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Does anyone have any experience of projectors that can be used outdoors?
Ideally have multiple inputs for phone, usb etc and Bluetooth audio out for speakers
And not ridiculously expensive, as it won't get used that much
It needs to be dark for projectors to work.
Probably best to use a TV. But why outside? Screens are never great in sunlight.
But why outside? Screens are never great in sunlight.
Just a whim - saw someone set up an outdoor cinema in their garden and fancied the idea. Will probably never do it 😂
I'm sure it's possible at night. But the other problem is sound. It would have to be quite loud to hear everything which might upset neighbours if they are close.
We set up an outdoor cinema for all the kids in the street occasionally. Normal projector with small amped speakers. Project it onto a gazebo side or a wall and they get all the benches, chairs and beanbags out and snuggle down. Everyone loves it.
We have a five year old Optoma HD141x that we do this with. I bought a painters cloth and hang it from some ratchet straps across the deck and project onto that then use a portable Bluetooth speaker plugged into the output. I'm sure newer versions have Bluetooth built in and you can get an equivalent quality projector for less than the 500 USD we paid these days.
I love outdoor movies. It's kid of a pain to set up as it's normally roof mounted, but I'm looking forward to setting it up outside full time in a few years when 4k versions come down in price and I get a replacement for inside the house.
Projectors are a pain compared to TV's in a lot of ways but they still lend a sense of occasion to watching something and lend themselves less well to the "I'll just stick something on in the background" style of watching that isn't really my thing.