Geex, I think Mike has Post Projector Stress Syndrome.

Why? Did I come across as a jerk or something?? If so, sorry. Remember I don’t talk a whole lot. I’ve never been called a social butterfly, so I tend to keep things brief and to the point.

My current target implementation has the projector mounted above and barely behind the listening position (which is at about 12.5 feet). I have a little flexibility, but not much. And there is NO WAY for me to get the projector in front of the seating. Don't ask.

That’s actually preferable and less distracting.

First, screen height. My understanding is that the eyeballs of the primary viewing position should be about midway "up" the screen. Does that seem right? So, for example, if my eyeballs are 40 inches from the floor and I have a 50 inch tall screen (for 4:3 or 16:9), then the bottom of my screen should only be about 15" off the floor?

Rule of thumb is the bottom 1/3 of the screen should be eye level and below. My screen’s center is 45” from the floor and believe me, when it was 55”, I hated it. I am not a front row in the theater kind of guy, so if you are this may not even be a consideration. But it is a good idea to play with this height for a while and move it later to where you are comfortable with it. Just don’t hang it permanently until you have it “just right”. A couple inches can make a big difference.

Second, aspect ratio adjustment. These are probably projector specific, but I can't seem find or understand the answers at AVS. I can't draw ascii pictures and I don't have the time to rival Peter's sketchup skills, so try to stay with me. Start with a 16:9 screen. Will a 4:3 image necessarily fall in the middle of the screen with equal, corresponding "black bars" on each side and the same image height?

I scale all 4.3 stuff to 16.9 with the projector. I never have a 4.3 image on the screen and it looks just fine. Remember, 95% of the stuff you will watch is 16.9 or wider (including TV). But at any rate, the image will be centered in the screen horizontally. When you go from one AR to another, the bands at the top and bottom will be equal once you do the initial image centering when you throw up your first test pattern to set up the projector.

Third, same question for projecting a 2.35:1 image on a 16:9 screen. I know Randy and Mike have those groovy constant-height lenses, but I'm not ready to go there. So, I understand I will have a constant width image and black bars at the top and/or the bottom. Again, my question is does that image necessarily fall smack in the middle of the screen height-wise, or what?

Yes.

Finally, are you guys at all comfortable with cable runs longer than 25 feet? And it seems like I'd want to run both HDMI and Component video, right?

Yes. Just use a good cable. Monoprice or Blue Jeans 24 gauge would be more than adequate. You want one that will carry the 1.3 data bandwidth and I’m pretty sure 24 gauge will support that, but it’s worth checking into so you don’t have to pull new cables in again a year later. Pulling a component cable is really optional. I ran them, but don’t ever use them because I use the VP-50 and don’t need to. You should run at least one analogue cable for your receiver menu in case it can’t be carried over HDMI. I’d also recommend running a single, 1/8” mono cable in case you decide to use a RF/IR remote system like the MX-series. The flashers need to be routed from the devise controlled to the RF receiver. It’s a bitch pulling this when cables are already in the pipe (yep, I know).

Thanks very much for sharing your experiences.