Axiom Home Page Forums General Discussion Home Theater anyone know a lot about projectors?

I am looking at getting a front projection setup for my home theatre room, and have tons of questions of course. Just wondering if anyone around here is pretty knowledgable when it comes to these setups and would be willing to give some advice.

Thanks!

sushi's your man. He's the official unofficial front-projector spokesperson on the Axiom forum. I'm sture he'll jump in just as soon as he has time. Those narcoleptic mice seem to take up much of his time.

narcoleptic mice?...interesting

Well, I will just post my basic questions I guess and hopefully he'll take a stab at them when he gets on.

My main problem is projector placement. From one wall to another, it is 12 ft, so I will have about 10ft distance from the screen. Ceiling is 8ft. I was thinking a 72-80" 16:9 screen, which would give me about a 36-40" screen height.

Now here is my problem. I have a ceiling fan that cant come down (I am in an apt). If I drop the projector down from the ceiling about 18" it will clear the fan no problem...but how low will that put the image on my wall?

I would like the bottom of the screen about 40" off the ground to allow for equipment to rest there.

Now I know that was alot of rambling...hopefully some of it made sense and you can point me in the right direction. I will try to get some pics up shortly...they should do a better job of explaining everything.

Here are a few pics of the room, you can see the fan is a bit left of center of where the projector would be aiming, so Im not sure I would have to drop it down beneath the fan.

http://members.cox.net/axiomaudio/fp/

I know NOTHING about projectors. But I'd take the fan down and put it back up when you move out.

I second Tomtuttle's suggestion and would think seriously about taking down the fan...replace it with a low-profile light fixture, then before moving replace the fan. Not hard to do (in case you haven't done it)...just kind of awkward. Make sure you've got a sturdy ladder, etc.

Good luck! I'm envious BTW...have a 32" regular TV but would LOVE to get something bigger...want to see what happens in the DLP field this fall...

the projector I am looking into is a DLP...umph!

Sushi is the resident expert.
If you can find a PJ with a short throw lens that would be more beneficial since you got 8-10 feet to work with if table top mounted or 11 feet if ceiling mounted. Droping from the ceiling below the fan is fine and then reverse the image. I have my projector on the coffee table at 9 feet from the wall and sitting area at 13 feet. I have no screen door and an excellent picture. I am able to fill a 60x60 4:3 picture or a 78" diagonal 16:9 picture. In my future new place (4.5 months to go) I should get more depth in the room and a bigger picture but for now it will do. I have heard a better picture on tabletop without keystone for some projectors attached to a HTPC resolution synced with the FP. The less keystone the less dithering or scaling in the corners or edges. But for most having it ceiling mounted or tabletop is a matter of personal placement. But for WAF factor cables coming out of the coffee table is not necessarily desired. Having it table top mounted at 40" you won't have issues with the 16:9 format. But if you are watching 4:3 you might run out of room having the top of the picture past your ceiling height if you really want a big picture. Some projectors have an image offset between 110% (4:3) - 130% (16:9) wherein the bottom of the picture is raised above the line of the lens. For example a picture 10 feet high at 4:3 mode is about 1.22 feet above the line at the middle of my lens. A quick adjustment to a smaller picture is all you need to do. Welcome to the big picture FP world.

Saturn

Hi,

I am no expert but here is an excellent link to get you thinking on different options available to you... DA-LITE Monitor Mounts

Have you considered simply wall mounting the projector using a shelf right behind the sofa wall. It can be at 6-feet height i.e. below the ceiling fan and you can raise the back feet of the projector or place a book to raise the back of the projector so screen is at your required height. You will have to play with keystone to get the image right.

Also some projectors have a LENS SHIFT feature. i.e. you can physically adjust (manual knob) the lens up or down so as to avoid using the digital keystone which is not very pleasant at times.

I have seen some some stores in Hong Kong simply use a wallmounted wooden shelf and they reverse mount the projector underneath the shelf and simply use velcro straps to hold the projector. (CAUTION : projector weight should be less than 2-3 kgs if you consider the velcro option).

If you are considering a short throw lens, you may also want to look at some projection carts.

Although I had decided to ceiling-mount my projector since the day I got it and I have already purchased all the necessary mounts and accessories to put it up, I have yet to actually go ahead with it. I have an AV rack on wheels (36-inches height) which serves as a projector mobile cart.

The DA-Lite links are for reference only. They are quite expensive and I am sure you can get cheaper stuff elsewhere.

Good luck in your venture.

Cheers / Mahesh

Marcus,

It depends on the specific projector model. When you ceiling-mount a projector, the top of the projected image will be approximately level with the lens-center. Some projectors have a positive (or negative) throw offset, meaning that the top of the image will be a little below (or above) the lens-center. The amount of throw offset differs from model to model (some have a variable offset, or the "lens-shift" feature), and varies with throw distance.

If you need to mount the projector ~18" below the ceiling (at the lens center) to clear the fan, it follows that you need a projector with zero throw offset, so that the screen top is also ~18" below the ceiling. For a ~40"-tall screen, this will result in a 38" clearance below the screen bottom.

A couple of thoughts here:

(1) I strongly suggest that you also consider placing the equipment rack somewhere else, along the side or back wall -- for example, where the wine storage or the PC is currently sitting. Not only this will remove the restrictions on the screen mounting height, but it may well make the front wall visually more attractive, without all the clutter of the electronics.

(2) Choosing the projector based on the throw offset requirement is, IMO, absurd. You should choose the projector first, and then optimize the geometry for the specific projector.

(3) So, depending on the projector choice, temporarily taking down the fan may be the only feasibly solution.


So, what is the projector(s) you have in your mind now?