Outdoor Video Show

[jayray256]

My friend who lives in Zambia, South Africa is looking for some advice regarding projectors and the necessary hardware and/or software. Here is what he's said. TIA in advance 😀

I am planning to hold an evening outdoor showing of some classic rock videos later in the year - around September/October time when it's dry and warm in this part of the world. If it proves a success then there could be a number of repeat occasions. To this end I've been downloading a number of suitable (I think) videos from this and other sites (AC/DC, Queen, Whitesnake, the Who, etc) - it can take a week or so to download some of the larger ones but, what the heck, there are still quite a number of weeks to go.

Where I'm looking for some advice is regarding the hardware (and maybe software?) I need. My basic idea is to play the videos on my HP laptop using Windows Media Player, routing the video output to a projector via an HDMI to DVI cable. The picture would then be projected onto a suitable screen. The sound would go from the headphone outlet to an amplifier and speakers.

Unfortunately, my knowledge of projectors etc is virtually zero. I'm looking for decent quality (without 3D capability) but don't want to pay more than necessary. I've been looking at Amazon's offerings but have no idea whether something like an Optoma at £400+ would be sufficient or whether an Epson at £900+ would justify the extra expense. I'll be visiting UK in July/August which would be an ideal occasion to pick up the hardware.

At this point, nothing is definitely decided. If anyone (especially someone with practical experience in this area) has suggestions on how best to proceed, I would be very happy to hear them.

 

[americanaudiophile]

The first step is to decide how large a screen you will be using. That will determine how many ansi lumens or brightness the projector will need. The ambient light will also be a factor in this. Home theater projectors are usually about 1000 lumens. This would be ok for screens about 100" diagonal in fairly dark lighting.
The video resolution and aspect ratio of the videos would help you to decide whether you need a 4:3 or 16:9 panel and whether it needs to be 480, 720, or 1080 native resolution.