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The Magic Lantern
The Magic lantern was an early image projector; the earliest known was in a publication in 1671; that painted picture or photos on sheets of glass, a lens, and a bright source. It was used mostly for entertainment purposes and was very helpful for educational purposes. It used a concave mirror in the back or a light source to direct light through a small sheet of glass, and the lens was able to be adjusted for the distance of the projection screen, which was usually a white wall or white sheet. -
The Opaque Projector
The Opaque Projector was first invented in the 1950's, and it allowed a person to project printed material or small objects onto a wall by placing the printed material or object into the opaque projector, and bright lamp shines on the material or object and the reflected light is directed through a projection lens. -
Slide Projector
The slide projector was also invented in the 1950's, and Kodak was the main supplier of the Slide Projectors. The Slide Projectors require that the material is transferred to a slide, which allows a person to project anything that can be put on film. -
The Overhead Projector
The Overhead Projector a transparent sheet of material, transparency, is where the information is transferred to with a copy machine. Then, it can be placed on an overhead projector and projected onto a wall or screen by a lamp. These are still used today and very helpful in the classroom. -
Digital Projection Panels
The Digital Projection Panel consists of an LCD, a cooling fan, and a plastic or metal enclosure. There are electronics built on the back of the LCD that allow light to pass through. It is a sheet of paper that, when plugged into a computer, can display an image using light. After this came video projector panels and multimedia projector panels. These were all useful because they allowed for interactive presentation and were used often in education. -
Computer Projectors
The Computer Projector was used mostly for education, business, and training. It was a combination of the overhead projector and digital projector basically. The first were very big, chunky, heavy, and very expensive with not the greatest quality, but they got smaller, lighter, and cheaper and they were able to be more easily transported. They are still used today with video games, presentations, classrooms, museums, and so much more. -
Video Projectors
The Video Projectors were just like the computer projectors; they started out heavy, bulky, and expensive, but after a while and modifications they became smaller, easier to transport, and better quality. Today they are used for watching movies at home and projecting movies/videos in class. Now some even come with or attach to DVD players and audio systems for home entertainment. -
Home Theater Projectors
The Home Theater Projectors are very popular now because people want to be able to watch movies in high quality in the comfort of their own home. You can convert your basement, bedroom, or living room into a home theater, how convenient. -
Multimedia Projectors
Multimedia Projectors combined video, data, and audio in order to make things more efficient than the video projectors. They are very useful in small presentation rooms or classrooms in order to present information. They also have created HD projectors that connect to high definition video sources without having to run wiring. -
Pocket Projectors
The first Pocket Projectors were first introduced by Mitsubishi and were able to fit in a palm of a hand. They can be plugged into a wall outlet or are able to be powered by battery, and they get their light source from a cluster of LED's. They are still being changed and updated with reduced optics, light output improvements, better prices, and reduced packaging. It is expected to be seen in everything.
