We had a local place do the equiptment for our movie room. I've been living in NC, but my parents house is in NJ. The equiptment has been installed, and the next step is for me to talk with the installers so that they get it set up correctly.

Basically my dad thinks its fine, I think it looks terrible. And he's getting annoyed that I want it to look better. One issue I have is calibration, another is size.

At the moment, the projector overshoots the screen. 3inches on left and right, about 2-3 inches top and bottom. This isn't as obvious when using TV, but when I switch to the Mac-mini I can't see any of the top menu bar. (its a 100inch screen)

I mentioned that it needs to be adjusted so the picture completely fits on the screen. He has been told by the installer that this is because each channel projects a different size, so some will fit and some will not fit, etc. This sounds like complete B.S to me. I could feasonably understand if 2 inputs (MAC vs CABLE) for example output slightly different sizes.. and in that case i'd say "hey fit the largest one to the screen and the others will just be a bit small". In fact, I still stand by that, but I still think it makes no sense that the cable box would send slightly different sized images to the projector.

Thanks for any insights.

I call shenanigans!

I can understand the difference between a 16x9 source and a 4x3 source, but there is absolutely no reason the image should be projecting larger than the screen unless it was installed incorrectly.

I'd be holding back any payment until this is rectified.

Have you tried to tone down the zoom a little. This could easily be all it takes.

Can you tell us what brand projector?

I think its a Sim2 and a firehawk screen. I'll have to double check. Yes we are not talking about 4x3 vs 16x9 discussion, he actually tried to convince dad that some channels 16x9 will project a slightly different size.

I say Bullsh*t, even if that were true, let the others be smaller by a bit - no way I want the larger ones (like the mac mini for example) to be too large.

On my CATV system there are a dozen or so HD channels. 16x9 is the HD aspect ratio. Some channels will show a movie in it's origional aspect ratio of 1.85:1 which is just a bit shorter than a 16x9 ratio. Some channels such as Discovery HD air documentaries that were shot and then edited in who knows what aspect ratio, they tend to be shorter like 1.85:1 and appear in different areas vertically.

Our NBC channel has an ugly red stripe on the right edge of the picture.

SD analog channels have visible dancing dots at the top of the screen which I believe is the data for closed captions. This is hidden by overscan on most TVs.

On a highend install I would use a scaler to zoom the CATV input so there is never any garbage on the screen. I would keep the PC unaltered.

My system is budget minded. I have decided to zoom the image a bit larger than the screen to keep any CATV garbage in the black border of the screen. The PC desktop also spills into the black area, but not enough to make any buttons or text un-readable.

This comes to about an inch maximum overscan on an 8 foot wide screen. Nowhere near the 3 inces you are talking about.

I am very sceptical of most installers. So often they charge a fortune and don't do any better of a job installing than an amature who has spent an hour reading the AVS forum.

~Jay

I understand your points jay. And i am familiar with many of them, I'm not entirely new to this board OR HDTV. It was the fact that he tried to say that some 16x9 images are different sizes and thus could be different by a few inches. I mean seriously I KNOW some images won't fully be 16x9. But I'm pretty damn sure taht EVERY 16x9 full image that isn't a movie in a different aspect ratio, or a 4x3 will be the same size.

You are right the projector should be scaling everything to full panel. Go into the projectors user menu and look for the aspect ratio selection. Make sure it is not set to native or custom 1,2 or 3. That is the only thing I can think of. Make sure it is set to normal or anamorphic.

I understand your points jay. And i am familiar with many of them, I'm not entirely new to this board OR HDTV. It was the fact that he tried to say that some 16x9 images are different sizes and thus could be different by a few inches. I mean seriously I KNOW some images won't fully be 16x9. But I'm pretty damn sure taht EVERY 16x9 full image that isn't a movie in a different aspect ratio, or a 4x3 will be the same size.

I agree with everyone here, too.

Your PJ should be scaling the images to the panel size and NEVER should the image exceed the maximum projected image size, which should never be larger than your screen(duh), unless you are intentionally zooming an image.

At the moment, the projector overshoots the screen. 3inches on left and right, about 2-3 inches top and bottom. This isn't as obvious when using TV, but when I switch to the Mac-mini I can't see any of the top menu bar. (its a 100inch screen)


Isn't this just a matter of adjusting the zoom? It sounds like a 30 second job unless I am missing something.

~Jay

adjusted the zoom. I'm much happier, but the image doesn't exactly fill the screen. Shouldn't it? I got the sides to fit, but height is off. (aka: its as wide as the screen now, but not as tall)

Can Keystone menu fix that (i doubt it since its not trapazoiding)

Can you measure the dimensions of your screen? (width and height..the viewable area) Maybe you got a size other than 1.78 to 1.

Arg. I found the User1 aspect settings and got the height/width to a size that i think will fit perfectly, but the image is not centered. Earlier I was in the menu and was adjusting it fine, now i can't find that one menu item.

Can anyone help me with what its called?

Ok, so can't adjust position when its on input 8, but it works fine when its on the CABLE input.

So after messing with it. I came to the conclusion I expected. The projector is incorrectly angled, and is "too high" by an inch or so. I am going to make the guys come back and get it right, then i'll re adjust till its perfect.

There is no reason why they tried to pass this off on my dad. I just hate him thinking i'm always negative about his setup. I love it, but I know what he spent, and it should meet my expectations.

Ok, so can't adjust position when its on input 8, but it works fine when its on the CABLE input.

So after messing with it. I came to the conclusion I expected. The projector is incorrectly angled, and is "too high" by an inch or so. I am going to make the guys come back and get it right, then i'll re adjust till its perfect.

There is no reason why they tried to pass this off on my dad. I just hate him thinking i'm always negative about his setup. I love it, but I know what he spent, and it should meet my expectations.

What model do you have. If it is SIM C3X it has vertical lens shift.