Projectors Tips for Classrooms

These days as technology continues to expand and projectors become cheaper, many classrooms and auditoriums are starting to buy projectors for educational purposes. Projectors are ideal to have in the classroom as they are the most versatile when compared to chalk boards and white boards. Because most schools constantly find themselves on a tight budget or short on funds, we'd like to give you a few tips to give you're projector the best bang for your dollar.

First off, for use in a classroom you are going to need a bright, high-contrast projector that everybody in the room is going to see. The typical ANSI lumens recommended for a K-12 classroom is 800-1500, for universities and auditoriums you would want something around 2000-2500 lumens. When looking for the ideal contrast ratio needed for your classroom, it all depends on what you will be using your projector for. A contrast ratio of 500:1 is plenty if you are simply displaying text documents, power point presentations, or other static image data. However if you are going to be displaying video content, you are going to want something with a much higher contrast ratio.

The next thing you are going to want to consider for your projector is the resolution. Obviously it would be a waste of money to buy a full 1080p projector for use in a classroom, but just what is a good resolution? The typical SVGA (800x600) resolution is perfect for nearly all K-12 classrooms and will save you money when compared to buying higher resolution XGA or SXGA projectors. Also buying higher resolution projectors will less light output for the same price.

You should also consider the weight of the projector you are looking to buy. Some projectors weigh as little as 5 pounds, and while extremely convenient these come at an additional price. For classroom use, unless you plan to constantly move your projector, a heavier and bulkier projector will work just as well and can be less expensive. Selecting a projector that weighs about 20 lbs will give you reasonable portability and will save you money compared to the much lighter designs.

You should also pay attention to the bulb life of the projector you are looking at buying. Projector bulbs can cost upwards of $200 to replace and most projectors have a bulb life of about 3,000 hours. It may also be beneficial to run your projector in economy mode to preserve bulb life.

Short term Projector Rentals are also great for classroom-like settings where you are traveling to give a presentation in a conference room or auditorium.

5 Projector Usage Tips

Here are a few tips to help keep your projector running at its best.

1. Have your equipment powered down before connecting any cables. A signal cable carries a current while powered on and a sudden difference in electrical current can potentially burn out the projector lamp or cause other damage to projector components.

2. Use economy mode whenever possible. If your using a projector that has over 2000 lumens (a term used to describe the brightness of the projector), it usually has some sort of economy mode. If the event does not require full projector brightness use this mode to extend lamp life. Economy mode will lower the amount of lumens to save power and lengthen lamp life.

3. Avoid moving the projector as much as possible while it is powered on. The lamp, along with various other projector components, are sensitive to shakes or bumps. Any significant trauma could damage the projector and or lamp.

4. Do not unplug the projector after powering down. The cooling fan will continue to run in order to cool the lamp after shutting down the projector. It is recommended to keep it plugged in for at least another 3 minutes, doing otherwise could shorten the lamp's life or even damage the lamp.

5. Clean your projector. Dust is the bane of projectors when allowed to collect in the filter or on the lens. A microfiber cloth works well for cleaning the lens. If dust collects on the filter it will block the filter and decrease air flow which can affect the projector's cooling and can shorten lamp life.

You will have noticed in these tips that we pay special attention to preserving the life of the lamp. The reason for this is because the lamp is the most crucial part of the projector, and as such, is the most expensive component to replace. Projector costs have gone down significantly in the past few years, but replacement lamps have not. Lamps can cost up to $400 so you can see why it might be important to conserve as much lamp life as possible.