Monthly Archives: May 2017

Tips for Using Your Projector to Host an Outdoor Movie Night

Outdoor movie watching has been a popular activity since the 1950s when drive-in theaters were the coolest way to pass an evening with a date or alongside friends. Today, it’s a common summer event around the world to have outdoor screenings of classic movies in parks and public spaces, but it’s something you can also do in your own backyard with a projector, which is a lot easier than hauling your TV outside. It’s also a much better way of evoking that nostalgic drive-in feeling.
 
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However, you need to make sure you know what you’re doing before you gather an audience that includes family and friends, otherwise you’re setting yourself up for disappointment. Below is our list of top tips for using a projector to host an outdoor movie night:
 

Get a projector with enough brightness

 
This can’t be stressed enough. It’s a lot more fun to watch a movie outdoors when it’s warm, and this means that the weather will most likely be bright until quite late. So, unless you’re going to wait until half past nine to start watching your movie, you need a projector with at least 3000 lumens’ worth of brightness. The more lumens, the brighter the image will be and the better chance you’ll have of not having the ambient light make your movie hard to see.
 
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Make sure you know how to hook up

 
No, this isn’t about what guests you invite, that’s up to you. This is making sure you don’t buy a projector and then find out it’s next to useless for you because you can’t connect it to whatever you’re going to use to play the movie. Whether it’s going to be a Blu Ray player or a laptop or a USB stick, you need to either make sure you get a player with inputs that match, or get the necessary adapters. Otherwise, you might find yourself leaving the party to find a late night electronics store.
 
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Think about the throw

 
When you’re setting up a home movie room indoors, you need to factor in the best layout for the room and find a projector that suits it, but at least you know that everything will likely be in the same place every time you use it. Outdoor movie nights however, are much more haphazard, so you need a projector that will be easy to set up and one that will create the picture size you need whilst fitting into the space you have available.
 

Don’t sweat the details

 
While you of course need to make sure your guests can actually see and hear the movie, you also need to accept that you will never create the ideal movie-viewing circumstances outside. Drive-in theaters and outdoor screenings done professionally are never the same as going to an indoor theater, and neither will anything that takes place in your backyard. Get the basics right and have a great time!
 
If you need replacement lamps for your outdoor movie projector (make sure you’ve checked them before the movie is meant to start!) MyProjectorLamps offers an unbeatable selection of high-quality replacement lamps at low, affordable prices.  Shop with us today and save!

Top Projectors for Fast-Paced Action Films

For many of us, the appeal of having a projector at home is to be able to watch movies in the most epic, cinematic way possible without the sticky floors and noisy patrons of a real movie theater. The problem is that most modern blockbusters are visually stunning feasts of special effects and fast-paced action, and some projectors can’t cope, leaving you frustrated and choking on your popcorn.
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So what you need is a projector which can cope with the speed of whichever explosive motion picture you’re watching, whether it’s Star Wars, Guardians Of The Galaxy or The Fast And The Furious. Here are some of the top projectors for fast-paced action films:
 

Epson Home Cinema 2040 3D 1080p 3LCD Projector

 
Buying a 3D 3LCD Projector with a resolution of 1080 pixels isn’t cheap, but this Epson model is affordable without losing any of the reliability or power. There’s no rainbow effects showing up, no matter how colorful and spectacular the action on screen is and it has a short lag time so you won’t be flustered no matter how fast the pixels are flying. It has good brightness for rooms with ambient lighting and is just a great all-round model.
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Optoma GT1080

 
The differences between modern movies and modern video games are getting smaller and smaller, so it’s certainly worth looking at projectors that are targeted at gamers when you want to find one that will play your favorite movies the way that looks best. Like action movies, games are fast paced and need a short lag time, otherwise they are almost unplayable/unwatchable, and this Optoma model is ideal, especially if you like video games as much as action movies.
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BenQ HT1085ST

 
One of the most popular home entertainment models out there at the moment, this BenQ short throw projector is perfect for smaller rooms where you still want to create a large and great quality image. Short throw projectors like this one are ideal for home entertainment set-ups because of the ease with which you can fit it into any room layout without having leads going across the room. It may not have quite as high definition as some of the others, and will have some rainbow artifacts at times, but it is still more than effective enough to blow you away when you’re watching the Avengers.
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Vivitek H1186-WT

 
Another excellent model that works well for both fast paced action movies and video games, this Vivitek projector offers 1080 pixels of resolution in both 2D and 3D and while it does sometimes have issues with rainbow artifacts, it has the short lag time required, one of the shortest you’ll find in any projector. It’s also very customizable for day time or night time viewing, making it a flexible and effective model that will give good service for home entertainment, no matter how fast and furious your movies might be.
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If you regularly use your home projector for entertainment, you’ll know the importance of replacing the lamp when it goes dim or burns out. MyProjectorLamps offers the largest market! We offer an unbeatable selection of high-quality replacement lamps at low, affordable prices.  Shop with us today and save!

Top Projectors for Museum or Art Exhibits

Finding the right projector for the job is always key if you want to avoid disappointment, and this is even more crucial when you are going to be using it on public display. A projector that works well in the home would not necessarily be the right model to use for a museum or art exhibition, because it will have different qualifications and may not perform well in such a large space with lots of ambient light, which is known to be a common problem in older buildings.
 
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Another factor to take into consideration is what exactly the projector is going to be used for. Increasingly, museums and galleries are needing to put on elaborate, headline grabbing displays to attract visitors, and projectors often play a significant role in these, which means that more advanced models are needed. Taking that into consideration, here are some of the top projectors for museums and art exhibits:
 
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Sony VPL-FHZ55

 
The world’s first 3LCD laser projector, this offers 4000 lumen brightness (which would deliver great results in almost any light conditions) and a resolution that’s even higher than Full HD, even on huge screens and curved surfaces, making it ideal for museums and galleries. The ARoS Aarhus Art Museum in Denmark bought 21 of these projectors for a special show in 2014 that required crystal clear video and photo on a large scale, and its power and flexibility makes it a great option for similar venues.
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Panasonic PT-RZ970

 
Another factor to take into consideration when buying a projector for a museum or gallery is that they may be getting used far more intensively than anywhere else, often staying switched on for the entire time the venue is open to the public. This Panasonic model – as well as offering 10,000 lumens of light and good picture quality – is a strong and stable performer that claims to provide up to 20,000 hours of continuous maintenance-free operation, so it won’t let you down. Or at least, it shouldn’t.
 
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Christie WU14K-M WUXGA

 
Offering both a long lamp life and a compact size, this Christie model is popular with museums and galleries and was used in an exhibition at the Musuem Of Modern Art in New York by Isaac Julien, which required large scale projection of images and video including the kind of quality visitors to MoMa would expect. It needed to be visible and enjoyable from all floors of the museum, and staff chose this model to deliver that. If it’s good enough for MoMa, it should be able to meet these requirements!
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If you regularly use projectors in your museum or art exhibit, you’ll know the importance of sourcing replacement lamps, and MyProjectorLamps offers the largest market! We offer an unbeatable selection of high-quality replacement lamps at low, affordable prices.  Shop with us today and save!

Recommended Portable Projectors to use for Camping Trips

A projector might not be the first item on many people’s checklists for a camping trip, but a good quality portable model can be a great way to provide entertainment for those long evenings when you may have forgotten your playing cards or when you need to stay inside due to rainy weather. Simply hook up your smart phone and you can project your favorite movies and TV shows using a larger image to provide viewing for more than one person at a time.
 
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Of course, you need to make sure you’ve got the right model, because the last thing you need on a camping trip is to be carrying around a big heavy projector that you may not be able to provide the proper connections for. You might have to do your research to find one that fits your requirements and won’t be more trouble than it’s worth.
To help you out, here are some of the best portable projectors to use for camping trips:
 

Philips Pocket Projector PPX4010

 
One of the smallest and lightest projectors out there, it more than lives up to its ‘pocket’ name, and won’t cause you any problems when it comes to packing for your camping trip. With that size, you of course are trading in some of the power, so it only comes with 100 lumens of brightness and a resolution of 854×480, There’s also no batteries, so it needs to be connected to a power source. However, if you’re looking for portable, THIS is portable.
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AAXA M5 Mini Projector

 
Another projector that might not be quite as small as the Philips model but is still more than portable enough to be great for camping trips, this AAXA device is compact and comes with its own carrying case, while it also has a rechargeable battery. What it does lack is higher image quality on videos, but on a camping trip you’re likely to be more forgiving this odd issue, and its portability and durability are high selling points.
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Magnasonic LED Pocket Pico Video Projector

 
If the AAXA model’s video issues are a significant problem for you, then you might want to consider this Magnasonic projector instead. It’s small, portable and very affordable too. At just 25 lumens of brightness, it doesn’t deliver great power, but its video quality is surprisingly good, as long as you’re able to watch your shows and movies in a dark space. It comes with a rechargeable battery and would be a great addition to any camping kit.
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MyProjectorLamps.com is your top source for projector lamps. If you’re in the process of purchasing a new portable projector, make sure to bookmark us for when the time comes to replace your lamps. In the meantime, happy viewing!