romantic night in - cinema in the garden
Discussion
I've started seeing a lady type and we seem to be pulling together a few films for a movie marathon.
As it's summer, I thought it'd be nice to set up a bit of a "thats so cute it's sickening" cinema in the garden with some outdoor cushions, blankets and what not.
I've looked at the inflatable projectors - not happening.
I think I could rent a screen and projector for about £130 for the night but my mind moved to - what if I bought a 6ft panel of screen material and mounted it, and bought a second hand projector for £100 or so. Then I could also use it for Top Gun or until the bulb goes.
Does anyone have any thoughts or suggestions?
thanks in advance!!
As it's summer, I thought it'd be nice to set up a bit of a "thats so cute it's sickening" cinema in the garden with some outdoor cushions, blankets and what not.
I've looked at the inflatable projectors - not happening.
I think I could rent a screen and projector for about £130 for the night but my mind moved to - what if I bought a 6ft panel of screen material and mounted it, and bought a second hand projector for £100 or so. Then I could also use it for Top Gun or until the bulb goes.
Does anyone have any thoughts or suggestions?
thanks in advance!!
Did something similar the other day; only we set the lappy up on the perma-fixed garden table settled in and watched a concert 
I did contemplate dragging the TV out there and using the HDMI cable to attach the lappy, but by the time we got the kid in bed it was already knocking on for 10pm. Easy enough to do: table for the tv 4 gang extension cable for all the plugs and jobs a good'un!
Enjoy!
I did contemplate dragging the TV out there and using the HDMI cable to attach the lappy, but by the time we got the kid in bed it was already knocking on for 10pm. Easy enough to do: table for the tv 4 gang extension cable for all the plugs and jobs a good'un!
Enjoy!
Thread resurrection ahoy! We're fancying setting up a cinema in the garden too. Just looking at projectors and I'm amazed at how cheap they've got (60 quid and upwards). I presume at this end of the market they will be no good to use outside though? Can anyone recommend an inexpensive (250 quid tops but the cheaper the better) projector for mainly outside use? Is buying a better one second hand a good idea or is bulb failure a big issue?
I like the idea of using a blackout blind as a screen. I reckon we could fasten this fairly easily to the side of our house on some hooks so it could be taken down simply. I'm also just thinking I'll hook up a laptop with Kodi to whatever we end up with.. I've got a decent old set of 2.1 speakers kicking around I can use too.
No doubt the weather will take a turn for the worse by the time I get up and running
I like the idea of using a blackout blind as a screen. I reckon we could fasten this fairly easily to the side of our house on some hooks so it could be taken down simply. I'm also just thinking I'll hook up a laptop with Kodi to whatever we end up with.. I've got a decent old set of 2.1 speakers kicking around I can use too.
No doubt the weather will take a turn for the worse by the time I get up and running
There was a recent thread about cheap projectors, someone wanted one for a village hall. Some good stuff there, I believe general consensus is that the Optoma PJ's are the best budget ones, although I think Epson ones are brighter, that's perosnally what I'd get for outdoor use.
This:
http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/Epson-EH-TW5910-3D-Full-...
would be excellent, but perhaps over budget. I had the similar 6100 for two years, it's capable of going very bright. I don't find the quoted lumens figure actually has much to do with how bright the PJ is in use...
This:
http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/Epson-EH-TW5910-3D-Full-...
would be excellent, but perhaps over budget. I had the similar 6100 for two years, it's capable of going very bright. I don't find the quoted lumens figure actually has much to do with how bright the PJ is in use...
Thanks for that. I decided to go second hand in the end and have just won an NEC NP215 DLP (older but decent specs and lightly used) for 59 quid on ebay. I'll report back when I get it set up.. I want to try it in situe before deciding on a screen as I'm not sure of what the optimum size will be.
gregd said:
Thanks for that. I decided to go second hand in the end and have just won an NEC NP215 DLP (older but decent specs and lightly used) for 59 quid on ebay. I'll report back when I get it set up.. I want to try it in situe before deciding on a screen as I'm not sure of what the optimum size will be.
Please do report back, very interested in how a £60 projector performs as I have a wall on my workshop that needs projecting at on the cheap.I tried it last night and it looks great. 100 inch diagonal image looked excellent, even before it got fully dark. It's an old 4:3 1024x768 projector so I stretched the image to fullscreen but widescreen looked fine too. We hung up a bedsheet to test it but I'm going to order a rolldown screen I can easily hook up to the side of the house and remove afterwards. I've found one for 40 quid delivered which isn't bad. Old laptop running Kodi on a Cat 5 lead back to the house meant we could watch just about anything. I'll get some pics up when I've got the screen set up.
Sorry for the resurrect ... but this is something I'm also thinking of doing.
we have a large ish garden and I think being able to sit outside and watch top gun is just too tempting not to have a try at.
The problem is I know next to nothing about whats needed. I've been looking on google for guides and all I've been able to gleen from them is that the projector needs to be bright and be better than 2000 lumens.
I have an ideal wall to mount the screen on, but how far can I go back with the projector ? I've seen some specs talking about throw distance, but others don't mention it ?
I was looking at this on the bay, as it has a high lumen output and seems pretty cheap ?
http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/like/5000-Lumen-HD-Smart...
we have a large ish garden and I think being able to sit outside and watch top gun is just too tempting not to have a try at.
The problem is I know next to nothing about whats needed. I've been looking on google for guides and all I've been able to gleen from them is that the projector needs to be bright and be better than 2000 lumens.
I have an ideal wall to mount the screen on, but how far can I go back with the projector ? I've seen some specs talking about throw distance, but others don't mention it ?
I was looking at this on the bay, as it has a high lumen output and seems pretty cheap ?
http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/like/5000-Lumen-HD-Smart...
Hmm...that does seem very bright. I'd be quite surprised if that produces a good picture, but who knows.
Throw ratio is to do with how far the PJ needs to be from the screen for a certain screen size. The throw distance is how far you have between the PJ and the screen you are projecting to, the further away the PJ the bigger the image. PJ's have a range of distances they can be from the screen, too close or too far and they won't be able to focus. Within this range PJ's can adjust their screen size to some degree.
This may help: http://www.projectorcentral.com/Hitachi-PJ-TX200-p...
Just pick a PJ and you'll see how changing one variable changes the others. You want a PJ which will produce the screen size you want from the distance you can place it from the screen. As a rough rule of thumb a standard domestic PJ will want to be a bit less than twice the distance from the screen as the diagonal size of the image. You can get very short throw PJ's, which can throw a 60 inch image from only 40cm from the screen, for example, and a commerical cinema will use a long throw PJ.
Throw ratio is to do with how far the PJ needs to be from the screen for a certain screen size. The throw distance is how far you have between the PJ and the screen you are projecting to, the further away the PJ the bigger the image. PJ's have a range of distances they can be from the screen, too close or too far and they won't be able to focus. Within this range PJ's can adjust their screen size to some degree.
This may help: http://www.projectorcentral.com/Hitachi-PJ-TX200-p...
Just pick a PJ and you'll see how changing one variable changes the others. You want a PJ which will produce the screen size you want from the distance you can place it from the screen. As a rough rule of thumb a standard domestic PJ will want to be a bit less than twice the distance from the screen as the diagonal size of the image. You can get very short throw PJ's, which can throw a 60 inch image from only 40cm from the screen, for example, and a commerical cinema will use a long throw PJ.
Edited by varsas on Monday 6th June 13:34
Edited by varsas on Monday 6th June 13:36
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I always put my TV outside when the weather is nice and watch the Tour De France etc. Have a second Virgin box upstairs, so drop the HDMI lead (it's a 10 metre one) out of the bedroom window, thread it through the vent on the top of the parasol and into the TV. Et voila and it leaves the lounge TV free for the little 'un to watch cartoons inside still.
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