Solving the Problem of Ambient Light at Schools

Do you have a classroom too bright for projection screens?

Is there too much natural light in your auditorium?

Does your hall have too many windows or skylights to use a projector?

The solution is the new MOCOM Solstice™ ambient light rejecting screens distributed in Australia by Smart Digital.

Known as a Solstice™ projection screen, this brand new technology cuts out any worry for ambient light (ambient light is any light source other than your projector), that may distort your image or weaken its visual aesthetics. On a standard screen, high levels of ambient light will wash out the image.

The Ambient Light Rejecting (ALR) screen differs in many ways to standard projection screens. A standard screen will reflect incoming light in all directions, whereas an ALR screen reflects light directly back at the viewer, creating better clarity and a far superior and brighter image.

The Solstice™ projection screen is the world’s first concave lens-type screen. The Solstice™ screen has multiple layers of diffusion material which further removes the washout effects of ambient light. Sharp image clarity and the superb colour are also enhanced.

What does it mean for your school?

ALR projection screenPresentations Anytime, Anywhere

Mocom Solstice™ projection screen gives you freedom to deliver presentations anytime, anywhere. The choice of the space for presentations won’t be limited by classes with block out blinds, while the choice of time for presentations won’t be limited by the hours when the sun is not shining in your windows. No matter how many skylights or windows there are in the venue – the image will be brighter than a flat panel TV.

Presentations at Big Events

Schools need big projection screens to cater for hundreds of children simultaneously. Big events like assemblies, open nights, presentations, or celebrations, call for big screens. Mocom Solstice™ projection screens are available in sizes up to 250” in diagonal – that’s over 6 metres, and can be used for several hundreds of viewers.

Affordable Solution

Large LED/LCD screens are very expensive and have high maintenance costs. Moreover, they are notorious for high energy consumption. MOCOM ALR projection screens are much more affordable than any LED solutions available, are low maintenance, and do not consume power.

Furthermore, Mocom Solstice™ screens do not require expensive projectors with high brightness, costing several thousands of dollars.

Use the standard business projector (1500-3500 Lumen, standard or long throw) to project to a big screen (up to 250” in diagonal), in any room, auditorium, or hall.

Future-Oriented Solution

It is believed 3D should play a great role in education and learning, bringing deeper engagement, and helping students grasp difficult concepts with ease. The projection screen with 3D capabilities would be a perfect tool for a modern class.

The Mocom Solstice™ screen is brighter than your average 3D screens. Use it both for passive and active 3D viewing. Furthermore, this screen has no polarization and is very gentle to the eyes of children, with minimal eye fatigue and enhanced 3D effect.

Interactive Solution

With the Mocom Solstice™ screen, your presentation is not a one-way message sent to the dark space. You can leave the lights on and see the faces of your students. No more guessing the feedback from your audience. No more sleepy faces in the dark corners. The ALR projection screen allows for constant engagement with your audience and getting instant feedback.

Advantages of the Solstice Projection Screen

Ambient light allows us to see things clearly, from sunlight to flickering candles, car headlights to light bulbs and warm bedside lamps. Ambient light assists us in our everyday lives but becomes a problem when trying to view a clear picture on a big screen. This is where a Solstice™ ALR screen comes into its own:

  • Ability to display on a screen with ambient light;
  • Higher gain than other screens (18 times brighter than standard matte white screen);
  • Wider viewing angle; with the curved screen giving clear images over the entire viewing angle;
  • Depth simulation; the visual ability to perceive the world in three dimensions (3D) and the distance of an object;
  • Improved image resolution and better colour accuracy.

Controlled lighting has always been a problem when setting up a projection system, until the introduction of the Solstice™ projection screen. The brightness and clarity of this screen allows for excellent image quality on the big screen, which is far better than what you’ve ever seen before.

For a full demo, or to find out more on this amazing new technology, feel free to reach out to us today. Contact Smart Digital Australia for more details or call 03 9729 6300.

Advanced Projection Screens Are Ultra Bright…Even in Highly-Lit Environments

What is it?

Possibly the World’s brightest projection screen…ever.
Known as a “Solstice” projection screen, or “Ambient Light Rejection Screen”, it cuts out any worries with ambient light (ambient light means the light that is already present in a scene, such as natural light, outdoors or light coming through windows. Also, artificial light such as normal room lights, candles, lamps, etc). In other words, it’s any light source other than your projector that may distort your image or weaken its visual aesthetics. On a standard screen, high levels of ambient light will wash out the image.
Ambient Light Rejection Screens (ALR) differ in many ways to standard screens. Whereas a standard screen will reflect incoming light in all directions, the ALR screen reflects light directly back at the viewer, thus creating better clarity and a far superior and brighter image.
ALR screens either absorb or divert ambient light away from the viewer’s field of vision.

The advantages of the “Solstice” ALR screen in brightly lit environments

Ambient light allows us to see things clearly. From sunlight to flickering candles, car headlights to light bulbs, and warm bedside lamps. Ambient light assists us in our everyday lives but becomes a problem when trying to view a clear picture on a big screen.

This is where a “Solstice” screen comes into its own:

  • It has a “Concave Optical projection screen” which is suitable for any residential or commercial applications
  • Higher gain than other screens. Typically, 18 to 23 gain of brightness; the gain value represent the ratio of brightness of the screen resulting in a brighter image, even in highly lit environments.
  • It is important to note here that it is the image that is bright, not the screen.
  • Wider viewing angle; with the curved screen giving clear images over the entire viewing angle
  • Higher than 99% of polarisation; light waves
  • Depth simulation; the visual ability to perceive the world in three dimensions (3D) and the distance of an object
  • Improved image resolution
  • Better colour accuracy

Controlled lighting has always been a problem when setting up a projection system, that is until the introduction of the ‘Solstice™’ projection screen. The brightness and clarity of this screen allow excellent image quality on the big screen and is far better than what you’ve ever seen before.

The Technology

The Solstice™ projection screen is the world’s first concave lens-type screen. This screen is positioned as the next big surge in 3D Applications. With 3D technology, brightness is extremely important. The Solstice ALR screen increases the light and polarised reflection, thus solving the problem of brightness, making it far superior to the standard 3D silver screens.
The Solstice projection screen’s multiple layers of diffusion material further remove the washout effects of ambient light. Sharp image clarity and the superb colour are also enhanced.
Also, the ALR screen absorbs ambient light away from the viewer’s field of vision and reflects the projected image directly into the viewer’s field of vision, while also absorbing most of any other distracting and indirect light.

Visual Display Technology Explained

Your quick guide to the lingo of projection systems, screens and visual displays

Talking about screens and visual displays

Aspect Ratio

Aspect ratio is the width to height dimensions of a projection screen. The earlier tube type televisions have a ratio of 4:3, the common DVD today is 16:9 (1.77:1) otherwise known as wide screen. 16:9 is the standard for most flat panel TVs today. The cinema business is a different story with a number of different aspect ratios used. The most common today is 1.85:1 and 2.39:1.

Gain

The screen gain is the brightness factor compared to white. So a neutral white screen will have a gain of 1.0. The higher the screen gain number the brighter the image. This is measured at the centre. The number will normally decrease when measured away from the centre. This is called the Viewing Angle and is measured in degrees.

Contrast Ratio

Contrast ratio simply put is the ratio of white to black. The higher the number the better, or as the industry says, blacker blacks! Better blacks gives a better viewing experience or a better picture.

NPA and OD

NPA stands for Net Picture Area which is the white area of the screen product. OD is Overall Dimension of the complete screen product. The difference typically relates to the black border and the construction of the actual screen product. The distance between the ground and the bottom of the white screen area is known as the skirt.

ALR Ambient Light Rejection

The projection screen has been specially configured to reject annoying ambient light and accept the light source from a video projector. The projection is typically angled up or down towards the screen for optimum results. A good quality ALR screen can be as bright as a LED screen, if mounted correctly. This is a very simplistic explanation with more detailed information found here.

Talking about projectors and visual display parametres

Brightness and Lumens

Every projector has a brightness factor similar to a car with horse power. The video industry measures its brightness in lumens. The standard for the industry is set by the American National Standards Institute otherwise known as ANSI lumens. Not all manufacturers use the ANSI standard and may well use their own measurement in lumens! The higher the number the brighter the picture, just like watts with audio!

HDMI

High Definition Multimedia Interface is the standard for connectivity with devices such as projectors, games consoles and Blu-Ray players. HDMI carries both compressed and non-compressed data, video and audio signals.

Talking about projectors and screens

Throw Distance

This is the distance between the projector lens and the projection screen.

Throw Ratio

The projector manufacturer will publish a number in the technical specifications. This number is the width of the screen multiplied by the published ratio. As an example if the screen width is 3 metres wide and the throw ratio is 1,5, then the throw distance will be 4.5 metres.

Front and Rear Projection

With front projection one places the projector at the front of the screen, and with rear projection it is at the rear of the screen. Front projection normally uses a white surface or a variation to the white whilst rear typically uses a dark grey screen surface. The dark grey assists with defusing the brilliance of the projector lamp. Theatrical quality stretch lycra screen surfaces are translucent white. As as result, you can use them both for front and rear projection. With this surface you need to place the projector below the screen surface to avoid projector lamp interference with the audience.

Resolution

Display Resolution is the number of the total pixels or individual dots that a one frame of a video or a single photo is created with. When this number becomes higher, quality of the video becomes high and it creates a very sharp picture. So all the terms like 4K, UHD, QFHD are assigned for different number of total pixels or resolutions. Usually these resolutions are written in a format of multiplication of the number of horizontal pixels and Vertical pixels (Horizontal pixels x Vertical pixels). To get the actual number of pixels you need to multiply those two numbers.

Standard Visual Display Resolutions:

  • 8K (7680×4320) Ultra High Definition (UHD)
  • 4K (4096 x 2160) Ultra High Definition (UHD)
  • 4K (3840 x 2160) Quad Full High Definition (QFHD) (also known as UHDTV/UHD-1, resolution of Ultra High Definition TV)
  • 2K (2048 x 1080)
  • 1080p (1920 x 1080) Full High Definition (FHD)
  • 720p (1280 x 720) High Definition (HD)
  • 480p (720 x 480) Standard Definition (SD) (resolution of DVD video)
  • 480p (640 x 480) Standard Definition (SD)

Hear the Roar of State of Origin – on a budget!

So you can’t make it to the State of Origin games, but the games can make it to you!
Be the State of Origin hero and invite your mates over to the leagues series of the year! All in the comfort of your own backyard!
Cold one in hand, and mates pushing for the best view, you will thrill at the big screen images of the live games, and the cheer of the crowds. Watching the battle between the reigning Queensland Maroons against New South Wales Blues has never been more fun, and convenient.

Let’s start with the big screen. These high quality inflatable screens are taking the sporting world by storm, as they are fully portable, set up in 10 minutes and are just like your own outdoor cinema system! Complete with projector and speakers, connect to live sport TV and you are set.

Share the Love!

Get your mates to chip in $30 each to cover pizza and the big screen event, with only 20 mates you can come close to paying off your cinema system over the series. A far cry from the cost of tickets and interstate flights right.

Inflatable screens come in any sizes, but for the backyard party go for the 3m screen, depending on your crowd and the size of your backyard. While choosing a movie projector, brightness comes first, and resolution – second. As for the sound, a powerful soundbar would do the job, but if you don’t want to compromise on quality of your outdoor home theatre, check this package.

Feed the Troops!

Keep the troops warm and order pizza – it is always a hit, or add hot meat pies, or hot dogs to bring the stadium feel to your backyard – without the insane prices!

For those who like it sweet, order or bake a themed cake or cupcakes. Decorate chocolate Easter eggs to resemble rugby balls, and use them as cake toppers!
But if you really want to stand out, we dare you to make a good bowl of hearty soup. Here is a recipe of State of Origin pumpkin soup  which does have the flavour of Queensland. As a bold alternative, try Italian minestrone, Russian Borscht, German style eintopf or Loaded Bacon Split Pea Soup.

Selection of drinks is obvious – beer is the traditional rugby man’s drink.

Keep the Chills at Bay

Consider having an infrared outdoor heater to keep your mates warm, and prepare a pile of blue and maroon blankets.
Prepare comfortable outdoor seating – use camping chairs if you don’t have enough of outdoor furniture for the big night.

Audience

It does not matter if all your friends support one team or go for the rivals. What matters is the atmosphere created both by the host and by the guests. We hope you don’t have to ask your guests come dressed in their team jerseys. To have more fun, offer the prize for the best home-made wig or have a session of face painting set up in your backyard prior to the big game.

Hey, we think you can do it. And we want you to have an absolutely fantastic State of Origin party this year. If you liked the idea of having a big inflatable screen on your backyard, order it online from Smart Digital Australia  – we guarantee it will be the drawing card of the night.

How to benefit from end of financial year sale

End of Financial Year is the good time to invest in an Outdoor Cinema, and here is why:

1. Use tax write-off

Tax write-off is extended for this year. An outdoor cinema package is cheaper than a car, but will drive your business so much further compared to a vehicle. Here is why – it will bring new experience to your clients.

2. Plan for the year

End of the financial circle is the good time to start planning the next year. Which events would attract more customers? Which marketing strategies are you going to apply to make these events work?
For example, if you decide to introduce movie nights at your restaurant, will they be themed? Could you have both indoor and outdoor events? Would live TV and sports bring more visitors to your venue?

A Local Council, for example, may decide to support local businesses, lending them an outdoor cinema package. However, the businesses need to prepare a good promotional campaign to leverage the benefits an outdoor cinema could offer. If the event is not properly promoted, it may disappoint. For more details on how to prepare a quality outdoor cinema event, check our guide.

3. Get ready for summer

Winter season can be quiet for many businesses, which brings more reasons to think through the busy period in advance. Summer is short even if it lasts 6 months a year! Make the next summer memorable. An outdoor cinema could bring that point of difference for your business you were looking for. Just imagine – movie nights by the pool, in a beautiful garden, on a green lawn, or even in the woods!

4. Prepare for Christmas

Now is the good time to prepare for Christmas. From family Christmas presents, to giveaways to your customers, a prize to win at Christmas Ruffle, small inflatable or portable cinema will bring joy. The EOFY discount will also create additional benefits to your business, and money spent this year will quickly return next year!

5. Turn quiet time into party time

If your winter season is quiet, portable cinema could cheer things up a bit! Turn your indoor space into a movie venue, be it a school’s hall, an indoor basketball court, or a play centre.
You could do so much more than movies!

  • Show sports events, like State of Origin, or soccer games
  • Organise karaoke and dance parties with a big screen
  • Host a gaming competition with a giant screen and a games console

To help you grow your business and bring fun and entertainment to your customers, we offer great prices for indoor and outdoor packages.
Portable indoor cinema is reduced to $629 – that’s 30% off for a movie screen, a projector and a soundbar! Moreover, big outdoor cinema packages are now 10% off – but hurry and place your order before 30th of June to benefit from End of Financial Year sale!

How to Setup an Outdoor Projector

There is no point in investing in a big screen if you project a small distorted image onto it.

incorrect distance from the projector to the screen

Setup Your Projector Correctly

For the slick look of your indoor or outdoor cinema, the image should fill in all the white space of the screen, and marginally get over it (5 mm would suffice), but ideally keep out of the rest of the black screen frame.

To achieve it, you need to set up your projector viewing distance and other parametres. This article will guide your setup process.

The height of the projector

The lens of the projector in line with the bottom edge of the screen surface.
Ideally, the lens of the projector should be in line with the bottom edge of the screen surface. Measure the skirt of the screen and find a coffee table or a trestle table of a similar height, and place the projector on it. We find IKEA side tables are great for smaller screens, while standard trestle tables are great for a 6 m wide screen.

Use adjustable legs of the projector to get it to the ideal height. Some cheaper projector models would require fiddling with other objects (coins, DVD covers, books) to get the lens to the right position.

Viewing distance

How far away do you need to place the projector from the movie screen?

The answer depends on the size of the screen and the type of the projector.
The most accurate way to determine the distance between your projector and the screen is to use a projector throw distance calculator.
To use the calculator, you need to know the model of your projector and the size of your screen. Every projector manufacturer offers a throw distance calculator on their website; however, these online tools are not always user friendly and may seem complicated.
You can also determine where to place the projector by trial and error, simply moving it closer and further away from the screen. However, if there is a swimming pool on the way, it can be a bit tricky!

Projector viewing distance

Here is a guide that will help you roughly estimate where to place a typical projector:

standard projector viewing distance

If your screen size is measured in inches in diagonal, refer to the following table for your projector viewing distance:

standard projector viewing distance for foldable screens

Short throw projector allows you to place it one to three metres from the projection screen. This is great news if your space is limited. Moreover, placing the projector closer to the screen can give you brighter image if there’s a bit of ambient light around.

Here is a cheat sheet to help you place the short throw projector in the right spot:

short throw projector viewing distanceAs you can see, the most dramatic gain can be achieved when using a short throw projector with a 6M screen.

The data in the tables above is based on using several models and brands of the projectors and is a guide only, but it should be pretty accurate in most of the cases.

If you decide to use rear projection, the distance between the screen and the projector will be the same. Just don’t forget to flip the image for rear projection. For the majority of projectors, use projection settings to achieve it

Other adjustments:

  • Line up the projector to the centre of your screen. Even though you will still get the image if the projector is off centre, the image will be distorted.
  • Adjust the focus of the lens to make the image sharp if it is blurry.
  • Zoom control will further help in adjusting the image to fit the screen.
  • Use keystone if your image seems bigger at the top or at the bottom to achieve a perfect rectangle.

Now you are ready to hit play, sit back, and enjoy the show!

For complete portable indoor and outdoor cinema packages, check our online shop. We supply portable movie screens, speakers, and outdoor projectors of the leading brands with all bits and bobs you need to run a movie night.

How to Choose an Outdoor Home Theatre Projector

Are you planning a backyard movie party and are in search of the best outdoor home theatre projector?

Shall you buy the cheapest movie projector on EBay or go for the ultra-short throw full HD projector with a price tag of several thousand dollars?

There are just three things you need to know to make the right choice.

1. Native aspect ratio

Many projectors support widescreen resolution 16:9, but their native aspect ratio is 4:3. Wide screen 16:9 aspect ratio will deliver better quality image if you watch, for example, Blu-Ray movies.

2. Brightness

Brightness of the projector is measured in ANSI lumens. For backyard cinema we recommend 3000 lumen projectors. 1000 lumen projector will also do the job, if you are not expecting high quality image. However, if you are using cheap outdoor home theatre projector with low brightness, it should be really dark to watch the movies comfortably. Projectors with low brightness are ok to use with smaller screens. On the other hand, for a backyard movie night there is no need to go for a 6000 lumen projector. These projectors are used for school auditoriums or for big outdoor cinemas. For best results for a backyard cinema, aim at 3000 lumen brightness.

3. Resolution

While many low cost projectors “support” full HD, it often means the accepted input resolution is 1080p. What you need to know is native output resolution of the projector. 320×180 pixels is way too low; to watch live sports, TV and movies in a quality similar to your plasma TV, you need at least HD 720p, also known as WXGA.

Hope this helps you make the right choice quickly. The quickest way to prepare for your backyard cinema party is to contact us at Smart Digital and buy a complete outdoor cinema package called HandiTheatre®.

9 Ways to Cut Movie Licencing Costs

All you need to know about legal aspects of showing films in public

Are you planning a public movie event?
You need to understand movie licensing, costs involved and ways to save on the licences.

Good news – no licence is required to show films in your backyard to your family and friends!
Any event beyond your backyard, including free events, is subject to licensing. Non-compliance may cost you up to $250,000, so read on to avoid the penalty!

Public screenings include, for example:

  • Showing films at school, in the sports centre, or in the library
  • Fundraising events
  • Movie nights at Holiday Parks and on the public ovals
  • Watching movies at film societies or on mining camps
  • Screening movies on private land (golf clubs, wineries)

Where do I obtain licences?

In Australia, Roadshow PPL represents the majority of film studios and film distributors, including Warner Bros, Universal, Paramount, 20th Century Fox, and Walt Disney.
Amalgamated Movies are non-theatrical film distributors for Sony Pictures (Columbia Pictures and TriStar Pictures), and others.

Contact these licensors and request permission to screen two or three movies, in case the first choice film is not yet available for public performance. Most of the movies are available for non-theatrical screening events only several weeks after DVD release.

Public performance of music requires a separate licence. Contact Australasian Performing Right Association (APRA) and Phonographic Performance Company of Australia (PPCA) for details.

What costs can you expect?

If you are planning to show movies to the non-paying audience throughout the year, you may be eligible for a blanket licence. Blanket licence is paid once a year and gives permission to show films all year round – no need to pay for each film! Budget several hundred dollars for a yearly licence, depending on your location and on the size of your audience.

For a one-off event, the costs for a standard movie licence vary from $300 to $1000. A country primary school will be on the lower end of the scale whilst a commercial organization will be on the higher end of the scale.

Organising a ticketed event? Prepare for the minimum flat fee or for 30-35% of your ticket sales, whichever is greater.

The licensing costs depend on:

  • Audience size and screen size
  • Distance to the nearest hardtop cinema
  • Location of the event and ticket prices

When planning an event, contact the licensing officials for the quote and mention all details of the event to get the accurate costs of movie licensing.

What are the options to minimise costs when organising events on a big screen?

  • Some film distributors are cheaper than others. Amalgamated Movies can be more budget friendly. Choose among films made by Sony Pictures (there are some excellent kids’ movies and adult classics on offer!) or look through their range of Australian movies, anime, Bollywood, Asian Cinema and independent films.
  • Screening Art House films will cost you far less than recent Hollywood blockbusters.
  • National Film and Sound Archive offers to loan the films pre-licensed for non-theatrical and educational screenings. For as little as $22 dollars, show such films as Babe. Pig in the City, Cinderella, Bran Nue Dae, Happy Feet, Mao’s Last Dancer, and others. The restrictions will be for indoor spaces only. You also need to meet the NTLC terms and conditions of loan available at: http://www.nfsa.gov.au/collection/screening-loans/.
  • Consider showing documentaries – great way to educate community, and often, a very affordable one! For example, “Edible City”, a documentary on sustainable local food system, will only cost $125 for local government or $39 for the library!
  • Christian camps and schools can obtain yearly licence via their Church, at very reasonable rates, via Heritage Films or via Church Video Licence.
  • Schools should check if they are covered by the co-curricular licence, which allows showing films for entertainment purposes. Unfortunately, this licence does not allow screening films for general public and for fundraising activities.

Free alternatives

Some of the fun activities and events do not require any licensing expenses. Consider the following entertainment ideas:

  • Watching live to air TV, including free to air films, footy finals, state of Origin matches, or Olympic games, does not require licensing. All you need is a set top box connected to the projector. Replay of these events, however, may require a licence.
  • Youth can play computer games on inflatable screen – this activity normally does not require licensing as well.

Finally, to organise a public movie event, you need equipment. We provide both projection screens and complete portable cinema packages. Check our store to find the cinema equipment for your audience.