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  • Outdoor projectors

    I am new to this forum, and it is awesome to see so many enthusiasts out there.

    I've had this fascination with putting a simulator setup outside under my pergola (I live in San Diego, so it's decent weather year round).

    The area is perfect. I've researched retractable screens, simulators, and turf already, but before I invest, I want to make sure that an outside system is even doable.

    I've looked at projectors, and been told that 6,000 lumens is minimal for outdoor sure - but even with that, I'm not even sure if it's feasible.

    My screen will be 13' wide, by approximately 9' tall.

    Has anybody had any luck with an outdoor setup, and what projectors may work? I've talked to a couple of projector consultants as well, and they are skeptical with direct sunlight.

    Thanks in advance for any guidance!!

  • #2
    This will be my setup...

    Comment


    • #3
      There are people that do it.

      --Higher lumens, as you noted, will likely help.

      --Enclosing the sides and top of your screen with some blackout curtains will help by keeping some sun off the screen.

      --Probably also help to position the screen facing a direction that will get the least amount of direct sunlight.

      --At night you should be fine. Some cooler temps and a nice bright image with no sun could make for a sweet setup.

      --Can you close off the entire pergola?

      Comment


      • Alvin Lu
        Alvin Lu commented
        Editing a comment
        unfortunately, the wife will not allow for a permanent setup! So it has to be temporary, I did convince her that I'd have permanent turf on the stone. 1st step done. The retractable screen i'm looking at is from par2pro. I can have black shades come down to the left and right 10' in depth, but not sure if that will be enough. I know at dawn and dusk, it will be fine, it's just during the day where there may be issues.

      • Alvin Lu
        Alvin Lu commented
        Editing a comment
        The screen itself will not a get a "ton" of direct sunlight, but sun coming down through the slats of the pergola can cause potential problems

    • #4
      You could mount tracks to the underside of the pergola and then pull out material to make a top part to keep sunlight from coming in between the pergola slats. When folded up it would look like a valance.

      Comment


      • Alvin Lu
        Alvin Lu commented
        Editing a comment
        thanks wbond. Currently exploring curtains on the sides - but also figuring out the top part. This is getting to be more complicated than i originally had thought...I guess the question though is, even if I minimize the sunlight, does the ambient light still pose a huge problem for daytime use.

    • #5
      You will need an enclosure, or as already suggested, some way to reduce the light using side curtains. It is not just direct sunlight, the ambient light is too great during the day. My outdoor setup has virtually no direct sunlight, and it is still not use able until twilight at the earliest. Even 6000 lumens won't do it, so you will either have to limit yourself to night, or hang some kind of blackout material from the sides of your pergolia.

      Comment


      • Alvin Lu
        Alvin Lu commented
        Editing a comment
        That's great insight DotNetDude...what kind of projector do you use, and do you have pictures of your setup that you're willing to share? Been exploring curtains as well, but not sure if that will work 100%. Been looking at some 10000 lumen projectors as well - I just wish i had a sense of whether or not it will work so that I don't go through this entire exercise, and find out it's not even usable...

    • #6
      Here is a picture at high noon... Obviously without any curtains or protective covering...

      Comment


      • #7
        I don't have any pictures but I have a very simple setup, hitting into a net, or I change the net to 3m archery baffle if I want to use the projector. There are a lot of articles on projecting outdoors as many people want to do it for outdoor cinemas during the summer months. Once you start reading up on it, you'll realise the problem of projecting in daylight is quite hard to resolve. Checkout this link (https://medium.com/@laserpilot/how-t...t-52baef137115) which has quite a good summary of the maths on lux and daylight.

        If you really want to work out what you need, go and get a light meter. It will tell you the lux you are getting at various parts of the day. You can compare ambient with direct light and and you can temporarily hang some blackout material to see how the reading changes. Then it is just maths to work out what projector you would need. Thats what i did. I just took some readings 5 minutes ago, reasonably sunny day with passing clouds, temperature 20C (I'm in the south of the UK). My light meter shows around 4000-5000 lux in the shade (where my screen is), about 40,000-50,000 if I move into the sun but with the sun behind cloud, and between 80,000-90,000 lux when in direct sunlight. This will give you some kind of benchmark, but my 6000lumen projector is not sufficient to project against the 5000lux where my screen is. The referenced article above explains why.

        In the end I went for a cheap 6000l projector (bomaker parrot 1) just to try it out and for a bit of an experiment. I dont have any options for setting up a full enclosure; but that projector works really well after twilight, so I've realised that for me, this will only be viable during the autumn/winter when the sun sets much earlier.

        Looking at your latest photos, you will definitely need to use some kind of blackout, as it appears quite bright. Someone already suggested using some curtain track which would probably make it look like a tidy valence to keep the Mrs happy. You may even use it in a normal day if the sun is too strong?

        Comment


        • Alvin Lu
          Alvin Lu commented
          Editing a comment
          thanks for that DoNetDude. I read that article, and it was super interesting. I am going to get curtains on the left and right, and a waterproof cover over the top of the pergola. But given the lux measurements, it's definitely suspect. With your lux reading of 5000-6000 -do you have it surrounded by black, or is it purely just the shade? If it's just shade, and i can get blackout material to get the lux down to 2000-3000 lux, I wonder if a 7000 lumen projector would be ok?

          I'm looking at a 7000 lumen WUXGA projectors for an approximately 13' wide display with a throw ratio of close to 1:1. All these projectors will require separate short throw lenses, that jack up the price even more.

        • DotNetDude
          DotNetDude commented
          Editing a comment
          I have no enclosure of any kind, just a natural area which is permanently in the shade, so no direct sunlight.

      • #8
        I aslo looked into your bowmaker parrot. I don't get it - how do you get a 6000 lumen projector for $250. And if you compare it to a 6000 lumen brand name projector that is around $5000....what exactly is the difference? I tried to research it, but couldn't really tell......

        Comment


        • DotNetDude
          DotNetDude commented
          Editing a comment
          I agree. It is very difficult to get to the bottom of these differences. I think, that the expensive ones use a lamp, and the cheaper ones use an LED light source. However, for me, x lumens is x lumens, so the light source shouldn't make any difference. I also don't have 5000 to throw into a projector....

        • Alvin Lu
          Alvin Lu commented
          Editing a comment
          Just an update. I was able to get a used 6200 Lumen WUXGA projector (NEC) with a 0.79 short throw lens for 1500..

          Now the testing will begin to see if this is even feasible.
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