Category Archives: Micro Projector

Update on micro projector technology

Digital Art Projector: Artograph Flare 450

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There are many ways to produce art, from pen and paper to photoshop. With the advancement in technologies, there are many alternate options to expressing your creativity. One company, Studio Design Artograph, is a company that is focused on making the creative process more rewarding and productive for customers while motivating them to discover and enjoy their creative inner self. One projector that they sell, the Artograph Flare 450, is the latest LED digital projector. This digital projector produces a high-definition picture that’s bright and vivid. The 420 lux display a native 1920 x 1080 image. The LED lights have a 30,000-hour lifespan and run on a rechargeable lithium-ion battery for up to 150 minutes in eco mode, or simply leave the projector plugged in for longer sessions. The Flare 450 is small and lightweight for maximum portability, but its powerful lens can project images up to 120″.

Applications for Flare 450 Digital Projector:

  • Use projector to draw your favorite picture by using the 12 built in Grid Patterns to help guide you
  • The small Pico projector allows you to be portable with your creativity
  • The 150 minutes of battery life on ECO mode is perfect for little side projects

More Info on Projector: Flare 450 Digital Projector

5 Things To Look Out For When Buying A Refurbished Projector

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outdoor projector amazon

Buying a projector is no simple task, as you would want to get the right projector for your specific needs. What’s even harder is purchasing a refurbished model instead of a new one. Most people assume that refurbished is a fancier way of saying “Used”, however, this is not really the case! Most refurbished items are practically brand new items! Today, we’re going to go over 5 things to look out for when buying a refurbished projector.

1. Pricing

YouÍll Never Guess Why the Dollar Sign in an S | Southern Living

Starting off with pricing, this is a key component when purchasing a refurbished projector. The reason being is that sellers/companies tend to lower the price on refurbished projectors that may have some issues. Doing research a not settling down for the cheapest option can save you a lot of time and money!

2. Packaging & Accessories

Review: AAXA's ST200 LED Pico Projector beams bright, color-accurate HD video from an Apple TV-sized box - 9to5Mac

Next up we have the packaging or the box the refurbished projector is in. You will want to reach out to whoever you are thinking about purchasing your refurbished projector from. This way you will get a better understanding of what you will be given before the purchase is made. Asking simple questions like, “Does it come in original packaging” or “Are all the original accessories included”, are sure-fire ways to determine if what you are thinking about purchasing is worth it or not.

3. Age

Review: AAXA P4 Pico Projector | TechCrunch

You will want to determine the age of the refurbished model you are looking into purchasing and when it was originally manufactured. You don’t want to purchase a refurbished projector that has a 1-Year Warranty Replacement, only to find out that the projector is not manufactured anymore!

4. Cosmetics

Epson 5040 front lens scratch or scuff - removal? | AVS Forum

Cosmetic defects are something to expect when purchasing a refurbished model. In most cases, there are little to no cosmetic defects when purchasing refurbished products. However, some companies tend to grade their products depending on the severity of cosmetic defects there are. Reaching out to the seller will give you a better understanding of what grades they have in stock!

5. Quality

How to Clean the Screen of LCD Projectors?

Lastly is quality, testing the product and comparing it to a newer version should do you justice. This helps to determine if the refurbished model is really considered refurbished or used. When looking into refurbished projectors, you will want to check the quality of the color, buttons, ports, and lastly brightness.

If you haven’t already, go check out our previous post: The Benefits of Purchasing Refurbished Projectors

The Benefits of Purchasing Refurbished Projectors

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When purchasing a new projector, manufacturers and retailers will offer many buying options like New, Refurbished, or Used. There are differences between Refurbished and Used, which we will focus on today to understand the benefits of purchasing a Refurbished projector. 

Here are some pros of buying a Refurbished Projector.

  1. Cost Saving: Generally Refurbished Projectors are cheaper than New
  2. Certified Testing: All refurbished projectors undergo certified testing which is carried out by the manufacturer. The faulty parts in the electronics are repaired and then tested again for checking their performance before they are diffused in the market for resale.
  3. Eco-Friendly: Buying refurbished electronics instead of dumping in landfills can bring a second life to the electronic devices. This can leave a positive impact on the environment and save it from getting polluted through the harmful penetration of the hazardous elements into the atmosphere
  4. Availability of Older Model: If you preferred a certain model and the company no longer sells that model, Refurbished will be the only option to buy these older models.
  5. High Chance of Like-New Conditions: There are a lot of times when a projector is returned due to a customer changing their mind. This will allow for a “Like-New” condition projector that is almost like new but significantly cheaper. 

On top of the pros of buying a Refurbished Projector, you also have to be aware of the cons as well.

  1. Shorter Warranty: Some manufacturers will offer none or shorter term warranty for the refurbished projectors instead of the 1 year manufacturer warranty. Although companies like AAXA Technologies still offer 1 year manufacturer warranty on their refurbished products.
  2. Unknown life span: It is almost impossible to know the life span or used time on refurbished projectors.

Things To Do With Your Friends This Fall 2021!

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As the summer heat cools down and the leaves on trees change color, this can only mean one thing and one thing only, Fall is coming! We’ve come up with a list of things you can do with friends this Fall.

Going to a Pumpkin Patch

Pick the Perfect Pumpkin Patch around Lake Wylie

Starting off with going to a pumpkin patch! When Fall comes the season of pumpkins starts. These pumpkin patches aren’t just for picking out pumpkins, you could say they’re more like mini-festivals! They could have anything from; games, attractions, petting zoos, and food! Go out to your local pumpkin patch and see what’s in store!

Pumpkin Carving

10 Best Pumpkin Carving Kits - Pumpkin Tools for Halloween 2021

If you went to your local pumpkin patch, then you had to have bought some pumpkins right?! Next, we have pumpkin carving, a great activity to do with your friends and family during the Fall Season. Carve the coolest or wackiest designs with your friends and family to see who did the best!

Halloween Decorating

Ghostly Apparitions - AtmosFX Halloween Digital Decorations – AtmosFX Digital Decorations
Link: Digital Decorations for Halloween 2021

As Fall comes, then that means Halloween is just around the corner! Decorate with your homes with your friends to see who had the scariest decorations! You could even use uncarved pumpkins with digital decorations and a projector to project some spooky animations!

Outdoor Movie Night

Link: How to Have the Best Backyard Movie Night This Summer!

Last but not least, you can’t do Fall without having an outdoor movie night! Whip out your favorite projector and invite your friends and family to have a nice and cool Fall movie night! Bring your favorite snacks and bring out a projection screen or even a big white blanket to play with your favorite movies outdoors!

Here’s a list of some projectors you can use for your outdoor movie night:

AAXA P6X Pico Projector
Anker Nebula Solar Portable
Dr. J HI-04 Mini Projector

Halloween Digital Decorations 2021

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With Halloween 2021 fastly approaching, people are slowly setting up their Halloween decorations. One popular way to decorate your house is to use digital projections for decorating. A Youtuber, Toil & Trouble’s DIY, does amazing videos on Halloween decorations using brand new digital decorations consisting of silly and spooky videos as well as classic Halloween characters. 

In his recent Halloween decoration video, he used AtmosFX video of the three pumpkins along with an AAXA BP1 Projector. This is a cheap setup under $200 anyone looking for an alternative way to decorate for Halloween.

AtmosFX Jack-O’-Lantern Jamboree 3 Demo & Review (New for Halloween 2021)

Here are a few steps to setup your own Singing Pumpkin Halloween Decorations.

  1. Buy the pumpkins. For annual setup, buying fake pumpkin is optimal for reusability.
  2. Buy and Download the AtmosFX Jack-O’-Lantern Jamboree 3 video.
  3. Load the video file into an USB or SD card and connect it to your projector. An AAXA BP1 Projector was used for this video.
  4. Project your Jack-O’-Lantern Jamboree 3 video directly at your pumpkins.
  5. Add background lightings and other props to add to the Halloween Theme.

Digital Decorations for Halloween 2021

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Things are finally beginning to cool down, and with Fall just around the corner, the next big seasonal holiday is none other than Halloween! Did you know that you could use a projector to create digital decorations? The use of a projector paired with holographic effects can create even the scariest illusions for your haunted house this Halloween! We’re going to dive into the necessary tools needed to create these digital decorations.

Projector

The Best Home Projectors To Screen Movies At Home | IndieWire

The first thing you will need to create these digital decorations is going to be a projector! You will want to have a projector that has a short to medium-range throw ratio. The projector will not need high resolution, standard resolution will work perfectly fine! Lastly, lumens will make the biggest difference, as this will factor in how the holographic image is produced on the projection screen. We recommend something with at least 100 LED lumens or more!

Here’s a list of some of the projectors we think would be the best for this:

Amazon: AAXA BP1 Speaker Projector

Projection Screen

The next thing you will need for the digital decorations is going to be a projection screen. However, this isn’t going to be just your average projection screen, you’re going to need something that is thin and semi-transparent for this to work perfectly! We recommend using thin mesh netting, transparency film, or anything that is really see-through. This is a necessary piece as this will provide the illusion of a holographic effect, the more see-through your screen is the better the effect!

Here’s a list of some materials you can use as projection screens:

Amazon: Reaper Brothers 40″ X 60″ High Resolution Fabric Rear Projection Screen
Amazon: Bridal Veil

Visuals

Lastly, you are going to need the star of the show, your visual effects! You can use a vast majority of different visual effects, however, we recommend something that isn’t too bright with now background images as it can cause make the projection screen visible.

Here are some examples:

Evil Twins
AtmosFX Evil Twins
Musical Skeletons
AtmosFX Musical Skeletons

Once Halloween comes by let us know what you did for your decorations in the comments below!

Top 5 Essential Accessories For Your Home Projection Experience

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Projectors have become an important part of modern homes and offices. Newer models of projectors have extensive range, with more connection settings and ports that enhance the user experience with different options to play and connect your devices. With the increase in projector’s capability, there is also an increase in accessories available for different projectors. There are a few essential accessories that help to improve the image quality while others enhance the viewers’ experience. Some projector accessories include tripods, carrying case, adapters, HDMI cables, etc…

  • Projector Screen: The most important accessory to have with your projector is a good projector screen since it allows for a steady, clear image. The size and quality of the screen depends on the type of projector that you have. Most modern projectors can handle projection up to about 200 inches. It is also important to know how far to position your projector screen based on the projector’s throw ratio.  For rooms that have high ambient light, a light-rejecting projector screen is a must unless you can shut out the light completely.
  • External Speakers: Even though projectors have improved over the years, some still don’t come with built in speakers or come with very low quality speakers. Having one speaker will be enough to improve the sound quality, enough to enhance the quality of your viewing experience. 
  • Streaming Devices: Many projectors have video input through HDMI, which allows for the use of streaming devices such as Roku, Amazon Fire Stick, and Chromecast. These devices provide more options to watch your favorite shows and movies without the need to stream videos from your laptop or phone directly to the projector. 
  • Display Adapters: If the connector on your computer or smartphone is different from those on the projector, then you will need to include an adapter in your projector accessories list. The most popular display connectors are Apple Lightning to Digital AV Adapter, USB-C to HDMI adapter, and Mini HDMI to HDMI. It is important to get the right adapter accessories as you will encounter display errors when using incorrect adapters for iPhone or Samsung smartphones.
  • Carrying case or mounting brackets: The last accessories you should have with your projectors are the mounting brackets and carrying case. If you have a portable pico projector, you can get a carrying case that allows you to carry the projector wherever you go. A mounting bracket is nice to mount the projector into a fixed position.

How To Mirror Your Mobile Device To Your Smart Projector With Bluetooth

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Wireless screen mirroring myths

Projectors have always been very simple devices that were essentially plug-and-play. Over time projectors have begun to evolve; 4K Projectors, DLP Projectors, LED Projectors, and Smart Projectors. With the advancing of technology, Bluetooth has been an essential tool to many people, and with Smart Projectors wireless screen mirroring is possible! This guide will assist you on how you can screen mirror your mobile device to your projector via Bluetooth, regardless if you have an Android device or an Apple device.

Connecting With the Projector’s Onboard Screen Mirroring

Most if not all Smart Projectors these days run off an Android Operating System. Depending on the type of projector you have will determine what apps or settings you will need.

Wifi and Bluetooth, what's the difference? - IT Knowledge

Step 1. Ensure both projector and mobile device are on the same exact wifi network.

List of Bluetooth profiles - Wikipedia

Step 2. After connecting both devices to the same network, you will want to turn on Bluetooth on your mobile device.

Screen Mirroring your Galaxy Note 9 on your TV using SmartView | Samsung UK

Step 2a. For Android devices, you will see this option in the settings menu of your device

Step 2b. For Apple devices, you can do this under the Bluetooth option in the settings menu as well.

Step 3. After Bluetooth has been enabled on your mobile device, you should now be able to start a search of all other Bluetooth devices in the vicinity where the option for your projector should appear, for Apple devices, you can use the Airplay/Screen Mirroring option to find your projector!

Wireless Screen Mirroring with Non-Smart Projectors

Let’s say you do not have a smart projector, there are definitely workarounds for cases like this! Wireless mirroring dongles are an innovative way for you to be able to mirror wirelessly to your devices!

Google Chrome Cast

Google Chromecast in Black | Bed Bath & Beyond

The Google Chrome Cast is an HDMI input wireless dongle that allows you to stream and screen mirror with compatible devices!

Apple TV

Amazon.com: Apple TV 4K (32GB, Previous Model)

The Apple TV is Apple’s similar device to allow screen mirroring via Airplay with all Apple devices including Macbooks, Mac Desktops, iPads, and iPhones! Connecting your Apple TV to your projector will take it to another level!

We hope that this helped if you had any issues figuring out how to wireless screen mirror with your smart projector! Comment down below if you have any other questions, till next time!

New and Upcoming Projectors for Summer 2021

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As we move into mid Summer 2021, there are new releases of gaming and home entertainment projectors, perfect for those outdoor summer night movies or home theater movies. Sony, LG, Optima, and AAXA all released projectors models this summer that are big improvements over the last models.

Sony Electronics Unveils Two New Native 4K Home Cinema Projectors

Sony’s new 4K home cinema projectors, the VPL-VW1025ES model and VPL-VW325ES model, will replace the VPL-VW995ES and VPL-VW295ES respectively. The price for the VPL-VW1025ES is expensive at $39,999 while a price of $5499 for the VPL-VW325ES. These models will have the latest  X1 processor for projector and bring you the best of Sony’s image processing. The projectors also have Dynamic HDR Enhancer that enhances scene by scene with striking and realistic picture quality. The VPL-VW1025ES model uses an ARC-F lens, which delivers pristine image quality across the entire screen. This optimizes the red, green, and blue primary colors at the extreme edges of the screen, for a clear and vivid image.

LG Professional PROBEAM Laser Projectors

LG Business Solutions has launched its brightest projectors ever, the new LG ProBeam BU60PST and LG ProBeam BF60PST at a price of $4999 and $3499 respectively. These laser projectors are designed for professional signage installations in medium to large-sized spaces .The new LG ProBeam BU60PST and LG ProBeam BF60PST have 6000 ANSI lumens, a 20 percent increase over LG’s next brightest models. The main difference between the two models is the maximum resolution, with the ProBeam BU60PST offering 4K UHD (3840×2160) and the ProBeam BF60PST delivering WUXGA (1920×1200).

 Optoma’s 240Hz, UHD35/UHD38 4K UHD Gaming and Home Entertainment Projectors

Optima unveiled its UHD35 and UHD38 projectors – lightning-fast, low latency 4K UHD home entertainment and gaming projectors that improve upon the popular UHD30 model. Gaming on projectors requires more specific specifications with the input responses of the UHD35 and UHD38 delivering an unparalleled ultra-low input lag of 4.2ms in Enhanced Gaming Mode. Based on resolution and refresh rate, the response times for the UHD35 and UHD38 are:

4K UHD @ 60Hz: 16.7ms; 1080P @ 60Hz: 16.7ms; 1080P @ 120Hz: 8.9ms; 1080P @ 240Hz: 4.2ms. The price for the UHD35 and UHD38 are $1299  and $1399 respectively. 

AAXA Technologies announces the release of the M7 Pico Projector

AAXA Technologies recently announced the release of the M7 Pico Projector with a price of $600. A Pico projector that is portable with battery life up to 3 hours in ECO mode. Although this projector is cheaper and smaller than the projector that was also released this summer, like the Sony and Optima, it still represents the cutting edge of Pico Projector technology using Texas Instruments advanced DLP 1920×1080 (1080P) native resolution with the latest generation Osram LEDs, allowing for up to 200” of image in dark areas. 

How to Have the Best Backyard Movie Night This Summer!

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The Ultimate Outdoor Movie Night and Campout with Intel - Emily Henderson | Outdoor movie nights, Outdoor movie party, Backyard movie party

With things starting to heat up and regulations finally lifting, friends and family all over are finally able to see each other once again, and what better way to have a gathering than with a backyard movie night!

There are things that make the best backyard movie night a success; a good projector, a big screen, speakers, and seating.

Here are some of the best products we think would be great to make the best backyard movie night.

 

AAXA P6X Pico Projector

Buy on Amazon: AAXA P6X 1000 Lumen Battery Projector, 4 Hour Battery, Portable Mini Projector

The AAXA P6X Pico Projector is the perfect projector for your backyard movie night! It boasts a high lumen rating of 1100 Lumens and HD resolution! Wireless play, the 240-minute battery life on eco mode, and portability make it possible to project a movie outside the range of a power outlet.

VIVOHOME Inflatable Blow up Mega Movie Projector Screen

Buy on Amazon: VIVOHOME 14 Feet Indoor and Outdoor Inflatable Blow up Mega Movie Projector Screen with Carry Bag for Front and Rear Projection

The VIVOHOME Inflatable Movie Projector Screen is a must-have if you want something really big! With a 14 foot screen, this is the perfect movie screen for your backyard movie night! What’s even better is that it can float as well! So if you have a pool and want to have a movie night in the pool then you’re in luck!

JBL FLIP 5 Waterproof  Speakers

Buy on Amazon: JBL FLIP 5, Waterproof Portable Bluetooth Speaker, Black

Adding additional speakers to your equipment is always a plus! The JBL Flip 5 will enhance your outdoor movie experience. With its 12 hour playtime and premium JBL sound quality, expect nothing but quality work! For such a low cost you wouldn’t think these were great speakers!.

Amazon Basics Zero Gravity Chair with Side Table

Buy on Amazon: Amazon Basics Zero Gravity Chair with Side Table

You can’t have a movie night without proper seating, and you definitely can’t sit outside without some great lawn chairs! These Amazon Basics Zero Gravity lawn chairs are perfect for grass and sand terrain. As an added bonus it comes with a side table, the perfect accessory for all your snacks, drinks, and even a convenient spot to place your projector on!

Share a photo of what your setup looks like in the comments below!