Infocus has been very good at stating realistic contrast ratios and lumens levels on many of their units.

off the top of my head perhaps a business class unit from Infocus might be a good choice. In the $3000 price range your options are fairly good. If the projector has 1500 claibrated lumens it would probably work pretty well, but many projector manufacturers strongly overstate the lumen levels of their units, so you have to be very careful which model you decide upon. With heavier stage lighting 1500 might not be enough depending of course on the projector you choose. Have you already tested units at 1500 lumens in the context of live performance? If in fact the projected images would be positioned as a back drop behind the band and the stage lighting was low or deep blues and greens 1500 lumens might be more than sufficient. Thank you! If you are on the West Coast, we're performing this month in various cities, and for your help, I can get you on the guest list. I salivate over the specs on the Canon Realis SX50, but I can't afford to go that high. I'm very keen on detail, so I'm sure I'll spot the problems with DLP projectors 'rainbow' effects or whatever. Wide lens, so that I can hit a 105' diagonal within 11 feet or less. SO, can anyone recommend an LCD projector for $3000 or less that can project a great image from a Mac laptop (via S-video or other recommended input), directly from the timeline of Final Cut Pro? I have to meet these specs I feel:Ħ00:1 contrast ratio (but really, it should be higher, although I don't have time to test drive a bunch of projectors for the best 'video black') I'm very picky about image quality, contrast, all this being said about 'screen door effect', and the visual problems associated with DLP projectors (under a certain price range). I've projected Super 8 film for years, but want to shift the projections to video. I'm a filmmaker/video artist that travels with a band doing projections during our live shows.

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