Sounds like the
projector isn't the issue as much as the
processor is. Take a look at Extron and see if any of the
Switcher/
Scaler/matrix's work for you.
Folsom (now
Barco) may be another good choice. Take a look at their dealers and see what htey have in rental
stock.
Can you clarify the relevance of a
processor to the issue? It sounds like the problem is the
throw distance the
projector optics can support and getting a large
image with a relatively short
throw distance. I don't see how a
switcher/
scaler is going to alter that.
Don, 15' to 20' of distance for the
projector and
throw to get a 16' wide
image is going to force you into a short
throw lens. You also have to consider the
image format, you are looking at a 16:9
screen but both projectors noted are 4:3 format (native 1024x768 resolution) so they would actually be creating a 16'x12'
image to fill the
screen width.
I personally generally like
NEC projectors and you mentioned it, so let's use the GT5000 as an example. It is a 1024x768 native
projector, so to fill the 16'
screen width it would have to display a 12'x16' or 20' diagonal
image. The
projector itself is roughly 22" deep, so let's say that you need 2' for the
projector, leaving 13'-18' of
throw available. The GT5000 uses various lenses and I don't know what
lens the
projector available to you has but the shortest
zoom lens available for the GT5000, the GT122ZLB, would require a minimum 19'
throw distance (almost 21' overall) to support the desired
screen size. Even the GT10RLB fixed short
throw lens would require 15'-11" of
throw, which along with requiring that the
projector be on the vertical and horizontal centerline of the
image may or may not be feasible. So the space available may not be sufficient for the
screen size desired.
In addition, because of the native 1024x768 resolution and the resulting 16'x12'
image the
projector would create, the
image brightness of the
projector would be based on that area and not just the 16'x9'
screen area. Thus for the 16'x9'
image you actually have only 4,500 lumens of the total 6,000 lumens of the
projector. Add to that potential losses in output due to the short
throw lens, lamp age,
etc. and the actual
image brightness might be much less than expected.
Thus the GT5000 could work for the 16'x9'
image size provided that the
projector comes with the fixed, short
throw GT10RLB
lens, that you actually have the approximately 17'-9" distance required behind the
screen with that
lens, that the
projector can be located on the horizontal and vertical centerline of the
image and that the resulting
image brightness is acceptable. Chances are that the
projector available to you has a different
lens, so that would probably be the first thing to verify.