Projection and Screen Rental for Corporate Events
Front and rear projection, fast-fold screens and dual-screen general sessions across North Carolina and the East Coast. We size the screen to the room and the back row, not to the truck.
Projection still wins in the right room
LED walls get the attention right now, and we rent plenty of them. But projection is still the right answer in a lot of rooms, and anyone who tells you otherwise is selling what is on their shelf rather than solving your problem.
Projection wins when the room is wide enough to need two images and the budget has to cover both. It wins when the ceiling will not take the weight of a wall. It wins when the load-in door, the freight elevator, or the four hours you have to set up make a wall unrealistic. And it wins when the content is mostly slides, because a clean, bright, correctly focused image of a deck looks excellent on a screen.
Where projection loses is ambient light. A ballroom with a wall of windows at 10am will wash out a projected image no matter how many lumens you throw at it. That is the conversation we have with you up front, and if the honest answer is that your room needs an LED video wall, we will tell you that instead of selling you a projector and hoping.
What we set
Front projection
The standard setup. Projector on a stand or flown from truss at the back or middle of the room, image on a fast-fold screen at the front. Fastest to set, easiest to adjust, most forgiving budget. The tradeoff is the throw path: anyone walking through the beam casts a shadow, so we plan the aisle and the cable run around it.
Rear projection
Projector sits behind the screen, so nothing can walk through the image and there is no light in your presenters’ eyes. It looks more finished and it is what we recommend for a keynote or an awards night where the stage picture matters. It costs more because it needs floor space behind the screen and a bit more rigging, so we only push it when the room can give up the depth.
Dual screens and wide rooms
Most ballrooms are wider than they are deep, which means one center screen leaves half the room reading a slide at an angle. Two screens flanking the stage fixes that, and it gives you the option of running different content on each side, such as slides on one and a live camera feed on the other.
Confidence monitors
A screen your presenter can see from the lectern, showing either the slide they are on or the next one. Small piece of gear, enormous difference to how composed a speaker looks. We include one on most general sessions because a presenter turning around to read their own slide is the fastest way to make a room look amateur.
Screens sized to the back row
The rule we work to is simple: the person in the last row should be able to read body text on a slide without leaning forward. That is a function of screen height against the distance to the back of the room, and it is why we ask for the room dimensions and the seating count before we quote a screen size rather than after.
We carry fast-fold screens in the sizes that actually get used at corporate events, in both 16:9 and 16:10, with front and rear surfaces and full dress kits so the frame reads as part of the stage instead of a rental. If your deck was built for a different aspect ratio, our graphics team can rescale it rather than letting it letterbox.
Screens come with skirting and drape so nothing behind them shows, and we set them at a height that clears standing heads. A screen with its bottom edge at chair height looks fine in an empty room and is useless once 300 people sit down.
What goes behind the image
A screen is the easy part. What makes the difference is everything feeding it.
- A switcher with preview, so we cut to the next source cleanly instead of showing your desktop
- A show laptop running the deck, plus a backup laptop cued to the same slide
- Redundant cabling on long runs, because a single HDMI going down mid-keynote is not a story you want
- A technician who sits at the switcher for the whole show, not a delivery driver who sets it and leaves
- Our in-house graphics team, if your slides need cleaning up, resizing, or a set of branded holding cards and lower thirds
That last one comes up more than people expect. A deck assembled by six different departments the week before never looks like one presentation. We can pull it into one template with your fonts and colors so the screen looks deliberate.
Projection or LED wall
Short version of the conversation we have with every client who asks.
- Ambient light in the room: LED wall. Projection cannot beat daylight.
- Slides and video in a controlled ballroom: projection does this beautifully for less money.
- You want the screen to be part of the set design: LED wall. It is a light source, so it makes the stage.
- Tight load-in or a ceiling that will not take the weight: projection, usually ground-supported.
- Wide room, two images needed, fixed budget: dual projection almost always beats one small wall.
- Multi-day conference where the room turns over: depends on the schedule, and we will walk it with you.
Where we work
We produce most often in the Piedmont Triad, the Triangle and Charlotte, and we travel up and down the East Coast including Virginia and South Carolina. We are the in-house AV company at Legacy Stables & Events in Winston-Salem and The Merrimon-Wynne House in Raleigh, so if your event is in either of those rooms we know the sightlines, the power and the acoustics inside and out.
Questions we get about projection and screens
How bright does the projector need to be?
It depends on the room, the screen size and how much light you can control, which is why we do not quote a projector by lumens over the phone. Tell us the room, the time of day and whether the windows have blackout, and we will spec to that. If the honest answer is that no projector will hold up in your room, we will say so and price an LED wall instead.
Can you run our slides, or do we need someone?
We run them. A technician sits at the switcher for the entire show and advances on your presenter’s cue or on their clicker, whichever they prefer. You can also run your own deck from the lectern if you would rather, and we will still have the backup cued.
What if a presenter shows up with their own laptop?
Normal, and we plan for it. We bring the adapters, we test every laptop during rehearsal, and we keep a backup of the deck on our show machine in case the laptop fails. The one thing we ask is that presenters find us before the session starts rather than during it.
Do you do rear projection outdoors?
Rarely, and only after dark. Outdoor projection of any kind fights ambient light until the sun is fully down, and rear projection also needs the screen protected from wind. For a daytime outdoor event we will point you at an LED wall.
Can you match our branding on screen?
Yes. Our in-house graphics team builds holding slides, lower thirds, countdown clocks and transition cards in your brand, and can rework an inconsistent deck into one template. Send us what you have and we will tell you what is worth doing.
What does projection cost?
Entry-level corporate production with a single screen, projector, switching and a technician starts around $4,000 for a straightforward single-day event. A typical 100 to 500 person single-day event runs from there up to around $50,000 depending on room count, screens, lighting and how much video is involved. We quote in simple line items and we do not nickel and dime.
Do you rent projectors without a tech?
For other production companies deploying with their own crew, yes. For end clients, no. A projector in a box with no one to run the switcher is how shows go wrong, and we would rather lose the rental than have our gear be the reason a keynote stalls.
How early do you set up?
For general sessions we prefer the day before whenever the venue allows it, so there is time to focus, test every laptop and run a real rehearsal. When the room is only available same-day, we build early and protect time for a full tech check before doors.
Are you insured, and can you send a certificate?
Yes. We carry general liability, commercial auto and workers’ compensation insurance, and we issue certificates of insurance naming your venue or client as additional insured, usually the same day you ask. Most hotels, convention centres, hospitals and campus buildings require one before load-in. Send us the venue’s requirements and we will deal with their risk department directly.
Tell us about the room
Send the venue, the date, the headcount and what is going on the screen. We will come back with a real proposal in simple line items.