IMHO Re: Projector specifications....

[Richard Coffey]

Hi Brian,


- Minimum resolution
1024x768 ("Of course, you can never have enough pixels" -Terry Disz)

- Minimum h-sync/v-sync
Doesn't really matter unless you're spending $15,000 or more per projector. Most
LCD and DLP projectors are limited between 60-70 Hz in the projection phase (see
notes later)

- physical keystone correction versus electronic?
physical. Electronic ruins pixels.

- maximum workable sound level?
Do you mean fan noise from the projector? As quiet as you can get it.


The SCI Institute Node at the University of Utah
--------

I bought three Sharp Notevision 7's. They're lightweight, quiet (quietest on the
market), they use DLP technology, and they're about 800 lumens.

What I liked:
- Quiet
- Digital Flat Panel connection (DFP for digital to digital connection)
- DLP technology doesn't have to be converged
- 1024x768 resolution
- composite and component video
- support for HDTV standards

What I didn't like:
- Not bright enough for fully, flouresent-lit room
- Not too much support for DFP in the video card industry or the cable industry
  * We went with three Oxygen GVX1 cards on our access grid node for OpenGL
acceleration
- Internal reflections in the focusing apparatus that spill out on to the screen

- Downsampling of the sync signal to limit stereo projection.
  * i.e. If a projector says it can do 120 Hz, it only means the input signal's
capable of handling 120Hz.
    In the case of both LCD and DLP projectors, the projector almost always
downsamples the refresh
    rate.


IMHO, I would base this decision in this order:
budget
resolution
lumens

Nuggets of wisdom:
Keeping the Acces Grid room equipment as quiet as possible is key to proper
collaboration.
You can always play tricks to darken a room a bit using directed lighting.
Interpolated pixels look cheap, tacky, and of course terrible.
The sales staff never know their products well enough..


Richard C.