Choosing a Classroom Projector
Projectors, sometimes called data projectors, LCD or DLP projectors, bring multimedia to any classroom. Connect your computer or DVD player to a projector to work with interactive web sites, study online newspapers, analyze digital images, and view videos. Share student assignments, whether text based or video based, with the class to create a student centered learning environment. Enrich any learning experience with the inclusion of sound, video and music. For even more flexibility, you can connect a document camera, or SMART Board to the projector. Regardless of which configuration you choose, a projector will engage and motive students in the learning process.
Projectors come in all shapes and sizes but making a wise choice for the classroom need not be difficult! Our Education Team has had extensive practical experience with supplying and using projectors and understands the classroom environment. They make the following recommendations:
Lamp Life:
This is an important consideration. Your classroom projector will probably be used for 5 hours every school day. In fact, we find that the classroom projector is the most intensive application we normally come across.
Lamps can cost from $100 to over $400 to replace for the most popular projectors used in the classroom. These days, the lamp in a projector should have a minimum life expectancy of 2000 hours. Most brands also offer an "Economy mode" which can extend the life of the bulb to 3000 hours. You can significantly decrease or increase the life of the lamp in the projector. For more information on how to make your projector lamp last longer, click here.
Warranty:
Look for a warranty that covers the lamp for 60 days.
Your classroom projector will become an integral part of your lesson plan and so reliability is paramount. Over the years we have lost track of the number of emergency mercy missions we have made for teachers and children when the unthinkable really does happen! We can't stress enough of the importance of using projectors from well known experienced manufacturers in the education sector. This is not the same application as for the home or even in business where reliability is not as critical if as important.
We are an authorized service centre for all of the manufactures that we offer and are experienced in providing a fast effective service on those rare occasions when it is needed.
We offer additional warranty programs for all the technologies we supply. Our education warranty programs are of course specifically designed for the unique school environment.
Resolution:
Resolution refers to the number of pixels displayed on the screen at any given time. Pixels are the individual colour dots that make up the image. More pixels equates to a better image. Choosing an XGA or SXGA guarantees your projector meets your needs now and several years into the future. We would strongly suggest NOT opting for a lower resolution than XGA (such as SVGA) - you will be disappointed after a few hours!
Lumens:
Lumens refers to the brightness of the light emitted by a data projector - in general, the more the better.
The projector industry uses 'ANSI' lumens as a guide to compare different data projector models. Choosing a projector with too few lumens will result in a weak image forcing you to have the lights turned off and or the curtains closed. This is not a very conducive learning environment. We recommend using a projector of at least 2000 lumens in a typical classroom.
Tip:
It's not always possible, and with the modern bright projectors available today not critical, but try NOT to place the projection screen facing a window whenever possible as the sunlight tends to wash out the projected image. DO try to position the BACK of the screen to the window and face the screen towards a dark wall. It's amazing to see the difference the position of the screen makes!
Aspect Ratio:
This is simply the ratio between the width and height of the image.
The traditional format has always been 3:4 but more and more manufacturers of projectors, laptops and monitors are offering an Aspect Ratio of 16:9. (The new plasma and LCD televisions for the home are prime examples). Matching the Aspect Ratio of your computer screen, projector and SMART Board can avoid many hours of frustration for teacher and student alike!
Check our online catalogue
Check out the projectors designed specifically for education from the leading manufacturers, such as NEC, Epson, Hitachi, and Toshiba. Remember to ask about education incentive programs.
Click on the manufacturer logo to see our online catalogue
