16mm projectors are used to show
16mm movies. These are one of three main types of projector, the other two being
8mm and
35mm. The more
millimeters the film has, the larger the surface on which it can be projected without the quality becoming unacceptable.
16mm film is very important for
media collage artists because there is a vast quantity of "abandoned" 16mm film in
the West that can be bought cheaply or that is even given away, due to the move towards newer media. What's more, this format is often used for semi-professional films like
anti-drunken-driving movies, which have few
lawyers waiting around to sue on
intellectual property counts, and which are often inherently
surreal on some level, thus lending themselves well to
collage.