Another under 7ft theater thread...Do I have to have lens shift? Help!!

Building my first thater in the home I purchased. The entire basement is finished and I found a room that is, what i thought, the perfect thater room. After further review I am really worred because I dont know what projector I can purchase and thinking I might have to have one with lense shift. Originally I thought about mounting the projector at the far back of the room which is about 18 feet from the screen and figured I would just drop it down a foot from the ceiling but then I am reading I would have to use major keystone adjustment which is a no-no. After playing with the elite projector calculator it appears this room is going to be terrible due to the height constraints. As you can see below, the entire room is 6'7" and there really isnt much I can do to gain significant height. I only want to go with around a 100-120" screen and was looking into the entry level 1080p PRO 8200vbut now I dont think this will work. I am starting to consider the BenQ 710 short throw and mount it to the front soffit about 6 feet away and fire it right at the wall but dont know if that would look silly or suffer quality. Can anyone please help me? I am budgeting under $1k and wanted to do 1080p 2D. I dont want to buy the wrong unit but I am dying to buy my first projector soon!




Here is the view from the current couch


Here is looking back at the seating area


Here is the closeup of the ductwork
Edited by tshepp - 2/18/13 at 4:44pm

Thanks for the reply, I am definitely making sure I take my time even though I am antsy. I havent picked out the room color yet, but am planning a flat red and will keep that advice for the ceiling. I have Polk 65t towers (only 7" wide) that will go on either side of the screen and I will build a center channel stand to go just under the screen.I know I most people try to keep the screen a minimum of 2ft from the floor, even though I see some say 16 inches is fine but I really think 106" would be good for this room. BUT if I went as big as possible a 120" would take up the whole darn wall. Custom coffee table could be neat, just always worry about venting with that kind of setup.
Edited by tshepp - 2/18/13 at 4:59pm

After your advice and a quick search I found this..

Would be cool if i could do a small table between two single chairs, about 12 feet back and then move the couch behind the 2 singles


It looks like they have the "I want the whole wall to be a screen" setup

Anyone else help?? I am considering the Epson 8350 mounted 18ft back. The 8350 is pretty much double my budget but I think if it is the best solution then I might have to negotiate with the wife...