Outdoor projector?

///AMG

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Has anyone here tried using a projector in an outdoor but covered setting?

I have a very large patio that I just installed an outdoor kitchen in and the wife is buying furniture to have an outdoor eating and living area and I wanted some entertainment. I’m debating between a projector setup of some sort or just a large TV. The projector screen can be completely inside a covered patio area with moderate shade.
 
You are gonna want massive brightness. Maybe even at the expense of resolution and at the expense of dark scenes.
 
You are gonna want massive brightness. Maybe even at the expense of resolution and at the expense of dark scenes.

I still haven’t decided what I am going to do entertainment wise. I don’t plan on watching movies out there, mostly sports and things with my friends while I am cooking.
 
I might consider that cheap (cheap for laser) LG unit. Mainly because it can be easily transported. But the brightness isn't horrible. And well...lasers!
 
I have a PowerLite Home Cinema 2030 (2000 lumens). I've painted a screen on a garage wall and will bring out the projector for football games every now and then. For 1pm games its not the greatest. I have the wall painted furthest from the garage door. With the garage door open all the way and the sun coming in, its not great. My driveway is at an angle so i'm able to close the garage door about 25% and still view the picture just fine. Like this its passable. 4:00PM games are pretty good. Anything after dark is excellent imo.

From my experience I would think something like 3000 lumens would work much better.
 
What do you guys think about ultra short throw projectors? Thinking about some of these 4k Laser UST with 3k lumens. Also thinking about getting this motorized screen. I went ahead and bought a 75" tv to use outside so I can just have the projector for afternoon and night time use for sports and some movies.
 
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Keep in mind, what you're looking at probably isn't actually 4K (it will just accept it as input). Only Sony makes one and it costs $25k.

You're going to be disappointed with that motorized screen and a UST projector in my opinion. You need a tensioned or fixed screen or else you will have a nearly impossible time maintaining focus across the entire thing. Depth of field is proportional to the distance from the lens to the screen after all, so it needs to be as rigid/flat as possible.
 
How much do you have to spend?

I ran across this Vivitek DU6871 (with D88-ST001 standard zoom lens) happenstance and it’d be a great match because it is DLP (sealed light path = no dust blobs can affect inner electronics/light path) and 7,300 lumens.

Trust me, usually you cant TOUCH 7,300 lumens for $2K on a quality projector like this. I’m very interested myself, but decided to pass because I don’t have a regular use case. This is basically a rebranded $40K MSRP Christie projector.

Found in Seymour AV store under B stock at the bottom
http://www.seymourav.com/store.asp

He’s got it listed on ebay
https://rover.ebay.com/rover/0/0/0?mpre=https://www.ebay.com/ulk/itm/193194445270

Don’t buy a LCD projector for this outdoor task unless your garage is very clean and you bring it inside when not in use. (Or it is marketed as sealed light path)

LCD light path is typically not sealed (adds cost) and your standard LCD projector will get dust blobs on the three LCD screens which affect the image and are difficult to remove without a cleanroom.
 
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That techsounded article has more wrong than right, (like DLP has better blacks than LCD while talking about the budget end where DLPs have notoriously poor contrast.) and calling well known standard home theater projectors that were NEVER marketed as outdoor projectors, outdoor projectors. Yes you can use them outside. That in no way qualifies them as “outdoor projectors” anymore than a standard inexpensive TV becomes an “outdoor TV” if you put It outside. These things will be wrecked if exposed to weather.

But that Optoma projector you list would be a good choice for the price bracket.
 
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That techsounded article has more wrong than right, (like DLP has better blacks than LCD while talking about the budget end where DLPs have notoriously poor contrast.) and calling standard home theater projectors that were NEVER marketed as outdoor projetors - outdoor projectors.

But that Optoma projector you list would be a good choice for the price bracket.
i just googled "best out door projector" and that optima was their #1 choice so i linked it.
 
walmart is giving away 75 inch televisions. They'll look so much better outside than a projector.

Heck double down and get 2
 
walmart is giving away 75 inch televisions. They'll look so much better outside than a projector.

Heck double down and get 2

Yea, I've been talking to my wife about it. There's just too many issues coming up about it so I think I am going to take my old 75" inside and put it outside with the new 75". I am going to buy the Sony XBR85X950G or something 80"+ haven't decided to replace the old 75" and call it a day.

Thank you to everyone who provided input.
 
I bought the samsung qn82q90r, my wife wanted to trade the picture quality for size. I was going for the LG C9 77" but my wife said no one watches movies on it, its mostly for sports and guests so she wanted to go bigger and rtings has this as their highest rated 80"+.
 
For ten years I have been planning a home theater screen, but the cost for TVs has come down so much I dont think projectors make sense except for niche or extreme size needs.
 
For ten years I have been planning a home theater screen, but the cost for TVs has come down so much I dont think projectors make sense except for niche or extreme size needs.

Dedicated light controlled theaters with very large 100inch+ screens. Otherwise buying a projector is dumb IMHO. Especially all these crap, fake 4k dlp's they are flooding the market with. The static CR on those chips is under 1000:1. That strains my eyes to think about, they've gone backwards since 2006.
 
Dedicated light controlled theaters with very large 100inch+ screens. Otherwise buying a projector is dumb IMHO. Especially all these crap, fake 4k dlp's they are flooding the market with. The static CR on those chips is under 1000:1. That strains my eyes to think about, they've gone backwards since 2006.

Agreed.
 
There are some high nit (cd/m2) displays out there. IMHO, if sunlight is your goal, those are today's best options. They can be expensive. I wouldn't try outdoors with anything less than 400 cd/m2. The good displays go well into the thousands (very bright). Projector... sunlight? No.
 
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