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Is it worth it to set up for a projector?


tigerwoodKhorns

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I an rewiring my house and can prewire for a projector now.

 

If I go this route, I will need to move my ceiling fan that is in the middle of the room.  I would have to use two fans and move them back in the room (shared family room / kitchen) 

 

Is it worth it to put in a projector? 

 

What ratios do I need (distance from screen to projector, how far down from ceiling, etc.)? 

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aren't you worried about potential issues with the fans being on the same power source as the projector/audio?

from what I have seen, the newest projectors are pretty amazing. Most all movie theaters are digital projectors.

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Sheesh. My projector and 120 inch screen cost 800.00 all told (and brand new) and I'd never go back to an 800.00 TV.  If you insist on 4k, you'll pay a lot more...but really wasn't an issue for me as there is not adequate 4k out there for me to care about. 1080P looks about as good as most theaters to me.  It's bright enough for clean and bright viewing in subdued daylight as well. 

Dave

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1 hour ago, tigerwoodKhorns said:

I an rewiring my house and can prewire for a projector now.

 

If I go this route, I will need to move my ceiling fan that is in the middle of the room.  I would have to use two fans and move them back in the room (shared family room / kitchen) 

 

Is it worth it to put in a projector? 

 

What ratios do I need (distance from screen to projector, how far down from ceiling, etc.)? 

I think you should start with a price point for the projector and look into a few of the popular ones in that range.  A given projector has a zoom range for the size image you might want. This lets you know how many feet back from the screen, the projector will work from. For instance a given projector might give you a 120" diagonal picture placed anywhere from 15'  to 10' from the screen, so you have that range to work with.   Some PJ's need to be above or below the screen, while some can shoot an image from the center of the screen and could be placed on a shelf if desired. I would peruse the projector forums on AVS as there are threads for almost all of them.   By the way, to answer your 1st question,  I think it's worth it.

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Your comment about the shared family room / kitchen may be a concern if you want to put in a projector. Projectors work best in dedicated rooms where you can have no windows or blackout curtains. Having a projector in a shared space on the ground level means you will need to get blackout curtains for all ambient light for both rooms or find a high powered projector that can work well in ambient light. At the end of the day, you might just want to go with a TV if its a shared space.

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Here is my screen and projector. Actually, the projector now is on top of the Cinema F6 which I moved to directly behind the seat.  No blackout required, just blinds and sheers. No doors either to the living room or the office, but daylight viewing on this 500.00 projector is perfectly good as far as I am concerned. Of course, some here know I consider even the most expensive projectors to be pretty ho hum for the bucks. None of them will fool Mallette's Cat. Until that happens, I'll keep the cat preoccupied with the audio that DOES fool my cat. 

 

Dave

HTScreen.png

projector.jpg

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  • 2 weeks later...
On 7/24/2018 at 9:10 AM, tigerwoodKhorns said:

 

Is it worth it to put in a projector? 

 

Yes, yes, yes!  We get amazing detail on our 130" true width (not diagonal) 2.35:1 Seymour acoustically transparent screen.  On a good Blu-ray, we can see every glistening pore in sharp focus ... without 4D!  The projector is Panasonic, but I hear they are discontinuing their projector line.

 

I really recommend CIH (Common Image Height) and a 2.35:1 screen, which will accommodate 2.40:1 if the borders are black felt, like Seymour's, or if you like, you can probably put presets on your projector that will keep all images the same height (without distortion), with progressively wider screen formats simply getting wider and wider, so Panavision, for instance is of larger area than standard screen.  That is what almost all of the filmmakers intended.  We have presets for "standard" (which, at 1.85:1, is wider than the HDTV industry's version of "widescreen" at 16:9, or 1.78:1), 2.20:1 for most 70 mm such as Todd-AO, Super (not Ultra) Panavision 70, Super Technirama 70, Dimension 150, etc., 2.35:1 for most CinemaScope (except the very early stuff), 2.40 for 35 mm Panavision, most Super 35, etc..  The only ones that do not preserve Common Height are Cinerama, Ultra (not Super) Panavision 70 (about 9 films), and it's MGM house brand equivalent, Camera 65, "Window to the World" (2 films).  For these, there are very small bars top and bottom to allow the extreme 2.75:1 aspect ratio to stretch all the way across the screen, uncropped.   In the case of true, original, three projector Cinerama, if you select the "Smile-Box" print, you get a curved image on your flat screen, with your single projector, simulating the Cinerama theatrical curve, which takes a while to create a preset for, but it is quite effective for How the West Was Won, and the sound is better in that version as well.

On 7/24/2018 at 9:10 AM, tigerwoodKhorns said:

What ratios do I need (distance from screen to projector, how far down from ceiling, etc.)? 

Projectorcentral. 

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1 hour ago, garyrc said:

 

Yes, yes, yes!  We get amazing detail on our 130" true width (not diagonal) 2.35:1 Seymour acoustically transparent screen.  On a good Blu-ray, we can see every glistening pore in sharp focus ... without 4D!  The projector is Panasonic, but I hear they are discontinuing their projector line.

 

I really recommend CIH (Common Image Height) and a 2.35:1 screen, which will accommodate 2.40:1 if the borders are black felt, like Seymour's, or if you like, you can probably put presets on your projector that will keep all images the same height (without distortion), with progressively wider screen formats simply getting wider and wider, so Panavision, for instance is of larger area than standard screen.  That is what almost all of the filmmakers intended.  We have presets for "standard" (which, at 1.85:1, is wider than the HDTV industry's version of "widescreen" at 16:9, or 1.78:1), 2.20:1 for most 70 mm such as Todd-AO, Super (not Ultra) Panavision 70, Super Technirama 70, Dimension 150, etc., 2.35:1 for most CinemaScope (except the very early stuff), 2.40 for 35 mm Panavision, most Super 35, etc..  The only ones that do not preserve Common Height are Cinerama, Ultra (not Super) Panavision 70 (about 9 films), and it's MGM house brand equivalent, Camera 65, "Window to the World" (2 films).  For these, there are very small bars top and bottom to allow the extreme 2.75:1 aspect ratio to stretch all the way across the screen, uncropped.   In the case of true, original, three projector Cinerama, if you select the "Smile-Box" print, you get a curved image on your flat screen, with your single projector, simulating the Cinerama theatrical curve, which takes a while to create a preset for, but it is quite effective for How the West Was Won, and the sound is better in that version as well.

Projectorcentral

 

Projector Central requires adobe flash.  Any other good calcualtors? 

 

I need to know the distance and how far below the ceiling that the projector needs to be.  I need the room to look good when it is off. 

 

 

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I'm racking my brain for the name of the other outfit that provided the kind of projector info ^^^^^^ you are looking for.  So far, no luck.

Anybody? 

 

Projector central is so full of info, it might be worth getting Adobe Flash.  I seem to have it on my Dell laptop.  I think it's FREE, isn't it?  https://www.projectorcentral.com/

 

What are all three room dimensions?

 

Projector noise can be a factor.  Or not. 

 

Will you be sitting on a couch?  Or recliners?  Or?  IMHO, recliners are not good for people with bi-focals.

 

Do you anticipate there being space behind the couch?

 

How many people will usually watch a movie at once?

 

We planned for ceiling bracket, but ended up putting the projector on a high shelf instead, bolted to the shelf, and the shelf is bolted to the wall (earthquake country).  Our room is 25 feet long.  The screen is an electric roll-down one, about 1 foot from the opposite wall.  Since it is acoustically transparent, the center speaker (a modified Belle Klipsch) is buried in the wall behind it (flush mounted).

 

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Abode flash is a security hazard.  Careful using it. 

 

The room is 19 feet wide (I can go up to 120" wide with the screen to fit between the speakers) and 45 feet deep (open to the kitchen).

 

The screen will be a foot or two out from the wall and couch is about 13 to 15 feet from the screen so we will be sitting right under the projector.  Two of us will be watching most of the time. 

 

Nowhere to mount the projector except from the ceiling. 

 

One more issue.  I have a ceiling fan in the middle of the room right now (maybe 8 feet from the front wall).  I will need to remove the fan and replace it with two fans closer to the couch moved wide enough to allow the projector to project between them.  This is a must (live in a hot climate).

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We had a 75" TV in our media room and a few months ago replaced it with a BenQ short throw projector.  Short throw because our ceiling fan is in the middle of the room and it would have been too much of a hassle to move it and install the projector.  We painted the wall with SW base white paint (researched as the best paint for a projector wall) and the picture is out of this world.  Would never go back to a TV, no matter how large.

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5 hours ago, cgolf70 said:

We had a 75" TV in our media room and a few months ago replaced it with a BenQ short throw projector.  Short throw because our ceiling fan is in the middle of the room and it would have been too much of a hassle to move it and install the projector.  We painted the wall with SW base white paint (researched as the best paint for a projector wall) and the picture is out of this world.  Would never go back to a TV, no matter how large.

I can move the fan pretty easily.  Am I better off with a regular projector or a short throw? 

 

How close to the screen can you get with the short throw?  I will have about a 10' wide screen.

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OK, I was able to get the projector calculator to work. 

 

I think that I need to plan for either a short throw or a regular projector.  So I need to move the fan and replace it with two fans spread out so that they do not interfere with the projector. 

 

So here is a question.  If I draw a triangle from where the lens of the projector will be to the edges of where the screen will be, as long as I keep the fans out of this area, they will not interfere with the picture, correct? 

 

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3 hours ago, tigerwoodKhorns said:

OK, I was able to get the projector calculator to work. 

 

I think that I need to plan for either a short throw or a regular projector.  So I need to move the fan and replace it with two fans spread out so that they do not interfere with the projector. 

 

So here is a question.  If I draw a triangle from where the lens of the projector will be to the edges of where the screen will be, as long as I keep the fans out of this area, they will not interfere with the picture, correct? 

 

 

Good question.  It may depend on what zoom setting you end up using on your projector.   I think, that by some relationship that would cross the eyes of Mesopotamian mathematici, the apex angle and the size of your triangle in combination is correlated with the zoom setting.  It seems to me that an empirical method is easier.  Go ahead and draw your scale diagram of the room, cone of projector light and screen.  The one thing missing from this picture, so to speak, is whether your projector's zoom range is great enough to produce the results -- I would guess that most are.   Once again, I think if, to fill your screen, you must use an extremely wide angle setting I would think it would be more likely to "hit the fan(s)," BUT with that very wide angle setting, the projector might end up in front of the fans.  With a projector farther back, but with a lens out to full telephoto, the cone of light might go between the fans.

 

I don't like a projector located where you can see it during the movie; some leak a little light (they need venting), and they make a little fan noise (but much less than our old slide and movie projectors).  Ours is behind the seats by about 13 feet, and neither noise nor light bothers us.  If the projector light passes through air stirred up by the fans, then there may be a problem with moving dust in the light cone, which may be more distracting than nearly still, slowly, randomly drifting dust.  We have never had a problem with this, but we don't have fans, just air conditioning.  A gymnastic spider was another story.

 

 I would:

  • Ask the projector companies
  • Buy a projector with an iron clad return privilege, and try it, filling the width screen you want (hopefully with an aspect ratio of 2.35:1), while hanging your least favorite politicians in effigy where the fans would be.  Make sure they are as fat as the fans.  If, with the zoom setting that fills your screen, in your preferred projector location, no light falls on a reprobate (as it rarely does), you've found your answer.
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OK, after spending another day doing research and calculations instead of working, I think that I have this figured out. 

 

I cannot add two ceiling fans because the spacing will cause a strobe.   I can move the existing fan back about 42" or so and it will still look right in the room (centered between four can lights. 

 

So after I do this, I am left with maybe 7' to 8' between the screen location and where I can put a projector.  So short throw projector it is. 

 

I want a 120" screen (105" wide). 

 

A Benq HT2150ST looks decent.

 

https://www.projectorcentral.com/BenQ-HT2150ST-projection-calculator-pro.htm

 

I am just planning right now.  I will need to complete a major wiring job so I just need to know what to plan for.  I think that this will do it. 

 

Can anyone recommend a short throw projector?  Maybe have one for sale? 

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On 8/5/2018 at 6:00 PM, tigerwoodKhorns said:

OK, after spending another day doing research and calculations instead of working, I think that I have this figured out. 

 

I cannot add two ceiling fans because the spacing will cause a strobe.   I can move the existing fan back about 42" or so and it will still look right in the room (centered between four can lights. 

 

So after I do this, I am left with maybe 7' to 8' between the screen location and where I can put a projector.  So short throw projector it is. 

 

I want a 120" screen (105" wide). 

 

A Benq HT2150ST looks decent.

 

https://www.projectorcentral.com/BenQ-HT2150ST-projection-calculator-pro.htm

 

I am just planning right now.  I will need to complete a major wiring job so I just need to know what to plan for.  I think that this will do it. 

 

Can anyone recommend a short throw projector?  Maybe have one for sale? 

The 2150ST is the one we chose.  We did tons of research and a good techie friend recommended the BenQ so that is what we did.  Absolutely pleased with it.  Lots of great projectors out there, although not sure about the selection of short throw projectors.  Take your time, research, purchase and enjoy.

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