Projectors 101: When to Use One

Technology changes fast. Flat panels are bigger, LED is cheaper. Both work in sunlight. In classrooms and conferences, projectors are fading.

But they are sometimes still necessary in (darker) exhibitions. When?

In six “S” situations:

1. Size
Monitors come big enough to sleep on. But for a whole wall to be image, if you don’t have LED money, it’s projector time.

2. Shapes with Size
Monitors come in certain shapes — usually 9:16 rectangles. For big images, shapes like clouds and sharks need projectors. (Make little shapes by masking monitors.)

3. Surface
A projector is a must if you want to Project Onto Stuff.

4. Sick of Screens
Some come to museums to escape glowing glass rectangles.

5. Safety
Sometimes a monitor isn’t safe. Example: an image people step on.

6. Special
My favorite. When you want it to be unclear how the image got there. Even when a screen might do, use a projector to make it … magic.

Here’s the thing:
Projectors still work in exhibitions, for these six “S” reasons:

1. Size
2. Shapes with Size
3. Surface
4. Sick of Screens
5. Safety
6. Special

Warmly,
Jonathan