Advice Needed on a Difficult Installation

C

Carduus

Guest
Hi – :hiya: This is my first post, and I apologise for its length :blush:, but any advice would be appreciated. I’m looking to upgrade from my current set-up (a 3 year-old DLP - 3M MP7720 - inherited from the office and a sheet of 8’x4’ white-faced hardboard). The pq is not really the problem – I just want a more permanent installation that the kids will find harder to destroy. I’ve been searching through these pages and now I’m really confused and in need of advice.

First the room which is quite big & difficult: length is 39’2” (11.93m) and width 17’3” (5.25m). The ‘barreled’ ceiling starts at 11’6” (3.50m) but rises to about 18’ (5.50m) along the main axis of the room. The ceiling also has ornate plasterwork and two big brass Flemish style chandeliers. In other words, a central/suspended ceiling mount is just not an option unless I want a divorce to go with it. This will not be a dedicated HT room – more of a party room that I want to also watch movies in.

My 3M pj has been a good little servant but its short throw (1.3) means that is has to sit on a coffee table while in use and be packed away afterwards – hence the decision to buy a new toy. With 3k-4k to spend, I was pretty sure I would be looking for a 16:9 DLP like an IF5700 (or maybe even 7200), Sim2 Domino 20, Action Zero-Five or similar. I’m no longer so sure :confused:. Basically I think I have 4 options on configuration. For each, I am assuming a 16:9 screen 106” (270cm) wide – 122” (310cm) diagonal and viewing distance of around 15’ (4.50m) giving 1.7 view ratio (dist/width).

Option 1: Project down the long axis of the room with pj and screen on the centerline of the 5.25m width. I would be projecting from around the middle of the room - about 17’ (5.20m) pj to screen giving a throw ratio of 1.9. The IF5700/7200 are both in play for this option while the Dom20 and 05 are out on throw ratio. Problem is the pj mount as I would be projecting over the heads of the viewers (say PJ at 4’6” 1.40m from the floor). Does anyone have a good idea on a stand for the middle of a room – maybe that extends to the desired height when needed but sits lower when not in use? I’m OK with the woodworking tools if it’s a DIY solution but I need some inspiration ….

Option 2: Similar to Option 1 but with the pj housed in the top deck of my existing (homemade) AV cabinet which sits along the long wall. Projection distance/height stays about the same but now pj would be about 200cm off the centreline of the screen and I need horizontal lens shift (about 75% screen width) and/or a bundle of horizontal keystone correction (about 21 deg). Any recommendations on pj with that amount of lens shift or keystone? I think the NEC HT1100 has 25 deg keystone but I don’t know much about that unit and whether using all of that ability kills the pq. The HT1100 is also native 4:3 which wasn’t in the plan. Any comments on this or other candidates?

Option 3: Change the plan completely and project across the width of the room. The projection distance is shorter at around 15’ (4.70m) and throw ratio of 1.75. Due to the position of windows etc, the pj would again need to be horizontally offset – preferably by about 100cm (37% lens shift or 12 degrees horiz keystone) but maybe by as little as 70cm (25% lens shift or 8 degrees horiz keystone). I can’t find a 16:9 DLP with the right combo of horizontal ability and throw ratio, but this option does introduce the Sanyo Z2 and Hitachi TX100 as candidates - which get really good reviews from their owners. I have no experience with modern LCDs in this price bracket and would welcome advice. I’m concerned about pq (SDE) at 1.7 view ratio and, particularly in the case of the Z2, brightness on the 9’ screen might be an issue. The Z2 is also on the margin for throw ratio. What do folks think about these units compared, say, to my ageing 3M DLP pj? I could always use the savings for a decent-sized plasma TV for daytime viewing ….

Option 4 (for those who haven’t died of boredom yet :boring: ): Project across the width of the room as in Option 3 but from above the window at the ‘low’ ceiling height of 11’6” (3.50m). The pj would be on the horizontal centerline but now needs quite a lot of vertical shift/correction. There’s a bit of flexibility on height of the screen but I imagine it would be centred around 6’6” (2.00m) from the floor with top edge around 9’ (2.75m) from the floor. I’m not too clued up on vertical offsets and the info is hard to come by in any case for many pj’s. Any advice on a suitable unit?

For all of the above, I would also appreciate any comments on the choice of screen. Would I need, for example, a higher gain screen if I went for the Z2 in Option 3? Any recommendations on a manual pull-down 9 footer? There you go – one post with a hundred questions ….

:lease:

Thanks in advance ....
 
No help yet?

Well your problem may be more suited to our american buddies due to the size of your room.

Try http://www.avsforum.com/

Appologies if I am not supposed to mention other forums.

Hope this helps.
 
Wolvreen - thanks for the suggestion :smashin: I’ll give that a try if I don’t get any home-grown joy. Having read my War & Peace post again, I think I need to be a bit more succinct. So, folks, here’s the condensed version …. sorry for boring the pants off you first time around.

 HS20 owners – how much H keystone is your pj capable of?
 TX100 owners – how much H lens shift is your new pj capable of?
 Optoma H76 owners (must be a couple in the UK ;) ) – how much H keystone?
 HT1100 owners – anything nice to say about your choice?
 Z2/TX100 owners – anyone using a 9 foot wide screen? Is the pj bright enough?
 Z2/TX100 owners – anyone sitting at 1.7 x screen width? How’s the SDE & VB?
 All of the above – what gain screen would you recommend for your pj?
 Anyone – how much keystone is considered “too aggressive” :devil: ?

Thanks for any help!
 

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