Largest Inflatable Screen in Americas - Traverse City Film Festival uses 100' AIRSCREEN

When it comes the big inflatable screens, it is Outdoor Movies. And If you want to see a big screen,  come up to Traverse City, Michigan.  Here is our 100' AIRSCREEN installed for the Traverse City Film Festival.   Front sound is all line array 24 Vertec 4888's and 10 Vertec 4880 subs. Center channel is provided uses a 180' reach crane.

For your outdoor movie screen, what lumen projector is right?

We get asked this question all the time. We also get asked if a brighter projector can help get their outdoor movie event started earlier.

Here are our answers:

1. The math for calculating brightness is easy. We are going to use 16:9 ratio projectors and inflatable screens for this exercise. Take the lumens and divide it by the square feet of the screen surface. So for example, we sell a 5,000 lumen hidef projector with our 24'x13.5' Aeropro HD-PRO Package. 24x13.5'=324 sf. 5000/324=15.4. The resultant calculation is a measurement called foot lamberts. The Society of Motion Picture and Television Engineers and the Research Council of the Academy of Motion Pictures has set 14-16  foot lamberts as the standard. So 15.4 is plenty of light!
2. Does more brightness mean we can start our outdoor movie earlier? The answer is - yes and no! More brightness means you may see a picture. However, in projection, the color black is created by darkness any ambient light destroys black levels and washes out colors.

Comments and questions are always welcome!

Bob Deutsch
Outdoor Movies

Spring is here!!! Outdoor Movie season arrives... are you ready?

'Tis the season for outdoor movies.  This winter was a particularly tough one around the entire USA, so that makes the nicer weather all that much more welcome.


The beginning of the season for many is the first time they have pulled out their screens and outdoor movie equipment in many months.  Of course in a perfect world, everything is in perfect order.  It pays to check that everything is operational and if you are an organization, you set up an evening for a practice run, especially if there are new people on the team.

Sometimes, you find that equipment is missing or damaged. At Outdoor Movies, we have spare parts like blowers, stakes and are capable of helping you with many repair needs. Give us a call at (301) 838-4544 x106 if we can help. You'll be speaking with Shane.  He knows pretty much everything there is to know about screens, electronics and what is repairable and what has to be replaced.  we carry front and rear replacement surfaces for any outdoor screen with 20cm spacing. If you have a size not standard for AIRSCREEN, we can have one manufactured for you to our exacting performance standards.


We have invested in an RF welder so that we are able to do weld repairs on PVC screen frames should you need them.

All the best and stay tuned for more posts!

Bob Deutsch
Outdoor Movies

Storage and maintenance of your outdoor movie projector

Our last post dealt with storing your inflatable screen for the winter.  If you have an outdoor movie package  purchased from us at Outdoor Movies or elsewhere, you will want to take a good look at your projector and store it carefully.  First and most importantly, locate the air intake and look for the air filter.  During outdoor use, the projector's filter protects the internal components from dirt and dust.  If the filter is dirty, it restricts airflow.  Restricted airflow causes decreased bulb life, overheating and reduced performance. So remove the filter. Most are made from foam rubber and easily cleaned with water and then dried.  Some need to be replaced.  Either way, this is an important preventative maintenance step.    Additionally, dust that is apparent to the eye should be removed using a clean dry cloth.

Lens cleaning - if you have a lens cleaning kit that includes: lens paper, a camel hair brush and lens cleaning solution, terrific. If not, one can be obtained from a reputable camera store (or from us).  Use solutions sparingly using with light pressure and a circular motion to remove dust and fingerprints.  If you have lost the lens cap, now is a great time to replace it, as well.

Remove the batteries from the remote control, and check to make sure you have your necessary cables and adapters.

That should do it! Your outdoor movie package's projector should be ready to store.

Keep warm,
Bob Deutsch
Outdoor Movies
www.outdoor-movies.com