Noob question regarding placement of projector

[pzichi]

Hi Everyone,

I'm planning on purchasing an Epson 1080p UB projector. My room has a ceiling that's 10 ft. high. I heard that you should have the projector at least at the height of the top of the screen. The Epson manual says it should be as close to center of screen as possible.

What is usual for the placement (height) of the screen? I'll have a 106" diag Da-Lite. The area of the room is about 22 by 12 feet - seating about 12 feet from the screen. The projector will be placed about 15 feet from the wall.

I made a template of the screen to see how it would look on the wall and at this distance I feel like I have to place the screen fairly low on the wall to feel comfortable (and not craning my head upwards). Maybe I'm just used to viewing my regular HDTV where it's directly in front of me.

Please advise. I appreciate any help you can give me. Thanks.

Paul

[Keith from Canada]

pzichi wrote:

Hi Everyone,

I'm planning on purchasing an Epson 1080p UB projector. My room has a ceiling that's 10 ft. high. I heard that you should have the projector at least at the height of the top of the screen. The Epson manual says it should be as close to center of screen as possible.

What is usual for the placement (height) of the screen? I'll have a 106" diag Da-Lite. The area of the room is about 22 by 12 feet - seating about 12 feet from the screen. The projector will be placed about 15 feet from the wall.

I made a template of the screen to see how it would look on the wall and at this distance I feel like I have to place the screen fairly low on the wall to feel comfortable (and not craning my head upwards). Maybe I'm just used to viewing my regular HDTV where it's directly in front of me.

Please advise. I appreciate any help you can give me. Thanks.

Paul

The rule of thumb for screen placement is the 1/3 rule. When seated, your eyes should be parallel to the 1/3rd point on the screen (2/3 of the screen should be above eye level and 1/3 below). As for placement of the projector, the Epson has a fair amount of play and flexibility. You should put it in a place that's out of the way and where no-one will walk through the light path. Other than those basic guidelines, put it just about anywhere you want it (within reason)...that's the beauty of LCD lens shifting! My advice would be to get the projector, mount the screen and then move the projector to where you want it and see if it works.

[pzichi]

Keith from Canada wrote:

The rule of thumb for screen placement is the 1/3 rule. When seated, your eyes should be parallel to the 1/3rd point on the screen (2/3 of the screen should be above eye level and 1/3 below). As for placement of the projector, the Epson has a fair amount of play and flexibility. You should put it in a place that's out of the way and where no-one will walk through the light path. Other than those basic guidelines, put it just about anywhere you want it (within reason)...that's the beauty of LCD lens shifting! My advice would be to get the projector, mount the screen and then move the projector to where you want it and see if it works.

Thanks much. That's extremely helpful. I'll figure it out.

The Epson will be out of the way (behind the viewing area). Thanks again for your help!

Paul

[Blaser]

Hi Paul,

It makes now a little more than 2 months from your last post. Pls share impressions with your UB. FYI I have the same screen size in my room with a Carada BW and I have a lot of fun!

[pzichi]

Hi,

The room is nearly finished but we've already tested the placement. My contractor built a special fold-down door so the projector actually 'disappears' into the opposing wall when not in use (and covered by some artwork that slides across it when not in use).

After much experimenting we came up with the following:

The distance from the projector to the screen is approximately 20 feet. I have the height of the lens at 5.5 feet. If someone stands up it does cross the light path but it's not a big deal since this is primarily for me and my wife's use with an occasional couple of friends.

We did take your advice about the height of the screen - experimented with that as well. We bought a Da-lite 106" diagonal high-contrast matte white screen with a 25" black drop. The ceiling is actually 9' high so that places it almost exactly with your suggestion of 1/3 below 2/3s above. Seating is approximately 13.5' from the screen.

It really looks incredible - particularly with the PS3 Blu-ray player. Sound system is quite nice as well - using a Denon 3808i receiver with B&W speakers and Velodyne subwoofer.

Have to be without it now for another week and a half as they are going to install a hardwood floor (carpeting would be too deadening for the acoustics). Experimented with that as well and this seems the best solution. If it's too reverberant then we'll add throw rugs as well.

Thanks for your interest. Once again, I really appreciated your thoughtful insights for a solution to my particular situation.

Paul

[Blaser]

Paul,

Looks like you have some very nice gear. Is the projector bright enough for your taste? I see you're using a unity gain screen and throwing from quite far. Which mode are you using for movies?

How does Bluray compare with DVDs on that projector? Any chance we can have some screenshots?

[pzichi]

It's absolutely bright enough. I've been using 'Theatre' mode but there is also one named 'Dynamic' that makes it even brighter (for use when the room is not very dark).

The PS3 does a good job of upconverting regular DVDs but honestly, regular DVDs are a bit 'soft' compared to razor sharpness of the Blu-ray discs. I've also got DirecTV hooked up to it - looks fantastic with this set up.

Once the room is completed I may consider having the Epson calibrated but right now it looks quite good right out of the box.

I'll try to provide some shots when the room is finished (about 2 more weeks).