Best projector available in the UK?

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karlwilliams

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Hi folks just wondered what projectors my fellow UK members recommend? I want to avoid shipping tax charges so trying to avoid imports.

Thanks
 
Hi folks just wondered what projectors my fellow UK members recommend? I want to avoid shipping tax charges so trying to avoid imports.

Thanks

The best projector is the one with the highest (native) resolution and the most light and probably made by either Acer, BenQ or Sony, it will cost between 50 quid and 5000, it will fit in your pocket or it will hang permanently form your ceiling taking up a half square yard in space and looking pretty damn ugly.

You need to be more specific, the best projector for me isn't necessarily the best projector for you, I may wan't to project an image about A3 in the dark, you may wan't full home cinema functionality with the ability to view the entire contents of your phone, PC and other hard wireless, so you need to tell us exactly what you wan to do with it and how big, some need to be used in almost pitch black dark room and some can be seen in normal day light conditions, it's all about what you want specifically, most here who have projectors have different ones and experience from previous discussions is each and everyone already has the best simply because it was the best personal choice for them.

I've three projectors in the past and hated them all because I was too lazy to do the legwork.

Since you are in the UK why not pop round to Dixons, Comet or Office world, or even some of the bigger photographic/camera suppliers and make them show you what they all do? that' the easiest way to see what suits your needs specifically, I mentioned native resolution which is the quality the project at, this means that your projector should be 1080p minimum for the best image, there projectors which have a native resolution of 240 X 320 which project 1080 but all they convert the high quality image to a poorer quality showing horizontal lines through your projected image, the number of ansi lumen is also important if you want to project in normal room lighting, the higher the number the brighter the projected image

Base your search on the assumption that you won't get anything decent under 400 quid which might get you a bottom of the range Phillips with reasonable quality, but I personally would never buy another projector without a demo.

I've checked out your drawing and you have amazing skills, which makes me wonder if you actually need a projector at all;)
 
The best projector is the one with the highest (native) resolution and the most light and probably made by either Acer, BenQ or Sony, it will cost between 50 quid and 5000, it will fit in your pocket or it will hang permanently form your ceiling taking up a half square yard in space and looking pretty damn ugly.

You need to be more specific, the best projector for me isn't necessarily the best projector for you, I may wan't to project an image about A3 in the dark, you may wan't full home cinema functionality with the ability to view the entire contents of your phone, PC and other hard wireless, so you need to tell us exactly what you wan to do with it and how big, some need to be used in almost pitch black dark room and some can be seen in normal day light conditions, it's all about what you want specifically, most here who have projectors have different ones and experience from previous discussions is each and everyone already has the best simply because it was the best personal choice for them.

I've three projectors in the past and hated them all because I was too lazy to do the legwork.

Since you are in the UK why not pop round to Dixons, Comet or Office world, or even some of the bigger photographic/camera suppliers and make them show you what they all do? that' the easiest way to see what suits your needs specifically, I mentioned native resolution which is the quality the project at, this means that your projector should be 1080p minimum for the best image, there projectors which have a native resolution of 240 X 320 which project 1080 but all they convert the high quality image to a poorer quality showing horizontal lines through your projected image, the number of ansi lumen is also important if you want to project in normal room lighting, the higher the number the brighter the projected image

Base your search on the assumption that you won't get anything decent under 400 quid which might get you a bottom of the range Phillips with reasonable quality, but I personally would never buy another projector without a demo.

I've checked out your drawing and you have amazing skills, which makes me wonder if you actually need a projector at all;)


Thank you for your detailed response and kind words Madbrush I clearly need to do a little more research in this area, I wasn't aware the options were so vast to be honest, maybe I'm a little too eager to complete my studio now that I have ordered my airbrush rig ;)
 
Thank you for your detailed response and kind words Madbrush I clearly need to do a little more research in this area, I wasn't aware the options were so vast to be honest, maybe I'm a little too eager to complete my studio now that I have ordered my airbrush rig ;)

Having seen your work I fully understand your eagerness to complete your studio, and if we get to see your work here here then I'm pretty eager too, lol

But a projector as I said is pretty much tailored to a specific user, even the type of art you want to create will be a factor, in my own opinion Acer make pretty acceptible examples and for 1080p they start around 400 quid up to considerably more, your drawing work is precise in the extreme so I would imagine you'll be aiming at that same precision in your airbrushing.

I work on projects only as big as A3, for this reason I bought an A3 printer and use either a cut out and blast for mapping system or simply Saral paper transferring, I have an Artograph opaque projector which requires a dark room to use since the image isn't too bright but I only use this for animals where I can be less fussy about precision, if I was doing larger projects then a good LED projector would be handy but in my case it's just a hobby so I can't justify the cost.

There are some other threads on projectors and our mentor @airbrushtutor did a video review of one of the Acer projectors so there is a good chance you'll find that on his YouTube channel.

I forgot to welcome you to the forum so consider that done now and I hope you'll stick around and chip in when you can, I'm sure many will benefit from your knowledge of graphite, I was always a pencil pusher but pretty much just a doodler compared to your skills, lol, so I know that when you get started with airbrushing the feeling regarding weight/pressure we rely on will not be there, quite a weird feeling in the beginning:confused::)

I also forgot to mention that if you order anything online in Europe British sales taxes usually apply and you'll find that some items can actually be cheaper from other European countries even with postage so check all options before you buy:thumbsup:
 
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I can't believe I'm the only person to respond to this so far, so I think they've all seen your work and may be a tad intimidated, lol
 
It is as Madbrush says,the projector should be tailored to your needs, I use an epson home cinema projector because most of my work is on trucks and done in a day light as the roof in my unit has clear panels in it,but if you don't need that kind of projector why waste your money?.:thumbsup::D
 
Living in the US I can't speak to the UK's availability or quality of projectors, but I thought to say that you might check around second hand shops. I got a 720p DLP @ 800 lumens with a good bulb and low hours for about 35usd.

Pawn shops might also be a good place to check. When I go, I tend to bring my smartphone with me to check the specs/msrp/quality/reviews of what they have on the shelf. They will usually give you a demo if you ask, to make sure its in proper working condition before you leave, though they usually have a short warrenty just in case. Also, If its been out on the shelf for a while you can usually often offer a significantly lower price than what they are asking, which is generally already well below retail. This can often result in getting a high quality brand at a price which makes the risk of losing a bulb in the near future acceptable, though bulb prices have gone down a lot in recent years they can still be expensive depending on brand and lumens. Ive had mine for three years, have put maybe 50 additional hours on the unit, and still have the same bulb.
 
My pet peeve about projectors is having a good "throw". Meaning how close the projector to the wall and how big is the area it projects. I have had a few in my time. I bought one recently and was a bit to quick with it. It doesn't have a good throw. I can be pretty far back from the wall and it still wont fill out the wall very frustrating. I have to project a few different times for one image. Ones I had in the past had huge throws I could be so close to the wall and it would fill out the area I needed and more.
 
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