I have been looking for a good solution...and by good I mean inexpensive, portable, and a decent picture quality...for an outdoor theater. I live in a great neighborhood and we have been having community movie nights. We usally have to scrounge, borrow, or beg to find a projector to use for a night. I saw this web site and thought this might be a good solution for a community projector. After looking at a few of the projects posted here I am worried that the projector might not be bright enough for use outside. Fullmoons, and streetlights could drown out the picture. Has anybody use thier projector outside? This would be a portable install so the weather is not an issue. Another question is can this be projected as a rear projection style projector? My thought is to project the film from the inside of the garage onto a screen that would then be viewed from the outside. Would this stlye of projector work?

Thanks for the feedback, I have enjoyed many of the projects on this forum.

Little Italy

ArizonaVideo uses his outside but he uses a 1000W lamp unlike almost everyone else here.

SIMUL8R or pun15her shot some pics of a HUGE projection on their house wall. I'll see if I can find them if I have time.

Other members have done so. One from Australia comes to mind.

Short answer is yes one could use a projector outside but not in bright conditions. As for rear projection one would only need an appropriate screen.

Another plog also to look into is one from Wireman. He had built a projector that had a bright picture and good quality at a long throw with just a simple build. I think he was able to get it to project a 15' foot image after it was all completed which sounds like something that could work as a small neighborhood community projector. It only had a 400 watt bulb so I don't know how that would hold up to any saturating street lamps that would be near by. If surrounding street lights are really going to be a nuisance you might have to consider building a death ray like ArizonaVideo.

My very first postism WooT!

yes
http://backyardtheater.com/forums/index.php?topic=557.0

I love wiremans build. its not even 1080p but it was the BEST projector Ive seen on Lumenlab. I dont know how he did it, but he didnt even use the pricier parts from the store. he used a basic triplet a 250w MH bulb, and fresnals and created a masterpiece. but then he sold it to soemone else right right before I made him an offer. cool pj

Wireman used a 400W lamp, not 250W.

Just to save some search time...

Wireman's Completed Project thread: Completed Project With A 15 Foot Screen
Wireman's PLOG: Ed's Hass style box with CMV 522A, xbox 360 results with pics

I used mine outside up north , 400 watt metal hallide. the only problem is the moon can affect it and streetlights and any other light pollution, if it is in a dark area there is no problems and is a great night out.

I will be doing some outdoor testing this weekend. I will post up some pics when I get them. Due to rain (stupid HUGE storm), I have not been able to take the PJ outside. But it looks to bee nice and clear this Saturday so I should be able to get some nice screens. I though about taking to downtown and throwing some "digital graffiti" on a few buildings. Might, might not. Either way I will post pics of what I can get.

Laser tag. Sweet! Give it a try when your out there. Ive been wanting to see how it would look like with these pj's. I have been saving up some extra cash to build my own home brew pj. ( Darn gas prices )Throwing tags up onto some walls was going to be one of the first things I was going to try lol. Cant wait to see the pics man.

Just a quick update: Its raining here so it might be a few days before I can get the outdoor shots. Stupid storms.

I just finished my projector and it looks great! I was very impressed. one thing I would suggest is that you add a precondensor to your build, it really brightens the picture up. we had friends over last night and had a movie party everyone was amazed! we watched Star Trek First Contact and even the dark scenes looked good. I'll try to post some screenies tonight if I can find the charger to my camera.

here are som specs:
15in build
Gateway 1530 monitor with antiglare stripped from both sides.
Standard Lens kit
Precondensor from surplus shed
Pro reflector
400w Metal Halide lamp and Ballast
6" duct fan from Home Depot "this really keeps things cool"
Attic Thermostat
and finally a Kworld TV Box 1680ex as my controller.

Ed.

Just so you don't think I forgot. I will get he outdoor shots soon. I pulled it all apart and am redesigning the sled again. Just FYI.

I know its been awhile. Sorry for that. I have been dealing with a pulled groin, and a busted hip on top of that. But I finally got to sit down with my friends and watch Star Trek Wrath of Khan tonight. I promised pics, and here they are:

The was the best one I took. That is me. I am 6' 1"



Here you can see how much more the PJ had to give, but without a taller building it was not usable. So I just set the background to black, and used the KMplayer to size it to the building.






I also posted these in my PLOG, but I wanted to post back here in case anyone was checking this thread. Hope thats O.K. with the mods.

Here's mine, if you continue further on this page you will see Durachko's calibrated images of what was a very close resemblence of what I had out in the yard that night. The exterior paint of the house of which this was projected on was a sort of light beige/tan color, so imagine if it were a good quality white instead. IMO, it's doable.

WOW!!!!!!!! Hey I posted up some other pics with a sheet and the wall to show contrast in my PLOG. Just FYI.

I did this for many years, and need to get back into it. The least powerful pj I've used for this was a commercial 1500 lm unit, and I restricted the image to about 10 feet wide, and it had to be a very dark night. More recently I used my Studio Experience 2200lm 20HD projector, and could stretch out to about 12-14 feet wide, as long as we waited until well after sunset. I used a white canvas screen, home-made from fabric store goods, stretched at the corners with brass eyelets (hobby store), tied to weights at the bottom corners, hooked to screw-in hooks above the garage door. It's a good material, heavy enough to survive, doesn't show creases too bad.

I ran across a Bose Acoustimass speakers system with satellites that was physically damaged, but acoustically perfect... so I dedicated it for this use... worked wonderfully. A good sound system can help make up for the non-perfect image.

Where I live now almost requires me to disable a street light... right at the end of my short driveway. I considered planting a narrow focus spotlight on my roof, pointing at the street light in order to trick the light into turning off. Either this or installing a hidden on/off switch behind the cover plate at the bottom of the pole..... easier, but possible trouble.

It's fun though! Popcorn, sodas, lawn-chairs, blankets, and BUG ZAPPERS!! (citronella candles don't work in my experience)

Hmmmm...I too have a street light outside. Now I am wondering where the sensor is that they go on and off with?

At my club there are 2 street lights that were causing some projected picture degradation. I was able to effectively turn the street lights off at will by using a string of Christmas lights. At the top of each street light is a sensor module with a 1 in square window. I placed the Christmas lights so that 3 lamps were right in front of the module's window by wrapping the string around the modules. When I want the street lights out I just plug in the Christmas light string which tricks the sensor into thinking it is daytime. Of course, if/when the power company see's this modification they will certainly take the string of lights down...