Projectors on coffee tables

[Pecker]

I'm currently removing my projection system from my dedicated Home Cinema room and installing it in my living room.

To cut a long story short, I'm going to have to put the projector on a coffee table when in use, and put it away therest of the time.

I can find lots of threads on mounting projectors, but not on putting them on coffee tables.

I was just wondering what experiences people have had with this, either as users or installers.

Any pros & cons?

Steve W

[PeteIvy]

I can't see you having any problems. I used to do exactly the same. The only annoyance I had was worring about tripping over the cables, or forgetting the projector is there, sticking my feet up on the table and kicking it off (thankfully I never actually did this, but did come close a couple of times!)

[Liam @ Prog AV]

I had this in an old place of mine. Coffee table had 4 stumpy fit, and I made four tiny impressions in the floor that these would just fall into nicely when the coffee table was in the exact right place for the projector. The projector was built into the underside of the table itself, and the cable ran on a small bit of visible cable cover from the coffee table to the sofa, and then under the sofa and around to the kit rack. The right kind of floor and you could very easily lift up a single floorboard and run the cabling that way.

Higher budget will allow for motorised coolness! A coffee table which lifts up 6-12" to bring the lens up to height, or a motorized flap at the front to protect the projector when not in use are things I have done before for clients.

[sweevo]

I sit my PJ on a coffee table when in use and I don't find it much of a chore. I know approxiamately where it needs to sit to get the picture size I want so once it's all plugged in and turned on it's usually a 2 minute job to focus etc. If you've had a ceiling mount before then you might find it tedious to do this each time you want to watch a film but personally I don't find it a problem.

Obviously throw distance and the distance between your seating and the screen may make things awkward, ie the table may be too close and get knocked by your feet.

[jkharmer]

What about the height of the projector vs the screen. Lots of DLPs have fixed offsets, others will not be able to shift enough vertically. Should this not also be an issue for Pecker??

Jim

[Liam @ Prog AV]

He has a HD73 which offsets 36% ish upwards, so going under the coffee table will be fine so long as the top of the table doesn't overhang too much and leave a shadow at the top of the image.

[sdb123]

I have used a table from our nest of tables and it has worked well for me.

[jkharmer]

Liam,

Are you saying that if he places the projector below the level of the bottom of the screen, he will still be OK? I am interested in this, as I thought only LCDs would be suitable for me / or very expensive LCOS. I have a custom built cabinet which has the projector at around 60cms off the ground. The screen is 3.6m away from the projector, and the bottom of the screen is around 80cms from the ground.

Would I get away with an HD73 / or something similar (H79)?

James

[Pecker]

Originally Posted by Liam @ Prog AV

He has a HD73 which offsets 36% ish upwards, so going under the coffee table will be fine so long as the top of the table doesn't overhang too much and leave a shadow at the top of the image.

A big thanks to everyone for all of your input.

I was thinking if having it on top of the coffee table, the right way up (on its little feet).

I'm not very good at the maths on this one, I'm afraid. Can any of you geniuses help?

Distance from lens to screen will be c.3.7 meters.

Screen size will be c.234cm wide & 132cm high - hence on maximum zoom, according to Optoma's online Distance Calculator.

The bottom of the screen needs to be at least 60cm off the ground, but 85cm+ would be even better.

Is this do-able? What height would the coffee table need to be?

Clearly, only people with degrees in applied Maths or sophisticated spreadsheets need attempt to answer.

Cheers.

Steve W

[jacko5]

Originally Posted by Pecker

A big thanks to everyone for all of your input.

I was thinking if having it on top of the coffee table, the right way up (on its little feet).

I'm not very good at the maths on this one, I'm afraid. Can any of you geniuses help?

Distance from lens to screen will be c.3.7 meters.

Screen size will be c.234cm wide & 132cm high - hence on maximum zoom, according to Optoma's online Distance Calculator.

The bottom of the screen needs to be at least 60cm off the ground, but 85cm+ would be even better.

Is this do-able? What height would the coffee table need to be?

Clearly, only people with degrees in applied Maths or sophisticated spreadsheets need attempt to answer.

Cheers.

Steve W

Assuming your PJ is an HD73 and assuming the offset is 36% and assuming your image height is 132cms., the image will have an upwards offset of 47.5cms. Therefore, if you require the bottom of the image to be 85cms off the ground your table will need to be 38cms high, or if you prefer, 15inches.

[Liam @ Prog AV]

Exactly as Jacko said. Offset is % of height, and is outside of the viewable area. So if anything, putting a HD73 on top of a coffee table puts the projector higher than expected (assuming the average coffee table is about 18-24" tall. But inside or under just works and is much cooler effect when someone comes round and can't see where the projector is

[Pecker]

The figures you're quoting suggest my initial ideas were just right.

Many thanks for your sage-like advice.



Steve W

[sweevo]

There's always a large book or catalogue lying about you could use to increase the height by a few inches too.

[sapper]

Originally Posted by sweevo

There's always a large book or catalogue lying about you could use to increase the height by a few inches too.

Ahhhh the old low tech solutions always have a certain appeal, but are not beaten by the cool, the wow factor of motors whirling away, only to fail

Adrian

[Liam @ Prog AV]

Actually depending on the size of Steve's coffee table he may need to lower rather than raise to counter the offset of the ThemeScene....