How far away from the screen can you get with a projector?
I'd like to hide the projectors behind a small outcrop about fifty feet from the wall.  Does the distance away determine screen size?
 
How far can you run video cable (laptop to projector)?
What if the projector is a distance from the computer?
 
Which of the myriad of projectors would you use?

Here is Tech Church´s opinion:

DISCLAIMER
(Forgive me in advance for rambling - I always include more detail than people need - or want).

How far away from the screen can you get with a projector?  I'd like to hide the projectors behind a small outcrop about fifty feet from the wall.  Does the distance away determine screen size?
How far can you run video cable (laptop to projector)?
thanks to DH in Kansas for these questions

SHORT ANSWER: image size on screen is directly related to the throw distance. Been a few years since I researched projectors but most need 25 - 35 feet for a 9'x12' image. Using normal video cable (15-pin VGA type connector) don't expect to get the projector more than 6-10 feet away from the PC. Further distance requires a video amplifier.

LONG ANSWER:
Yes, distance alters the screen size. At my home church we use a Mitsubishi projector that is rated at 2000 lumens. To project a full 9'x12' image it needs to be about 30 feet from the screen. We are currently meeting in a school cafeteria that is 70 feet long. We originally wanted to shoot from the back of the room but that would have required a very expensive lens (over $1000) that would be unneeded when we get into a permanent building. From what I read back in 2000, using a "long throw" lens decreases the brightness. We opted to setup on one side of the room.

The previous multimedia service I was involved with met in a church fellowship hall built in the 1950's. It was originally a gymnasium with a stage. Very typical of what you see in public schools built during that era. In the 60's they converted the back half and sides to upstairs classrooms. this left the back half of the room with an 8 foot ceiling and the front half with a 20+ foot ceiling
We used a motorized screen (9x12) so it dropped just behind the curtains in the center of the stage. The projector (InFocus) was roughly 25-35 feet away and was mounted on the lower ceiling. There was no elegant way to hide the equipment so we ended up using the upstairs room on the far left side. In order to see the pastor and the screen, we cut a window in the interior wall over looking the stage. To connect the computer to the projector required about 150 feet of cable. This required a VGA amplifier box. The box worked as a splitter to feed the monitor beside the PC. The VCR (run of the mill consumer model) connected to the projector with plain coax cable.

Today I connect the VCR to the projector by a RCA cable (video only, audio is run through the sound board).

 
Which of the myriad of projectors would you use?
thanks to DH in Kansas for these questions

SIMPLE ANSWER: the brightest you can afford.

Seriously, I'm not much on brands - many of the brands out there are made by other companies and rebranded.

I haven't actually seen a DLP projector but from what I read this is better technology than the LCD panel. The DLP (digital light processor) was developed by Texas Instruments in the mid 90's. It was the next great thing that would revolutionize our TV sets. Obviously that never happened. As I understand it DLP has itty bitty mirrors for each pixel that reflects the light from the bulb. the processor controls the amount of reflection. The LCD projector shines the light through the LCD panel which results in some loss of light. If everything else was the same, I'd pick DLP over LCD. [learn more at www.DLP.com

I feel for people trying to retrofit sanctuaries for projection. It is impossible to control the light from windows (without causing an uproar by some of the congregation).

The InFocus projector I used was bought in 1995. It was state of the art, cost about $10,000, and was rated at 250 lumens. Five years later I order a 2000 lumen projector for $6,800. Fortunately the InFocus was used for a night service so window light was minimized and we had dimmers on the overhead lights.
The cafeteria were we currently use the 2000 lumen projector has one wall of windows that go from ceiling to about two feet above the floor. They all have miniblinds which we keep closed. The windows face West so we are spared the morning sun. Overhead lights are commercial fluorescent fixture and no dimming is possible - either on or off.  When we show video we turn the lights off.

In my opinion 2000 lumens is not bright enough for a normally lit room.
It works and most people are happy with it, but it is nowhere close to matching a good TV set.

From what I read the projector companies have gotten a little more honest with the lumen ratings. However there are a lot of factors involved.

1) the bigger the image, the dimmer the image.
a fixed amount of light is projected; the more square inches it has to cover decreases the density of the light per square inch.

2) screen surface matters.
Some surfaces are much more reflective than others and it makes a big difference in real world perception.

3) Projector bulbs are expensive to replace. When you narrow your list of projectors down to just a few you should then price replacement bulbs. It might influence your decision.

If it was my church, here is what I would do:
Figure out how much is budgeted for the video system and make a best guess as to how much you will spend on the "fixed cost": screen, cables, amplifiers, etc. I'd expect these to be the same regardless of what projector you get. Now you have an idea of how much is left you can spend on projectors

Try to determine what you are going to show on the screen and how are you going to do it (Powerpoint? Flash? Video tape?), then you can decide on how much resolution you want. the native resolution for Powerpoint is suppose to be 800x600. I use 1024x768 for our presentations. Most modern projectors are capable of much better resolution than that. No need to pay for more resolution than you are going to use.

A good place to start researching is Presentations Magazine (http://www.presentations.com/). This is a monthly magazine geared toward the business road warrior that does presentations. The articles cover a wide area - people that create presentations, people that give the presentation, and technology. I've gotten it for years as a free subscription. Several times since 1995 they have done cover stories on churches and multimedia. Their website has a useful search engine tracking down dealers (specify a mileage range). If you have a particular projector in mind you might get lucky and find a review of it on the web site.

The last projector I ordered was from a company in Tampa called AVI. In April 2000, they carried a number of different brands and had a very through comparison on the web site (http://www.aviinc.com/). This is a great place to do your technical homework, regardless of where you buy.  They also had the best price I could find. The sales guy was very knowledgeable and willing to admit if he did not know the answer. I think I was originally leaning toward a Proxima (could be wrong on the brand)  until the sales guy pointed out that the Mitsubishi was the same projector (I forget who made who - I think Mitsubishi was the real manufacter) and Mitsubishi were offering a special that made it a couple hundred dollars cheaper.

If you go with a local dealer be sure you find out their repair policy - do they give you a loaner while your equipment is down? Do they take the unit for repair or do you have to box it & ship it yourself?

One thing I would absolutely do is get a sample projector and test it during the same time of day as your service. If a dealer wants to come out and set up a screen great, otherwise get any old movie screen out of the closet. You are not trying to see the big picture in this case, just get an idea of brightness and if it will work at 11:00 on a Sunday morning. I can't imagine a dealer not willing to do an in-sanctuary demo for you. A savvy dealer will even offer to let you try it on a Sunday.

Random thoughts:

I find raising and lowering a screen during the service distracting - someone may suggest an electric screen that drops down when needed, that would be a last resort in my opinion. The screen needs to be a permanent fixture, not always possible when retro fitting an existing sancutary.

They make projector mounting devices that hang from the ceiling  - it looks like a thin pipe. Keep this in mind if the projector needs to be mounted in "mid air"

make sure the remote control can be connected by a wire. Most of remotes I have seen have this ability. But in these days of cost cutting watch out.

Features I would want on a projector:

"Freeze" - this lets you freeze whatever is showing on the big screen. Very useful if you need to "fix" something in a presentation without having to go to a blank screen.

disable the "channel display" - when switching back and forth from computer to video most projectors display on screen a label like "VIDEO1" or "DATA1" for a few seconds, (much like a TV when you change channels). This is distracting and you should be able to turn off this feature.

replacement bulb cost  (what can I say - I'm a tightwad?)

Most projectors let you reverse and flip the picture. This is for rear projection or hanging upside down. Rear projection is great if you have the space behind the screen.

The best solution may not be a projector at all. Have you thought about using TV monitors every so many feet? I think this is (currently) the best solution for very bright sanctuaries.  Sometimes this is a cheaper solution than a projector, especially for a long narrow room.

If you are going to use sound in your presentations you will need to connect to the PA system. I use a four channel mixing board from Radio Shack.  Input for each channel is your choice of RCA phono plug or 1/4 inch microphone. Output from the mixing board is 1/4 inch. If your PA equipment use XLR type connections you will need a converter box to go from the 1/4 inch to XLR. This is the same black box that electric guitars use to connect to XLR. The mixer and converter will probably cost about $150 (plus cables).

Another interesting magazine I started receiving in 2002 is called "Sound & Communications - The Magazine for System Integrators, Contractors, and Consultants".  
Here is the website but other than subscribing, it is worthless (even more useless than mine ;-) (http://www.soundandcommunications.com/html/Subscribe.htm). The December 2002 issue had a cover story on a Nissan dealership in the Mall of Georgia that installed a projection system in the front window (big window). It only runs at night (too expensive to make it bright enough for daylight). They use two projectors to project one image (if properly aligned two projectors will double the brightness). The magazine article list the projectors as Sharp XG-V10WU (4700 lumens). Just did a quick search and found this model for $15,000
(http://www.pricewatch.com/2/93/794-3.htm) [note: this search was done January 2003]
I'm guessing $30,000 for a pair of projectors might be a tad much for most churches, on the same page is 3300 lumen model for $6350.

I know nothing about Sharp projectors - I'll assume from the article they were used because the consultant made more profit with this model or they are a good reliable projector. Probably a little of both.

Video Amplifier Ideas
My home church is in the process of building a sancutuary and I will soon be trying to figure out how to install & connect our existing equipment. The ceiling is 32 feet high at the center and the computer will be about 50 feet away as the bee flies but probably about 250 feet as the ant crawls. My only fear is the video amplifier. I'm clueless as far what to look for and what is needed. I think that is the real key for a remote setup . If you use more than one projector you will need a video amplifier with multiple outputs. I anticipate needing a video feed to the projector, a monitor on the stage for the pastor, and possibly monitors in several other rooms. I'm actually leaning toward a CAT5 converter. This device converts the video signal out of the computer so it can be sent over a network cable (CAT5 type cable). The projector has a device to convert it from the network back to 15-pin VGA. The advantage to this system is CAT5 cable is cheap compared to VGA cable and multiple projectors and computer monitors can be connected to the network.

Look for updates to this project in Fall 2003.