Need Advice for Projector Setup

[hack_tc]

Hey fellas,

I'm planning on setting up a projector in a room of mine, and could use a little advice.

Here is the room:





I plan on centering my screen above the desk, which is 63" wide, and its about 65" from the desktop to the ceiling. I plan on building a shelf above the headboard to hold the projector, and probably a ps3 or blueray player. It's about 38" from the top of my headboard to the ceiling. Also, its an even 12' from the front wall to back. Lastly, the lowest point of my ceiling fan is 13" down from the ceiling.

My budget is right around $1-2k.

Questions :

a) Will I need a short throw projector?
b) Will there be a noticeable difference from a 720p or 1080p at this viewing distance?
c) Will I need to lose the ceiling fan to have a clear shot at the wall?
d) Would a 80-90ish screen be overkill in such a small room?
e) Would buying a 720p at half the price of a 1080p, and spending what is left on a decent surround sound, grant me a much better experience?


This will be solely used for watching movies. I do plan on getting some darker blinds for both windows. I work in the construction business, so I'm pretty handy when it comes to building stuff. Any suggestions or cool ideas are absolutely welcome.

As of now I have been looking at the new Epson 2030 . 3d movies seem like fun, and the ability to plug a roku stick into would also be nice.

Anyways, thanks in advance for the help

 

[jaha2000]

1. Use the calculators online to see if you need s short throw, i would say no.
2. If your going to use it for blu ray i dont care what your viewing distance is, get 1080P
3. Yes.. 90 inch screen is about 44" tall if my math is correct. Assuming you center it your going to have 10.5 inches from the ceiling to the top of the screen. You are going to need a flush ceiling mount and have the projector on the ceiling. The cheap projectors dont have lens shift (or a small amount). Typically if you have the lens 5 inches from the ceiling, the top of the image is going to be 10 inches or so (rough numbers just giving you an idea) The center of the image will not be at the center of the lens.
4. Is there such a thing?
5. See 5. To me, the small room is a bigger factor for sound than screen. I would get a solid 2.1 or 3.1 setup for a bedroom and call it a day.

 

[hack_tc]

Thanks for the reply!

Yeah, I'm definitely using blue-ray, so 1080p it is! I guess I will lose the ceiling fan and install a recessed light, since I will need to mount the projector as high as possible (upside down I assume).

I do have an older Kenwood 5.1 surround sound system, nothing fancy, but should be fine for such a small room I would think.

The room gets pretty dark, even during the daytime, but the walls are off-white. Would dark walls make a huge difference, or is that really just for the hardcore theater fanatics? This is basically just going to be a poor man's mancave, I'm not looking to win any awards or anything. But I don't want it to suck either, haha.

Thanks again for the reply!

 

[jdoggg12]

You ask 10 people about dark walls, you'll get 10 answers. It depends on your tolerance. My walls are all white and it doesn't bother me too much. A darker room WILL help with the contrast of the image but if you'd spend $200 on doing a good job painting, you'd be better off spending that on a nicer PJ or screen.

I'd highly recommend meandering around these forums for ideas and considerations:
PJs - http://www.avsforum.com/f/68/digital-projectors-under-3-000-usd-msrp
Screens - http://www.avsforum.com/f/23/screens

It's 10x as important to research everything on a PJ than it is with a TV. PJ equipment is MUCH more picky about location, settings, and environment than a plasma/lcd tv.

 

[jaha2000]

As jdoggg said
do you research to make sure the PJ is going to put the image where you need it to be. I ended up with a Benq 1070 simply because it is one of the few that has some vertical lens shift. Granted its very little, but makes the final adjustments much easier.

 

[purbeast0]

darker walls will 100% make a BIG difference. anyone who tells you otherwise is kidding themselves. i know from personal experience because it was the reason i ended up painting my walls (and ceiling) a dark red color.

that said, your projector can still look great with white walls. it will just look much better with dark walls because of the contrast difference.

 

[jdoggg12]

As jdoggg said
do you research to make sure the PJ is going to put the image where you need it to be. I ended up with a Benq 1070 simply because it is one of the few that has some vertical lens shift. Granted its very little, but makes the final adjustments much easier.

I got the W1070 too... couldn't be happier! I miss my 55" LED samsung (stolen) b/c the image was so nice, but the PJ is (IMO, of course) 90% of the quality and 400% the size!

darker walls will 100% make a BIG difference. anyone who tells you otherwise is kidding themselves. i know from personal experience because it was the reason i ended up painting my walls (and ceiling) a dark red color.

that said, your projector can still look great with white walls. it will just look much better with dark walls because of the contrast difference.

(My response is in a general sense, not necessarily specific to OP)
I think it's a good idea to take consideration of the situation of the buyer though. If your budget is ~$1000, buying a $900 PJ, leaves you with only enough for a DIY screen. Painting the room is likely out of the question, from a cost point of view. If there's wiggle room after finding a PJ close to the max budget, the money is best spent on a screen as even the best PJ is limited by the ability/quality of the screen/surface.

In this case, at $2k, I agree, painting the room (DIY pricing) is a viable and important call. Just be sure to do your HW. There's a lot of things to consider at this price point... do you fork out $1800 for a mid-range PJ and a screen or do you go 1000-1300 and deck the room out? For me, still, I'd max out on screen and PJ then worry about painting later.


Painting is cheaper and easier than most other initial investments into PJ viewing, that's why I look at it as being an afterthought. Get the PJ setup and looking how you like it... THEN paint the room, it'll only improve the hard work you put into everything else.

This is just my collective thoughts based on a year's worth of PJ experience and a hundred or so hours reading PJ forums, sites, and blogs Learn! That's most important!

 

[krumme]

Try to research goo screen paint. Cheap and good quality. Take white paimt and keep your walls white that way it will blen into hour room. Unless you want the cave solution but it look like your budget is not for the perfect blacks either.

Good luck. a good projector at say 90-100 inch in that room will be a blast. I will say that a good projectot will give you world class picture quality besides the huge screen.

Your old 5.1 will be okey.

 

[hack_tc]

I think I'm going to hold off on the walls, simply because I'm renting at the moment, and don't really want to go through the trouble of having to repaint once I do leave. I plan on buying my own place within the next year, and will definitely not hesitate to truly pimp out a theater room then.

Ya, after some research I've been really leaning towards that Benq 1070, for the lens shift, which the Epson I first posted doesn't have. I definitely plan on buying a $100-200 projector screen, but I'm not really sure if I should be looking for a white screen, or a grey screen.

Thanks again for the help!

 

[jaha2000]

Keep in mind the sift is not much.
@125" screen size it probably moves 4 or 5 inches at most.

 

[jdoggg12]

Keep in mind the sift is not much.
@125" screen size it probably moves 4 or 5 inches at most.

True, but that's in each direction and probably at max zoom. Mine is at 1.0x zoom, ~106" screen size (~13ft throw) and if I go "lock to lock" on lens shift, it'll move about a foot, maybe more.

OP, something to note is that the adjustable feet on a PJ are for leveling purposes only. It should be flat (not tilted up/down) so that the image stays square (rectangular). If you angle the PJ, instead of using lens shift, the image will distort and drive you crazy