Short throw first time set up advice

moujik

Established Member
Joined
Jun 27, 2020
Messages
276
Reaction score
82
Points
80
Age
43
Location
sweden
I've been watching reviews and guides and my head is spinning around.. Any tips and advice are welcome!

Projected set up:
constant height 50": 16:9 100" some ambient light - 2.39:1 130" dark environment on grey black out cloth
distance to opposite wall: 12'8"
alt. 1: shelve mount on the opposite wall projector with x1.3 zoom, BenQ models?
alt. 2: 0.5:1 throw projector on a table that moves, Optoma GT models?
viewing distance: 11'8", is it worth to go for 4K?
No gaming. Films, Sports and Series.. most sources 1080 and below..
Using RaspberriPi osmc with stereo, so no sound needed.
budget: round 1k and definetly <2k

Thank you!
 
Last edited:
I've been watching reviews and guides and my head is spinning around.. Any tips and advice are welcome!

Projected set up:
constant height 50": 16:9 100" some ambient light - 2.39:1 130" dark environment on grey black out cloth
distance to opposite wall: 12'8"
alt. 1: shelve mount on the opposite wall projector with x1.3 zoom, BenQ models?
alt. 2: 0.5:1 throw projector on a table that moves, Optoma GT models?
viewing distance: 11'8", is it worth to go for 4K?
No gaming. Films, Sports and Series.. most sources 1080 and below..
Using RaspberriPi osmc with stereo, so no sound needed.
budget: round 1k and definetly <2k

Thank you!

Ambient light and projectors don't go well together, the projector must be bright, ambient light must not hit the screen directly, walls should be painted to reduce reflections, etc.

In the dark as well, dark paint will help reduce reflections which will stop the wash out of the image, particularly black.

Table projectors are inconvenient, their location, cables.

4K HDR is not just about resolution.
Just in terms of resolution, there are many things that affect sharpness/detail perception, one of it being the source. If most of the source files you have are 1080p or lower you'll need to upscale, so I'm not sure what the result will be. There is some improvement for sure, but I don't know if I would go for a 4K projector.
You also have to sit closer or have a larger screen to notice the extra 4K detail.

The projector should be used on a wall for while, but the general size projectors from that distance is between 120" to 150" in diagonal.

The GT models and other short throw units are mostly gaming units. They sacrifice color and black level for brightness.

For a screen that large you could go for an Epson TW6700, TW7300 or TW9300. The 9000 series has better blacks.

Or if you can afford it go for an TW9400.

For DLPs you can research RGBRGB color wheel models. For 1080p Something like the W1110/1120/2000 could work, or Viewsonic models. For 4K The Optoma UHD40/51 might be bright enough, but barely.
 
thanks so much for your reply @noob0101!

epsons are unfortunately not short throw enough or too expensive. ~11'6" is the furthest away a projector can be placed if you count its body and the contacts sticking out.

benq's models you're suggesting are discontinued, but can be found like W2000+. Is it gonna be harder to find replacement lamps for older models though?

My walls are dark red. My ceiling is white but there gonna be 3 feet headroom above the screen. Is it not enough to not get too much light back?

Basically I wanna find a future proof 1080 cinema projector :)

Also I realized that the difference between 16:9 and 2.39:1 is not 1.3, but 1.34 which is outside the common benq's zoom range, so I will have to move the projector an inch or so when changing aspect ratio.

The advantage of optoma gts is that the hdmi cable to my source will be considerably shorter than about 7m to the opposite wall set up.

Also why are there hundreds of different models and why are they called differently overseas? It makes it so much harder :)

it took ages to find out that benq w1120 is ht2050a in the states where most reviews are coming from. I believe it would be an ideal model.. hard to get hold of though.
 
Last edited:
thanks so much for your reply @noob0101!

epsons are unfortunately not short throw enough or too expensive. ~11'6" is the furthest away a projector can be placed if you count its body and the contacts sticking out.

benq's models you're suggesting are discontinued, but can be found like W2000+. Is it gonna be harder to find replacement lamps for older models though?

My walls are dark red. My ceiling is white but there gonna be 3 feet headroom above the screen. Is it not enough to not get too much light back?

Basically I wanna find a future proof 1080 cinema projector :)

Also I realized that the difference between 16:9 and 2.39:1 is not 1.3, but 1.34 which is outside the common benq's zoom range, so I will have to move the projector an inch or so when changing aspect ratio.

The advantage of optoma gts is that the hdmi cable to my source will be considerably shorter than about 7m to the opposite wall set up.

Also why are there hundreds of different models and why are they called differently overseas? It makes it so much harder :)

it took ages to find out that benq w1120 is ht2050a in the states where most reviews are coming from. I believe it would be an ideal model.. hard to get hold of though.

3' from the screen is not enough.

If you want CIH setup you need motorized lenses with memory, and there's not projector with that features that has a throw ratio under 1.35x.
The TW7000 and 9000 have them, as well as some in the Sony HW (1080p) series like HW45ES/65ES.

Other 1080p RGBRGB models:
Viewsonic PX725HD
PX727HD
Pro7827HD

Benq W1050/1090 or W1210ST for a short throw.

As well as the two Optomas mentioned in the previous thread.

There are a lot of 1080p DLP with non RGBRGB color wheels.

Better look at the stores what model is available and search for a review.

Lamps for old projectors are not hard to find, you can find for 10 year old models.
 
Thanks!

So 3' from the ceiling is not enough, but if I put the projector higher than the middle of the screen and point it slightly down, that should be less reflection off the ceiling, no?

I believe I will have to settle on 16:9 100'' 2.31:1 126'' which can be covered by 1.3x zoom.

If I can't get hold of benq w1120, I might have to fork out for w2700.. Do popular projectors ever go down in price?
 
Thanks!

So 3' from the ceiling is not enough, but if I put the projector higher than the middle of the screen and point it slightly down, that should be less reflection off the ceiling, no?

I believe I will have to settle on 16:9 100'' 2.31:1 126'' which can be covered by 1.3x zoom.

If I can't get hold of benq w1120, I might have to fork out for w2700.. Do popular projectors ever go down in price?

The only solution is to treat the ceiling.

You have to see it live before you decide on a diagonal.

No, the prices for popular projectors stay high :D.
 
it's a hard one.. now I'm leaning towards benq tk850, as I do watch a fair bit of sports. Is it much worse than w2700 for films?
Shouldn't white ceiling be less of an issue with tk850?
 
it's a hard one.. now I'm leaning towards benq tk850, as I do watch a fair bit of sports. Is it much worse than w2700 for films?
Shouldn't white ceiling be less of an issue with tk850?

The TK850 is a non RGBRGB color wheel mode, which sacrifices color and black level for brightness. Depends how bright the room will be when watching sports.
 
Now, I'm back to your original suggestions of Epsons, although I read older models are often faulty. It would have to be a slightly smaller screen..
USA - Europe model names vary from source to source.. What's Epson HC3200 in Europe? 3800 is 7000,
4010 is 7400.
I wonder if you can get sick of all reviews that you don't buy a projector in the end :)
 
Now, I'm back to your original suggestions of Epsons, although I read older models are often faulty. It would have to be a slightly smaller screen..
USA - Europe model names vary from source to source.. What's Epson HC3200 in Europe? 3800 is 7000,
4010 is 7400.
I wonder if you can get sick of all reviews that you don't buy a projector in the end :)

Where did yo read that older models are often faulty?

HC3200=TW7000
HC3800=TW7100
HC4010=TW7400

HC3700=TW6700
 
"Also sold as the Epson EH-TW7000 outside of the USA." :) I guess they don't really care about info outside usa..
I've been reading som reviews on amazon, having first read it in another article on PC.
 
"Also sold as the Epson EH-TW7000 outside of the USA." :) I guess they don't really care about info outside usa..
I've been reading som reviews on amazon, having first read it in another article on PC.

That's incorrect information.

 
Still debating in my head..
Has anyone heard anything about InFocus SP2080HD Projector?
 
The only solution is to treat the ceiling.
There's a Benq w2700 used for £1100 on amazon. Since I only plan to project max 100'' during the day, it might be enough brightness, no? (I just returned a faulty tk850)
 
There's a Benq w2700 used for £1100 on amazon. Since I only plan to project max 100'' during the day, it might be enough brightness, no? (I just returned a faulty tk850)

The W2700 is around half as bright as the TK850.
 
The W2700 is around half as bright as the TK850.
I did not get to see how bright tk850 was as it was dead :(
so nothing to compare with
 
Make sure to consider the vertical shift capabilities of dlp projectors. The middle of the screen won’t work, they have to be placed just above or below the bottom/top of the screen. Lens shift on budget dlp is very small or non existent. I had a Benq when I started out and hadn’t considered this. It worked out in the end but placement had to be very exact in the room for it to work. Led projectors like Epson don’t suffer from this limitation.
 
Last edited:
Make sure to consider the vertical shift capabilities of dlp projectors. The middle of the screen won’t work, they have to be placed just above or below the bottom/top of the screen. Lens shift on budget dlp is very small or non existent. I had a Benq when I started out and hadn’t considered this. It worked out in the end but placement had to be very exact in the room for it to work. Led projectors like Elson don’t suffer from this limitation.
I cannot place it on the shelf of the opposite wall at mid height? Can I place it on the shelf closer to the ceiling but standing on its feet?
 
I cannot place it on the shelf of the opposite wall at mid height? Can I place it on the shelf closer to the ceiling but standing on its feet?
Yes you should really check the Benq and Optima specs for lens shift capability. Usually dlp projectors have to be installed slightly above or below the screen. If above it is hung upside down feet up and the image flipped in the projector menu.
 
Yes you should really check the Benq and Optima specs for lens shift capability. Usually dlp projectors have to be installed slightly above or below the screen. If above it is hung upside down feet up and the image flipped in the projector menu.
ok, I thought those were just limitations and one could place it anywhere in between.. That's a strange one, thanks for bringing it up! Weird that I would have to lay it on its top to immitate ceiling mount..
 
does anyone know what Benq w2000 plus is called in the states?
 

The latest video from AVForums

Is 4K Blu-ray Worth It?
Subscribe to our YouTube channel
Back
Top Bottom