Digital Projectors

[Daniel Tomarchio]

short answer .... yes you can calibrate your projector. Its LUT will be different to your moniter so you will have to switch them whenever you are projecting. Too messy to be constantly changing to and fro, so I just leave it set to my moniters LUT. I just explain to my clients that they will have to look at the moniter if they want an idea of the colors.
Actually the colors are not bad at all , its the contrast ratio thats the biggest difference .
One other point is that you will need to sharpen your images more if you are going to project them.

[Robin]

Ooops!  disregard last note.  LUT=Look Up Tables, I presume.

[DerekKemp]

I'm glad to see this topic arise as it is of major concern to me.
As a photographer who has only ever shot slide film, exclusively, this is the one reason why I have not yet switched to digital.
I could rant for a while, but the bottom line here is that a photographic type projector for digital has yet to be invented.
The present type were born of a need for executives in brightly lit board rooms and other business type functions, to show their profit line graphs. They perform that duty very well.  Oh yes, they are bright, too bright. They are big too, too big (projected image I mean).  Finesse?, sorry, no.  Fidelity?, sorry, no.  Personal opinions I may add. But I have yet to see one for the pure purpose of photographic image projection that comes anywhere near the fidelity of the projected slide film image. If bigger is better for you, then by all means....

However the previous answers posted here are all true too.
Contrast IS the biggest problem, born of too much light for the average living room. There are many sides to this topic, and I would like to see more effort by the manufacturers to address it, but I doubt it will happen soon if ever. Not enough money in it I feel. There are a couple of brands that have, in their menu's, selections for "Data", "Home Theater" and "Photographic" settings, and I noted that the "Photo" setting was actually dimmer, by default. But the attempt at correction, I feel, is feeble.

I actually asked Michael about this (subject) a short while ago, refering to what I like to call the "back end of photography" and even he agrees, saying "if projection is your thing, stick with film".
 
Digital for prints, I believe, is now King, getting better all the time. Slide projection will probably remain the last stronghold of film for the foreseeable future at least.
                                                           DK

[Robin]

In the past, I have projected slides using dual Kodak Carousel projectors linked up to a dissolve unit.  Now that I am in the digital world, I am looking for a high quality digital projector that can project accurate colors and sharp resolution.  I assume that a color calibration tool (e.g., Gretag) will also be necessary.  But most of the vendors have little information on this aspect, concentrating on brightness, weight, and bulb life.  Any suggestions on where to find information on this topic?

[Robin]

Thanks for the info.  One follow-up question, though.  I'm not familiar with the acronym LUT. Could you elaborate?  Thanks.

[Jonathan Ratzlaff]

It is difficult to quantitively calibrate a projector.  The contrast compared to a monitor is considerably lower.  You also have to ensure that your images are set up for projection.  Probably the best way to get a good image is to project an image such as the Macbeth colour checker and play with vido settings in the monitor control panel.   Save it an only use it for projectors.  The only problem is that ambient light can affect the image dramatically

Make sure you buy a projector with the highest native resolution you can afford and the greatest contrast.  I am beginning to think that the DLP projectors provide the best image quality from what I have seen.  (they seem to mimic the colours on the monitors the best.)