Projecting Digital Files

[DavidStone]

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Is anyone out there projecting their images onto a screen? I have always used colour transparency film (mainly Kodachrome) and I miss seeing my photos projected up nice and big on a screen - and the results from the M8 seem to be good enough for substantial enlargement. But projectors are expensive and I'd like to know if it's worth the expense.

 

David

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[graeme_clarke]

Hello David,

 

In the photogroup that I chair, we now project all the images to accompany the prints that members enter in monthly competitions. The judge sees the prints (usually 16 x 12inches), and the audience see the projected images when he comes to give his comments. So, over the past year we have done this, I've seen about 500 images projected using either a Hitachi or Sanyo projector.

 

In general I've noticed prints are a lot more contrasty than projected images and that the projected images are much lighter than prints. Often highlights are blown and shadow detail opened. This is because the projectors are designed to produce a readable image, usually of text in a Power Point type presentation in a half lit room. In a darkened room they are a bit too powerful as the projector pushes light through an LCD plate to get sufficient brightness onto the screen (we use one approximately 2.4 m square). If we turn the output down to stop highlights blowing out and keep shadow detail, the image looks flat and muddy. So inevitably we have to compromise.

 

In essence then, prints provide one medium for viewing images, and digital projectors provide a slightly different one. See if you can borrow one to try it out on your screen at home.

 

I have no experience of looking at photographic images taken from the computer directly onto a large screen TV (plasma or LCD) - that may be an alternative to consider.

 

I hope this helps,

 

Graeme

[ajthornbury]

david,

I use an Infocus X2 projector using DLP technology rather than LCD, with good results. Graeme is correct up to a point. It is very easy to for pictures to appear lighter than prints and for highlights to blow. This will happen on some low cost machines. More elaborate machines do have preset settings for :-

 

Presentation

Film

DVD etc.

Presentation mode is for giving power point type talks in daylight, in this mode the X2 will certainly blow highlights and have wrong colour matching. The other two are set at much reduced brightness, I usually set mine to Film with few problems.

My local camera club are now successfully projecting images for competitions, exhibitions etc using an Optima projector. Again with few problems.

Alan J.

[DavidStone]

Many thanks for your replies. This is all useful information. I think that my best course would be to ask for a demonstration projection with different projectors using some of my own photos, preferably with a dealer who is not tied to a particular brand. It could well be, also, that images need to be processed especially for projection.

 

I realise that this is perhaps a minority interest, and that current projection technology is aimed more towards presentations, but your comments make me a little more optimistic.

 

David

[giordano]

Is anyone out there projecting their images onto a screen? I have always used colour transparency film (mainly Kodachrome) and I miss seeing my photos projected up nice and big on a screen - and the results from the M8 seem to be good enough for substantial enlargement. But projectors are expensive and I'd like to know if it's worth the expense.

 

Most digital projectors run to less than one megapixel (800x600 or 1024x768. Good HDTV stuff seems to stretch to 2 MP. So you can project large images - but they won't have anything like the detail that's in an M8 file or on a good 35mm or 120 slide. And vertical pictures come out half size unless you turn the projector on its side:( .

 

I think there are some projectors with 4 to 6 MP, but they seem to be large, expensive, fragile triple-CRT jobs.

[graham_mitchell]

Video projectors are really no recommended for reasons already given (woefully inadequate resolution). It would be better to produce film slides from the files (preferably 6x6 or larger if it exists) and project them the old-fashioned way.

[dfarkas]

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We use the Dell 5100MP DLP projector for classes, workshops and slide shows. It is capable of 1400x1050 native resolution, which was the highest I found for under $3,000. It has 3300 ANSI Lumens and a contrast ratio of 2500:1.

 

I will say that using a calibrator and profiling projectors is a must for any kind of photo related work. We use the EyeOne XT which can do projector profiles. A less expensive option is the EyeOne Photo LT, which currently has a free Beamer offer. So for $895, you get a fully functional monitor, printer, and projector profiling system.

 

Good luck, but expect to pay more than Office Depot prices for a good projector.

 

David

[sdai]

I just hook up my HD home theater projecter to a laptop computer if needed ... unless you don't watch TV nor DVD, you can always find something to do with a projecter, playing games ... maybe?

[DavidStone]

Hmm ... it sounds like this could be both expensive and not entirely satisfactory. It seems a pity that the full resolution of the M8 can't easily be used in projected images - or al least not without paying out a lot for a projector.

 

Thanks again for all this useful information. I'll ask around the design people that I know here in Denmark, and see what they are using to show their work.

 

David

[andit]

Hi Guys,

 

I know this might be a rather stupid idea, has anyone tried printing onto some type of transparent material at native size (ie. 24 x 36, or 6 x 6 etc), mounting this into a normal slide frame and projecting with a standard projector? Today's printers are able to print at extreme resolutions which should far surpass what a digital projector can do.

 

Just a thought.

 

Andreas

[tom0511]

Hi,

some month ago I finally decided to go for a Canon Xeed SX60. It has a resolution of 1400x1050 and I project the images to a size of 2m wide. (I think much bigger is possible with this projector)

I use wings demo software which comes for free.

For me its worth it.

Its just a different experience to see images in this size compared to a screen or a print.

Colour accurancy is not perfect but pretty good (I calibrated the projector with a spyder2).

 

In earlier times I shot many slides and still own slide projectors with good lenses (Rollei Twin and Leica).

Yes, a 35mm slide has more resolution and more vibrant colors - but its so much easier to prepare a multimedia show with digital compared to analog.

And you dont have any problems with curvature of slides, newton rings, etc etc.

 

And frienkly - my guest usually dont miss anything regarding resolution, so why worry.

I think its much better to project images digitally, than shooting them on slides and needing time forever until the show is ready to show (if it ever gets to this point).

 

I think today you can even get the SX6 for not much more money than the SX60. As far as I understand also Sony and Panasonic offer semiprofessional projectors with high resolution.

 

Regards, Tom

[leicamr]

The best method to project a leica image file is to use a 1080P projector. This is a projector that has the capability of producing 1080 vertical lines, progressively (1920 horizontally for 16:9 format).

 

Personally I would use a Sony Bravia LCD TV with a screen size of 40" or larger as they meet the above critria. Unlike the projector you don't have to view it in a darkened room and are much cheaper than a 'serious' quality projector.

 

Oh how wonderful a projected slide is in a Leica Pradovit!

 

Mark

[tom0511]

The best method to project a leica image file is to use a 1080P projector. This is a projector that has the capability of producing 1080 vertical lines, progressively (1920 horizontally for 16:9 format).

 

Personally I would use a Sony Bravia LCD TV with a screen size of 40" or larger as they meet the above critria. Unlike the projector you don't have to view it in a darkened room and are much cheaper than a 'serious' quality projector.

 

Oh how wonderful a projected slide is in a Leica Pradovit!

 

Mark

 

yeah, kind of miss the plopp and the unsharp corners just kidding

[ajthornbury]

Don't be too critical, you don't need to look at the projected image as close 6", it's like film buffs looking at a digital print with a loupe magnifier and saying that the resolution is not the same as film.

In normal use you are viewing the image at about 6ft away at the closest. If you require high definition at close range, use prints.

Are we projecting pictures to show and illustrate or satisfying our own egos?