Hooking up a projector for outside viewing

[mikeysotp]

I'm interested in putting a projector outside for New Year's Eve so we can watch football, ball drop, etc. I have no idea what is the best way to go about it. Right now we just have a cable hookup at the campground which is a decent feed at best. So I have a TON of questions.

1. What kind of hookup should the projector have? Very few of them that I've seen have a coax connector on them.

2. Does the projector need to have a built in tuner if I am coming off of the hookup in the basement of my Sabre or is there a tuner built in to the camper somewhere?

3. Is there a specific resolution I should shoot for since I'm going to be projecting this onto a large screen?

4. I should be able to have the audio play through my outdoor speakers with this setup, right?

5. What is the minimum lumens I should go with if I am going to potentially going to want to use this during the day down the road.

6. I have DirecTv at home, is there an inexpensive option to take that on the road without having to mount a dish to my camper? Every place we go has a cable hookup so not sure I really want to do this.

Sorry for all of the questions but I'm not really all that technically savvy and I'd like to do this inexpensively and the simplest way possible while having at least some level of quality above rabbit ears and a 19" tube tv. I have the newest version of the Genesis system in my camper currently and a brand new iRV unit sent to me by FR that I haven't installed yet because I'm unsure if it is even an upgrade after reading lots of horror stories.

[wmtire]

OK, so if I understand correct, you don't already have a projector?

What do you intend to project the pic upon also?

[Iwannacamp]

Funny...I thought of this the other day... typed it in on Amazon and for less than $100 you can buy a pretty highly rated... curious as to your thoughts

I was gonna fix some type of screen

[mikeysotp]

I do not have a projector, want to buy one but want to buy the right one!

I was hoping to just project it onto a sheet for now unless I really need to plan to buy a screen of some sort.

[tdiller]

Originally Posted by mikeysotp

I'm interested in putting a projector outside for New Year's Eve so we can watch football, ball drop, etc. I have no idea what is the best way to go about it. Right now we just have a cable hookup at the campground which is a decent feed at best. So I have a TON of questions.

1. What kind of hookup should the projector have? Very few of them that I've seen have a coax connector on them.
Most won't have a coax but rather either a vga (old computer) or hdmi connectors.

2. Does the projector need to have a built in tuner if I am coming off of the hookup in the basement of my Sabre or is there a tuner built in to the camper somewhere?
Most projectors just display whatever is fed into them. So you would need to have a source that is tunable.

3. Is there a specific resolution I should shoot for since I'm going to be projecting this onto a large screen?
You are displaying outside on a screen probably won't matter unless you get to be the local drive in. The higher the better

4. I should be able to have the audio play through my outdoor speakers with this setup, right?
if the audio/video feed is going through your system then yes. Here's where you would hook up the projector as well to some output from that.

5. What is the minimum lumens I should go with if I am going to potentially going to want to use this during the day down the road.


6. I have DirecTv at home, is there an inexpensive option to take that on the road without having to mount a dish to my camper? Every place we go has a cable hookup so not sure I really want to do this.

Does direct tv have something like dishanywhere? It's an app on my cell phone that I can use to view any of my dish channels on the phone. Now I can either screen mirror that to a larger tv or I have a cable that converts my charger port to hdmi.

Sorry for all of the questions but I'm not really all that technically savvy and I'd like to do this inexpensively and the simplest way possible while having at least some level of quality above rabbit ears and a 19" tube tv. I have the newest version of the Genesis system in my camper currently and a brand new iRV unit sent to me by FR that I haven't installed yet because I'm unsure if it is even an upgrade after reading lots of horror stories.

I posted some answers in bold

[coupevillefish]

The more lumins and DPI (pixels) the better, especially for your challenging environment. I think my projector is about 2000 lumins and adequate for classroom viewing (not a big auditoruim). Most cheap projectors are much less than that. You should get one that has the 16:9 aspect ratio since that has become the standard for high definition.

Most projectors are designed to run as a external computer monitor although some newer ones will also connect to a tablet. I have an input device for my laptop that will let me view TV. That would let me use the laptop as the controller with the laptop connected to the projector.

There may be lots of other ways to get there but this is what I have cobbled together over the years.

Someone asked about screens. While a white sheet would work, they make a screen specifically designed for outdoor use.

[mikeysotp]

I think there is an app like that, I didn't realize I could feed that out from my phone!!!!

[Janet H]

You'll need a minimum of 800 lumens for decent viewing. Anything less that that and you need a no light viewing space. More would be better imo. Projectors are coming down in price but you still pay for brightness - which you need to view during daylight. I agree with the earlier poster about 200 lumens for daylight viewing.


A proper screen will help improve a weak projector as they are reflective but I have successfully used a white shower curtain in a campground for movie night so you might give that a try. If you are going to do this often you might invest in a screen - also keep in mind that many projectors can do rear viewing - projecting backwards so that the projector can be locate behind the screen. You'll also need a proper screen for this - but it keeps your set up options open.

Lastly consider digital projectors - they are more durable and have come down in price. Old school bulbs are delicate and get brittle with use. They are expensive to replace and rattling down the road in an rv will accelerate end of live.

Here are some links - you have some reading to do...


https://www.lifewire.com/before-you-...jector-1847845

Home Theater Projector Buyers Guide | Projector People

[KF6VBJ]

Here's what I have and it works Great!

Projector - Epson Home Cinema 730HD, HDMI, 3LCD, 3000 Lumens Color
Screen - Camp Chef OS-144 Indoor/Outdoor Movie Screen
Source - IPhone 6 with Amazon Prime or Netflix or whatever...
Adapter - Mini (iPhone 6) to HDMI and to Charger (splitter)
Cable - 50' HDMI Cable from IPhone (mini to HDMI) to Projector
As for Sound, I route through Stereo, but you could use Bluetooth speakers.

Enjoy! I sure do!
Jim