Hi All,

I have recently bought the Panasonic AE4000U. I was wondering if I should mount it on the ceiling or keep it on a high shelf?

Is there a stand available for projector mounting purposes?

Also, what kind of screen should I buy for the projector?
I have a dedicated light controlled room with a seating distance of 12 feet and max projector distance of 14 feet from the projection wall.

Any recommendations for the kind of screen I should buy?

My budget is around 400 for the screen and my end usage would be HD movies and HD games.

Thanks for helping out this newbie :)

Hey,

If budget is a big deal to you, I got the Visual Apex Panny 4k package and it comes with a ceiling mount, screen, HDMI cable, and shipping costs for only several hundred more than the projector. You'll definitely save more than buying the components separately.

I'm happy with the screen. It looks nice, it was easy to build (took about 1 1/2 hours to build and mount) and the picture is plenty bright with a 1.1 gain.

I got the mount with extension (I had to because it's mounted to a piece of oak plywood bolted to my floor supports above my basement's drop ceiling), but that was only 20 bucks more than the flush mount. The mount allows you to adjust the position of the projector easily but it is stiff enough to hold its position after you stop moving it. I did have to remount the projector though because I did it off center at first, which caused the mount to slowly tilt to one side because it was side heavy. After the remount, no problems. One more thing - the instructions for this mount suck. You'll have to figure out how to build it pretty much on your own. Not a big deal, but it's an issue.

This is my first projector / screen / mount, so I don't have much experience to base this on, but everything has worked well for me so far and it was all had for a pretty good price.

If you're going to have the projector up high, it would have to mounted upside down. Projector offsets are such that they project out and up, so if it were on a shelf up high, it would miss the screen. Check your manual for a installation instructions, they usually have diagrams illustrating this.

the panasonic 4k has zero offset. this means that even if ceiling mounting or high shelf you have the option to leave it right side up if desired. Makes no difference either way

I think it depends more on the size of your room. 14-16 ft will will give a good combination of sharpness and brightness. If you have a small room, a shelf is fine. Otherwise, mount to the ceiling.
Be aware that that if you are going with a 2.35:1 screen, it is better if your PJ is even with the top of the screen.

I have a 1.1 gain 100" 16x9 screen in a 14' square room. I love it!

Hey,

If budget is a big deal to you, I got the Visual Apex Panny 4k package and it comes with a ceiling mount, screen, HDMI cable, and shipping costs for only several hundred more than the projector. You'll definitely save more than buying the components separately.

I'm happy with the screen. It looks nice, it was easy to build (took about 1 1/2 hours to build and mount) and the picture is plenty bright with a 1.1 gain.

I got the mount with extension (I had to because it's mounted to a piece of oak plywood bolted to my floor supports above my basement's drop ceiling), but that was only 20 bucks more than the flush mount. The mount allows you to adjust the position of the projector easily but it is stiff enough to hold its position after you stop moving it. I did have to remount the projector though because I did it off center at first, which caused the mount to slowly tilt to one side because it was side heavy. After the remount, no problems. One more thing - the instructions for this mount suck. You'll have to figure out how to build it pretty much on your own. Not a big deal, but it's an issue.

This is my first projector / screen / mount, so I don't have much experience to base this on, but everything has worked well for me so far and it was all had for a pretty good price.

I was looking at the same option. The only thing I was worried about was the screen. Any comments on how good the screen is when compared to da-lite or similar companies?

I think it depends more on the size of your room. 14-16 ft will will give a good combination of sharpness and brightness. If you have a small room, a shelf is fine. Otherwise, mount to the ceiling.
Be aware that that if you are going with a 2.35:1 screen, it is better if your PJ is even with the top of the screen.

I have a 1.1 gain 100" 16x9 screen in a 14' square room. I love it!

I was thinking of going with the 2.35:1 screen ratio. What would be a good screen size keeping this ratio in mind for a 14' room? :)

You're right, I failed to see that. And the projector has enough lens shift to compensate for a high shelf mount. Good call.

the panasonic 4k has zero offset. this means that even if ceiling mounting or high shelf you have the option to leave it right side up if desired. Makes no difference either way

I was looking at the same option. The only thing I was worried about was the screen. Any comments on how good the screen is when compared to da-lite or similar companies?



I was thinking of going with the 2.35:1 screen ratio. What would be a good screen size keeping this ratio in mind for a 14' room? :)

You could easily get away with a 100" diag. 2.35:1 screen.
But don't take my word for it.

http://www.projectorcentral.com/Panasonic-PT-AE4000U-projection-calculator-pro.htm

Hi Guys,
I'm in a similar boat here as well. I just got my AE4k, but I've never installed anything quite like this, and I'm a little worried about tearing my ceiling apart. I'm installing in a bonus room above my garage. I do not have access above the ceiling from my attic...can only work from below.

I ordered the Universal AV813-U with extension from Visual Apex as well.

(I had to because it's mounted to a piece of oak plywood bolted to my floor supports above my basement's drop ceiling)
Is this how most people mount their projectors on the ceiling? They just screw a piece of painted plywood on the ceiling into the ceiling joists? Is there a cleaner way to do it so it looks like the pole for the mount just comes out of the ceiling?

I dug around on the forums and google, and this was the best info I could find on this topic: http://www.samoht.com/wiki/wiki.pl?Ceiling_Mounting_The_Projector. Thanks guys.

I ended up going with a Carada Precision Brilliant White screen in 92". That's as big as I can go unfortunately.

The reason for the plywood to span the joists. You do not want to hang projector from sheetrock. But you probably already knew that.

The only way to accomplish what you're asking with the pole is to cut the sheetrock out, install additional wood in between the joists to mount the pole to and replace/repair the sheetrock. If you could get in the space above the ceiling, it would be a different story.

And this brings up a question. Just how did you plan to run power and video lines if not above the ceiling? Surface mount?