Picture Thoughts – more hints from HDL Audio Visual Services

If you need to display some images or film clips or just text to an audience, what is the best way of going about it?

The usual options are to use either a TV/plasma screen or a projector and separate screen. Which is best depends on the expected size of your audience, whether everyone will be stationary throughout the preentation and the size and layout of the venue.

If the audience is small and/or the venue is small and cramped, (i.e. no more than the size of an average living room) then a TV or plasma screen is likely to work best.  Also, if there are likely to be people walking around during the presentation, who might get in between a projector and its screen, then this problem can be avoided by using a TV or plasma screen.

However, although there are large (and even giant) size plasma screens available, these tend not to be easy to find locally and to be fairly expensive. So for a larger gathering in a larger venue a projector and separate screen may be more appropriate. 

Projectors vary in brightness from about 500 lumens to 20,000 lumens and above and can be fitted with a variety of lenses, and screen sizes can vary as well. There is a complicated formula to work out what is the appropriate size of each for a particular setting, and it is important when ordering a projector and screen to know the exact dimensions and layout of the event venue. Having said this, unless your picture quality requirements are particularly exacting and there is no scope for adjusting the position of the projector in the room, there can usually be a bit of flexibility. The brighter the projector, the more expensive it is, so it may be a question of trading off the perfect picture aginst your budget.

The normal arrangement is for the projector to be set up in the middle of the audience at ground level in front of the screen. If the layout of the audience makes this difficult and there is room behind the screen, it is possible to 'back project' the image from the projector behind the screen on to a special screen cloth. Alternatively, if there is any fixing point on the ceiling, the projector can possibly be 'flown' above the audience's head and operated remotely. 

Something to consider in the case of a separate screen is whether you are happy with the bare screen or whether you want it dressed up with a curtain surround. It has to be said that providing a dress kit adds about twice again to the cost of the screen, but it does make it look so much better.

Also a word of warning about displays in tents, especially at this time of year. Too much light may spoil your picture. You may have to give some consideration to providing some form of tent shading.