Digital photo projectors

[hjoseph7]

I remember back in day, there was nothing like viewing slides through a Kodak Carousel slide projector. The images looked backlit sort of like the back LCD on your camera but even better. There was something magical about it, especially when it came to Nature/Wildlife  shots. I actually had  a Kodak carousel projector in my closet for a while, but I never got to use it. That's because with the advent of Digital, I put shooting slides on the back-burner. I finally gave it to a Thrift Shop when I moved out of town and there was no room for it in my car.

That thing was noisy as Heck though, which was one of the downsides of using these projectors. Also if the lamp went out, then good luck finding a replacement. Now they have these Digital Projectors that can project an image on any surface, not just a silver screen although i think a silver screen would probably help. I'm not sure how good they are however, does anybody have any experience with one of these ?

[Ed_Ingold]

HD and 4K LED projectors are very good, and don't cost that much for use in a home environment. If you need to present to a large group, or if the light can't be dimmed, you can still use a projector, but likely laser rather than LED driven, and costing 5x as much. Those I rent.

[AlanKlein]

I use my 75" 4K Sony TV.  I make slide shows and then play them back from a memory card plugged into the TV USB jack.  I have narration, music, titles and credits like a whole show and use Adobe Premiere Elements to make the show. 

 

I suppose you can do that with a digital projector.  But what about the sound?  

[Ed_Ingold]

I use laser projectors for presentations to large audiences, on cinema screens up to 15'x25' in size,.in light adequate for safety. I use 2-4 powered speakers on stands for the sound. At home I have a nice 19" flat screen TV, with built-in speakers.

Professional projection gear is expensive, and takes a couple of stage techs to set up. I rent the gear and the roadies.

 

Edited December 30, 2022 by Ed_Ingold

[JDMvW]

On 12/20/2022 at 7:38 PM, hjoseph7 said:

nothing like viewing slides through a Kodak Carousel slide projector.

I'll say! I loved Kodachrome, but it's hard these days to beat a large, hi-rez monitor.

[AlanKlein]

10 hours ago, JDMvW said:

I'll say! I loved Kodachrome, but it's hard these days to beat a large, hi-rez monitor.

A large hi-rez TV?

[hjoseph7]

On 12/22/2022 at 11:49 AM, AlanKlein said:

I use my 75" 4K Sony TV.  I make slide shows and then play them back from a memory card plugged into the TV USB jack.  I have narration, music, titles and credits like a whole show and use Adobe Premiere Elements to make the show. 

 

I suppose you can do that with a digital projector.  But what about the sound?  

Just tried this on my 45" TV and the pictures look great !

[AlanKlein]

9 hours ago, hjoseph7 said:

Just tried this on my 45" TV and the pictures look great !

Great.  What program did you use to create it?  How did you connect it through the TV?

[Farside]

Yep, I recall being bored rigid watching relatives' slides of their holidays.

With modern tech, there would be no more exquisite torture than load up a large flash drive with images and subject them to several years of dud pictures I'd rejected, via my 4K large TV.

 

[Sandy Vongries]

Some tortures are more than adequate in original form!

[glen_h]

On 12/20/2022 at 5:38 PM, hjoseph7 said:

I remember back in day, there was nothing like viewing slides through a Kodak Carousel slide projector. The images looked backlit sort of like the back LCD on your camera but even better.

(snip)

Year before last, I was visiting my parents and got out some slides.  But my dad's Sawyers

projector wasn't right.  (The focus knob didn't work for some reason.)

 

Not so much later, I got one from a Goodwill auction, shipped to him, for less than

the price of a roll of Ektachrome.  (OK, partly it is the film price has gone up.)

 

But yes, bulbs are hard to find, and somewhat expensive.  I think I stocked up on

bulbs for the Carousel from surplus sales.  Or buy a used projector, and save the bulb.

 

I have a tiny LCD projector, which I got for a good price.  (I believe, again, from Goodwill.)

Not near what a big one can do, but fun when you are away.

 

As with old slide projectors, the bulbs for big, usually DLP, projectors are expensive.

 

DLP are interesting.  There is a silicon chip with tiny fold-up mirrors.  Charge causes

them to fold up, no charge to fold flat.  Light reflects off them when they are flat,

not when up, and out the lens. 

 

Smaller ones are transmission LCD, like LCD TVs and computers, but smaller and

used with a light source and lens.

 

But yes, LCD computer monitor or HDTV screen works well, too.

Not quite the feel of slide projectors, but not so far off.

[AlanKlein]

6 hours ago, glen_h said:

Year before last, I was visiting my parents and got out some slides.  But my dad's Sawyers

projector wasn't right.  (The focus knob didn't work for some reason.)

 

Not so much later, I got one from a Goodwill auction, shipped to him, for less than

the price of a roll of Ektachrome.  (OK, partly it is the film price has gone up.)

 

But yes, bulbs are hard to find, and somewhat expensive.  I think I stocked up on

bulbs for the Carousel from surplus sales.  Or buy a used projector, and save the bulb.

 

I have a tiny LCD projector, which I got for a good price.  (I believe, again, from Goodwill.)

Not near what a big one can do, but fun when you are away.

 

As with old slide projectors, the bulbs for big, usually DLP, projectors are expensive.

 

DLP are interesting.  There is a silicon chip with tiny fold-up mirrors.  Charge causes

them to fold up, no charge to fold flat.  Light reflects off them when they are flat,

not when up, and out the lens. 

 

Smaller ones are transmission LCD, like LCD TVs and computers, but smaller and

used with a light source and lens.

 

But yes, LCD computer monitor or HDTV screen works well, too.

Not quite the feel of slide projectors, but not so far off.

HDTV 4k smart TV's look great.  My Sony 4K HDR 75" TV always ready to go for slide shows and video as well.  All the shows are now on a memory card plugged into the TV USB jack for instant showing.  I stopped producing DVD's for playback.  My daughter who I give some shows doesn't even have a DVD reader any longer.   I mail her the memory card.  Plus you have the sound and music and narration as part of the "show".  Even my older 2k formatted shows look great as they're uprezed to 4K by the TV.  I also selectively download to YouTube so that's another way to show them on friend's and family's TV's and computer monitors.   

[hjoseph7]

On 1/12/2023 at 10:22 PM, AlanKlein said:

Great.  What program did you use to create it?  How did you connect it through the TV?

No program needed. I took some pictures with one of my Digital cameras. Downloaded the pictures to a plain old USB flash Drive such as this one: https://www.bestbuy.com/site/hard-drives/usb-flash-drives/abcat0504010.c?id=abcat0504010  Then inserted the flash drive into the USB slot on the back of my TV. It doesn't even have to be a Smart TV,  as long as its a Flat TV with a USB port.