[volfan23]

I am building a dedicated theater room and had to tell the builder how far back to put the plug for the projector (in-ceiling). The room is 14'W X 22'D and I had him put the plug at 15' back from screen wall. I thought that seemed like one that would maybe catch most all projectors.


I am looking at 3 different projector options and I would love it if someone could tell me which one may be best for my situation. I am looking at the PT-AX100U, PLV-Z5, and the HD1000U. I tried to use the Projector Central calculator, but I get confused. I am pretty sure I will be able to completely control light, so that wouldn't be a problem. I would like to get a screen size of about 110" 16:9 unless you guys think something else would be better for my room setup.


I really appreciate any help you guys can give!

 

[Zipplemeyer]

First of all, how tall is your ceiling? Secondly do you have a goal in terms of how far from the ceiling you want the top of the screen to be or how far above the floor you want the bottom of the screen to be? These things are important when it comes to picking a projector that is right for you. As an example, the Mitsubishi HD1000 is a great value and a good choice as long as your room can accommodate it. The Mits will throw a 110" image anywhere from about 13' to almost 16' away so you are good there in terms of distance from screen. The reason I asked about your ceiling height is because when the HD1000 is ceiling mounted the top of your projected image will be about 18" below the center of the lens due to the offset. So, even if you have a fairly low profile mount figure that after mounting, your projector lens will be about 5" below the ceiling causing the top of your screen image to be about 23" below the ceiling.


Moe

 

[volfan23]

Good point. I thought I included everything, but left off the ceiling height. The ceiling height is 8'. That distance from the ceiling on the screen sounds good. I'm still trying to figure out the design of my screen wall, but my center channel needs about 2 feet. That's a good point on the Mits. I would rather have the 23" space on the bottom for center/sub and less room at the top. Interesting. So you think I would definitely have 23" of dead space above the top of the image with the Mits? Is it the same with the Panasonic?


I appreciate your help!

 

[gwlaw99]

With that set up the mits picture is going to hit the floor. Your only option without keystone would be to tilt the projector up and tilt the top of the screen out a few inches until the picture squares up.

 

[volfan23]

Man, that's disappointing. I thought 15' feet back in my room would give me pretty good options on a projector. I am confused about where the limitation is. Is it the screen size/throw distance combination that makes this impossible? So, is the Mits designed more for table mounting instead of ceiling? Would the Panasonic be more flexible to do what I am wanting?


I was set on the Panasonic for a while, but with all the good comments about the Mits and a couple "bugs" with the Panasonic, I was thinking I could save some money and go that route. But I will do what I need to get a good size screen with the correct position on the wall.


Advice is appreciated!

 

[Zipplemeyer]



Quote:
Originally Posted by gwlaw99 /forum/post/0


With that set up the mits picture is going to hit the floor. Your only option without keystone would be to tilt the projector up and tilt the top of the screen out a few inches until the picture squares up.

If the top of the image is 23" below the ceiling and the screen height is 54" how does that make the image hit the floor? Seems to me he would have 19" below the bottom border of the projected image.


Moe

 

[volfan23]

Would I do better as far as my screen being higher with a 100" instead of a 110" screen? I don't know if that would be a huge sacrifice since I've never had a projector or a theater room before.


Thanks for the replies!

 

[tlniec]



Quote:
Originally Posted by Zipplemeyer /forum/post/0


If the top of the image is 23" below the ceiling and the screen height is 54" how does that make the image hit the floor? Seems to me he would have 19" below the bottom border of the projected image.


Moe

I agree. The OP's proposed placement happens to be almost identical to what I'll be doing in my HT -- Mitsu HD1000U @ 15' back from 110" 16:9 screen, 8' ceilings. I also concluded that my 54" tall screen would end up 19" above the floor. I was initially concerned that this would be too low -- but I'm going to have just a single row of seating, and my eye height when seated is around 42", so this placement will put my eyes slightly below the center of the screen. Just where I want them to be.

 

[SbWillie]

You might want to look into the Epson 700/810...research the 700 and it's a really good deal!

 

[volfan23]

I think I can make this work. I really want to with the cost savings and great reviews of the HD1000U! So the size of the image I'm wanting does or doesn't have to do with where the top of the image starts? I guess if I downsized to a 100", I would get some more room on the bottom.

 

[nightfly13]

Volfan I'm a HD1000u owner. The source of the problem is the offset of this model (and all cheap DLPs for that matter). They project 'up' around 35 degrees ... which of course means they project down when inverted and ceiling mounted.


A 100" screen is HUGE. Bigger might be better no question, but it also depends on how far away you're planning to sit. Let me just lay out a few thoughts.


There are projectors without the offset issue. Mostly these are LCD projectors with probably worse contrast but some other pros and cons. DLPs outsell them in most markets, but they're still popular with a large following. You can get the most popular model from last year, the Panasonic AE900u for $1025 now. It gives you HUGE flexibility on installation (with lens shift to let you 'set the offset' pretty much and also zoom a LOT (2x vs .2x of the mits). It also has something called 'smoothscreen' technology which basically magically smoothens the pixel structure, allowing you to sit closer to a larger screen and not be bothered by seeing hte pixels - this is usually problematic on text like rolling credits or whatever. Some people hate it, many don't, especially not a huge deal on a 720p since there are nearly a million pixels anyway, but if you really love to sit close at the movies and like the immersion it might be good for you. Some say this comes at the cost of some sharpness.


Another thought is to counter-tilt your screen slightly to compensate for the natural keystoning. Also a few 'click's of keystone adjustment will uglify any text/computer signal coming to your computer, but will make almost no difference in video - you just don't see it when used in moderation.


My feeling from reading almost every thread on the HD1000u for the last 2-3 months is that you can't go HUGE (120" and up) with 8' ceilings, but it's pretty workable. I have a 98" screen and compared to the 29" CRT it's wall mounted above - no one complains that it's too small

Good luck! Remember to think Audio in this process (talking to the builder) but there are other threads for that.

 

[phantomplebe]

If you need 24" of space at the bottom instead of 19", you can easily just aim the projector up slightly to gain the 5" of height. You would have VERY little keystoning with that size adjustment from that distance away. You will also minimize keystoning even further by mounting the projector as far back as you can and still make your desired screen size, rather than mounting the projector on the close side of the range. If your seating is going to be against the back wall, you will want every bit of screen size that you can get.