Projector for garage

[john_1983]

I've inherited a cheap projector that I use in the garage when on the treadmill etc, but it's really not that bright - not surprising for less than £100. My garage is quite bright, two skylights and the walls are plasterboard painted in white so I have to put blinds across the skylights and have the lights off etc when watching - and even then it's not brilliant, washed-out colours etc.

I only watch YouTube/Amazon stuff so I'm not that bothered about ultimate quality, and would rather not spend fortunes on something that doesn't get that much use - but I do want something brighter than what I have. Is the lumens figure what I'm looking at, the higher the better?

Screen size is 100", and I'm approx 12ft or so from the screen if that makes a difference. I have thought about a TV for the wall but I like the size of the projector screen

[justin220]

Which projector is it?

Generally, if light control is struggling, then any projector will look a bit washed out. Can you get the garage as dark as possible, even for a trial and see how the picture looks?

[john_1983]

It's a cheapo one my father-in-law bought, £70 or so from Amazon, which he doesn't use so I inherited it. It does the job but I would like brighter.

I do get the garage as dark as I can, blinds, lights off etc but the other night I was wandering about it using an inspection lamp to find my way to the treadmill (it's L-shaped, and has 3 cars in it so a reasonable size). Any increase in the brightness would be handy

[JEA1K]

john_1983 said:

I've inherited a cheap projector that I use in the garage when on the treadmill etc, but it's really not that bright - not surprising for less than £100. My garage is quite bright, two skylights and the walls are plasterboard painted in white so I have to put blinds across the skylights and have the lights off etc when watching - and even then it's not brilliant, washed-out colours etc.

I only watch YouTube/Amazon stuff so I'm not that bothered about ultimate quality, and would rather not spend fortunes on something that doesn't get that much use - but I do want something brighter than what I have. Is the lumens figure what I'm looking at, the higher the better?

Screen size is 100", and I'm approx 12ft or so from the screen if that makes a difference. I have thought about a TV for the wall but I like the size of the projector screen

The room doesn't sound conducive to projector performance ... white walls, ambient light ... its much better suited to a TV so you don't have to faff about with the room. There are lots of cheaper office projectors around but you're still looking at spending £700 + on something from a reputable brand like BenQ.

[RickSanchez]

I picked up an Optoma HD141x off gumtree for £130 it was 1080p and when blinds were down the picture was very good, this was for outdoor man shed, picture quality and contrast/brightness was very impressive for the price

I did make my own screen by mixing up some grey from Matt white and black paint I had kicking around, threw in some silver aluminium paint from car shop and used some good masking tape for a crisp line did about 4/5 coats