Dear all,I am thinking to buy a projector for my sim cockpit. My room is not big, typical size in hong kong, about 9 ft x 11 ft. Is it possible to install a projector and get it display right in this small size?Could anyone give me some advice in choosing a good projector. My budget would be around $500 - $700. is it possible to buy one? I have zero knowledge about this thing. I look up on ebay and see something very cheap. But i doubt itWhat feature should I specially take care of?Is a used projector OK to buy?What brandname is good in quality?what brand name is good for price?Thanks for your help!!Alkit

Hi Alkit,I have the Infocus X1, www.infocus.com that is 2000:1 contrat, 1100 lumes and more important, DLP technologie, 800x 600 SPVGA and XGA 1024x768. US$1000,00 www.bestbuy.com is the more better Quality/PriceSaludosRafaelMadrid (Spain)

Dear Rafael,thank you for your information. Does projector also has resolution difference? what is the most popular resolution in the market now? 1024x768? 1280x1024?What brand name is good for projector? NEC? INFOCUS, CANON? Anyone, please comment.ThanksAlkitwww.alkit747.com

About the small space you should consider using a mirror to cut the needed distance in half. A few of us (including myself) has built a solution with a projector that uses back-projection on a white sheet./ Ramsberg

Alkit,Considering your limited budget and space I would suggest a Fresnel lens. You can get the best optical quality 25" x 19" lens (Edmund Optics - they ship with Fed-Ex) for $200. That lens will fit over a 19" CRT monitor. Add another monitor for instrument panel, and here you are with a nice setup - no resolution limits and no space limits and above all a nice 3D feeling.If you want more details I can send you pics and specs.have funSeevProcessor; AMD Athlon 64 - FX51Motherboard; Giga-Byte FA-K8NNXP-940, Dual Channel DDR400Memory; Corsair, 2 X 512 MB 400Mhz (total 1,024 MB)Video card; GeForce FX 5900 Ultra, 256 MB bufferHDD; Western Digital 200 GB, 7,200 RPM, 8 MB bufferCase; Thermaltake Xaser III lanfireSound card; Creative Blaster Live 5.1DVD burner; PioneerCRT Monitor; 17" for panel, CRT Monitor; 19" for view - with 25" x 19" fresnel lens (Edmund Optics)Home built Flight controller; Hagstrom card 72 operations, including 2 way flaps, 3 Goflight modules for a/p navigation and radio, 3 axis + 4 button controller for throttle and rudder,O/S; WIN XP

If you want to project a large image you could also consider a used CRT Data projector. For around $700 you can pick up one which will still have thousands of hours left on the tubes with a lumens of around 650. There are no screen door effects or rainbow effects with CRT and they are what the pros use. The downside to these is there size and weight.CheersGaz

hello RamsbergI always heard of using mirror. But I have no knowledage of it? Do you know any graphic which can show to me?best regards,Alkit

Dear Seev,Please send me the drawing of the Fresnel lens setup. I want to take a look. Would it be harmful to our eyes when look at Fresnel lens display for long time? I mean compare with CRT or projector display. I still not decide which way to get the projection display work. Thanks.Alkit

Dear Gaz,May I know how many types of projector are available for home use? I was looking at some website about it. It seems has LCD type, what are their different from CRT? Also, is the computer use projector different from the home threatre projector type?regards,Alkit

Hi Alkit,The LCD and DLP projectors are alot smaller and lighter than CRT. They also now have a much brighter lumens than the CRT. The downside to the LCD and DLP projectors is that they rely on bulbs for the light output with an average life of 2000hrs. When buying one of these types its advisable to buy a replacement bulb at the same time because if 4-5 years down the track it blows you may not be able to find another one and end up having to replace the whole unit. Very costly if you have 3 of them. They also have a lower contarst ratio meaning that black will not be exactly black. For flight sim XGA resolution should be the minimum to consider.The CRT projectors use 3 individual tubes to create an image. The tubes generally last 10,000+ hrs. Because of this they are large and heavy, but produce a very good image quality with perfect blacks. Barco, NEC, Sony ,Runco, electohome, marquee, zenith , ampro and a few others can be bought relatively cheap these days.. Ive found that alot of the cheaper brands like ampro use sony tubes...the same tubes that would go into the more expensive barco and runco projectors. Im no expert on projectors by any means though.CheersGaz

Thanks a lot for your suggestion Gaz.I went to some shops today and get some brochure back. Seems DLP is the top line projection technology. Higher constrast, higher lumen, more EXPENSIVE as well.I want to know, Is high lumen means can project better image when in long distance?If it is the case, is the high lumen factor still importantfor a small room?Low lumen projector is a lot cheaper than high lumen as i can see.Alkit

Basicly the lumens count tells you how dark the room has to be to to project an image that wont be washed out by light. ie..... The lower the lumens output from the projector the darker the room has to be.If you have a room that only has a small window then its esay to put up a blackout curtain which will make the room very dark and project a very clear crisp image from any distance. If this is the case then the more expensive high lumens models are not necessary if your on a tight budget.CheersGaz

sorry posted same message

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Hello Gaz,Then I think I should spend more time in finding a suitable curtain instead of spending more in the very high lumen projector.What is the normal lumen? 800? 1500?Do small size projectors have any common disadvantages? bad heating problem?Alkit