in the Washington, DC metropolitan area.
Thanks for the input and kind words! You are right of course, I really should know the projector I want by now. The reason I didn't worry about it too much was because it wouldn't really affect the shape.
The screen is also the roof, the size of which is determined by the required floor area and other bits and pieces. For a longer throw distance I need a longer trailer = bigger roof and therefore screen :-) Of course these are are all things that could be designed around, but i chose to keep the design simple, and this is the result.
I will have a look through the links. At the moment, I think the short throw may still be the best option.
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