I'm a newbie to CRT projectors, and I've found a Sony VPH-1272Q for a decent price in my local area.

I'll be moving in the next few months from my current apartment (with low vaulted ceilings, around 11-12' where my current small DLP is mounted) to an apartment with much higher ceilings (18' or more). It's not worth putting together a full installation here before I move to the new place, so the unit will be tested and put in storage until I move.

Since ceiling mounting on something that far up (not to mention the weight requirements from going from DLP to CRT) is out of the question, I'm left with floor mount or "alternative" mountings. Since my HT is also my living room, floor mounting is difficult to get good screen size with no occlusions.

As a result, I'm considering mounting plans that are on-axis with the screen. Particularly, a variation on the tilted shelf-mount idea seems like it might work.

So, my question is this -- being a used projector, it's unlikely that it'll come with all of the spacers and washers that are used in the manual to adjust the tubes for both projection distance and optical axis deviation. Will the grommet/spring modification be sufficient to allow me to do on-axis (zero degree) projection, or will I need to order additional parts? What about flapping?

Thanks in advance, everyone... I'm trying to learn all the details of CRT setup, but it's rather daunting for a newbie. :)

/Andrew

You will need both the grommet/spring mod plus the "mooneyass" flapper mod to achieve true proper focus at zero degree optical axis. If you can tolerate the projector in this spot within your theater, you will achieve the BEST possible image you can get from the PJ. Do the mods, max your rasters, get the projector into position so the image fits the screen, adjust your centers and corner focus, and go from there. You'll be in for a nice image. Corner focus with the flapper mods is tricky, though. Or, search out a set of RP lens spacers(still do the grommet mod) and don't worry about the flapper mod, because the RP spacers are made for zero degree angle of optical axis.

Okay... I haven't been able to actually find the flapper mod anywhere, but I'll keep searching these forums to see what it entails.

Mechanical bits don't scare me, so the mods to eliminate spacers and replace them with adjustable designs seem like a good idea.

I'm evaluating throw distance ideas with the 'general' 1.5x screen width numbers because I've read that PJcalc isn't particularly accurate... is there a generally accepted multiplier for full horizontal raster usage on the 1272Q, assuming optimum calibration and clean tubes? How much smaller can the raster usage go before there's noticeable PQ degradation? 10%? 20%? More?

Thanks, all!

/Andrew

Basically, you max your rasters, and find the position for the projector where it fills your screen and leave it there.

Here's all the resources you need for the mods:

http://www.curtpalme.com/Sony125x.shtm

The spacer mod is on the first page, and the mooneyass manual is in the manuals/downloads area along with everything else you need. Curt's site is excellent

Thanks a ton!

I'm going to keep doing research and try and go into this informed.

Next thing on my agenda is to evaluate doing constant-height with the CRT.

Thanks for all the links!

/Andrew

Keep trying that link if it didnt work.. Curt's site seems to be down, but it will be back up soon I'd guess........

Faced with the same issues, I just floor-mounted and used the space for a table. Here's my 1270:

http://home.mchsi.com/~gstoner/pics/1270q8.jpg

Garry

KZ,
One small suggestion, find a decent used video processor/scaler. For instance I found a used CrystalImage VS4.0 on ebay for ~$200 that blew me away. The image from the 1272 at around 720p is outstanding compared to normal interlaced source input. You can go a bit higher in resolution. But if you search around here, most 1272 owners don't recommend going much beyond 720p.
The key is the setup of the pj. If you do your homework on the web, work through the manuals, have a lot of patience, drink a few beers, etc., you will be quite pleased with the results.
Dave