Ceiling mounting help

[Malky1903]

Need a little help regarding ceiling mounting my PJ. Here's the scenario;

Distance from PJ to screen will be around 3.4m. The screen will give a 170cm wide image or thereabouts. The screen will be ceiling mounted (can't wall mount it in front of a window) and the top of the viewing area of the screen including the casing (6cm) and the border (45cm) will be 51cm from the ceiling. The ceiling mount I have (cheapy from eBay) will lower the centre of the lens of the PJ down to about 9cm from the ceiling. The PJ (Benq 5120) has an offset of about 34cm. So, 34cm plus 9cm is 43cm but as I aleady mentioned, the top of the viewing area of the screen will be approximately 51cm.
What I need to know is how I get around the 8cm difference? Is it as simple as tilting the PJ forward and then using keystone to align the image?
Or should I put a block of wood 8cm thick between the ceiling and the mount to make up the difference and avoid using keystone? The only thing that bothers me doing it this way is that it may be a tad unsightly (WAF).

Any help appreciated.

[Malky1903]

Another option I suppose is to wall mount the PJ (using a TV bracket?)

[davvey]

I also have a benq 5120, and I am new to projectors, but was in a similiar position to you with regards ceiling mount height to the screen. I looked at the cheapo ceiling mounts on ebay, but decided against them, and bought a proper benq ceiling mount. It cost me £99 with delivery (I thought it would be more), and it not only looks well made, but is finished in white (which the wife is happy with as it matches the 5120, and white will blend into the white ceiling). The other very important advantage with the benq mount, is that it can be lowered to a maximum of 765mm (in increments of 30mm). This really would solve your problems (and will solve mine). Forgive me making an obvious suggestions, but wouldn't it be worth selling the cheapo you have on ebay, and buying the proper benq one, as unless you are really really skint, it does seem alot of hassle trying to bodge something together, to get the height you want, apart from the time, I am sure what you suggested making, won't be as practical, and look as smart as the real benq one.

[Malky1903]

Where did you get your mount from? I was looking for a Benq one last night but of all the sites I saw it on, not one showed a picture of it. It also looks like no one has stock until 31/10
Any chance of posting or sending a pic of your mount?

[wookieman]

Originally Posted by Malabbey

What I need to know is how I get around the 8cm difference? Is it as simple as tilting the PJ forward and then using keystone to align the image?

I wouldn't discard tilt+keystone too quickly, i'd rather have the pj nearer the ceiling more wife-friendly , my pj is about 6" from the ceiling (couldn't go any higher without the light fitting casting a shadow on the screen, and that was after i'd swopped it) and the top of my screen is about 24" down, 18" difference not 8cm, although I have a long throw of about 14' but what affects the image more than a small keystone correction is the slight ripples in the screen itself (I only really notice it on panning shots though), shame I can't afford a tab-tensioned one, my next setup will be a wall fixed properly tensioned screen.

The only thing that amazes me more than the picture is how soon you don't see a pj hanging from the ceiling and only look at it when friends come round and go "what's that ?" and then you have to give them a demo

[davvey]

I don't know how to post a picture on here, and I haven't yet put it up (I can take a some pics and send to you via email if you like). I bought it from:

office-online.co.uk

Their number is: 01302 768957

I also couldn't find a pic of it before I bought it, but office-online have a 7 day return policy. I really don't think you will be disappointed with it, as it looks good quality (unlike the ones on ebay I saw), and as previously mentioned, it really does have a good range of height adjustment.

Let me know if you want me to email some pics of it.

[gandley]

you can get some ceiling mounts that come with different lenght arms, so you can have the projector at different drops from the ceiling. Will cost about £100 for a good one but they tend to be much nicer looking as well.
Google is your friend on this one,

[gandley]

Originally Posted by Malabbey

Another option I suppose is to wall mount the PJ (using a TV bracket?)

Again you can still get a proper mount to do this that will still have the projector upside down. It can be placed high up on the wall then. No need to bodge around with a tv bracket

some different types that are universal. Just one make i know of but there are many

http://www.avrabbit.com/products.asp...le=MH&SecBus=1

[Malky1903]

Well, after a fun job over the weekend, I managed to get my screen and PJ up. Amazingly, I guessed, with only rough calculations, where to put the screen and PJ mount and both are almost spot on. The PJ image overscans the top and bottom by about half inch both sides but the width is spot on. Can't see an option on this PJ to sort out the overscan. The only option I think I have is to move the PJ forward about an inch or so but to be perfectly honest, I can't be arsed as I can live with how it's set up now.
All in all, I'm happy that I have a mini cinema in my front room
Will try and post pics later.

[davvey]

Malabbey, I am glad all went well for you. I did the same with my benq 5120 over the weekend, and it worked out fairly well. I was projecting a 2 metre wide picture, and was a little disappointed with the picture quality (sound system was good though). I appreciate that the benq 5120 is an entry level pj, and so maybe I was expecting a bit too much from it. I was using a cheapo component cable over a 10 metre run, and have just ordered a 10 metre belden component cable (£140) from Mark Grant, so it should help improve the picture quality (excellent reviews on the belden cable).

My wife and 8 year old son were impressed with the projector, and when I put on spiderman 2, my wife jumped out of her skin with some of the unexpected loud parts of the film. Once I have my decent belden cable and play around with the picture adjustments a bit more on the DVD player and pj, I will hopefully be a little happier. Overall though, I think I have got alot of entertainment for the money, and cannot complain too much. What type of cable are you using?

[Malky1903]

For the moment, I'm using a cheap £30 10 metre componenet cable from Maplins. It'll do for now until I can afford something better.