Karaoke Forums

I'm wondering if anyone has thought about having a portable projection system with mobile karaoke.

My karaoke system is designed to move around, so I have tried to be as compact as I can. The one thing I have found missing in this mobile system is the ability to hook up to multiple tv's, which I previously had at my regular venues. I also run videos and stuff for DJ, and sometimes between singers when things are slow. I really like the "punch" that a big video screen gives a show. The driving force for this has been that I am starting a karaoke contest in a large club on the 18th of Jan.

What I want to do is to have a portable projector that I can set-up on site. I bought an NEC VT595 projector and a mono tripod with clamp mount, that will clamp to my table leg at one end. On the other end I will have a screen against the wall, at an angle away from the working side of the system. My table is only 4 feet long, so the maxium screen size will be about 42-48", which is pretty big for that little distance.

I'm still working out the details of this, and was wondering if anyone else has done something like this.

Why can't you hook up to multiple tv's?  All you would need is a signal splitter & possibly an rf converter if the bars tv's are coax input.

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A number of the clubs I have been working have wired the TV's so that it's difficult to connect into the loop. Most cases each tv would need a switch and separate wiring.

I may be able to go back to the distribution point, but a lot of times that is some distance away. It's very inconvenient to run long cables on the fly. Usually I can hook into one tv by disconnecting the house line.

Also, I have been doing more wedding and private parties, where the halls don't have any TV's.

With the price of quality projectors coming way down, I decided it would improve my show if I went this route. So far, it looks like it will work pretty well. I also use my system as a selling tool. My in between singers screen has my business info, phone and website.

The small portable screen on my table would only be used in places where there isn't a convenient open wall to project on. In wedding halls or private parties, the projector will be able to rotate and adjust to project on a wall, some distance away, thus giving a real large screen experience.

My shows contain more multi-media than most, and in particular, weddings and parties want more than just karaoke.

I was just hoping someone else may have done this to compare notes.

As far as projection screens, yes it would work - looks better to have an actual projection screen rather than to just show it on the wall.  
As far as clubs, I generally will wire it once & have it set up in such a way that I will leave the wire/coax/a/b switches installed so all I need to do is come in & plug the player source in, no running cables on the night of the show.

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Yeah,

The places I do most often have it wired up so I can run off their tv's. Lately, I've been branching out, and find all different kinds of set-ups. Some may not be continuous jobs, so I thought it would make sense to have a portable system.

Also, the parties and weddings. I'm doing a lot more of them lately.

The only problem I can think of with projecting an image onto a screen is that quite often it's hard to see what's on the screen in a brightly lit environment.  I could forsee this being a problem during a summer outside wedding, or a hall with LOTS of windows/natural light with an afternoon reception.  That would be my only concern.  I have thought of doing this, but haven't ever had the money.  Only I was considering using the projector as a rear projector.  I think this would require a special screen though.

A suggestion for you with this screen though (if you're not already marketing this with your business) is to get a lapel wireless mic (or not) and do business meetings.  You've got a projector, you've got a PA.  2 main components that presenters use when holding a business meeting.  Just a thought.

DJ,

I agree with you on the light issue, that's why I didn't do this before. The new projectors have come down in price and size, and most have passed the 1500 lumens threashold, which makes them much better in lighted environments. The NEC projector I bought is 2000 lumens, and it has a very bright picture, even in a fully lit room. I have run it in my livingroom during the day, when the room is bright. Direct sunlight is a problen, even with a standard tv. I don't think any projector would be able to do a good job outside in daylight.

The back lit screen is pretty easy to do, but you need space for this. The projector still has to be back from the screen to get any size out of it.

I like your idea on business use...I'll have to think about that.

One thing I didn't consider is a UPS power supply, as the lamp must cool down or they burn out. This is a problem if the power goes out. Now I'm looking at power supplies  :shock:

The new projectors have color compensation for using them on walls. You select the color of the wall, and the projector adjusts the settings to get the best picture. With the high brightness level of these projectors, they look very good on most walls (as long as the surface is realitively smooth). I tried it on a tan wall, and it looked very good. Haven't tried darker colors yet.

I have used projectors for 9 years. As stated, they need to be at least 1500 lumens (mine are 2500) to show the color changes in a karaoke song in a halfway lit room.

Never a good idea to buy the ones from radio shack or cheap ones from costco- they're not built rugged and the bulbs burnout 1/2 the rated time.

i've found NEC and Infocus higer-end units to be worth their weight in gold, for both karaoke performances and huge deejay events. (DJ VJ KJ)

also you buy the spandex material stretch screens that fit any size wall and still get an excellent picture. I run videos on mine and the clarity is excellent.

...but if you're working in a small dingy bar....well....the 15 inch lcd tvs are getting cheap now. And they weigh next to nothing.  just my .002

J,

Thanks for the response. I agree with what you said, and I really like the picture on the NEC I bought. I looked at a number of the micro sized projectors (under 3 lbs), but most only went to about 1000 lumens, and many were under that. I knew I would need more than that, so I compromised and got the NEC portable.

Tell me more about the spandex. I was told the best material is drapery lining. It has a pure white coating that is luminecent. I bought some yesterday and hung it on the wall, and the picture is significantly brighter.

As far as stretching a frame for the screen, I'm looking at portability, because I want to take the screen with me from venue to venue. It probably won't be over 50" diagonal. I am looking at applying the material with spray adhesive to a foam core board and then frame that with aluminum or rubber edging. I will mount this to a frame made of PVC pipe, and have fittings that allow me to attach it to my table. This will be somewhat adjustable to get larger or smaller picture depending on space. I'm looking at about 4-5 feet from screen to projector.

I have an adjustable monopod (single leg tripod) that clamps to the leg on the other end of the table, with the projector. This is different than a fixed monopod, in that it has pivot points on the leg, that allows the projector to pivot and move around a radius of about 12". This will give me the ability to adjust position for the fixed screen, or to aim the projector at a wall.

Do you use a UPS with your projector? Can I use a small one? The projector shows 250Watts, so could I use one that small? I don't want to lug a huge battery pack around.

Isn't the UPS just to apply power to the filament for cooldown? I wouldn't think it would take that much power. A bigger concern might be capacity. How much cooldown time do you need?

I guess my theory was to give it enough power to run normal, then you have the time to turn it off and let it cycle normally. If you assume that on a power outage, you don't want the power to just drop off, because it's in run mode when this happens. I think you need full power on the back-up.

The cool down time is really short. 15-20 seconds. The fan runs at a higher speed when you shut the unit off, to speed up cool down. Capacity isn't an issue. A minute or so should be plenty.

You need to have the brightest bulb you can afford.  It is even better if you get the projectors they call "daylight view."  They can be seen just like a TV outside.

My projector when you turned off the power button, the light would go out and the fans would continue to run until it was cool enough not to damage the electronics.   There was an internal thermostat and anytime the bulb would get to hot, (like if a fan would fail) the projector would shut down.  Safety feature.

Real short if someone is right there to turn it off.

250W is nothing to speak of. A typical computer power supply these days is as much or more than that. I think a basic UPS would do the trick. But how many bulbs can you buy before you pay for it? Power outages of more than a second or two are quite uncommon in most places.....

At $299 each for replacement bulbs, quite a few...

I've seen the 250 watt UPS new for $25 on E-bay.

If the bulb is that expensive, it makes sense to spend a bit more money and over-specify your UPS. But again, you are probably talking a very rare occurrence, so if the 250W will *probably* get it you have a real strong shot at never having the problem.

Don't forget too, that anytime you introduce a new item into the equation you introduce a chance of failure due to operator, cord, or hardware error. In fact, if 1 second of power outage doesn't hurt you -- i.e. the item comes back on and doesn't lose its life with a blip in the power -- I would strongly recommend you *don't* get a UPS, as it is quite unlkely to happen.

But I take all that back -- now that I think about it, the cord-kick or power-switch type of power failure is pretty common.  If you can control the area around the UPS, it would protect you from those.

You go by LUMINS   BIGGER IS BETTER.   My bulb was $400 and you had to turn down the bar lights. Not nearly enough lumins.  I wouldn't buy another projector unless it was 2000 lumins or higher.   You want it to be seen in all lighting conditions. Not just total darkness.  Anything less will be a waste of your money.

That's the problem, when you think about all the possibilities, it makes sense to have the UPS...besides, one of my venues, has power outages occassionally...happened twice during karaoke in the past few years.

Sidewinder,

I totally understand where your coming from. I have wanted to do this before, but just didn't see the benefit, with the price of projectors, replacement bulbs and the washed out look of the picture.

The NEC I got is 2000 lumens. So far, in setting it up and testing it, this is more than I will need in most situations. It also has an economy mode that saves on bulb life and is 1600 lumens. In my house, with daylight (very bright, as the room has a lot of windows), I actually have to reduce the brightness to get a good picture.

It's really important to have flexibility in projector placement, as any direct lighting that shines on or near the screen could be a problem. The set up I'm putting together, will let me locate the projector in a number of different configurations, to try and accomidate different venues and lighting conditions. The portable screen will only be used when I don't have a clear wall to point it at. The design of the screen is complete, and will let me vary the size from 34" - 55" in very little space.

I think this is going to work out fine. I will say, that if your really picky about picture quality, a projector probably isn't the right way to go. The one bad point is that blacks are really not black, more like gray. I have a high def LCD TV, and it's light years ahead of the projector in terms of picture quality. But, I didn't buy the projector to watch the Super Bowl. As long as you can see the image, for karaoke and music videos, it should work fine.

I have the projector and portable screen put together.

The screen is 40" with the capability to go larger.

Pictures here:

http://www.flickr.com/photos/22794316@N03/

Let me know what you think.