try plasmas they work well in low light.

The DJ screen looks cool but is it rear projection compatible?

I also like the "wall of plasma" look which can be achieved for about 5k.

It works with both front and rear projection.

lycra is cheap and easy and streches to form to any space you want....plus front or rear or whatever you want baby...oh yeah I'm not supposed to share my info but then agian i don't work for that conrtolling prick anymore(pardon my words but thats the nicest thing i could think of to call him)
i checked otu those cscreens along time ago and they seeemd cool but not practical for field work or touring expose's in my opinoin....good for big stages and standig set ups but not runnign the gountlet in my personal experience

oh make that it is lycra....and thats about five dollars a metre from most clothe stores or sewing stores....just don't bleach it if you want it to keep...

You can find that Lycra stuff cheap on Ebay.
Works great on a free standing truss system.

If you want a pro looking screen, get a fast fold with at least the bottom skirt.
Got some great recon stuff at Sreenworks in Chicago, all sizes, real reasonable and easy people to deal with.
www.thescreenworks.com
By far my 6x8' gets more use than my 9x12's

On projectors, this can get tricky.
I use 4000 lumen Sanyos mainly because I do outside shows at dusk.
If you want great color, I recommend the highest you can get and afford.
Rear projection is going to lose 10% going through the skin.
Keeps the projectors out of harms way, but steals room out front.
Light shows sweeping and overhead lighting will also cut the image brightness down considerably.
DLP projectors have a color blending wheel that will total out a projector when they breakand not be as bright per lumen as lcd.

B&H Photo are great people to deal with.

Just little things that have burned me over time.

i find buying lycra off the roll form any clothe store is more then affodable and replacable at anytime...
7 bucks a metre is great and since those screens at the first link are lycra anyways why spend 300 on a ten dollar chunk of material? even if the are flame retardents coated.... but the projector info is valuable to me for sure!!!
i also generally do outdoor shows but do shows in halls too...and the great thign about lycra is you can stretch it to fit any shape or size....we generally hand it from the tenting down over the scaffold we cover the speaker stacks with covering it all in and making for a nice uniform front end of the stage....

for rear projection i think the best bet is the same stuff they make veils out of for weddig dresses the best part about that stuff if you hang it froma roof you can do layers and send them out in odd angles form each other top make distored imagery plus fill more space at the venue with it

Got any picture samples waffelz? Sounds like you know whats up.

not on me no....but yeah i've done a fair share of field work man....up to four gigs a weekend...mainly smaller shows but have done stages at massives...
basicly the most common thing we did was take a carport tent(20feet by 20feet) take out the middle poles and have it running so the dj is in the tweenty foot stretch...put that up on scaffold so the outr edges meet up with the inside posts of the scaffold(ten foot planks in the scaffold) then we'd sheet off the front of the scaffold(oh yeah use extra poles form the other tents to make extending walls on the short end that come out of the stacks) sheet off the front of the scaffold and stretch it up to the top of the tent...run it across the front on the bottom and out adn up to the top of the tent in the middle thusly making a nice uniformed white front that can be projected on either form the front or the back usually front as poles wires etc get in the way of the projecton...if i can find a snap online sometime in the near future of one of our stages and find out how to post em in here i will....
p.s. my "boss" was REAL cheap and since it was my responsibilty to cover the visual of it and well i have a kid i had no choice but to be cheap too and well lycra is cheap affordable replacable and GREAT
in fact it was the best thing we found for screens...you can easily get long lengths and run em from tree to tree(we had one peice that was about five meteres long and stretched to a REAL GOOD distance...)

i like projectors for 1000 or more people venues but normally rent the big panasonics 10k lumen units. I would say after doing hundreds of video shows that plasmas are the best choice for me to own. you dont have to worry about projector placment and the picture is alot richer. I use plasmas on 2 crank lifts and 12" square truss. i have about $1500 in each plasma and $1000 in each lift and about $750 in truss. and i made enough in the first Few events to pay for it all.

I just use wall mounts for the plasmas and put 2" truss clamps on the mounting hardware. DJ 2nd nature has used this rig about 20 times.

Does anyone know about plasma or LCD video walls?

not i...just project and roll with it myself... sounds liek home boy up there has a good clear knowledge of em tho

they are expensive. you pretty much need to buy a complete package at once. i have seen them up to 1 million plus dollars

There's gotta be a cheaper way.

There is. Although you're still looking at 5 or 6 grand.

Most television manufacturers make commercial grade plasmas that can be "linked together" with multiple units to achieve a video-wall type effect.

This is a great thread to read regarding the topic:

start.prodj.com

Thanks

i personally am a fan of projectors...might not have as nice of resolution speacily in the day but it works for me and it';s cheap...

which is what i need being a family man now...

Well I don't agree that projection is a cheap alternative.
Screens with lower dress kits are going to run you 9-1100 and a decent projector is going to be 1500 anyway for a 3000 + lumen decent brand. I recommend a 4k lumen for many reasons.

The durability and ease of set up is another consideration.
Plazmas have to be handled and transported with kid gloves and load in and out can be a real pain not to even mention attaching to a truss or crank stand.
This info comes from those who I know use them.

Fast folds are lighter, durable, don't care about elements and set up is easy to do even alone.
Granted, room is a consideration I need 12' for my 6x8.
But, imo bigger is definitely better.
Bigger and brighter is more important to me than HD quality.
We are not broadcasting a HD movie or sporting event, its a glance here and a glance there.
The farther away you are the better it looks too, where as with Plazmas, the farther away you get, the smaller it gets in a hurry.

What about LCD's?

No one ever uses LCD's, Why?

screens are cheap if your smart... and pa grande and a half for a projector beats up to a mil for a plasma wall in my world...but then agian thats me...
i pay about 5 dollars a metre for my screens....lycra is the bomb diggity....

Lcd's are still pretty expensive compared to plasma's in the same size range especially when you get to 50" and 60" plasma's vs. lcd's. The standard for the dj companies that I work with are the 50" and 60" pioneer plasma, They are commercial grade, have ins and outs so you can daisy chain the plasma's, and are real road worthy, we have had the 50" ones for years and they still work great and are clean looking. here is a link to one of them, you can see the price for them is very reasonable too.www.newegg.com

I'm new to this video stuff but I would like two big video displays (for Bar Mitzvahs).

I'm concerned about space (that's why I was thinking about video walls).
Short throw lenses are very expensive.
NEC makes a projector that creates short throw using mirrors for about $2,500.

I would also like more info from Waffelz about lycra (I'll PM you).
Also Brian, check your PM.

- Kenny Q

guys, don't forget too, with rear projection you can buy one of these mirror contraptoins to cut down on needed throw distance

www.projectors-now.com

That was cool but need to make it portable. I'll experiment with that concept for a cheap alternative and mobile thanks.

yeah, you definitely wold have to build your own portable one,,,I put that pick up just so u guys can see the concept

doesnt the lumen rating depend on how far you are going to place the projector from the screen?

If you have got a close proximity lens and your projector is only 5ft away from the screen I don't think you need a high lumen rating?

I was able to pick up a fairly cheap projector with rear projection and built in dvd player and close prox lense. Lumen rating is only 1800 and to be honest its clear as a whistle. Room is half lit and image is still clear.

Built in dvd player is a dream because I use it as a backup. It has audio out so this is rigged to my PA system also.

BTW my projector sits on a camera tripod. I made up a bracket so that screws on like a camera. Its perfect if your a mobile dj.

Nice... good idea. Got any pics of it?

wtf? this sounds like a projection screen tv to me...?
i don't get it since it sit's on a trip pod...
anyways LYCRA is a kind of meterial you can by at any store that sells cloth on rolls and most sewing shops that are big...around here there's places called fabric land...they're a little more pricey then say walmart which has it some of the tiem and it's real cheap form them...
p.s. you should be able to hang your projector off of a roof if it's not a low celieng...we use the air conditioning units at this one hall with these speaker stands that are angled for hifi sound or somethign, placed upside down to point the proj downwards get's us the perfect angle and it's out of the way so it's great(unles someone does the bad thing of killing teh breakers in the hall) oh yeah and we duct tape them to keep them from vibrating off or slidign off and smashing

Brackets are pretty easy to make.
Take a piece of 3/16 aluminum plate, locate the mount points on the bottom of the projector. Drill the points and screw the plate to the bottom.
Then take a marble and find true center of balance under the place.
Drill and tap that for 1/4"x20 treads per inch.
This is the standard thread for tripods.
Mine came with quick mounts which I recommend to keep the threads strong and intact. It also makes set up a snap.

Tripods are good because they are adjustable, a big factor if you do outside gigs.
r

true that..thansk for the advice...speaker stands work great for stands too but you still need the mount for the proj

oh and that reminds me taping up your lycra will ripp it eventually and if you use it never wash it with bleach!!! it makes it an off colour more brown then anything which is bad for quality....besides if it gets mangled then you can replace it for as chepa as buying it