OUTDOOR VIDEO PROJECTOR

[BP1]

With Monday Night Football rapidly approaching (I hope!) we have a need to shift our weekly neighborhood party outdoors (covid) and am considering setting up a video projector and screen in the backyard, hopefully between 120" and 150" in size. Does anyone have any experience with outdoor projection and could recommend and inexpensive projector ( yeah I know, "What's your budget"?) or share the minimum specifications of a projector that would handle this size image with a good picture my friends would enjoy? Is outdoors all about the lumens or the contrast or what? Consumer of commercial unit? This is going to be a setup I will have to put up and tear down each week . Thanks...BOB

 

[Steven]

With Monday Night Football rapidly approaching (I hope!) we have a need to shift our weekly neighborhood party outdoors (covid) and am considering setting up a video projector and screen in the backyard, hopefully between 120" and 150" in size. Does anyone have any experience with outdoor projection and could recommend and inexpensive projector ( yeah I know, "What's your budget"?) or share the minimum specifications of a projector that would handle this size image with a good picture my friends would enjoy? Is outdoors all about the lumens or the contrast or what? Consumer of commercial unit? This is going to be a setup I will have to put up and tear down each week . Thanks...BOB

I think one of the biggest questions (outside of budget) is if you will be viewing in darkness at nighttime (some great affordable recommendations there), or if you need to be watching outdoor projection in broad daylight (much more limiting).

 

[BP1]

1/2 hour after sunset for 2 hours.

 

[Steven]

1/2 hour after sunset for 2 hours.

Optoma and BenQ both make decently bright projectors that should handle that (one link below just for reference). I don’t think you need higher resolution than 1080p (I’d focus on brightness and contrast over resolution), and point it at a white wall or an inflatable white screen for outdoor use. For these, I would also bring it inside when not in use, and/or build a box that offers protection from the elements, but good airflow would it doesn’t overheat. Obviously in any case, you’re looking at requiring a separate audio solution from the projector.

Lastly, worth buying from a place with a good exchange/return policy so that you can do a bit of trial and error in the event you aren’t totally happy with the performance in that lighting scenario. While I always advocate for a local small business over big box, Best Buy, Costco, and Amazon really have incredible return policies:

(For reference)

Amazon.com