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Ceiling mount angle question

693 views 10 replies 5 participants last post by  agent8 
#1 ·
Just ordered the Optoma hd131xe. Using the calculator it shows that the center of the lens to the top of the screen is 8" for a 100" screen. (Sorry, I know there is probably a term for that but I don't know what it is.) My problem is that because of my floor standing speakers, I can only go down from the ceiling a max of 55 3/4". A 100" screen is 49" tall (viewable area @ 16:9)

49"+8"=57" which is too tall.

I think if I have the screen in front of the speakers, it will be out to far and will be in the path of my swamp cooler too much and if it goes behind the speakers, part of the image will be on my tweeters.

Simply put, Can I angle the projector "upwards" and have it project say 2"-4" from the ceiling? Will this create any weird trapezoid or other negative effects? Sorry, I am a projector newb.
 
#2 ·
Its called Keystone and there is an adjustment in the projector to eliminate it but its not recommended to use it as it degrades the picture because you no longer have 1 to 1 pixel mapping. One option is to tilt the top of the screen out to match the upward tilt of the projector keeping it perpendicular to the screen. I take it that your room or wall is not wide enough to set the speakers to the side of the screen. Optimal height of the screen is your eyes should be about level with 1/3 of the way up the screen, it looks like yours will be mounted too high.
 
#3 ·
Poop. That sucks. I guess I could go with a smaller screen but I don't really want to. I was hoping that if it was just a few inches, it wouldn't keystone. I could move my speakers out but then it is not in line with my seating area. I can't change speakers cause they are all voice matched. I will have to do some more brainstorming it seems. Thanks
 
#5 · (Edited)
The w1070 has both lens-shift and a smaller drop which would give you about 5-6 more inches..and better colors, contrast and brightness less image noise and less RBE for $50 more or a couple hundred less depending on your region. Are you working with a pre-existing mount?

The 131xe isn't bad, but the w1070 is better in almost every way and should be worth a look if at all possible.

Otherwise, would your speakers look terrible on their sides? Maybe on small risers..maybe not?
 
#6 ·
See, everything I read about the 1070 is that the Optoma has better blacks, more lumens/brighter and that the sharpness is the same. I have looked at picture of them (which doesn't say much) and they look almost identical to me. A little bummed that there is no 12 volt trigger but no big deal. I like that the Optoma can do rf 3d and has a quieter fan too. Plus with the gift card deal, it was almost $200 cheaper than the 1070. as far as the dreaded RBE, I am crossing my fingers and I hope I'm mostly immune. The 1070 has the huge advantage there...


The lens shift would have been cool but not the end of the world. My biggest gripe for moving the speakers further apart was that my small couch will be slightly in the way of the front lefts woofers and would also make my front high ceiling speakers off center a little but I suppose that's what the audissey calibration is for. I have always been symmetrical with everything but with this room, it's just going to have to be a little off. It's kinda weird that a 92" screen is a lot harder to find and seems to be more expensive. So I am going to force the 100" to work! :) Thankfully, I haven't mounted anything yet so before I fish 25 feet of hdmi through the attic, I am going to test it all before the actual instal. Spreading the speakers out will be good too because I was struggling with trying to figure out how to stop the screen prematurely and as Rekbones brought out, it would have been too high anyways. And maybe the larger stereo separation will sound better anyways.:confused:
 
#7 · (Edited)
The Optoma has darker blacks from the dimmer lamp it uses which also results in the dimmer overall image and quieter fans. I'd say sharpness for movies is going to look equal and extra brightness from the w1070 (mostly in accurate colors) shouldn't matter much for your modest screen-size and folks DO appreciate how much quieter the Optoma is.
The only mattering advantages the w1070 has for you now would be its better contrast and colors, but many people don't notice color problems as long as they aren't horrible and the Optoma's contrast is still very solid especially if you can snatch one around $550. Can't really beat that.

Your neck will thank you for lowering your screen as you plan to. :)
I imagine the wider speaker separation will sound more immersive..more stereo-y.
 
#8 ·
You should always have your screen so that your eyes are about 1/3 to 1/2 way up the screen. If you go into a movie theater, look at where the center seats are. You don't find yourself looking at the bottom of the screen when seated in the middle of a movie theater. The screen is supposed to be about 1/3 to 1/2 way up from the bottom for optimal viewing.

I am continuously confused by those who find reviews of the HD131X and come out thinking it is somehow better than the W1070. Every single review I read says the same thing. The RGB/RGB color wheel of the W1070 produces better colors, and far better post calibration brightness with less image noise than the Optoma models. The Optomas certainly are good, but they don't measure up.
 
#9 ·
That's weird because I have read quite a few reviews saying that after calibration, they look about the same. The color wheel is far better but even on paper, the Optoma has better contast ratio, higher lumens and that the color although is not quite as close as the benq can get but is very hard to distingish with the naked eye.

I want to see the same scene on both projectors with both of them calibrated. To me, too many people skew the reviews according to what they have or prefer. I only chose the optoma because I got it almost 200 bucks cheaper. Since I'm new to the world of projectors, I don't know a thing about either one but what I have read. Judging by brand names, I would have guessed they were both crap. LoL
 
#10 · (Edited)
For whatever it's worth, I have owned both and taken fairly careful pictures of their performance. I also returned both eventually and have no horse in this race except that I found the w1070 noticeably better in every regard except that the hd131xe ran quieter and I never tested 3D enough to come to any real conclusions besides both projectors having less smooth 3D than my LG DLP.

The color accuracy difference is subtle though occasionally noticeable when the 131 is set well, however once brilliantcolor is engaged that difference becomes easily seen particularly in brighter colored or animated movies/games.
With brilliantcolor at its lowest, the visual artifacting and noise of the 131 is pretty clean, but at any higher settings the pixelized halos and grain make everything look like a bad SD cable broadcast.

The 131's contrast at good settings is noticeably lower than the w1070's though still much better than any LCD projector near this price, at poor settings (brilliantcolor higher) the black and white contrast can slightly beat the w1070 though the still poor color contrast makes the slight victory look more like a tie or slight loss with any colored content..which is most of it.

The brightness difference with more accurate settings shows the w1070 to look almost twice as bright. With higher brilliantcolor settings the 131 can match or slightly beat the w1070's brightness in black and white content, but colors will still be very noticeably dimmer.

On top of all this, the 131 only has a single user setting and any settings tweaking automatically saves over your old one (erases it) while the w1070 has at least two separate ones so you can have separately optimized settings AND a third for 3D. This is a common complaint for the hd25e/131xe and I have no idea why it has never been fixed.

In my opinion, if you don't really watch anything high color or animated and aren't too picky about accuracy for live-action content, the color accuracy of the hd131xe cuts it just fine with brilliantcolor at its lowest(most accurate setting). IF you are picky OR watch highcolor or animated content, the inaccuracy might bother you when you start to notice things look weird or different.
In a room with lights out, the significantly higher contrast of the w1070 does look nicer, but it isn't the huge difference of going from a cheap LCD to a solid DLP or from a decent DLP to a $2500 LCoS. I'd definitely lean toward the w1070 for a dark room if my budget didn't allow $2000+ though.
The brightness difference doesn't mean as much as the contrast difference in a dark room, and no projector looks all that flattering in a lot of light, BUT it will make 3D a lot brighter and more vibrant as well as make a difference for anyone using a very large screen.
 
#11 ·
I guess I will have to wait and see for myself. I do like how much cheaper the bulbs are with the optoma. This is going to be a big change coming from a Panasonic plasma.... i could have sworn I read there is a separate 3d setting on te optoma?
 
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