Choosing a Gobo Projector

With so many options in the market these days, it can be overwhelming having to choose a gobo projector. Starting at less than $200 and prices going as high as thousands of dollars, you may be wondering where to start when you look at the specs of your new gobo projector. Brightness, distance and size of the projection are probably the factors most of us want to know about. But what determines this? For the most part the lens and the power are they key elements.

For typical applications, the beam angle is the measurement used to define the lenses as it’s more practical since it assumes the gobo image size as specified by the gobo projector.
When projecting in longer distances like outside of a building or just hundreds of feet away, the narrower the beam, the better. Usually between 5 and 15 degrees. Other angles like 25 degrees, are used to show up a larger diameter at short distances, for example projecting a wedding gobo on the wall or a custom gobo in a small venue.

The brightness will also be affected by the angle beam, as projecting a larger image will disperse the light, making the projection look darker. Instead with a smaller image the light is more concentrated, giving it more brightness.

Lux is one of the specs you definitely want to look at, as it measures the intensity of light. One lux unit is equal to one lumen per square meter. So basically, the higher the lux the more intense the light you will have.

Other specs you might want to consider are power consumption, heat output, light source (led or regular), as well as the overall projector dimensions (weight and size). Gobo size is also important, many led low budget projectors now use very small sizes like 24mm, which typically make it more difficult to pull intricate designs, however that will not be true based on the technology the gobo manufacturer uses. In our case we are happy to be able to pull even the most intricate designs in the smallest possible sizes.

In conclusion, I would recommend you to define the main application of the projector, as you will be able to decide if you will be using it for long or short distance projections, during the day or night, and then start looking at options based on the specs and budget you have.