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Topic: LCD Projectors for advertising

Marc Jones
Film Handler

Posts: 82
From: Elizabethtown, KY
Registered: Jun 99

posted 09-27-2001 11:48 PM

I spoke with an advertising company that uses LCD projector and a DVD player for the pre show advertisements. Is there any one out there using this type of setup instead of slides? how do you like it?

Thanks Marc Jones

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Tom Sauter
Expert Film Handler

Posts: 163
From: Buffalo, NY, USA
Registered: Sep 2000

posted 09-28-2001 11:01 AM

It can definitely be nice if done right, no fussing with slides, etc. You'll have to be clear on who is responsible for maintenance of the projector, however, since you may be looking at $300-$500 for a new bulb every 1000-2000 hours or upwards of $5000 for a toasted light engine. I haven't encountered a screen advertising company that does this yet, but we produce our own in-house preshow ads digitally as it saves a lot of time and we have the LCD projector anyway. I know of several venues that have been doing video trailers for quite some time, which saves the projectionist major headaches. Just pop in a new tape and its done! Here's how I would break down the issues:

The tradeoffs:
-slides have higher resolution
-video projectors tend to be brighter than standard slide projectors these days
-video projectors stay in focus; slide projectors get knocked out of whack
-video projectors more expensive to maintain
-customers may not like sitting through real TV commercials

The benefits:
-full motion video and audio in one nice package
-gives you the option of screening videos for special presentations (conferences, lectures, etc.)

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Charles Everett
Phenomenal Film Handler

Posts: 1470
From: New Jersey
Registered: May 2001

posted 09-28-2001 12:11 PM

The AMC Empire 25 in Times Square uses LCD modules for its pre-show. Check it out if you ever go to New York.

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John Pytlak
Film God

Posts: 9987
From: Rochester, NY 14650-1922
Registered: Jan 2000

posted 09-28-2001 01:04 PM

When I saw "Planet of the Apes" in the DLP-Cinema auditorium (#14) of the AMC Empire 25 on August 20th, the digital projector used for the ads was quite dim and washed out by the auditorium lighting used between shows. Whether you are using slides or digital projection, use an image size within the capability of the projector. A rule of thumb would be at least 12 lumens per square foot of image area on a matte white screen.

------------------
John P. Pytlak, Senior Technical Specialist
Worldwide Technical Services, Entertainment Imaging
Research Labs, Building 69, Room 7525A
Rochester, New York, 14650-1922 USA
Tel: 716-477-5325 Cell: 716-781-4036 Fax: 716-722-7243
E-Mail: john.pytlak@kodak.com
Web site: http://www.kodak.com/go/motion

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Marc Jones
Film Handler

Posts: 82
From: Elizabethtown, KY
Registered: Jun 99

posted 09-28-2001 09:25 PM

I spoke with the advertising vender and he stated that the unit
was 1200 Lumens, So are you seeing basicly 10X10 ft. What is the typical size images being projected? The theatre that these have been installed in are the mounted in the booth or in the ceiling?

Looks like it would be a cool toy to hookup to a computer and play Doom.

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Will Morrow
Film Handler

Posts: 91
From: Mt. Pleasant, MI, USA
Registered: Mar 2001

posted 09-29-2001 09:13 PM

We have this setup in one of our 11 houses. It is definately prefered over the slides, both visually and from an operational standpoint. We don't have it automated yet, like the slide projectors, so we just turn it on when we thread the projector. One night I threw "Requium For a Dream" in the DVD player, and switched the DLP to "wide screen" mode, and it wasnt near as bad as I had expected. If I didn't have to worry about the hours on the bulb, I would do movie night in house 1 at work, instead of at home on my 27inch Samsung TV. LOL It was tolerable, to say the least...and this is a Hitachi, that cost the advertising company about $3000.00 dollars I believe. It is mounted up in the booth in the same location as the slide projectors in the other houses.

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Sherry Legare
Film Handler

Posts: 12
From: Thornhill, ON, Canada
Registered: Nov 2000

posted 10-01-2001 10:54 AM

We use the digital projectors in many of our theatres. They are mounted on a platform in the auditorium just under the booth window. They are very expensive and it is difficult to get enough advertising to help pay for them. They do, however, have a superior picture to a slide projector and you can make a considerably more impressive presentation if you have someone who knows what they are doing.

My pet peeve with them is that ours are linked into the projectors. They are turned off with a remote control before hitting start on the projector. On one occasion I had a projector shut down on me mid-show, got it fixed and started again, but forgot the advertising automatically comes on when the projector stops. I ended up running the advertising over the movie for a minute until I remembered to shut it off.

I've never used slides so I can't say for sure which is preferable.

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Mitchell Cope
Master Film Handler

Posts: 256
From: Overland Park, KS, United States
Registered: Jun 99

posted 10-01-2001 12:43 PM

The AMC Studio 30 in Olathe Kansas has been using digital projection for advertising for maybe 6 months now. It does have an impressive animated picture when first seen. Its effectiveness, however, may be no better than slides because the interest bearing material (i.e., those stupid movie trivia questions) don't get updated as often as they should.

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Scott Norwood
Film God

Posts: 8146
From: Boston, MA. USA (1774.21 miles northeast of Dallas)
Registered: Jun 99

posted 10-01-2001 04:57 PM

You would think that one of the advantages of using an LCD or DLP data projector would be that the material could be updated more easily across many theatres than with slides.

Actually, I think that the idea of using electronic projection for advertisements is a pretty good one, provided that a) the on-screen image is bright, large, and readable, b) advertisements continue the format of slides (still pictures, no annoying animation, etc.), and c) that the projectors are maintained well over time.

In practice, the problem would be that the projectors and bulbs are horrendously expensive compared with slides (though probably comparable to xenon slide projectors) and yet the revenue that they generate is the same. Also, slide projectors are fairly low maintenance devices and are cheap enough that spares can be kept in the booth in a multiplex environment if needed.

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System Notices
Forum Watchdog / Soup Nazi

Posts: 215

Registered: Apr 2004

posted 02-14-2006 08:56 AM

It has been 1596 days since the last post.

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John Summers
Film Handler

Posts: 6
From: Milaca, MN , USA
Registered: Oct 2005

posted 02-14-2006 08:56 AM

I have a slide projector in my theatre and the issues I have with it is the focus. It won't stay in focus for long and it seems that each slide is a little fuzzy even though I have the picutres looking really good. The issue I have with going to the DLP/LCD projectors is that my throw from booth to screen is about 94 feet. I have to spend more for a higher end projector that has a Long throw lens option. I need to keep price down because of what was stated earlier about getting enough advertising to pay for the projector. I even thought about running an Xbox tourney on Sat mornings so people can come in and play Xbox on the big screen. Does anyone out there have a long throw in their theatre and are using the digital projectors?

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Richard Fowler
Film God

Posts: 2392
From: Ft. Lauderdale, FL, USA
Registered: Jun 2001

posted 02-14-2006 11:26 AM

Screen size....

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Scott Norwood
Film God

Posts: 8146
From: Boston, MA. USA (1774.21 miles northeast of Dallas)
Registered: Jun 99

posted 02-14-2006 11:29 AM

Have you considered switching to glass slide mounts and/or an autofocus projector?

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