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| #1SynjinOct 30, 2014 7:49:49 | Anyone use their laptop with Roll20 or any such online D&D tools, and a projector to put a map and characters on the wall or screen? I'm looking for information on what projectors to get. I've found $50-$100 ones at Walmart, Amazon, etc, but I don't know if those cheaper ones are sufficient for my needs. I have HDMI ports on the laptop, so I know I need that on the projector, but any other advice would be great.
Pros and Cons? Things to look for? Things to avoid? |
| #2ShadewynOct 30, 2014 8:45:23 | lumens ... thats your main item to look for and if you are lucky a few of the smaller portable versions can be connected to a laptop via USB. In my game I personally bought a proector with 2 USB cables (75 lumen with one 125 with both if I recall). It was light enough that a temporary "command 3M" hook could hang it from ceiling. On the plus side the level of detail and immersion for combat maps was way up and freed the DM to spend time describing finer details letting the picture and its 1,000 words hit the highlights ... so players gave it thumbs up. On the thumbs down you will have to realize that at about 100 lumens the only way to have nice color is to have little to no ambient light in the room. Now in 4E when folks could play D&D on thier IPAD or phones with character sheet apps thats not a game ending issue, but since 5E hasnt botherd to roll out its electronic suite of tools most of or 5E games have gone bqack to cave man pen and paper so turning off room lights for awesome maps is not so awesome. Also if you are pondering a "wall projection" a MUCH easier method is to grab a second monitor and reverse it so it faces the players. Using POWERPOINT (pretty common software) you can activate a master presenter mode and grab and drop objects on the PPT slides and scroll around to other slides in the deck but only present on that 2nd monitor a completely diffent slide (great for a ghetto way to do reveal maps room by room). The level of detail / color / and ore importantly abilitty to display with out light issues I think is a far better solution than a projector if you are pondering wall displays. Plus when you are not gaming ... bonus monitor! |
| #3SynjinOct 30, 2014 10:02:57 | The plan was to project it onto an adjascent wall, yes. However there is a 48" HDTV in the room that I could hook up my laptop to and you're right, save the time and not worry about light sourcing. The only downside to that is, the players would be seeing what I see. No DM exclusive screen to where I could modify and move things without them seeing it. Unless...there's a way to split windows on what's on my screen, and what's being broadcast on the TV?
Hmmmm.....things to ponder. Thanks! |
| #4GrazelOct 30, 2014 10:08:21 | I'm thinking of going the projector route as well. The problem I have with the second monitor is the cost of the monitor to be big enough for people to see with ease makes a projector more appealing. I'm not too worried about lots of colors, and I've seen projectors that didn't require dimming lights to be effective as long as you didn't have direct light on the projected surface (sunlight, aimed interior lights). Also for the space I have it's easier just to use the existing grid on my table instead of the space a second monitor would take up.
I'll definitely keep the lumens in consideration though and I don't need portable, just usable since I don't need to travel with it. My other concern is how much space is needed between the projector and the surface to allow it to display the screen at the right size. |
| #5GrazelOct 30, 2014 10:11:34 |
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| #6SynjinOct 30, 2014 10:32:33 |
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| #7TimboramaOct 30, 2014 10:45:38 | I use my TV, because I can actually put up pictures using a built-in USB port! I like to show pictures of certain NPCs or Monsters (sometimes) and instead of picking up my laptop and turning it various ways to show everyone, I can simple hit the remote and show it! |
| #8ChrisCarlsonOct 30, 2014 11:14:56 | Or you could do this... |
| #9melloredOct 30, 2014 11:16:13 | We used a big TV for ours (and maptools). It worked well.
Wireless Mouse. Much easier to pass around.
Another thing is that it impedes face to face interaction. No one is looking at eachother when your around a TV, and there's alot of face clues in social interaction. Like you can't say something, and wink at someone. Or see if your players are bored. |
| (Reply to #3)Shadewyn | [quote="Synjin"] The plan was to project it onto an adjascent wall, yes. However there is a 48" HDTV in the room that I could hook up my laptop to and you're right, save the time and not worry about light sourcing. The only downside to that is, the players would be seeing what I see. No DM exclusive screen to where I could modify and move things without them seeing it. Unless...there's a way to split windows on what's on my screen, and what's being broadcast on the TV?
Hmmmm.....things to ponder. Thanks! [/quote] POWERPOINT software ... you may already have it installed on your machine from microsoft office. Select presentation mode and with dual monitors you can project a slide on one screen (monitor) while working of other slides in the same presentation or on your desktop. To the room you have complete control over what is show, can update the picture seamlessly and such. Using a reversed screen or wall screen I would do random pics of NPCs and with name an details know by party and just flash them on screen as we cycled through various RP encoutners or show pics of monsters, or wold maps etc Worked very well ... but for combat grids and figthing you will want a top down for sure. |
| #11UchawiOct 30, 2014 13:22:34 | What I want is reverse projection setup that sits underneath frosted glass or a similar setup. |
| #12GrazelOct 30, 2014 21:34:34 |
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| (Reply to #12)Timborama |
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