A long jump or a short throw

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Question: I see the term “short throw†being used with LDC projectors. What is that?

The IT Guy says:
LCD projectors are (finally!) flooding schools, as the costs have dropped dramatically. It is an extremely competitive market, and that means we see lots of innovations in the devices. One of the latest is a great thing called a short throw lens.

If you've ever set up a projector for a presentation in a fairly small room, you've probably encountered the problem of getting the projector far enough from the wall to fill the screen. Often you end up with the projector out in the crowd someplace, which isn't a great solution.

A short throw lens solves this problem. It allows you to have the project much closer to the screen, giving you a large image from just a few feet away. Some higher-end projectors even use the term ultra-short throw lens, and I've seen some advertised that claim to fill a five-foot screen from less than two feet away!

If you have a ceiling-mounted projector, this option probably isn't very important, but for those of us that who pack projectors around from location to location, this is a neat option that gives us a lot more flexibility in setting up. As a matter of fact, I just ordered one, and I can't wait to try it out!

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