Projector for outside use

[NigelTufnel]

I'm in the market soon for a home theater projector and screen for outside use. I'm wondering about a few things:

- How high of an angle and how far away from the screen can I expect to mount the projector? I want to be able to show football games and such without losing a lot of yard space due to screen blockage. My ideal setup would be to mount the permanently or semi-permanently under the eaves of my house and allow it to project through the yard onto a screen mounted on my wood privacy fence, but if I lose all the yard between the projector and screen, that's no good. My guess would be that stretching a string between the projector lens and the base of the screen will tell me what area will block the image.

-Will I be able to use this in the daytime, or just I expect to only be able to use it at night? I've been seeing the brightness ratings on a few models I've looked at, but I don't really know what the numbers translate to in usage.

-Do you thing it would be too distracting to have the speakers in a place other than at the screen?

I have to do this as cheaply as possible. Suggestions are appreciated.

[Brandon B]

Daytime outdoor projection is pretty much a non-starter, and with your "cheaply as possible" caveat, it goes very very far out of the picture.

Mounting a projector permanently outside will require building it a weather proof enclosure that still allows it to ventilate for cooling when operating.

The speaker thing is subjective, but I think for an outside rig, it should be fine.

What do you consider cheap?

[Hammie]

I think the Black Diamond screen needs to be looked at for your application. I remember reading an article where the applicaiton was for outdoor use and another in a room with a lot of natural light. It did extremely well.

As far as the projector, you will need to make sure it is safe from the weather. Either build a weather-proof box for it, or like you said, mount it under the eave of the back yard.

[farazakan]

Nowadays projectors are coming with weather shield.