I was just curious, how or what I should do, to ensure that my projector is perfectly level? I dont see alot of talk about projectors being level. I usually just went with what looks level. But how exactly do I ensure its perfectly level? Any help would be appreciated.

My mount came with a little level -
http://www.flickr.com/photos/27730338@N05/4023178479/

I was just curious, how or what I should do, to ensure that my projector is perfectly level? I dont see alot of talk about projectors being level. I usually just went with what looks level. But how exactly do I ensure its perfectly level? Any help would be appreciated.

I agree, you can use a level to make sure the mount is level. Also, if you're screen is already up, you can zoom the image down and make sure the image is correct with the screen. That way if the screen is slightly off, the picture will still be good because your eye will use the screen as the reference point. I used a level on both the screen and the mount and all was perfect.

I agree, you can use a level to make sure the mount is level. Also, if you're screen is already up, you can zoom the image down and make sure the image is correct with the screen. That way if the screen is slightly off, the picture will still be good because your eye will use the screen as the reference point. I used a level on both the screen and the mount and all was perfect.

2nd. you can look for any keystoning, both horizontal and vertical, as well as parallel alignment with the masking/edges of the screen.

A level on the projector is close to useless. The screenis the data plane towhich the projector is setup. when one mounts the screen (assuming a wall mount) left to right (horizontal) should be used. Normally,verticallyit willfollow the wall which unlikely willbe at a perfect right angle tothe floor.But one could use a plumb or a laser and shims to make it truly perpendicular. but it reallymakes norealdifference.what must be done is to ensure that the middle of the screen both vertically and horizontally doesn`t bow in or out. If it does,use shims.If its bowed you willsee it a curved edges.Somake the edges straight.

Now when you set your projector uo,the trick is to project a perfect rectangle. If the top and bottomedges are the same length,the projector willbe levelwith respect tothe the screen. doesn`t make any difference what a levelon the projector reads.Tilt upor down until the topand bottomedges are the same length.this means the top and bottomof the lens is the same distance ffromthe screen.Now youmust get the left and right edges of the lens the same distance fromthe screen.twist the projector untilthe left and right edges are the same klength.Perfect right angle.don`t panic if the image is not centered. don`t try and center the image bu twing the projector around the vertical pole. Remount the projector in the center or use a lateral shift bracketaccessory for your mountor if you atre really lazy and cheap and don`t mount some detrioration toyour image quality, use horizontallens shift if you have it.far better not to use laterallens shiftbut keepthe horizontal image entered in the lens, Obviously the topand bottomedges should be paralleltothe inside edges of the screen frame. the mount allows this adjustment and don`t hesitate to use it.Once youmount the screen correctly,you play with the projector orientation by observing the rectangle on the screen thrown by the projector. Zooming in a bit willlhelpyou see the edges and zooming backout when all is right with a finladjustment of vertical lens shift as needed.

Even if you could use a level, there is no guarantee that the projector itself is completely flat so if you have curves the level wont do much for you.

2nd. you can look for any keystoning, both horizontal and vertical, as well as parallel alignment with the masking/edges of the screen.

I'm sorry - but you never want to use keystoning - it is horrible for the image. Lens shift is OK, but digital keystoning is bad.
Mark is correct - the level may get you close, but it is really looking at your image in relation to the screen (right angles and such) that get your projector centered. Make sure when you mount that you don't tighten everything down - leave play in each of the planes and you should be able to get everything good by just using the screen as a reference. That said, I do use a level to get me in the right approximate orientation.

I'm sorry - but you never want to use keystoning - it is horrible for the image. Lens shift is OK, but digital keystoning is bad.
Mark is correct - the level may get you close, but it is really looking at your image in relation to the screen (right angles and such) that get your projector centered. Make sure when you mount that you don't tighten everything down - leave play in each of the planes and you should be able to get everything good by just using the screen as a reference. That said, I do use a level to get me in the right approximate orientation.

you misunderstood my post. i wasn't saying to use electronic keystone correction, i was saying visible keystoning (the same as what Mark said about the opposite sides being the same length) would be an indication of misalignment. vertical keystoning and you want to adjust the front/back tilt. horizontal means the lens face is not parallel to the screen so side-to-side rotation is needed. etc. :D

Right. Te basic principle is that the plane of the screen becomes the reference datum. The lens should be centered horizontally on the screen and the lens made parallel to the screen. If one edge of the lens is just an it sy bit closer than the opposite edge,the corresponding image edges on the screen will be of unequal. Tilting the projector up or down to make those edges the same length takes care of the top and bottom. If the top and bottom aren`t level, tilting the projector left or right takes care of the problem. the left\right edges are trickier because the adjustments involves rotating the projector around the vertical pole. This fixes the problem but likely will uncenter left right the image on your screen due your sloppy mounting of the projector mount (don`t get offended, its hard to get the projector lens mounted smack dab center of horizonta)0. That`s why a vertical lens shift bracket accesory is so nice,it allows you to move the whole kit and whatever left right to center the lens without remounting the mount. Lens shift works too but top optical performance will be realized by keeping the chip image in the center of the lens. Vertical lens shift is often a necessary evil but using horizontal lens shift isn`t when there are non image degrading options.

I was just curious, how or what I should do, to ensure that my projector is perfectly level? I dont see alot of talk about projectors being level. I usually just went with what looks level. But how exactly do I ensure its perfectly level? Any help would be appreciated.

If your projector is centered to the screen and your screen is level, you can then put up a test pattern and check that its level quite easily.