Getting the Right Presentation Projector
For someone who is not tech minded, purchasing a power point projector can be overwhelming with all the current choices. Hence this article has been written with the neophyte in mind. If you go looking on your own, the first thing that the salesman will tell you is about resolution and brightness and will use other accepted industry buzzwords, but now you’ll know what they are talking about.
Tiny dots of light called pixels make up the image you see on your laptop computer screen as well as the image shown by a modern projector. Your video source, in this case your laptop, determines the initial resolution. Ideally, your projector should operate natively at this same resolution.
Resolutions generally come in 3 basic flavors, going from past to present they include VGA (640×480), SVGA (800×600) and XGA (1,024×768). XGA is currently very prominent with new projectors, however with presentation graphics an SVGA resolution may suffice. One can even venture into the really high end resolutions such as SXGA and UXGA, (1,280 x 1,024) and (1600 x 1200) respectively. This ultra high-end resolution comes with a high price tag. Many projectors can operate at numerous resolutions but they always have a default or native resolution.
For on the go projector presentations, brightness (measured in lumens) is one of the most important projector parameters to consider. Lumens measure the intensity of a projector’s light and the environment in which you use the projector is a major factor in deciding how many lumens you need. Large sized venues or semi-lit screening areas require a very bright projector, something over 4000 lumens would not be unheard of in this situation. Small audience—dark room—1,000 lumens. When you see the term ANSI lumens, just know that ANSI is a common standard method of measuring lumens.
The term “throw distance” is also a common one in projector speak, it simply means the distance that is the optimal placement for a projector from the screen. If your projector needs to be far from the screen, it will usually be equipped with a large throw lens. For power point projector presentations, short throw projectors can be advantageous because you can place them at the front of the room near the screen (behind the presenter) and make your presentation without any obtrusive shadows on the screen or distracting projector lamps glaring at you.
Also important when using projectors for power point and similar presentations is interface connectivity and resolution, your computer needs to be compatible with your projector. Be sure that the resolution of both the projector and your laptop are compatible, ideally the same. Most of the time this is not an issue. Despite well heeded standards, it never hurts to check or double check compatibility between a projector and your laptop. Make a note of the ports and connection interfaces. Again, it’s exceedingly important that everything is compatible with your laptop.
Find a place where you can compare a large amount of projectors and brands easily. Projectorselect.com is one site that meets this criteria. Now that you know all about some of the basics about Power Point Projectors, you are armed with the knowledge you need to visit sites like ProjectorSelect.com, browse and compare the multitude of projectors available. Good luck.