Projector: To Mount or NOT to Mount

[Mavolous]

What are the benefits of mounting a projector versus not . I think I could make a nice cabinet that a projector would sit in rather then mounting to a ceiling and having it extend into a cabinet.

I know that a projector would have to allow for the image to be flipped (wouldnt have to hung upside down. I also figure that a cabinet would have to be stable and ventilated.

Anything else?

[Sonnie]

Throw distance would need to be considered.

Do you already have a projector in mind?

[hddummy]

I'm not sure I understand your idea completely. This cabinet you are proposing to house the projector....will it be at ceiling level or at ground level?

[Anthony]

I have my projector on an open-air rack in the back corner of my room. Only the Sanyo Z4 had the shift and throw capabilities to do this (at the time of purchase).

It has worked well, but every time the rack gets bumped or I wire in new equipment I have to do the shift/zoom/focus dance again.

[Mavolous]

theater3.JPG


The above pic shows where my projector needs to be(in the ceiling). I propose to build a cabinet that would be built into the soffett. It would be slightly lower perhaps...but not much. I guess I think it would be nice to be able to remove the projector if needed ever....easily. I do not have one picked out yet but Im looking at about a 10-12 ft throw (trying to get a 110 dia pic)

[Prof.]

Firstly, to mount a projector right side up to the ceiling, you will need one that has lens shift..and the height of the ceiling and the distance from floor to the top of your screen will determine if that's possible..
Providing you don't have high ceilings and the bottom of the screen isn't close to the floor, then with the right projector it is possible to have the projector in a cabinet..

[<^..^>Smokey Joe]

As one has mentioned, mounting is a sure way to stop the PJ from being bumped and then require readjusting the focus, lens shift or what ever.
Even when mounted you can bump and move them plugging and unplugging cables.

Oh there is one important thing to avoid using. Donot use if at all possible Keystone correction. Dispite it being a feature in most PJs.

[MatrixDweller]

Looking at your other post I can see what you're trying to accomplish. I had a similar dilemma. I too had a big bulkhead running through the center of my room. From the front wall to the start of the bulkhead it measured 11ft. I decided to put my projector on a shelf mounted on the front of the bulkhead.

My other idea was to build a hush box under the bulkhead and put the projector there. Your bulkhead actually has lot of room inside of it. You could build a box inside the bulkhead (making sure to add a few 120mm fans inside to ventilate it ). It would look pretty sharp if done properly.

[Mavolous]

Worked on the theater today (8hrs). And had a guy look at it with me. I think we can sit it back far enough to hit 12 feet throw and will probably mount it within the cabinet. Probably a drop down door to have easy access to it. Regardless it will be done right. I will send pics as I progress

[electronbee]

Hrmm... they make projector mounts that drop down from the ceiling. I don't mean a tube type mount, but, one thats basically a cabinet and you press it up and it lowers down and then you push it back up again and it stays.

I also have my pj mounted on a wire rack type shelf. I'd like to mount it on the ceiling but my wife does her exercises in the room above. We don't have any young-ins and our visitors are mature enough to not touch it.

eb

[peteaimee]

thinkin the same, make a shelf that the pj can sit on, but am worried about enough ventilation

[superchad]

Although I like and do mount my Projector on ceiling one benefit of having it on a shelf is ease of cleaning filters and bulb changes. If I had to put my unit on a shelf (which at one point I thought I might have had to) I was going to avoid it being bumped by placing it on a substantial shelf weighted with books and music and lastly I was going to use my drill and hole bits to cut out an exact slight recess in shelf to fit the legs of projector so it was less likely to get moved (This may be an idea you could use) and in close my Projector exhaust fan is in front so it wasnt an issue of heat. Cheers

[MatrixDweller]

The only way my projector can get moved is if I stand up on top of the couch and move it myself. There's no way it can get bumped except if I were happening to have a 9 foot tall guest sit up right under the projector.

I ended up drilling a few holes for ventilation under the intake fan (not shown in pic), and the exhaust fan blows out the front. Heat didn't seem to be an issue but better safe than sorry. I would still have to take the projector down to clean/change the filter.

I guess the only drawback to my shelf mount would be if I were to get a new projector that didn't fit. No biggie though...I could cut a new one for pretty cheap.

[tonyvdb]

The big issue with ceiling mounting a projector is that it must be in line with the top of the screen if its too high then even with lens shift the image would be wider at the bottom than at the top and key stoning is never a good idea.

[MonsterMaddness]

Please excuse my ignorance but how come keystoning is such a bad idea?

[goatfarm]

MonsterMaddness wrote:

Please excuse my ignorance but how come keystoning is such a bad idea?

Keystoning is done digitally and because of this lowers the video resolution output of the projector. So 720p in won't be 720p out. Someone here with more knowledge can probably provide more details.

Greg

[Blaser]

Well, it distorts an already distorted image. It is better to tilt the screen a little to avoid keystoning if possible. Otherwise it is still better than a trapezoidal image.
Resolution patterns may suffer with excessive keystoning. I had a prvious projector with Keystone feature and just a little bit of it did not kill the resolution though.

[MatrixDweller]

MonsterMaddness wrote:

Please excuse my ignorance but how come keystoning is such a bad idea?

A 1080p image is 1920 x 1080 pixels (720p is 1280 x 720 pixels) rectangular. If you use keystoning the projectors processor removes pixels from the bottom or top. The processor then needs to remap (stretch and shrink) the original image to fit a trapezoid rather than its original rectangular shape. In the process of doing this there may be added noise or distortion to the image. Some projectors will do a better job of keystoning but it's still advisable to avoid it if possible.