The second generation of "pocket projector" has arrived. Being twice as bright and better featured than the first generation of pocket projectors makes them ideal for use with a small audience. In terms of size, weight, and performance, they fill a need between the pico projectors and the portable projectors. While these projectors are truly small, the name pocket projector is a bit deceiving, as only a clown could put one of these in his pocket.

To help put these projectors in perspective, here are a few pocket projectors that currently define this new breed. You'll notice that they are small, light, and bright enough for a small audience.

One of the first "second generation" pocket projectors to reach the market was the Toshiba TDP-F10 LED Projector. It is smaller and lighter than a portable projector and about 10 times brighter than a pico projector. Maximum Resolution." class="gloss">Native resolution is 800 x 600 and it can handle up to 1280 x 1024.

While setting up the Toshiba TDP-F10, I immediately attracted the attention of my kids. Being kid size and child's play to setup, they thought it was meant for them. Ah, but there is more to this light breathing dragon than meets the eye of a child. This could be a salesman's closer in this very tough economy.

Features - It's compact size and light weight (1.4 lbs) allows the Toshiba TDP-F10 to travel well. Its thickness (2.2 inches) makes it a little tricky to store in a standard laptop case but it will fit nicely in any backpack computer case or tilt-n-go case.

Simple Setup - The Toshiba TDP-F10 is a no-nonsense projector that does all of the essential functions and it's a breeze to setup. Establishing a computer connection, showing video, and running a presentation with an SD card was easy and I was able to do all three in fewer than 5 minutes.

Brightness - The best way to describe the Toshiba TDP-F10 is that it's bright enough to deliver your presentation to a group of 10 - 15 people and it's bright relative to its' size. We tested it using a laptop in a room with medium ambient light and a 48" diagonal image.

SD/USB Input - The Toshiba TDP-F10 is designed for the traveling presenter. It has a computer input, composite video in and most importantly, an SD-Card/USB input. Using the SD-Card/USB and built-in player software allows a presenter to store their slide show on an SD-card or key drive and leave their computer at the office. Simply open your PowerPoint presentation and save it in a JPEG format and copy the images to a key drive or an SD card. Pop it into the TDP-F10 and power it on. Use the supplied remote to navigate through your slideshow. You cannot change the order of your slides or edit them, but you can move back and forth through your presentation.

Video - the Toshiba TDP-F10 has a composite video input and with an optional VGA to component cable, the TDP-F10 will support HDTV sources up to 1080i.

Quiet - As a pocket projector, the Toshiba TDP-F10 is quiet with a noise level similar to an external hard drive.

LED Light Source - It's not stated anywhere in the user manual, but based on information about the LED module, the Toshiba TDP-F10 light source is expected to last up to 20,000 hours. If you've ever had a lamp fail before or during a presentation, you'll appreciate this feature.

Drawbacks:

Resolution - although the TDP-F10 can handle up to 1024 x 768 resolutions, its native resolution is SVGA (800 x 600). For the best image, set your computer to output SVGA. You can use the higher resolution, but text will lose its sharpness.

Remote - in a darkened room it's difficult to see the Toshiba TDP-F10 remote buttons. I fumbled quite a bit with the small, credit card size remote in low light conditions.

Carry Case - the included case with the Toshiba TDP-F10 provides protection for scratches, but little else.

Summary - Fifteen years ago, you could really "Wow!" your audience by showing up with a 20 pound overhead projector and active matrix flat panel display - the Toshiba TDP-F10 will bring some of that "Wow!" back to your audience and your presentation. It doesn't have a zoom and the resolution is limited but if your content is effective and tested, the compact Toshiba TDP-F10 will deliver.

The TDP-F10 is ideal for a traveling presenter who wants a projector that is simple to setup and offers a reliable light source. With the SD-card reader and remote, you can leave your laptop at home. It would also fit nicely in a small conference room because it's bright enough to display your information and quiet enough to not notice it.

Click here for more information on this product!

Creating Digital Learners

Pairing projectors and document cameras can give your lesson plans a digital overhaul.

Carl Vogel
Sometimes, the simplest ideas can have the biggest impact. Two basic technologies — the document camera and the digital projector — aren’t the flashiest new technologies available. In fact, echoing what’s provided by the old overhead projector, they might not seem new at all.
Yet by allowing every child in the room to view what’s being presented, the new generation of easy-to-use projectors ensures that all those cool websites, presentation tools, educational software, streaming video and other digital tools are actually incorporated into the classroom — and used by the students. Attach a document camera, and any object in the room, from the front page of today’s newspaper to a dissected frog, is accessible to the whole class. Here are two district case studies of how projectors and document cameras can have an impact on the everyday curriculum.

Lewisville Independent School District

Metropolitan Nashville Public Schools

Around the world, Canon products are synonymous with optical excellence, advanced image processing, and superb performance. Canon projectors are no exception. The family of Canon projectors includes the REALiS line of bright, high-resolution, ultra-portable and affordable projectors.

Photo courtesy Echolab

Getting Video from Here to There: Switchers and Scalers

Production switchers are open to more creative transitions and a blending of multiple sources at once. Thus, a church video booth may contain both a production switcher for blending many cameras into a visual story and a presentation switcher to feed into the house video projectors.

Flown from the ceiling on a spider mount, the gleaming new projector is a marvel of technology. Just as impressive is the recently installed retractable wide-format screen. But, still, the image leaves something to be desired. As much as high lumen output and contrast help an image, they matter little if the source material is left un-scaled and un-switched. When individual cables are sent from each video device to the projector, the operator must use the remote control to scroll sequentially through the inputs until the correct source is located. The projector's internal scaling engine must then adapt the various signals (DVD, camera, and computer) to the projector's preferred display level. In even the most advanced projectors, the internal scaler is slow and ungainly. An outboard video scaler takes a low-level image, such as an SD (Standard Definition) camera signal, and raises it to the native resolution of the projector, improving the signal's quality dramatically. Native resolution refers to the projector's comfort zone, where the incoming signal matches the projector's display structure perfectly. So, for example, if a scaler is used to increase an SD camera's output to match the XGA (1024 x 768 pixel) panels of an LCD projector, the projector can simply pass the signal through without working to conform it to its native format. With an external scaler, the image will then be as clear as possible and the camera will appear to be of higher quality than it is.

Switching involves sending different signals to the projector from a single point, as in a live multi-camera shoot, where one moment the entire sanctuary is onscreen and then the image fades into a close-up of the pastor speaking. In a live camera environment, I-Mag (Image Magnification) serves to bring the congregation closer to the minister and smooth switching among the camera shots is vital to accomplish the goal. Camera switchers, with their familiar T-Bar transition device and numerous wipes and fade effects, are distinct from presentation switchers where the need is for simple selection among inputs. Camera switchers, also known as production switchers, are able to blend multiple images at once and offer creative opportunities for artistic expression.

A presentation or AV switcher for the projector, on the other hand, is typically only populated with a series of pushbuttons for the inputs. Presentation switchers can be thought of as clear-cut decision makers, with an image from DVD playback switching to the speaker's Power Point slides. Production switchers are open to more creative transitions and a blending of multiple sources at once. Thus, a church video booth may contain both a production switcher for blending many cameras into a visual story and a presentation switcher to feed into the house video projectors.

A scaler with an integrated switcher will improve the final image by allowing the operator to change the selected input without annoying glitches or an unattractive "blue screen." Switchers can range in quality from modest to exceptional, with lower cost units generally offering only three inputs and a "seamed" approach to changing images. As the images are selected, the scaling switcher must synchronize each output to maintain a stable image. When cost constraints force the use of a seamed switcher, the output is usually blanked or faded to black until the sync is stable, a period of perhaps one to two seconds, then the image is displayed. Higher end units will sport seven or more inputs and deliver a seamless transition from input to input, meaning there is no fade out or vertical roll when a different source is selected. The change from one input to another is dissolved or wiped in perfect lock.

Unlike audio, where termination connections are universal across a few connector types, video signals can use any of a dozen or more terminations in several formats. For instance, from lowly composite signals to high resolution YPbPr analog component video, the RCA connector is used, but component video can also flow down individually terminated BNC (British Naval Connector) lines or be bundled together inside an HD-15 headshell connector, commonly termed a VGA (Variable Graphics Array) since it is found on computer display terminals. In between composite (one cable to carry all video information) and component (separate lines for each aspect of the video signal) the S-video connection, with its four-pin DIN (Deutsche International Normal) terminator foregoes the color separation of RGBHV (Red, Green Blue, Horizontal and Vertical sync) found in component runs in favor of chroma (color) and luma (brightness) divisions on the internal cabling. Some scalers attempt to include all the possible terminations on its rear face while others offer a series of HD-15 connections along with several breakout adapters for the interfaces.

With these numerous input types and format varieties, a scaling switcher must be able to accept and recognize the signal, route it internally and then display it at its optimum level. Though a scaler appears simple, it must perform a myriad of functions without introducing latency, a delay based on the time needed to compute and generate the processed signal. In video, latency is often measured in frames, with about 30 frames equaling one second of display. With image magnification (IMAG), I/O (Input to Output) latency of more than five frames can cause a visible decoupling of the image onstage and onscreen, so a scaler with three frames of latency or less is preferred if the pastor's waving arms on the screen are to remain connected to the congregation's view of the arms on stage. As part of its duties, a scaler multiplies the number of lines of a video image to create a denser, more appealing display. The increase in resolution and brightness offered by a line doubler or quadrupler is impressive but must be balanced with the need for low latency. Generally speaking, a scaler with a stronger scaling engine will exhibit lower latency. Computer signals received at the scaler will pass through unaltered, assuming the resolutions match. Automatic film to video conversion, also known as 3/2 and 2/2 pulldown, is included in most mid-range and higher scalers along with some provision for wide format images, such as 16:9, on both the input and output sides of the processing. Depending on the model, the scaler can take a standard NTSC (National Television Standards Committee) 4:3 format TV image (four lines vertical by three lines horizontal) and convert it, though not perfectly, to a movie-style image.

Scaler/switchers may also include audio inputs and outputs, usually on bare wire Phoenix-style connections. For DVD clips and tape playback of announcements, the audio-follow-video feature is essential to segue smoothly from one segment to another without patching each video source's audio through the mixing console and forcing the audio operator to fade the signals in and out at the correct time. Additionally, some upmarket scalers boast a titling program designed to add words over the video sources as they travel outbound to the projector. Though not as effective as a stand-alone lyric display program, the internal titler is useful for name display and nursery alerts.

Scaler/switchers can make the difference between a marginally acceptable image and a stellar display of all the camera, DVD and computer images flowing deftly through the video operator's control. When combined with a reasonably strong projector, the scaled visual message will be conveyed with power and effectiveness.

ProjectorSuperstore offers a wide variety of Switchers and Scalers! Please Visit ProjectorSuperstore- Integration:Switchers and Matrix Switchers and ProjectorSuperstore- Integration: Scan Converters and Scalers for more information!

Article Source: Church Production Magazine http://www.churchproduction.com/go.php/article/4002

To Serve and Project

Watching the Game on the Really Big Screen

By: Christine Harrell

This sports season it's time for your place to become the epicenter where your friends and family congregate to watch sports. In fact, there's no reason today why you can't have a killer projection system in your house, that easily rivals those in sports bars. Today's projector technology blows away big screen TV technology at a price that is truly affordable. There are a lot of projectors on the market today produced by at least 57 different companies, however, not all are ideal for both sports and movie viewing. This article will focus on the most essential factors to consider when researching home theater projectors for in home sports viewing.

An overview of digital projector technology:
Home theater projectors are powered by two different types of competing technology; LCD (Liquid Crystal Display) and DLP (Digital Light Processing). There's no simple answer as to which type of projector technology is better. Each has its own set of advantages and disadvantages of over the other. Without getting into too much detail, the major differences when it comes to home theater projectors and viewing is clarity and price.

How LCD and DLP technology impact home sports viewing:
LCD is an older technology and on average, LCD projectors cost much less than DLP. While LCD home theater projectors tend to have greater color saturation than DLP, DLP projectors however can produce greater color contrast, specifically in the projection of a very deep black.

DLP and LCD projectors both start at under $1000, and are capable of projecting images of 92", 100" diagonal or even more, making "big screen" TV's look like your kitchen TV by comparison. For an additional $500, the projectors out there are true Hi-Definition.

Sports fans: LCD projectors produce slightly more visible pixels than DLP projectors (not a big issue for sports viewing at all), but LCD models do have the advantage of more flexibility in placing it in your room. While LCD home theater projectors tend to have greater color saturation than DLP, DLP digital projectors however can produce greater color contrast, specifically in the projection of a very deep black.

Matching home theater systems to your sports viewing environment:
If you'll be watching sports and other HD television through your projector, your set up is likely to be in a multipurpose entertainment room as opposed a home theater specifically built for movie viewing. With any digital projector technology, you'll need to be able to darken the room to some degree.

If you can't achieve complete darkness in your sports and television viewing room, then the contrast difference of DLP projectors won't be as noticeable over LCD. If you plan on watching the game in a room that will have some ambient light, you'll want to make sure to shop for multi-purpose projectors that are designed for viewing in the presence of ambient light.

If your room lighting can't be controlled well, you may even want to consider some of the new "widescreen" business projectors, which are brighter than the pure home theater projectors. There are some tradeoffs, but, over the years, a rather significant chunk of buyers have gone the brighter, business projector route.

Projector Screens for multipurpose home theater projectors:
Second only to the quality of the projector is the projector screen. If you'll be watching sports in a multipurpose room with ambient light, it's absolutely essential to purchase a screen that is designed to produce a quality picture regardless of the presence of light in the room. Before you purchase a screen, make sure to read reviews about various models and their ability to perform in rooms where you don't have complete control over the ambient light.

Through research and comparison shopping you'll not only learn a great deal about the newest fascinating technology in home theater projectors, but also determine the ideal home sports center setup for your home.

ProjectorSuperstore now offers TWO bundles specifically designed for the Big Game- please visit Game Day Package 1 and Game Day Package 2 to take a look at these great deals!

Article Source: http://www.articlesnatch.com

Reprinted from the August 2008 issue of Church Production Magazine

Product Review: Mitsubishi FL7000U “Corporate 1080p” Projector

It’s been a couple of years now since “1080p” emerged as the default resolution for high-quality home theater and motion video projection. Marketers bill 1080p as “Full HD” because it matches the highest native HDTV resolution of 1920x1080 and it’s the natural choice when top motion video quality is important. The caveat is that most smaller- to medium-sized, native 1080p projectors are designed for ambient-light controlled environments, like those home theaters and entertainment spaces, and don’t deliver the brightness needed in an open sanctuary.

That’s where Mitsubishi’s new FL7000U makes a great breakthrough. It’s a native 1080p projector with excellent image quality, yet it delivers 5,000 lumens of brightness as opposed to the 1,000-2,000 lumens of most home theater/entertainment-centric models. At roughly $15,000 (street), it also has a much lower price than the alternative large installation models that are often beyond the means (if not needs) of medium-sized houses of worship. (Mitsubishi now also offers a more affordable, lower 1366x800 resolution sibling, the FL6700U, with a street price of about $10,000.)

Mitsubishi coined the phrase “corporate 1080p” for this new type of high brightness, motion video to make a distinction between it and the data-centric projectors that usually populate larger boardrooms and smaller conference rooms. Yet the high lumen-high quality combination will certainly appeal to houses of worship where the ambient sunlight and sanctuary lighting can be a real issue for projected images.

The native 1080p resolution certainly targets motion video, as from a live camera feed or recorded video segment, and offers a very modern, cinematic appearance. Yet the native high-resolution wide aspect also offers the option of splitting the screen between two source inputs. For example, the extra screen width would allow for a side-by-side with a live camera of the pulpit speaker on one side and text or hymn references from a data source on the other. If both of those sources are 4:3, or are cropped to 4:3, aspect ratios, they will occupy the large majority of screen real estate in a very natural manner with black bars on the top and bottom.

Installation Options
By today’s projector standards, the roughly 22-pound FL7000U fits comfortably into the “fixed installation” class, and the chassis is built with that in mind. First, there’s a very convenient handle across the front of the case that makes it quite friendly to carry and lift into place. All of the connection ports are along the side of the chassis and there is an excellent array of connectivity options.

A 15-pin RGB and DVI-D, as well as a set of 5xBNC for RGBHV, all will serve for data inputs. For video inputs that BNC set can also be used for component video, including HD component. In addition, there is a set of 3xRCA component inputs, as well as the obligatory S-Video and composite ports. The FL7000U does include a 10-watt monaural speaker to go with its audio inputs, but most sanctuaries are likely to already have a more capable audio system in place.

The FL7000U has a few options that will be helpful during installation, as well as a few that should afford convenience afterward, especially if the unit is mounted overhead on a ceiling rack. First, Mitsubishi has bestowed the FL7000U with vertical and horizontal lens shift, as well as powered focus and zoom. You can use the handheld remote to access all of those features, as well as the other menus items, but if the projector is mounted near the ceiling that can be awkward. A better solution is to use the built-in RJ-45 Ethernet connection and Mitsubishi’s “Projector View,” Windows-based software to access all of the projector’s administrative functions from a control room computer, including power up/down and other settings.

If the projector is installed in a more physically accessible space in the sanctuary, Mitsubishi has another important feature: security. It’s certainly awkward to have to think of security as a serious issue in houses of worship, but most have locks on the doors just in case. Mitsubishi’s “just in case” feature for this capital-investment-with-notable-street-value is a built-in motion alarm. If someone attempts to remove the projector from its mounted location without first entering a password, an audible alarm will sound. That should add a little peace of mind to an organization that usually gives peace of mind to others.

Operation
Mitsubishi’s onscreen menus are fairly basic, including common mode preset, labeled “Color Enhancer,” and straightforward brightness and contrast adjustments. However, digging deeper into the menus affords user control of imaging modes and color temperature with individual brightness and contrast control of each Red, Green, and Blue, as well as Gamma mode and RGB color and tint. The three Gamma modes―Dynamic, Natural, and Detail―regulate the brightness ramp from dark to bright white. Dynamic mode creates a more obvious distinction between lighter and darker shades of gray, but loses detail by moving milder grays toward the edge of the spectrum. Detail mode, on the other hand, affords more distinction in shadows.

Of course, as with much of the projector industry today, it’s leveraging those types of extreme settings―dynamic modes with high brightness and contrast―that brightness specifications are based on and that’s the case here. Even still, I wasn’t able to measure Mitsubishi’s claim of 5,000 lumens under any circumstances. In my tests, a more reasonable estimate of brightness based on how an organization is likely to set-up the projector would come in just less than 4,000 lumens.

However, I found brightness uniformity to be very strong at more than 92%. That’s great for any projector, but particularly a native widescreen model that must spread the light over a wider area. I also was very impressed by the FL7000U’s contrast ratio, which I was able to measure at 1276:1; above Mitsubishi’s 1000:1 claim. Of course, that is also highly dependent on set-up and switching to Theater” or “sRGB” mode brings that contrast figure down significantly.

Yet it’s FL7000U’s sharpness and image quality that is the most impressive, and that’s not surprising given the high native resolution. I found scaling to be very good, and from a number of different source resolutions, with very little in the way of moiré patterns on delicate test patterns. I was a little disappointed in Mitsubishi’s color set-up, which does a good job with red, green, and blue primaries, but less so with secondary colors. Cyan is skewed too far toward green and magenta rather too far toward blue. Switching to Theater or sRGB mode helps some, but one still needs to compensate by digging into the menus to get color more accurate.

Conclusion
Mitsubishi isn’t going after traditional markets with a product like the FL7000U and that’s a good thing. There are plenty of high-brightness data projectors on the market already. Yet as widescreen flat panels have become common fare in American’s living rooms and HDTV more available to play on them, there’s an increasing expectation of high video quality, including at houses of worship. The combination of a high native resolution and high brightness, while still maintaining an accessible price, is a boon for the house of worship that is looking to display a live camera feed, recorded video segments, or two images side by side.

Please visit https://www.projectorsuperstore.com/product_details.cfm?ProductID=2316 to see more about this projector.

Choosing the right projector

Audio Visual and IT convergence means that a projector is high on every business shopping list. So what are the things to look out for and how do you buy a projector to suit your requirements.

Start out by asking yourself where the projector is going to be used and how much ambient light is in the room? How many people do you expect to be viewing, and what sort of screen do you expect to be using? Other issues may include weight, cost and what particular applications you expect to use the projector for.

The first thing to consider is where the projector will be used. A room designed to hold a large number of people will require a larger projected image than a smaller more intimate room. Increasing the size of the image will diminish the brightness of the projection so a brighter more powerful unit will be essential

The amount of light in the room is a critical factor when it comes to producing a viewable image. A room with a large amount of ambient light will demand a much brighter projector. Ideally the room should be completely dark but in the main this simply isn't practical. We have to accept that most rooms will be dimly lit to safeguard against accidents and to provide enough light for the presenter to make eye contact with their audience.

Adjustable room light levels may offer a compromise. Dimmer switches on the lighting controls or adjustable window blinds can provide a good degree of lighting flexibility and will allow participants to take notes and still get a good view of the material on screen. It is worth remembering that a room with lighting that can't be dimmed or where sunlight may strike the projected image will demand a very bright projector.

The surface on which you propose to project your presentation material can have a marked effect on image quality. Many meeting rooms simply offer a painted white wall as a projection screen but walls are a very poor reflector of light. A good quality projection screen will reflect more light back to the audience because it is made using materials that either focus or diffuse the light shining on it and will control how light is reflected back to the viewer.

The final consideration is how you plan to use the projector. If you intend to use the projector for training sessions then remember that these are usually conducted in a well lit room to allow for note taking. Showing videos or delivering presentations to an audience can be carried out in a dimmed room. Each application's projector requirement is very different.

If you plan to use your projector for a number of different uses then make sure you have identified the most 'light hungry' venue and make your choice of projector accordingly. Just remember that projectors come in a wide range of light outputs. A bright powerful projector offers more versatility but, in the main, the brighter the projector, the more it costs.

Please Visit www.projectorsuperstore.com for a wide variety of projectors to fit your needs!

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