Railfan Technology > Digital Image Projectors

Have just endured another digital image show with a number of friends.
An Epson projector was supplied.
Virtually all the shows had problems getting started.
Some shows were on a memory stick formatted on a Microsoft based machine,
One show was plugged in from an Macbook Air as it seems the projector
did not like the memory stick that had been formatted on the Macbook; it was easier
to simply plug in directly from the computer.
So my question is twofold.
What projectors would be used in a room setting of say 50 or more people,
that works across all computer platforms and is easy to use?
And which computer programs are best suited to
arranging digital images for similar presentations?

Bryce Lee
Burlington, Ontario
 

Back in the days of slide-only shows, presenters had 2 choices...bring presentation in Kodak Carosel slide tray(s) or bring your own projector and trays.  I've encountered both.

These days, there are numerous possible 'combinations' of computer, operating system, presentation software, data recording format, media, and projection environment (living room, basement, small banquet room, large banquet room, etc) to come up with a one-size-fits-all solution.  Unless presenters are advised in advance what they must bring, it's a complete crapshoot what shows up.

If I were to come up with a 'solution', I would say that the host or host orgranization would provide a laptop connected to a projector that is 'right' for that room.  All presentations to be provided as a series of JPG images on a CD or thumb drive that would be anti-virus scanned then pre-loaded into said computer and and loaded into a slide presentation program.  There are several 'easy slide presentation' software programs available that can quickly load a folder-full of JPG images and create a presentation with fixed timings.  Why this setup?  First, it's a 'fixed' projection system...pre-proven to work at that location.  Having all images come pre-sorted in showing sequence by file name (img-001, img-002, etc) as JPGs eliminates all different presentation software issues/programs/computers/etc.

Alternatively, a pre-made presentation as a .MOV file would also work.  .MOV and .JPG is pretty much a 'universal standard' among all media formats.  For what it's worth, the slide presentation software I use can produce .MOV presentations very easily.  So either way would work for me.