Dvd Outdoor Projector

Outdoor movies around Erie region offer summer-night fun

Once the popcorn is popped, cotton candy grabbed and the blankets spread out, dusk settles and kids and adults take their seats in the backyard of the Totlebens' Erie home. A sign hangs in front of the garage with the night's feature: "Now playing: 'Megamind.'"

The crowd quiets down when Stephen Totleben, 46, presses "play" on the Blu-ray player. It's showtime.

Six years ago, Totleben and his wife, Lisa, bought the kind of video projector typically found in classrooms or boardrooms -- not living rooms.The idea was to create a theater experience home theater, and it quickly turned into a weekend rendezvous for friends and family every summer.

The Totleben "drive-in courtyard of fortune - made up of a large-screen outdoor Totleben Stephen built himself - is not the only place to see movies under the stars during the summer. Several areas around the Erie County offer an experience of outdoor cinema that will not cost a packet families.

Three years ago, Edinboro University of Pennsylvania began his film outside event as a way to bring the campus community. After the first year, the university expanded its movie series to two nights a week -- Thursdays at the Porreco Center on West 38th Street and Fridays on the main campus -- that attract hundreds of people each night.

The best part? It's free.

"Why pay to get in and pay for refreshments when you can come out here for free and watch it in a drive-in atmosphere," said Shellie Barbich, the university's director of campus life and leadership development who oversees the movie series.

"In today's economy, it can be expensive to do things. This is a great money saver for families to sit and eat and watch new movies."

Besides, it's just a different experience watching a movie outside, she said. You're under the stars, there's a nice breeze and the kids can get up, walk around and play if they get bored. It's kind of like the old-school drive-ins she went to when she was a kid, Barbich said.

"This is the next best thing," she said. "There was just this very family-oriented feeling about that."

Seeing movies outdoors is nothing new -- especially for Waterford's Sunset Drive-In Theatre, which has been operating since June 10, 1948.

"We get a lot of groups or families that meet," drive-in co-owner Dennis Koper said. "A lot of the crowd is a repetitive crowd. They keep coming in.

Renting projector for DVD's outdoor use? » My Blog

Projectors like this are very common, but all run on AC power and you still need a DVD player. The bulb soaks up a lot of wattage! And what about the sound – you’ll need an amplifier and speakers, too!

I have never heard of any place renting these babies, either. They’re pretty expensive. Try calling some places that rent inflatable jumpers and bounce houses. I heard (seriously) that you could get an inflatable 10 foot movie screen for outdoor events. If this is true, maybe an inflatable company has the whole thing – speakers, projector, DVD player, etc.

Add your own answer in the comments!

It is certainly feasible. However, speaking from personal experience I can tell you that it isn’t a trivial matter to create a satisfactory movie experience outdoors. The sheer expense of renting the equipment – ‘inflatable’ screen, high-powered, hi-rez projector, and a basic multi-channel surround system with subwoofer, along with quiet, high quality AC generators to power everything, would deter almost anyone considering such an endeavor for personal use. Add to that the critical issues of weather and safety…

I hate to be a “buzzkill” on your plans for a perfect evening but unless you’re running a fundraiser or similar event, or you’re independently wealthy, or you’ve just won the lottery, you would be far better served making alternative plans. http://www.projectorpeople.com/projectors/projdtls.asp?itemid=20142&itmname=Optoma+DV10+MovieTime

If you have somewhere you can hang a sheet or a painters cloth, those would both work as a screen… even a garage door, or the side of a house. At night your image will still look good enough.

As for the power, well I think you might be out of luck. If you had a generator it would be too loud.

There are some battery opperated projectors like this one: http://www.projectorpeople.com/projectors/projdtls.asp?itemid=21821&itmname=Toshiba+TDP%2DFF1AU

But they aren’t very bright, and won’t project a very large image. As someone mentioned you will still need power for the DVD player, unless you have a laptop or portable player that can run a full movie with its battery, and it can output VGA.

I made an outdoor movie night on several occasions. I live in an apartment and I take the projector on the roof, and draw it on paper. DV10 projector mentioned above has a speaker loud enough (with subwoofer) to satisfy a crowd of about 20 people. Without the subwoofer's not quite strong enough. With other projectors I just use my speakers and a portable DVD player and worked great!

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