Comparison

ProjectorCalc vs productionTimer

Price, ratings, monetisation and update history for both apps, side by side — with what reviewers say about each.

Head to head
About

ProjectorCalc

This utility app helps lighting technicians and projectionists calculate projected image dimensions. It determines image width, height, diagonal length, brightness, area, and pixel density based on projector and location details. It also estimates keystone distortion.

Highlights
  • Calculate image width, height, and diagonal length
  • Determine brightness in Nits
  • Calculate total projected area
  • Compute pixels per inch
  • Estimate keystone distortion
Features
Read full description

Winner of the 2010 Live Design Projection Product of the Year - Software/App Category ProjectorCalc is a program for professional lighting technicians and projectionists. Its primary purpose is to determine the size of a projected image given various information about the projector and it's location. ProjectorCalc allows users to enter details for a projector and its location in relation to a projection surface. ProjectorCalc will calculate image width, image height, diagonal length, brightness in Nits, total projected area, and how many pixels per inch the projected image will be. Additionally, ProjectorCalc can give you an estimate of how much keystone distortion will occur by calculating the length of each side of the distorted image.

About

productionTimer

This app transforms your iOS device into a professional countdown clock for live events and television production. It offers fullscreen display on external monitors, customizable text and colors, and message broadcasting capabilities.

Highlights
  • Fullscreen countdown on external display
  • Message broadcasting
  • Customizable text and background colors
  • Time-Travel feature
  • AirPlay support
Features
Read full description

productionTimer was designed specifically for the live event and television production industry. Turn most models of iPad or iPhone / iPod Touch into a full-featured countdown clock - perfect for live events! Key Features: - FULLSCREEN countdown on an EXTERNAL DISPLAY via USB-C/Lightning->HDMI or AirPlay - NDI® and SRT output - send the clock over your network to a switcher, multiviewer, remote venue, or playout system - WEB VIEW & REMOTE CONTROL - open the clock in any browser and drive the timer from a separate phone, tablet, or laptop - Bitfocus Companion support - control productionTimer from a Stream Deck or any Companion surface - Send messages downstage - Change text and background colors for normal, warning, and end segments - Smaller cost and footprint than computer or hardware-based timers productionTimer turns an iOS device into a full-screen countdown clock for an external monitor. Take video directly out of the device via the Apple HDMI adapter - run it to a nearby monitor with standard HDMI, send it over Cat-5/5e/6 or fiber, or feed it into a switcher and route it anywhere. Using a switcher, you can even key out the background for a clean countdown over other graphics - perfect for getting attendees back from breaks on time. Prefer to skip the cables? An AirPlay destination like Apple TV works as the external monitor. Need the clock somewhere a cable won't reach? Broadcast it over your network instead - as an NDI source straight into your switcher, or an SRT stream for reliable delivery over longer, less predictable connections. It's also available as a web view, so anyone on the network can pull it up in a browser. Run the show from wherever you are: built-in remote control lets an operator drive the timer from a separate device, and Bitfocus Companion integration puts start, stop, reset, and messaging on your Stream Deck - right inside the control layout you already use. A "warning" changes the clock's background to a user-defined color at a set time - great for cueing talent to wrap up or move to Q&A. Once time is up, the background can change colors again. Need to send a note downstage but don't have switching in place to get it on the confidence monitor? Type a short message and display it on the clock. The countdown shifts up and a large, clear message appears below it - one touch and it's back to normal. Event professionals know the importance of running on time. Need to make up a few minutes? Use "Time-Travel" to run the clock faster than reality - just set the time of day you want it to hit "0" and productionTimer figures out the rest.

Screenshots

ProjectorCalc3 screens
productionTimer2 screens

Verdict

The call

The clearest difference is review sentiment: productionTimer at 90% against ProjectorCalc's 38%. productionTimer also leads on update cadence (weekly vs every 49 months) and ratings volume (13 vs 2). ProjectorCalc's advantage is price ($2.99 vs $19.99) and rating (5.0 vs 4.7). On ads, in-app purchases, monetization model and device support there is nothing between them.

Scored on Price · Rating · Positive reviews · Number of ratings · Update frequency · Ads · In-app purchases · Monetization · Best chart rank · Devices · Requires iOS

CostPrice · In-app purchases · Ads · Monetization

ProjectorCalc costs $2.99 and productionTimer $19.99 up front. Neither carries in-app purchases, so what you see is what you pay.

ReceptionRating · Positive reviews · Number of ratings

ProjectorCalc holds the better App Store score, 5.0 against 4.7. That said, the two scores are not equally well evidenced: productionTimer has 13 ratings behind it against 2, so its average is the more settled of the two. Written reviews complicate that: 38% of ProjectorCalc's written reviews are positive against 90% of productionTimer's, so the app with the better star average is not the one people write more warmly about.

UpkeepUpdate frequency

ProjectorCalc ships an update every 49 months, productionTimer weekly. The most recent releases landed on October 31, 2026 and November 1, 2026 respectively.

Scorecard6 real differences · 4 level
ProjectorCalc versus productionTimer: the parameters behind the verdict, then further details
ParameterProjectorCalcproductionTimer
Price$2.99 — better$19.99
Rating5.0 (2 ratings) — better4.7 (13 ratings)
Positive reviews37.5% of reviews90.0% of reviews — better
Number of ratings213 — better
Update frequencyEvery 49 monthsWeekly — better
AdsNoNo
In-app purchasesNoNo
MonetizationPaidPaid
DevicesiPhone, iPodiPhone, iPad, iPod — better
Requires iOS9.2 — better15.0
Further details — not scored
Size10 MB6 MB
Age rating4+4+
DeveloperD!HV LightingOn-Point Presentation Services, LLC

Customer experience

ProjectorCalc

All ratings2 ratings
Positive100.0%
Neutral0.0%
Negative0.0%
Written reviews16 reviews
Positive37.5%
Neutral18.8%
Negative43.8%

productionTimer

All ratings12 ratings
Positive100.0%
Neutral0.0%
Negative0.0%
Written reviews10 reviews
Positive90.0%
Neutral10.0%
Negative0.0%

In-app purchases

None

ProjectorCalc

No in-app purchases

None

productionTimer

No in-app purchases

Questions

Is ProjectorCalc free?
ProjectorCalc costs $2.99, with no in-app purchases.
Is productionTimer free?
productionTimer costs $19.99, with no in-app purchases.
Which has better reviews, ProjectorCalc or productionTimer?
ProjectorCalc is rated higher. ProjectorCalc averages 5.0 out of 5 from 2 ratings, while productionTimer averages 4.7 from 13 ratings.
Do ProjectorCalc or productionTimer have ads?
Neither ProjectorCalc nor productionTimer shows ads.
Which is updated more often, ProjectorCalc or productionTimer?
ProjectorCalc ships an update every 49 months, and productionTimer weekly. Most recently, ProjectorCalc was updated on October 31, 2026 and productionTimer on November 1, 2026.

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