Learning & Leading Through Technology

Company

3M

www.3M.com

AAXA Technologies

www.aaxatech.com

Acer

www.acer.com

FAVI

www.favientertainment.com

Optoma

optomausa.com

Not long ago, all projectors weighed more than 15 pounds and cost several thousand dollars. My, how times have changed.

Like most technology, projectors have gotten exponentially more portable, affordable, and powerful.

Small, lightweight projectors—called handheld, pocket, ultraportable, palm, mini, and pico projectors—are handy for individual and small-group presentations in classrooms and professional learning sessions. It’s easy to carry them from class to class and hook them up to a portable device, such as a laptop, tablet, or smartphone. Models with SD and USB slots to store media don’t require a computer.

Here are a few of the factors to consider when choosing a portable projector:

Lumens. Luminosity, or brightness, is measured in lumens. The amount of lumens you need depends on the darkness of the room and the surface you project onto. If students need to take notes or if you want to make eye contact, the lights will need to be on. That means you’ll need a higher-lumen projector.

Bulbs. Traditional liquid crystal display (LCD) and digital light processing (DLP) projectors use lamps that last

1,000– 5,000 hours and are expensive to replace. The light-emitting diode (LED) projectors listed here are smaller and lighter than lamp-based projectors and require no warm-up or cool-down time.

Plus, because LED bulbs are longer-lasting and more efficient, you likely won’t have to replace them.

Projection surface. Although you can
project onto a blank wall, walls are
usually poor reflectors of light, so you
would need to buy a projector with
higher lumens. Projection screens are
good reflectors of light, so they work
best and would allow you to buy a
lower-lumen projector.

Resolution. Resolution determines the sharpness, or clarity, of the image. It is measured in pixels, or “ picture elements,” using two numbers. A resolution of 1600 x 1200, for instance, projects images with 1600 pixels across the screen from side to side and 1200 pixels from top to bottom. The higher the number of pixels, the better the resolution. If you are going to project small text and numbers or very detailed graphics, chose a higher resolution.

Image size. If you are in a small space with fewer than eight students, a small image is sufficient. With larger audiences and bigger rooms, the distance to the image will increase, so the size of the image will need to be larger to allow easy viewing.

Sound. Some projectors have speakers that you can adjust. Others require a built-in laptop speaker or external speakers to provide audio.

Price. You will pay more for higher lumens and better resolution, but for less than $200, you can find a projector that will work reasonably well in most classroom settings.

Visit a retail store to compare at least three projectors with varying lumens, resolutions, and screen sizes before making your purchase. Choose the device that works best not only for your budget but also for your classroom setup, lighting, and audience size.