Is 1900 lumens enough?

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I've got a proxima ovation 820 but no overhead, I have an oppurtunity to get a cheap overhead, but it only has 1900 lumens. I did a search and couldn't find much information. Most people say that the mininum would be 4000 lumens, but I didn't need to use it during the day or anything. Would it be alright if I used it in complete darkness?
 
In my setup, I've got a Elmo HP-A305 Solar Deluxe(7300 lumens). On the high setting the picture is acceptable with ambient lighting. I usually watch movies on the low setting(approx 4000 lumens, though thats just a guess) with the room dark. For reference, my screen is about 9-10' diagonal.

I would think that 1900 is probably not enough, but if your screen isn't that large it could work. How cheap is the overhead? You could do a retrofit with the 250watt hqi kit if the optics are good. However, I would probably just check ebay for a 4000 lumen halogen, or a 7000+ lumen 575watt hmi overhead. You can get fairly good deals sometimes.

I purchased the Elmo from Inventory Solutions . The have a warehouse in atlanta, so I picked it up when I was visiting the Georgia Tech campus to save on shipping. I paid about $125. The pricing scheme seems rather sporadic, somtimes the overheads are $125-150, sometimes they want $250-300.

Here are some good overheads to look out for:
575 HMI
Elmo HP-A305
Dukane 680
Dukane 682 (same as above but portable and setup for projection panels.)
3m 9800
Buhl 108

Halogen
Dukane 4003
Many of the 3m 9xxx series

Those are just a few, I'm sure others will pitch in with some more model numbers.
 
the one I want is an Elmo HP-L14, these are the specs:

Solid metal body
Dust-free sealed head
Rack and pinion focusing
Easy lamp change
Spare lamp holder
Safety inter-lock switch
10' grounded AC cord
3 year warranty
14" lens
10"x10" aperture
360W ENX Lamp
Pen tray
Writing roll attaches easily
Screen Lumen 1900
UL/CSA approval
13"x14.8"x30"
15 lbs.

It's on an online auction for the school district in my area, I could probably get it for around $10 or less, I don't really want to spend more than $50 for an overhead, do you think I could get a 4000 lumen one for around $50 maybe $70?
 
Retrofitting an overhead is essentially replacing the light engine. Here is a work log where an Elmo solar deluxe got retrofit 575watt hmi => 250watt hqi. Unfortunately it is way out of your budget ($120-170). If you can get the 1900 lumen locally for $10, I'd go for it. It won't be very bright, but in a completely dark room I would think it would be acceptable, especially for the money. You can always upgrade later when you get more cash.
 
I watch in complete darkness, but dark scenes look too dark. I even have a light pyramid and all light leaks blocked. However, no one complains about it being too dim except me 😛

Off topic, I'm thinking about retrofitting my OHP with a MH kit. When doing this, do I strip out the entire insides including the mirror? I have a portable (3M 9700), so everything folds up... I might be better off just getting an Elmo, I think.
 
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