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Office Projector Advice

Office Projector Advice from Projectorpoint

With over 100 office projectors to choose from, if your new to projectors or even if you are not it can be a daunting task selecting the right one for your needs.

Here at ProjectorPoint we can help you select the right projector for your meeting room, taking your business needs into account. Just give us a call to find out just how easy it is to select the right projector package along with projector screens, projector mounts and cables to make your installation professional, but also cost effective.

Office projectors have become indispensable tools for delivering impactful presentations, conducting meetings and training sessions, and facilitating video conferences. The right projector can significantly enhance communication and engagement. This guide will help you navigate the key features, popular brands, and best practices for selecting and using office projectors.

Types Of Office Projectors

Portable

These compact and lightweight devices are a boon for professionals who need to present in various locations. Their ease of setup and high portability make them a convenient and efficient choice.

Short-Throw and Ultra Short-Throw

These projectors are designed to adapt to small rooms, creating large images from a short distance. They minimise shadows and space requirements, providing a flexible and accommodating solution.

Standard Throw

These projectors are the go-to choice for medium to large conference rooms, projecting large images within the required distance.

Interactive

Key specifications to consider

Brightness

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Measured in ‘ANSI lumens’, the most important thing a brightness rating of a projector should tell you is how well the projector can cope with ambient light. Hence, if you’re looking to install the projector in a room that doesn’t have blinds, you should be looking at projectors of 4000 lumens and above.

The more ambient light that hits the screen surface, the brighter your projector will need to be. Here at ProjectorPoint we use an inhouse tool to calculate how bright your projector needs to be as a minimum based on a few questions we will ask you.

The important thing to remember is that a projector can only make the screen lighter, so dark colours will never be truly rendered in a really bright environment. Reducing the ambient light hitting the screen surface is more effective than buying a high powered projector. Easy ways to do this are:

  • Choose carefully where you install your screen (place it in the darkest area of the room if possible)
  • If you have spot-lights throughout the room, turn off the lights nearest the screen when projecting.

Want to know more about Projector Brightness? We have a full Projector Brightness Guide.

Resolution

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Resolution is the number of pixels that your projector can display. The most common resolution for office projectors at present is WUXGA (1920 horizontal pixels x 1200 vertical pixels).

Ultimately the correct resolution office projector for you depends on your source content. Always match the output resolution of your source device with the native resolution of the projector to avoid compromising the quality of the projected image. The higher the resolution the higher the number of pixels are displayed and therefore the sharper the image.

Our guide can give you a more in-depth explanation of Projector Resolution.

Contrast

Office Projector Advice

Contrast adds depth to your image. This isn’t generally considered too important when displaying Powerpoint presentations, as they are generally quite ‘flat’. If you are also using the projector for showing movies, however, contrast comes into play. We would advise not to pay too much attention to contrast as it can be a misleading feature. Image contrast is affected by the amount of ambient light in your room, and as there is no industry standard contrast figures between manufacturers can vary a great deal.

Lens Shift

This feature allows the projector lens to move vertically or horizontally (check projector specs to confirm if it has this feature), making it easier to align the image on the screen without physically moving the projector.

For example, if your projector is mounted on the ceiling, lens shift allows you to adjust the image position downwards without moving the entire projector, saving time and effort. Lens shift is particularly useful in fixed installations where precise image placement is required. Lens shift is a premium projector feature so be prepared to pay more for this feature. Projectors with lens shift start around the £1500 ex vat mark.

Lens Ratio

The projector’s lens ratio determines the size of the image based on the projector’s distance from the screen. A lower lens ratio (below 1.1 :1) is better for smaller rooms as the projector can be placed much closer to the screen and still achieve large images.

In our example figure of 1.1:1 what this means is for ever 1.1mtr back from the screen, the projector can produce 1mtr of image width. The vast majority of projectors on our website have their own image size calculator on page or you can use the image calculator found in the Filters on the left hand side of any projector category page. Still unsure? No problem simply provide us with your required image size and how far you would like to position the projector from the screen and we will find the right projector for your needs.

Lamp Life

Office Projector Advice

Most projectors typically have a lamp life between 2000-10000 hours. This specification is actually referring to the ‘half-life’ of the lamp at which point the lamp is half as bright as it was when it was new. Most projectors have the option in the menu settings to run in “eco mode”. When run in this mode brightness output is reduced by approx 20% but lamp life is increased. Most Manufacturers list in the specs a standard and eco lamp hours so look out for this when comparing specs.

If you are planning to use your projector regularly, lamp replacement cost should be factored into your purchase as you will have a higher level of usage; replacement lamps cost approximately £100-£250 depending on the manufacturer. Through regular cleaning of the filters you may improve the life of a lamp, as will proper operation by powering the projector down rather than just removing power.

If you purchase a spare lamp with your projector, we’d advise that you run it in your projector for a few hours first and then store it somewhere cool and dark where it won’t get knocked or dropped. Lamp warranties begin from the day of purchase, not from the day of use. If a lamp is faulty, it will generally fail within the first 4 to 10 hours of operation.

In recent years Laser light source has become more affordable and is increasingly becoming the light source of choice as there are no lamps to replace and you can expect to get up to 20,000 hours use from the projector. That’s a lot of presentations in anyones book! For more details on laser check out our guide to laser projectors.

Warranty

Office Projector Advice

Manufacturers differ in the quality and service level they offer with their warranties. ‘Return to base’ is the lowest level of support whilst ‘onsite swap out next business day’ the highest. If you depend on your projector, check to see what level of support is offered with it in the event of a problem. Be prepared to pay a premium for ‘next business day’ warranty over ‘return to base’.

Popular Office Projectors

Take a look at some of the most popular office projectors our customers are purchasing based on price vs specification

Ceiling Mounts

Office Projector Advice

The vast majority of office projectors are purchased to be installed on a meeting room ceiling. Please speak to our sales team for advice on ceiling mounts. If you would like to ceiling mount your office projector here are some of the factors you need to consider;

  • Do you have a false ceiling or a solid ceiling?
  • Do you need to dismount the projector occasionally?
  • Do you need security against theft? Do you want the projector to be hidden away?
  • Can you drill into your ceiling?
  • Where will your cables run?

It will save you time to consider these questions and then discuss your options with us. You may also want to consider wireless projectors for ease of installation.

Need more help? We have some more information on Projector Mounts.

Installation Service

Office Projector Advice

Need your office projector and screen installed? No problem we have an experienced installation team who can install your projector, screen and/or interactive TouchScreen for you. Please call for details

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