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Message: <blockquote data-quote="Steel_Wind" data-source="post: 5458456" data-attributes="member: 20741">In the toolset? Not easily - but you can kludge one. I created a placeable with a black pane preset to come in at a height above the map. I think I made it an attachment to a message in the original thread. It should still be there.You essentially build your map - then populate those placeables and place them over the top of what you want hidden. You then remove them in the toolset to uncover the map beneath it as you go along.It's not really intended for fog of war. It's ideal for villages, inside of small buildings, random encounters in the wild, caves, outdoor scenes and, especially, campsites. You can use it to explore a dungeon, but it's kludgey for that purpose.  Not recommended for that.This was always a function of brightness. As long as you have an 1800 ANSI or better projector (preferably 2200 ANSI+) you'll be fine. Once you spike over 3500 ANSI, it's goudge your eyes out bright. But to address this issue head on? I think projection technology is now passe for battlemat applications. A far better alternative -- and one which completely solves the brightness issue -- is a flat panel display.  Grab a TV and lie it down on the table top. When the projection thread started nearly six years ago, projectors at that time were ~ $500-$600 for a used projector. A lot of people on EN World bought projectors for $1000 to $2000+ dollars. Most were spending about $700-900 on their new projectors.  All of those models used special lamps with optics in them that had a finite number of hours and were $300+ to replace. That has not changed. They still have a finite lifetime of use, degrade over the lifetime of that use (they get noticeably dimmer), and are hella-expensive to replace.You can purchase a 5000 series <a href="http://www.futureshop.ca/en-CA/product/samsung-samsung-46-1080p-led-hdtv-un46c5000-un46c5000/10140319.aspx?path=af170df4d87ff69f8dabd1fa295a8df8en02&lid=fp-10140319-samsungsamsung461080pledhdtvun-en" target="_blank">Samsung 46" OLED Flat panel display</a>, which is only 1.12 inches thick, for $899 right now. That thing has a flat back and lies down almost perfectly on a tabletop. It's THIN. REALLY THIN.  It is a FRIKKIN AMAZING flat panel. The colors on it are absolutely gorgeous too. Moreover, the weight on this unit is so low that you can move it around easily without the need for another set of hands to help you. This technology is now here and as affordable as projection tech was when we first started adopting it here on ENWorld. The Samsung 5000 is only a 60Hz model. The market is now moving to 120Hz or 240Hz for top end Blu-Ray use. But for most viewers? Really - the Samsung 5000 is still an amazingly high quality picture. And for battlemat use? The increase in Hz -- which is only relevant for a fast moving scene in a 1080p movie, is utterly irrelevant for our purposes. Our scenes aren't fast moving car chases <img src="https://cdn.jsdelivr.net/joypixels/assets/8.0/png/unicode/64/1f642.png" class="smilie smilie--emoji" loading="lazy" width="64" height="64" alt=":)" title="Smile    :)"  data-smilie="1"data-shortname=":)" />  So the trend in the high-end market is now serving  a tech problem we don't have -- and which the more expensive sets don't add anything too. That means it's a good time to buy last year's set at a bargain price <img src="https://cdn.jsdelivr.net/joypixels/assets/8.0/png/unicode/64/1f642.png" class="smilie smilie--emoji" loading="lazy" width="64" height="64" alt=":)" title="Smile    :)"  data-smilie="1"data-shortname=":)" />In terms of size, a 46" flat panel is larger than most projected maps. It's also at the size where in terms of resolution, you really can't make a projected image any bigger than 46" on the diagonal without running into significant pixelation issues and image degradation. Most projectors were recommend on whether or not they could manage a 42" to 44" image at the throw distance from the ceiling to tabletop. If they could do that? They were about as good as they needed to be. Even 38" was considered passable.Well, a 46" flat panel already beats that yardstick in every possible way.In terms of contrast, brightness and detail? There probably isn't a projector on Planet Earth (well, outside of a Planetarium) that could ever compete with the Samsung.And that's for a 1" thick bleeding edge OLED flat panel. For a more middle of the road 42" or 46" LCD flat panel? That will run you only about $500-600.Still, I think the Samsung OLED 46" is the way to go. But there are a large number of flat panels which are less sophisticated (read, thicker) than the Samsung which produce a comparable image.Anyway, a flat panel is never going to suffer from any brightness issues. With a flat panel, the real question is ensuring it is turned down in brightness so it's not too bright to look at up close. The concerns that the image is washed out or not visible during play utterly vanishes.We had speculated in the original thread when flat panels would become cheap enough -- and thin enough --  that projection technology would no longer make sense. In my view, we're at that point now.   Now, if you already have one -- or have a source for a fairly cheap used one? Ok. Then it's a matter of dollars and getting by with what you can.But there is absolutely no reason to be buying a new projector for battlemap projection. I'd get a Samsung 5000 series LED flat panel.That recommendation will change later this year and next, as new models come out. The main issue is image size, cost and overall thickness of the flat panel. 60 pound 1080P TVs that are 5" thick with an unevenly contoured back are hard to lie flat without a custom fit table specifically designed for the purpose.A 46" 1.12 inch Samsung 5000? You can lie that down on your kitchen table and pick it up and move it after the game without any special modifications to the table. Check it out at your local Best Buy. I did -- and I must admit, that within 1 second of seeing the thin and EVEN contour profile of that model, my mind started whirring like a sonofabitch. "She will be mine. She will be."We're there folks. [Edit: Well... at least Oryan77 is there! <img src="https://cdn.jsdelivr.net/joypixels/assets/8.0/png/unicode/64/1f61b.png" class="smilie smilie--emoji" loading="lazy" width="64" height="64" alt=":P" title="Stick out tongue    :P"  data-smilie="7"data-shortname=":P" />]</blockquote>

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