The Realist is back with another guest post:
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| Post apocalyptic improvised movie theater inside an abandoned building. (Bing AI Image Creator https://www.bing.com/images/cr |
Disclaimer: All products mentioned in this article were purchased by myself. I did not receive free samples, evaluation models, or other compensation from any manufacturer or retailer. I have no formal relationship with any manufacturer or retailer mentioned in this article - I have only been an arms-length customer. All brand names and product names used in this review are the trade names, service marks, trademarks, or registered trademarks of their respective owners. Further, this article reflects my unique circumstances and subjective opinions with regard to performance and other characteristics of the products discussed. Your mileage may vary.
The power has gone out and you don't know if it will be returning any time soon. Your family is going stir-crazy. To provide a couple hours of normalcy, you invite your equally stir-crazy neighbors over to your home for Zombie Apocalypse movie night. You pop some popcorn on a small gas camp stove and set up a small movie theater with your battery powered projector to watch a few hours of movies.
While most of the Zombie Apocalypse Movie Theater project has focused on ways to set up an informal movie theater environment for larger groups of people, I have also been looking at trying to produce a minimalist ZAMT configuration for a small group of people.
A minimalist movie theater should include a battery-powered projector, a battery-powered amplified speaker, an audio cable to connect the projector to the speaker, a smaller projector screen, and a USB flash drive for storing movies. Optionally, a tripod could be included to support the projector, and a small power-bank with an appropriate charging cable could be added to extend the operating time of the projector. Further, the components of this minimalist movie theater setup should be selected such that they will fit comfortably in a small backpack.
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| Micro ZAMT components. From top to bottom, left to right: three small Bluetooth speakers including a JBL Flip 4 on the right, the TMY V98 projector with its remote control, the Kodak LUMA 350 projector with its remote control, the Kodak LUMA 75 projector, a small hard case, a zippered EVA case, and a nano USB flash drive in the foreground. The 12 ounce soft drink can is for scale. |
Projector
There have been many battery powered "pico" projectors sold over the years.Unfortunately, most battery powered pico projectors seem to have a relatively short market life before they go out of production.
(Terminology note: Some people differentiate between "pico" and "pocket" sized projectors, with the pocket sized being a little larger than the pico sized projectors. Both are still very small.)
I have tested three currently available DLP (Digital Light Processing) "pico" projectors that are very small, operate for at least a couple of hours on their built-in battery, and have an audio output jack to facilitate hooking up to an amplified speaker. Two of these projectors have a native resolution of 640x360 pixels (360P), which I have found to be acceptable for movie viewing (see the Kodak LUMA 75 DLP projector discussion in Zombie Apocalypse Movie Theater, Part II (https://practicaleschatology.
Kodak LUMA 75 DLP projector (https://www.amazon.com/dp/B07
TMY (NUTROMO) V98 DLP Projector (https://www.amazon.com/dp/B0G
The TMY V98 is a strange little projector, with the reviews suggesting lots of problems (dead-on-arrival, failed after a few minutes, customer returns sold as new), and the seller creating a new Amazon listing to escape all the bad reviews. While my V98 projector may have been a customer return, it worked perfectly out of the box and performed properly for several hours of operational testing. I bought it because it was deeply discounted, but would not have considered it at full price. At full price, the V98 is the same price as the Kodak LUMA 75, with the Kodak LUMA 75 being a better projector.
Kodak LUMA 350 DLP projector (https://www.amazon.com/dp/B0C
The Kodak projectors have been on the market for several years, which is both good and bad. The good is that these projectors have a proven track record and the manufacturer has had time to work out the design bugs. The bad is that some may consider their limited feature sets and lower resolution to be a detriment. I don't care about being able to stream from Netflix or do wireless smartphone screen mirroring. The lower resolution does not annoy me when watching a movie, although it would drive me crazy if using any of these projectors to display a PowerPoint presentation. I do care about portability, battery operating life, and how well they handle the aspect ratios of various movies. Both Kodak
projectors perform well for my needs.
There are many pico/pocket DLP projectors sold on Amazon. Very carefully scrutinize the descriptions, especially for the more inexpensive listings. Some are just a bare projector with no ability to play movies from a USB flash drive or a micro-SD card. Others lack an audio output jack, and rely solely on Bluetooth for connecting to external speakers. If possible, find and download the owners manual for the projector to verify features if you are unsure. (Just because a USB-A port is present does not mean it will play movies stored on a USB flash drive. Similarly, what looks like a hole for the audio output jack may be a window for the IR sensor for the remote control.)
The cheap twenty-dollar projectors might be categorized as "pico" (or "pocket")size, but they don't have built-in batteries and they otherwise suffer from poor performance. The twenty-dollar projectors operate on 12 VDC, although most will also operate on 5 VDC. But, at 5 VDC, the already dim light output is much dimmer. They could be powered from an external 12 volt battery, but that is added complexity for a very poor result.
Speaker
While these pico projectors have surprisingly capable built-in speakers, a battery powered external speaker would improve the overall sound quality of the movie viewing experience.
The external speaker I have decided on is a standard battery-powered Bluetooth speaker that has a 3.5 mm audio input jack. Even though many projectors can pair with a Bluetooth speaker, I do not want to use Bluetooth because the 200 millisecond (one-fifth of a second) delay in the audio can be very annoying.
There are many battery-powered Bluetooth speaker options available. I settled on a JBL Flip 4 speaker, which is the last of the JBL Flip series to have a 3.5 mm audio input jack. Later models of the JBL Flip lack the input jack. Many, but not all, of the no-name Chinese Bluetooth speakers also have a 3.5 mm audio input jack.
Movies
I did not include a DVD or Blu-Ray player due to the extra bulk and setup complexity. Instead, I decided to dramatically simplify the setup by relying on a USB flash drive to store the movies. I specifically chose a 64 GB nano flash drive because of its low profile and because some projectors cannot read a USB flash drive larger than 64 GB. A low-profile USB flash drive makes it easy to just leave it plugged into the projector - one less item to worry about losing.
The movies loaded onto the USB flash drive were either ripped from DVDs I own or public domain movies downloaded from Internet Archive.
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| Side view diagram of projector and screen alignment. With regular projectors, the axis of the lens must be aimed at the center of the screen. With DLP projectors, the axis of the lens must be aimed at the bottom center of the screen. The axis of the lens should be perpendicular to the plane of the screen. |
Projector Screen
If practical, avoid using a blank wall as an improvised screen with these pico projectors. A quality projector screen will dramatically improve the viewability of the projected image. For this micro ZAMT setup, a Da-Lite pop-up screen or a vintage tripod screen is not practical since those screens are bulky.
For the projector screen, I decided to go with a small IOLIEO fabric screen. As discussed in my ZAMT Part III article (https://practicaleschatology.blogspot.
Since the IOLIEO screens are cloth, they fold up very compactly. The IOLIEO cloth screens come with two different types of mounting hardware for attaching the screen to a wall, along with cords for suspending the screen between two trees or two vertical support columns. The eyelets on the IOLIEO screens are large enough that screws or nails could also be used to attach the screen to a wall.
Due to the widely varying circumstances under which this micro ZAMT may be used, I'll leave supporting/mounting of the screen as an exercise for the reader.
Tripod
While a small tripod is optional, it will make setting up the projector much easier. Since these projectors are small and light weight, an inexpensive aluminum tripod is a practical option for supporting the projector. These inexpensive tripods are fairly light weight, with some weighing as little as 1.3 pounds. A tripod will make setup and proper alignment of the projector with the screen easier.
I would not recommend a tripod any cheaper than the Amazon Basics 50-inch tripod. There are cheaper tripods, but they are very flimsy and have leg sections thinner than a regular pencil.
If you want to purchase a used tripod, make sure it either has a captive 1/4"-20 screw or comes with the quick release plate with its captive 1/4"-20 screw. Avoid the tripod if the quick release plate is not present. While modestly priced quick release plates are readily available on Amazon (there are many styles and sizes), having to purchase a quick release plate could eliminate the cost savings of a used tripod.
If you have a tripod, first set up the screen, then mount the projector to the tripod and adjust the height of the tripod so that the projected image is properly placed on the screen without any keystone issues.
Most regular projectors (i.e. non-DLP projectors) require the lens to be pointed at the center of the screen. Most DLP projectors require the lens to be pointed at the bottom center of the screen. (Ultra Short Throw projectors are outside the scope of this discussion.)
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| Kodak LUMA 350 projector charging with a PD trigger cable, set to 15 Volts, from a PD power bank. |
Accessories
I highly recommend some kind of case to protect the projector during transport. While I prefer hard cases, they can be bulky. EVA (Ethylene-Vinyl Acetate) zippered cases are inexpensive and will protect these projectors from most normal handling and transportation abuses. EVA cases are generally cheaper than hard cases.
A power bank would allow you to extend the operating time of your projector (e.g. show more than a single movie), and potentially allow you to recharge your projector and Bluetooth speaker while AC power is not available.
If your projector operates/charges off a 5 VDC power source, an inexpensive power bank is sufficient. If your projector does not operate/charge from a 5 VDC source, there are more flexible power bank options available.
With the advent of rapid charging for tablets, smart phones, and some laptop computers, the USB Power Delivery (PD) standard was developed to provide a way for a PD-compatible device to negotiate with a PD-compatible power source to provide the needed charge voltage. Every PD-compatible device I have personally seen uses USB-C for its power input, although not all devices with USB-C are PD-
compatible.
To charge/operate the Kodak LUMA 350 projector from a power bank, I purchased a "PD Trigger Cable" (https://www.amazon.com/dp/B0F
(If you want to know more about USB Power Delivery, this web page is useful: https://www.ecoflow.com/us/blo
If you include a power bank, be sure to include the necessary USB power cables to reach your projector, and to recharge the projector and speaker after use.
The only audio cable that is necessary is a 3.5 mm audio cable. If you want the amplified speaker to be placed in front of your audience, a cable that is ten to twenty feet (3 to 6 meters) would be necessary. If you hang the speaker from the tripod supporting the projector, a short 3 foot (1 meter) cable would be adequate.
Everything needed for the micro ZAMT, including an
inexpensive aluminum tripod on top of its storage bag, the JBL Flip 4 Bluetooth
speaker, an IOLIEO cloth screen, the Kodak Luma 350 projector (USB flash drive
inserted in the back of the projector) with its remote control and EVA zippered
case, a PD power bank with a PD trigger cable, a ten-foot audio cable, and a
micro-USB charging cable for the Bluetooth speaker. Fully collapsed, as shown,
the tripod is 17 inches long.
Conclusions
The micro ZAMT is optimized for maximum portability and setup simplicity. The equipment selection described above is sufficient for a living-room sized venue. Battery-powered pico projectors are surprisingly capable for their size, and if used in a darkened room, they project sufficient light to fill a moderately sized projector screen with a bright crisp image. A battery powered Bluetooth speaker allows the movie sound to be heard by everybody in the room. And, a small USB flash drive for storing several movies further simplifies the ZAMT.
While highly recommended, a case for the projector and a tripod are optional. A moderately sized power bank and necessary cables are optional but beneficial.
Postscript
In case you are wondering, I am having way too much fun with the Zombie Apocalypse Movie Theater project, which is why there is another installment to the series.
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