Projector and screen for outdoors

[Nobby Diesel]

Looking for some advice and pointers.
Thinking about a projector and screen for films outdoors, in an effort to make staying at home this summer, a little more entertaining.

[Benni]

Daylight and, worse, direct sunlight are the worst killers of projected pictures.

If possible, go for a rear projection setup.

Place the projector inside ( garage, shed etc) and try to keep the path of light between the projector

and the screen covered by said shed or some tent-ish makeshift cover,

which should protude a bit further from the screen towards the viewers to give some shade on the screen.

Of course, you could also go for a front projection but then you need a very powerful ( read:expensive ) projector,

and you should place the projector in a way to keep people out of the path of light,

otherwise they would throw big shadows on the screen when they go for a drink, burger or wee.

There are calculators on the net that show how many lumens you need and how large the screen can be,

as it breaks down to lumens per square inches, outside systems require much more lumens than indoor.

[megaphone]

What he said, light is the issue outdoors and as it doesn't get dark until 10pm in the summer your usage could be limited.

[TheRainMaker]

Unless you are going to watch it at night, give up now :-)

[Benni]

Another thing to think about is the sound, depending on where you plan your setup.

With a big screen you also need big sound, maybe 5.1, and with modern movies having lots of dynamic sound effects,

it could be a bit annoying to your neighbours, wireless headsets could be an alternative.

[alorotom]

I have an optoma ultra short throw projector and a motorised ALR screen works amazing even in bright sunlight