I am about to receive a new BenQ W10000 Projector. I will ceiling mount it and need to decide on what distance to put it. Based on the screen dimension (110" 16:9) I can have it anywhere between 14.5 - 16.5 feet by using the screen placement calculator provided by BenQ.

Now the question, does it make a difference if I have the projector at 14.5 or 16.5 feet from the screen (e.g. in terms of brighness / sharpness)?

Also, should I place the projector at level with the top of the screen or closer to the middle (I am using Stewart Firehawk screen material). The BenQ W10000 have lens shift so I can do either (e.g. will vertical positioning have an effect to brightness due to screen material and/or lens shift?).

Any advice would be appreciated, /LB

I have the BenQ PE8720 and placed it in the following manner;

- I placed it back as far as I could minus a safety margine.
- As the projector is hanging from the livingroom ceiling, I kept it close to the ceiling. The lens is just slightly above the top of the screen, which ik OK for the PE8720 as it has 110% shift. With the W10000 you can go max. to 100% (lens need to be max at the top of the screen, not above it)

I did not notice any image degration due to lens shift. Lens shift is there to allow for easy placement without the disadvantages of keystone correction.

The reason for placing the projector as far back as possible is for the following reasons;

- I believe that the cinema "experience" is better when the projector is behind you instead of above your head :rolleyes:
- As with any lens, the highest quality image is through the center of the lens. With other words, if it is zoomed out, you will use the center part of the lens.
- The projector should be plenty bright using this setup, you won't lose any brightness due to the placement which is further back. By the way what gain factor screen are you using?

With other words, if you can place it further back I would do it, if you can't, no big deal :-). Let me know what you think about the W10000, I'm looking to get one myself :)

I am about to receive a new BenQ W10000 Projector. I will ceiling mount it and need to decide on what distance to put it. Based on the screen dimension (110" 16:9) I can have it anywhere between 14.5 - 16.5 feet by using the screen placement calculator provided by BenQ.

Now the question, does it make a difference if I have the projector at 14.5 or 16.5 feet from the screen (e.g. in terms of brighness / sharpness)?

Also, should I place the projector at level with the top of the screen or closer to the middle (I am using Stewart Firehawk screen material). The BenQ W10000 have lens shift so I can do either (e.g. will vertical positioning have an effect to brightness due to screen material and/or lens shift?).

Any advice would be appreciated, /LB

Congrats on the purchase, you're going to love it. I am told by BenQ that positioning this PJ in the middle of the throw range is best. Although the unit has a lens shift function, you never want to use it if you can avoid it. A few inches above the top edge of the screen and down should be fine. A few inches above will result in modest keystoning but it's barley noticeable in the screen masking. The lower you go the better (lower down is also better if you are using a retroreflective screen like the High Power). A few weeks ago, BenQ reps did a live Q&A session and answered questions like these (you should be able to find it by searching this forum).

I have the BenQ PE8720 and placed it in the following manner;

- I placed it back as far as I could minus a safety margine.
- As the projector is hanging from the livingroom ceiling, I kept it close to the ceiling. The lens is just slightly above the top of the screen, which ik OK for the PE8720 as it has 110% shift. With the W10000 you can go max. to 100% (lens need to be max at the top of the screen, not above it)

I did not notice any image degration due to lens shift. Lens shift is there to allow for easy placement without the disadvantages of keystone correction.

The reason for placing the projector as far back as possible is for the following reasons;

- I believe that the cinema "experience" is better when the projector is behind you instead of above your head :rolleyes:
- As with any lens, the highest quality image is through the center of the lens. With other words, if it is zoomed out, you will use the center part of the lens.

With other words, if you can place it further back I would do it, if you can't, no big deal :-). Let me know what you think about the W10000, I'm looking to get one myself :)

Thanks Dave! I thought I read somewhere that when using max lens shift the lumens output is decreased with as much as 25%... But if that is not the case I agree it make sense to have it higher up for a more discreet placement and less noise from back seating position.

Well, to be honest, I havn't noticed this at all. I'm using the IRIS at 3/4 closed in normal lamp mode (not economy), and the image is plenty bright. I'm using a Beamax 1.5 gain screen. I haven't heard at all that lens shift would degrade image quality, then again I could be wrong ;). I'll do a little test with the lens-shift one of these days :)

In any case my projector is mounted just above the screen, and the image is just fine :)

Congrats on the purchase, you're going to love it. I am told by BenQ that positioning this PJ in the middle of the throw range is best. Although the unit has a lens shift function, you never want to use it if you can avoid it. A few inches above the top edge of the screen and down should be fine. A few inches above will result in modest keystoning but it's barley noticeable in the screen masking. The lower you go the better (lower down is also better if you are using a retroreflective screen like the High Power). A few weeks ago, BenQ reps did a live Q&A session and answered questions like these (you should be able to find it by searching this forum).

Jim, you say to avoid using vertical lens shift if at all possible... why is that?

The BenQ W10000 have a +/- 100% vertical lens shift. Does that mean I can position the projector ceiling mounted anywhere from top to bottom of the screen hight? I.e. 0% lens shift would be to have the projector at the center of the screen?

Another thing I have noticed is that the W10000 manual state that I can position the projector between 14.3 - 19.5 feet from the screen (110" 16:9), whereas the BenQ online tool show 14.4 - 16.6 feet... Anyone know which one is correct?

Lars it is 14.4-16.6 it is somewhat tighter then 8720. You should be fine at the top of the screen without worrying about focus issues.

Dale

Jim, you say to avoid using vertical lens shift if at all possible... why is that?

The BenQ W10000 have a +/- 100% vertical lens shift. Does that mean I can position the projector ceiling mounted anywhere from top to bottom of the screen hight? I.e. 0% lens shift would be to have the projector at the center of the screen?

The lens on the 10000 is great, so the lens shift should not be a concern. I have noticed issues with the optics when using lens shift on other PJs (e.g., loss of focus on the edges). But digital keystone correction should be avoided.