Wow,
Thats alot of questions, I attempt to answer all of them:
1. What is a good projector out there that doesnt break the bank? I own the Sanyo Z5 which is an LCD 720p native projector. Super cheap and I sit about 10 feet from the screen and can't notice any screen door effect. mdrew will hopefully be in here to give the benefits of 1080p over 720p.
2. Also, for the screen, is there a huge difference in what type of screen to get?I made my own screen for about $50 using blackout cloth (can be bought at any fabric store) and stretching it over a home made frame I made with wood painted black from Home Depot and using corner braces on the back. Google a DIY screen and you will get some good ways of going about doing this.
3. right now, my couch is ~13 ft from the wall, and my ceiling is only 7ft. Is this too low to go projector? How big do you think i can go (i can move the projector back up to 20ft, but i will sit about 13-14 ft back. For low ceiling projection, you are going to want to get an LCD projector that has good lens shift. The Sanyo Z5 is a good option, Also the Panasonic AE200 (I think) has good lens shift, as does panasonic's 1080p varient (I think its the AE2000?).
As a general rule of thumb you want to be able to get the biggest screen size situating your projector the closest it can go to the screen. This will ensure you have good screen brightness for the size of screen you choose.
Use this calculator to determine how far back your projector should be ceiling mounted for your desired screen size. (will need to pic a projector tho
)
4. How far off the ground should the screen be? How far from the ceiling? Im worried i wont be able to go big enough to justify spending all the $$ if i can only go 80" or so.Your eyes (usually around 36-38" or so from the ground on an average couch) should be level with at least the bottom of the screen, I have mine in the bottom 1/3 of the screen and it is very comfortable on my neck. You have lots of room to work with with a 7' wall, so don't sweat it. I have my 92" screen about 30" off the ground I think.
With 84" to work with (a 7' ceiling), and if you put your screen 30" off the ground, you can have up to a 100" screen (49" in height) and still have 5 or so inches at the top of your ceiling. If you want to have dual centre channels mounted above and below, you can lower your screen height to 25" or so to allow for a centre channel to go above the 100" screen.
5. How much do ceiling mounts hang (there is no drywall ceiling, it is all floor joists and beams)My monoprice.com ceiling mount hangs down about 6", and then the projector itself adds another 4" inches or so. So I would say the bottom of a mounted projector hangs down to about 10" to 12" or so at the most (depending on the type of mount you buy).
