I do talks for garden clubs but my slide projector is starting to show
its age and will need replacing. I was thinking that I ought to consider
changing over to a digital projector but there seem to be several types.
I seldom project onto a bigger than 4'X4' screen.
Also digital images, what's the sort of file size that's required for
reasonable quality? and will scanning my existing slides give good enough
quality? (I have 2000+ slides and the thought of having to retake them
all is a bit daunting!)
I would be grateful for any hints, tips or comments from people who have
changed over.
--
Charlie Pridham, Gardening in Cornwall
www.roselandhouse.co.uk
Holders of national collections of Clematis viticella cultivars and
Lapageria rosea

"Charlie Pridham" wrote in message
T...
I do talks for garden clubs but my slide projector is starting to show
its age and will need replacing. I was thinking that I ought to consider
changing over to a digital projector but there seem to be several types.
I seldom project onto a bigger than 4'X4' screen.
Also digital images, what's the sort of file size that's required for
reasonable quality? and will scanning my existing slides give good enough
quality? (I have 2000+ slides and the thought of having to retake them
all is a bit daunting!)
I would be grateful for any hints, tips or comments from people who have
changed over.
--
Charlie Pridham, Gardening in Cornwall
www.roselandhouse.co.uk
Holders of national collections of Clematis viticella cultivars and
Lapageria rosea

Charlie I wanted one in 2006 for talks and shows and my computer shop did a
search and came up with the 'InFocus' IN20 Series. I am very pleased with
it.

www.infocus.com will no doubt give you more info and at least a place to
start.

When I do talks on the Cruise Ships I use their equipment, but in doing
talks in Hotels etc, (I have just offered my services to the Local Parish
Council) it is very portable.

My screen is the portable 4' x 4' as well :-))

(Just about to get a new Camera so I can increase my scope as required.
Samsung GX-10. Hope to be able to plug it straight into the projector, but
that is not important)

Hope that helps

Mike


--
www.rneba.org.uk. The Royal Naval Electrical Branch Association.
'THE' Association to find your ex-Greenie mess mates.
www.iowtours.com for all ex-Service Reunions. More being added regularly
After a lot of trouble www.nsrafa.org is now up and running for the National
Service RAF man

"'Mike'" wrote in message
...


"Charlie Pridham" wrote in message
T...
I do talks for garden clubs but my slide projector is starting to show
its age and will need replacing. I was thinking that I ought to consider
changing over to a digital projector but there seem to be several types.
I seldom project onto a bigger than 4'X4' screen.
Also digital images, what's the sort of file size that's required for
reasonable quality? and will scanning my existing slides give good enough
quality? (I have 2000+ slides and the thought of having to retake them
all is a bit daunting!)
I would be grateful for any hints, tips or comments from people who have
changed over.
--
Charlie Pridham, Gardening in Cornwall
www.roselandhouse.co.uk
Holders of national collections of Clematis viticella cultivars and
Lapageria rosea

Charlie I wanted one in 2006 for talks and shows and my computer shop did
a search and came up with the 'InFocus' IN20 Series. I am very pleased
with it.

www.infocus.com will no doubt give you more info and at least a place to
start.

When I do talks on the Cruise Ships I use their equipment, but in doing
talks in Hotels etc, (I have just offered my services to the Local Parish
Council) it is very portable.

My screen is the portable 4' x 4' as well :-))

(Just about to get a new Camera so I can increase my scope as required.
Samsung GX-10. Hope to be able to plug it straight into the projector, but
that is not important)

Hope that helps

Mike

Looks as if http://www.infocus.com/Products/Proj.../IN24Plus.aspx is
the latest model

Mike


--
www.rneba.org.uk. The Royal Naval Electrical Branch Association.
'THE' Association to find your ex-Greenie mess mates.
www.iowtours.com for all ex-Service Reunions. More being added regularly
After a lot of trouble www.nsrafa.org is now up and running for the National
Service RAF man

I wish I had words of wisdom on this topic for you but I am not that
experienced with projectors. I just wanted to express that I
understand the time-consuming and laborious task you have ahead of
you. Good Luck!

On Feb 19, 2:34*pm, Charlie Pridham
wrote:
I do talks for garden clubs but my slide projector is starting to show
its age and will need replacing. I was thinking that I ought to consider
changing over to a digital projector but there seem to be several types.
I seldom project onto a bigger than 4'X4' screen.
Also digital images, what's the sort of file size that's required for
reasonable quality? and will scanning my existing slides give good enough
quality? (I have 2000+ slides and the thought of having to retake them
all is a bit daunting!)
I would be grateful for any hints, tips or comments from people who have
changed over.
--
Charlie Pridham, Gardening in Cornwallwww.roselandhouse.co.uk
Holders of national collections of Clematis viticella cultivars and
Lapageria rosea

On 19/2/08 19:34, in article ,
"Charlie Pridham" wrote:

I do talks for garden clubs but my slide projector is starting to show
its age and will need replacing. I was thinking that I ought to consider
changing over to a digital projector but there seem to be several types.
I seldom project onto a bigger than 4'X4' screen.
Also digital images, what's the sort of file size that's required for
reasonable quality? and will scanning my existing slides give good enough
quality? (I have 2000+ slides and the thought of having to retake them
all is a bit daunting!)
I would be grateful for any hints, tips or comments from people who have
changed over.

I had my first web site lesson this am and the tutor used one of these - a
new gadget IME! I'll forward your query to him and ask him what he thinks.
He was doing a direct computer to projector job.
--
Sacha
http://www.hillhousenursery.co.uk
South Devon
'We do not inherit the earth from our ancestors, we borrow it from our
children.'

In article ,
says...
On 19/2/08 19:34, in article ,
"Charlie Pridham" wrote:

I do talks for garden clubs but my slide projector is starting to show
its age and will need replacing. I was thinking that I ought to consider
changing over to a digital projector but there seem to be several types.
I seldom project onto a bigger than 4'X4' screen.
Also digital images, what's the sort of file size that's required for
reasonable quality? and will scanning my existing slides give good enough
quality? (I have 2000+ slides and the thought of having to retake them
all is a bit daunting!)
I would be grateful for any hints, tips or comments from people who have
changed over.

I had my first web site lesson this am and the tutor used one of these - a
new gadget IME! I'll forward your query to him and ask him what he thinks.
He was doing a direct computer to projector job.

I have been watching other speakers who are using them and have decided
that a stand alone model would be best (one less thing to go wrong!) but
its realy the images that are giving me cause for concern, particuarly
ones which are a historical sequence telling a story, I mean you can go
back and retake a flower picture but you can not go back in time! if I
can scan some of those I think I may take the plunge
--
Charlie Pridham, Gardening in Cornwall
www.roselandhouse.co.uk
Holders of national collections of Clematis viticella cultivars and
Lapageria rosea

HI Charlie

On Wed, 20 Feb 2008 08:45:14 -0000, Charlie Pridham
wrote:

In article ,
says...
On 19/2/08 19:34, in article ,
"Charlie Pridham" wrote:

I do talks for garden clubs but my slide projector is starting to show
its age and will need replacing. I was thinking that I ought to consider
changing over to a digital projector but there seem to be several types.
I seldom project onto a bigger than 4'X4' screen.
Also digital images, what's the sort of file size that's required for
reasonable quality? and will scanning my existing slides give good enough
quality? (I have 2000+ slides and the thought of having to retake them
all is a bit daunting!)
I would be grateful for any hints, tips or comments from people who have
changed over.

I had my first web site lesson this am and the tutor used one of these - a
new gadget IME! I'll forward your query to him and ask him what he thinks.
He was doing a direct computer to projector job.

I have been watching other speakers who are using them and have decided
that a stand alone model would be best (one less thing to go wrong!) but
its realy the images that are giving me cause for concern, particuarly
ones which are a historical sequence telling a story, I mean you can go
back and retake a flower picture but you can not go back in time! if I
can scan some of those I think I may take the plunge

Some thoughts for you...

- When you choose a projector, find our what the replacement bulbs
cost. They are not your standard car headlamp bulb - and some of the
prices may make your eyes water, careful choice of projector could
save you lots of money when it comes to replacing the bulb. (You'll
want to carry a spare bulb with you)

- A stand-alone unit will mean you don't have to lug a PC round with
you - but if I was you, I'd make sure that I had 2 copies of the card
/ disk / whatever with your slides on... - call me paranoid !

- Scanning - Some years ago it was possible to buy a carrier that
screwed onto the front of a SLR camera into which you could drop a
slide to copy it. It contained the necessary optics to allow the
camera to fill the frame with the image. You can use a conventional
flatbed scanner, but the results may not be as good, and you'll have
to do some cropping of the scanned image afterwards.
You might find a commercial service that will take a box of slides and
scan them for you - depends how much your time is worth to you vs what
they want to charge you.

- When I was involved in giving presentations (a few years ago) the
digital projector scene was evolving rapidly, and everybody wanted
'this year's model'. You might find that good, second-hand equipment
is a better bet than buying new - maybe from an AV Hire Shop ?

-If you want to get really 'slick' then consider back-projecting your
slides (projector behind the screen). Needs a special screen (not
difficult) but means that you can be presenting in front of the
screen, and no problems with silly blighters making shadow rabbits
across your prize roses g

Hope this helps
Adrian

In article ,
says...



"'Mike'" wrote in message
...


"Charlie Pridham" wrote in message
T...
I do talks for garden clubs but my slide projector is starting to show
its age and will need replacing. I was thinking that I ought to consider
changing over to a digital projector but there seem to be several types.
I seldom project onto a bigger than 4'X4' screen.
Also digital images, what's the sort of file size that's required for
reasonable quality? and will scanning my existing slides give good enough
quality? (I have 2000+ slides and the thought of having to retake them
all is a bit daunting!)
I would be grateful for any hints, tips or comments from people who have
changed over.
--
Charlie Pridham, Gardening in Cornwall
www.roselandhouse.co.uk
Holders of national collections of Clematis viticella cultivars and
Lapageria rosea

Charlie I wanted one in 2006 for talks and shows and my computer shop did
a search and came up with the 'InFocus' IN20 Series. I am very pleased
with it.

www.infocus.com will no doubt give you more info and at least a place to
start.

When I do talks on the Cruise Ships I use their equipment, but in doing
talks in Hotels etc, (I have just offered my services to the Local Parish
Council) it is very portable.

My screen is the portable 4' x 4' as well :-))

(Just about to get a new Camera so I can increase my scope as required.
Samsung GX-10. Hope to be able to plug it straight into the projector, but
that is not important)

Hope that helps

Mike

Looks as if http://www.infocus.com/Products/Proj.../IN24Plus.aspx is
the latest model

Mike
Thanks mike it looks good, I will nip up the road and look at one in the
flesh as they have it at PC world (may not buy it from them though!)
--
Charlie Pridham, Gardening in Cornwall
www.roselandhouse.co.uk
Holders of national collections of Clematis viticella cultivars and
Lapageria rosea

In article ,
says...
HI Charlie

On Wed, 20 Feb 2008 08:45:14 -0000, Charlie Pridham
wrote:

In article ,
says...
On 19/2/08 19:34, in article ,
"Charlie Pridham" wrote:

I do talks for garden clubs but my slide projector is starting to show
its age and will need replacing. I was thinking that I ought to consider
changing over to a digital projector but there seem to be several types.
I seldom project onto a bigger than 4'X4' screen.
Also digital images, what's the sort of file size that's required for
reasonable quality? and will scanning my existing slides give good enough
quality? (I have 2000+ slides and the thought of having to retake them
all is a bit daunting!)
I would be grateful for any hints, tips or comments from people who have
changed over.

I had my first web site lesson this am and the tutor used one of these - a
new gadget IME! I'll forward your query to him and ask him what he thinks.
He was doing a direct computer to projector job.

I have been watching other speakers who are using them and have decided
that a stand alone model would be best (one less thing to go wrong!) but
its realy the images that are giving me cause for concern, particuarly
ones which are a historical sequence telling a story, I mean you can go
back and retake a flower picture but you can not go back in time! if I
can scan some of those I think I may take the plunge

Some thoughts for you...

- When you choose a projector, find our what the replacement bulbs
cost. They are not your standard car headlamp bulb - and some of the
prices may make your eyes water, careful choice of projector could
save you lots of money when it comes to replacing the bulb. (You'll
want to carry a spare bulb with you)

- A stand-alone unit will mean you don't have to lug a PC round with
you - but if I was you, I'd make sure that I had 2 copies of the card
/ disk / whatever with your slides on... - call me paranoid !

- Scanning - Some years ago it was possible to buy a carrier that
screwed onto the front of a SLR camera into which you could drop a
slide to copy it. It contained the necessary optics to allow the
camera to fill the frame with the image. You can use a conventional
flatbed scanner, but the results may not be as good, and you'll have
to do some cropping of the scanned image afterwards.
Thanks for all that, yes I fancy a stand alone model but am finding that
its not easy to work out which model does it and which does not from the
specs on the web sites.
Yes I was aware that the replacement bulbs were very expensive its been
putting me off while the slide projector was working OK!
--
Charlie Pridham, Gardening in Cornwall
www.roselandhouse.co.uk
Holders of national collections of Clematis viticella cultivars and
Lapageria rosea

On 20/2/08 08:45, in article ,
"Charlie Pridham" wrote:

In article ,
says...
On 19/2/08 19:34, in article ,
"Charlie Pridham" wrote:

I do talks for garden clubs but my slide projector is starting to show
its age and will need replacing. I was thinking that I ought to consider
changing over to a digital projector but there seem to be several types.
I seldom project onto a bigger than 4'X4' screen.
Also digital images, what's the sort of file size that's required for
reasonable quality? and will scanning my existing slides give good enough
quality? (I have 2000+ slides and the thought of having to retake them
all is a bit daunting!)
I would be grateful for any hints, tips or comments from people who have
changed over.

I had my first web site lesson this am and the tutor used one of these - a
new gadget IME! I'll forward your query to him and ask him what he thinks.
He was doing a direct computer to projector job.

I have been watching other speakers who are using them and have decided
that a stand alone model would be best (one less thing to go wrong!) but
its realy the images that are giving me cause for concern, particuarly
ones which are a historical sequence telling a story, I mean you can go
back and retake a flower picture but you can not go back in time! if I
can scan some of those I think I may take the plunge

I got this reply from him this morning, Charlie. He's in Totnes, so if you
want me to put you in touch with each other, just email me. I sent you my
new address, I hope!

"your friend can probably get a suitable projector for about £200 -£250 now
as there are some real bargains about - but not from a normal retail outlet
- scanning his slides would easiest be done by a lab which has a batch
scanner & while it would cost a bit wouldn't break the bank. I will happily
talk to him if you wish"


--
Sacha
http://www.hillhousenursery.co.uk
South Devon
'We do not inherit the earth from our ancestors, we borrow it from our
children.'

On Wed, 20 Feb 2008 09:01:30 +0000, Adrian wrote:

- When you choose a projector, find our what the replacement bulbs
cost. They are not your standard car headlamp bulb - and some of the
prices may make your eyes water, careful choice of projector could
save you lots of money when it comes to replacing the bulb. (You'll
want to carry a spare bulb with you)

Aye, and fanatically follow the power up/down sequence particulary the
power down letting the thing cool properly before moving it. Oh and the
"replace bulb" message after x hours can probably be ignored until the
bulb actually fails or you notice a degraded image. Like printer
cartridges, the makers make their money on the bulbs with "fixed" life...

Pay attention to the specs as well, particulary the image brightness.
Comparing will probably be a PITA as I doubt there is a standard distance
used. So to make sensible comparisions you'll have to take the distance
into account with the inverse square rule. I'm not sure a spec saying x
lumens with a given image size is a reliable method, if the image size
varies you'd still have to correct it and you'd need to know the distance
for that image size.

- A stand-alone unit will mean you don't have to lug a PC round with
you - but if I was you, I'd make sure that I had 2 copies of the card
/ disk / whatever with your slides on... - call me paranoid !

For PC read laptop and PowerPoint (or non-windows equivalent) you can add
captions and/or explanatory/title slides in PP very easily. Does a
stand-alone unit take a PP presentation or just image files?

You might find a commercial service that will take a box of slides and
scan them for you - depends how much your time is worth to you vs what
they want to charge you.

Go for the very best scanning you can afford. Preferably with the basic
scanned immage in a "raw" format rather than anything compressed.
Compression throws away information, you orginal scanned image needs to be
the highest quality you can achieve. You then make your slides from that
to what ever the current systems require.

A decent commercial service I'd expect to produce a high resolution raw
image then a selection of different resolution compressed ones per slide.
Don't forget to take a backup copy or three of your scanned images, CD/DVD
media *does* degrade over time. Maybe take another copy every year. Media
is cheap, data is priceless.

What is "high resolution" these days I'm not sure but I'd expect something
over 2400 x 1800 and that's only 4M pixel, quality digital cameras these
days are 10M pixel or above (4800 x 3600 ish) and a colour depth of at
least 24 bits/pixel. For display 800 x 600 or 1024x768 jpeg format will be
fine.

- When I was involved in giving presentations (a few years ago) the
digital projector scene was evolving rapidly, and everybody wanted
'this year's model'. You might find that good, second-hand equipment
is a better bet than buying new - maybe from an AV Hire Shop ?

That is a thought but take note of the bulb cost/availabilty and how has
the projector been treated? The optics are still fairly delicate.

-If you want to get really 'slick' then consider back-projecting your
slides (projector behind the screen). Needs a special screen (not
difficult)

And the space from screen to wall...

--
Cheers
Dave.

"Charlie Pridham" wrote in message
T...

(Just about to get a new Camera so I can increase my scope as required.
Samsung GX-10. Hope to be able to plug it straight into the projector,
but
that is not important)

Hope that helps

Mike

Looks as if http://www.infocus.com/Products/Proj.../IN24Plus.aspx is
the latest model

Mike
Thanks mike it looks good, I will nip up the road and look at one in the
flesh as they have it at PC world (may not buy it from them though!)
--
Charlie Pridham, Gardening in Cornwall
www.roselandhouse.co.uk
Holders of national collections of Clematis viticella cultivars and
Lapageria rosea

Charlie I see someone has mentioned Power Point Presentation coupled to the
Projector. This is what I use.

Not wishing my Grandmother to Suck Eggs, but Power Point is very versatile.
You can for example set a Slide Show up for the people to look at as they
are coming into your show/presentation/talk. This can have background music
if you wish and can keep rolling round. I had a roll round display at RAF
Cosford Parade last year, .... no music there were already people doing too
much talking.

When you come to do your talk, your presentation and slides are already
there a click of the remote or your mouse and the next slide comes up. If
you are giving your talk from your computer, then your mouse pointer on the
screen of the computer appears on the big screen from the projector. "What
you see on the computer they see on the screen"

If you stand up and operate the remote, you can use a Laser Pen to red dot
the big screen.

As someone said, your slides can be copied via a slide copier to your
digital camera and thus the computer.

I have a slide copier for an SLR with 42 mm thread, the new Samsung GX-10
has Bayonet fitting, I need to get an adaptor. Someone also remarked on
having a high Megapix camera, my present has 6, the new 10 so I hope to have
better definition.

Your slides can be chosen as you like for a presentation with PPP and will
stay as it is. I have 3 or 4 PPP's on my computer.

Going down this line you will need an extension lead with two sockets on it,
one for the lap top one for the projector.

Photos can be scanned on a scanner them these put onto computer so your very
old photo's can be done. I 'lifted' a picture of a World War 1 Hospital and
it is now part of a presentation on PPP.

None of this is Rocket Science I have learnt it all in about 18 months.
"Doing it" makes it easy. But I do not consider myself to be an expert on
the technicalities of it all, I am not interested, I just want to press
buttons and there is the picture. I am more interested in the people :-))

Hope that helps.

You know where am if I can help :-))

Best wishes

Mike

In article ,
says...
On 20/2/08 08:45, in article ,
"Charlie Pridham" wrote:

In article ,
says...
On 19/2/08 19:34, in article ,
"Charlie Pridham" wrote:

I do talks for garden clubs but my slide projector is starting to show
its age and will need replacing. I was thinking that I ought to consider
changing over to a digital projector but there seem to be several types.
I seldom project onto a bigger than 4'X4' screen.
Also digital images, what's the sort of file size that's required for
reasonable quality? and will scanning my existing slides give good enough
quality? (I have 2000+ slides and the thought of having to retake them
all is a bit daunting!)
I would be grateful for any hints, tips or comments from people who have
changed over.

I had my first web site lesson this am and the tutor used one of these - a
new gadget IME! I'll forward your query to him and ask him what he thinks.
He was doing a direct computer to projector job.

I have been watching other speakers who are using them and have decided
that a stand alone model would be best (one less thing to go wrong!) but
its realy the images that are giving me cause for concern, particuarly
ones which are a historical sequence telling a story, I mean you can go
back and retake a flower picture but you can not go back in time! if I
can scan some of those I think I may take the plunge

I got this reply from him this morning, Charlie. He's in Totnes, so if you
want me to put you in touch with each other, just email me. I sent you my
new address, I hope!

"your friend can probably get a suitable projector for about £200 -£250 now
as there are some real bargains about - but not from a normal retail outlet
- scanning his slides would easiest be done by a lab which has a batch
scanner & while it would cost a bit wouldn't break the bank. I will happily
talk to him if you wish"



Thanks for that, encouraging news
--
Charlie Pridham, Gardening in Cornwall
www.roselandhouse.co.uk
Holders of national collections of Clematis viticella cultivars and
Lapageria rosea

"Charlie Pridham" wrote in message
T...
I do talks for garden clubs but my slide projector is starting to show
its age and will need replacing. I was thinking that I ought to consider
changing over to a digital projector but there seem to be several types.
I seldom project onto a bigger than 4'X4' screen.
Also digital images, what's the sort of file size that's required for
reasonable quality? and will scanning my existing slides give good enough
quality? (I have 2000+ slides and the thought of having to retake them
all is a bit daunting!)
I would be grateful for any hints, tips or comments from people who have
changed over.
--
Charlie Pridham, Gardening in Cornwall
www.roselandhouse.co.uk
Holders of national collections of Clematis viticella cultivars and
Lapageria rosea

Don't know if you have the Viking Account, but I have just received the
latest "Office Technology" Catalogue and on page 83 there is a wide range
of Projectors from £400.00 to £1100.00.

Mike


--
www.rneba.org.uk. The Royal Naval Electrical Branch Association.
'THE' Association to find your ex-Greenie mess mates.
www.iowtours.com for all ex-Service Reunions. More being added regularly
After a lot of trouble www.nsrafa.org is now up and running for the National
Service RAF man

In article ,
says...



"Charlie Pridham" wrote in message
T...

(Just about to get a new Camera so I can increase my scope as required.
Samsung GX-10. Hope to be able to plug it straight into the projector,
but
that is not important)

Hope that helps

Mike

Looks as if http://www.infocus.com/Products/Proj.../IN24Plus.aspx is
the latest model

Mike
Thanks mike it looks good, I will nip up the road and look at one in the
flesh as they have it at PC world (may not buy it from them though!)
--
Charlie Pridham, Gardening in Cornwall
www.roselandhouse.co.uk
Holders of national collections of Clematis viticella cultivars and
Lapageria rosea

Charlie I see someone has mentioned Power Point Presentation coupled to the
Projector. This is what I use.

Not wishing my Grandmother to Suck Eggs, but Power Point is very versatile.
You can for example set a Slide Show up for the people to look at as they
are coming into your show/presentation/talk. This can have background music
if you wish and can keep rolling round. I had a roll round display at RAF
Cosford Parade last year, .... no music there were already people doing too
much talking.

When you come to do your talk, your presentation and slides are already
there a click of the remote or your mouse and the next slide comes up. If
you are giving your talk from your computer, then your mouse pointer on the
screen of the computer appears on the big screen from the projector. "What
you see on the computer they see on the screen"

If you stand up and operate the remote, you can use a Laser Pen to red dot
the big screen.

As someone said, your slides can be copied via a slide copier to your
digital camera and thus the computer.

I have a slide copier for an SLR with 42 mm thread, the new Samsung GX-10
I am hoping to avoid the lap top options (partly because I have not got
one and partly because I have seen people struggle to get the thing up
and running)
I am intrigued by the idea of a slide copier attached to the front of
ones camera but I suspect my Fuji finepix S5700 may not be up to the job,
son has a slide copier built into his scanner, but trying to do anything
in his room is all but impossible, it sounds as if I may be able to get a
whole talk copied as a batch so I will look into that.
I think someone has mentioned a back up disk as well!
--
Charlie Pridham, Gardening in Cornwall
www.roselandhouse.co.uk
Holders of national collections of Clematis viticella cultivars and
Lapageria rosea