Off centre projector set up

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robbon44

252 posts

Ultimate Geek

#261972 27-Dec-2019 07:34

Hi we have a living room HT set up as follows

6m square room, tv centralised on one wall with a drop down 100” screen using a Benq 1070+ 1080p projector.

The projector is not ceiling mounted but placed inside the coffee table in the middle of the room. At around 3.0m throw.

I’m just about to upgrade the benq to a 4k projector and would like to ceiling mount it to make cable management a bit easier.

However ......we have a ceiling fan positioned at the exact centre of the room and also exactly where the projector is best positioned for throw.

I can position the projector approx 1.2m (3-4ft) to the left of the fan and my OCD isn’t badly affected by the symmetry of the room and the wife can live with the box hanging off the ceiling however I am a bit worried that the position would be less than optimal in terms of picture quality.

Having to rely on lens shift and keystone corrections to square up the image.

Is this an issue or am I over thinking it a bit these days ? Will It affect my viewing pleasure ??

Any advice warmly welcomed ...

I have thought about moving the ceiling fan...but that’s a last resort...also bit too short a throw to position it in front of the fan (circa 2m).

Dingbatt

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#2381597 27-Dec-2019 08:02

My understanding is any use of (software) keystone correction affects the quality of the picture. I’m lucky in my setup that the projector I have allows me to place it at the back of the room on a shelf, but even then, there is slight keystoning. The black borders of the screen minimise that. But still my pedantic nature notices it.

If you have a particular projector model in mind, are you able to try it at the retailer to see how effective the correction is?

The 4K one may have similar correction to your current Benq, so you could always move your current setup and check it out ‘inverted’ (ie place it under the spot on the ceiling you are proposing, apply the correction and see how it looks.

There are some ultra short throw 4K laser projectors from the likes of Xiaomi coming on to the market that may be worth investigating in your case as they can be mounted within half a metre of the screen.

“We’ve arranged a society based on science and technology, in which nobody understands anything about science technology. Carl Sagan 1996

jonathan18

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#2381642 27-Dec-2019 10:21

Dingbatt:

There are some ultra short throw 4K laser projectors from the likes of Xiaomi coming on to the market that may be worth investigating in your case as they can be mounted within half a metre of the screen.

Some ultra-short-throw projectors sit way closer than this - eg this LG model does 120" from 18.3cm https://www.lg.com/us/home-video/lg-HU85LA-4k-laser-projector

That makes it a viable option for most spaces, I imagine, and with none of the mounting hassles of a standard projector, whether on the ceiling or having to be in the middle of the room. (I'm hoping by the time it's time for us to buy a new TV in say 4-5 years these will be within my price range!)

richms

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#2381656 27-Dec-2019 10:50

Can you lower the cieling fan and put it underneith the projector? I have never seen keystone correction that has looked ok. Get jaggies ontop of jaggies with lines, and a brightness shift which gets worse if you are off axis.

Richard rich.ms

Dunnersfella

4086 posts

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#2381762 27-Dec-2019 14:34

Keystone correction can drop your resolution so far, that 4K is largely a waste of time!

Move the fan...

robbon44

252 posts

Ultimate Geek

#2382033 27-Dec-2019 23:29

Thanks

I’m going to move the fan.

My budget for a new projector is probably up to $2k so laser may be slightly out of reach but the new 2019 models such as Benq tk850 are taking my interest...however the throw is still circa 3m so... moving of the fan.

I did look at mounting above the fan blades but it still impacts the image...

Thanks folks.

surfisup1000

5288 posts

Uber Geek

#2382062 28-Dec-2019 09:21

robbon44:
Hi we have a living room HT set up as follows

6m square room, tv centralised on one wall with a drop down 100” screen using a Benq 1070+ 1080p projector.

The projector is not ceiling mounted but placed inside the coffee table in the middle of the room. At around 3.0m throw.

I’m just about to upgrade the benq to a 4k projector and would like to ceiling mount it to make cable management a bit easier.

However ......we have a ceiling fan positioned at the exact centre of the room and also exactly where the projector is best positioned for throw.

I can position the projector approx 1.2m (3-4ft) to the left of the fan and my OCD isn’t badly affected by the symmetry of the room and the wife can live with the box hanging off the ceiling however I am a bit worried that the position would be less than optimal in terms of picture quality.

Having to rely on lens shift and keystone corrections to square up the image.

Is this an issue or am I over thinking it a bit these days ? Will It affect my viewing pleasure ??

Any advice warmly welcomed ... I have thought about moving the ceiling fan...but that’s a last resort...also bit too short a throw to position it in front of the fan (circa 2m).

My projector is mounted to the ceiling in the center of the projector screen. With the projector physically tilted down, I get noticeable angled vertical edges.

So, the way to this is to locate your projector, disable all lensshifts and keystone etc, use a tape measure to determine the directly opposing center point on the opposite wall (this not be the center point of your screen of course).

Turn on projector and adjust it so the image is centered on your measured center point, then lock the projector in place.

Next, use keystones/lens shift to move the image so that it fits the projector screen. If the projector is good, you should get parallel edges.

robbon44

252 posts

Ultimate Geek

#2382223 28-Dec-2019 15:14

The room is open plan with windows down one side and the dining area on another. Note the ceiling fan location is exactly where the projector will now be !

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driller2000

935 posts

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#2382231 28-Dec-2019 15:43

robbon44: Thanks

I’m going to move the fan.

My budget for a new projector is probably up to $2k so laser may be slightly out of reach but the new 2019 models such as Benq tk850 are taking my interest...however the throw is still circa 3m so... moving of the fan.

I did look at mounting above the fan blades but it still impacts the image...

Thanks folks.

I am interested in the TK850 as well.

Curious as to where you intend to buy yours from?

TIA.

robbon44

252 posts

Ultimate Geek

#2382235 28-Dec-2019 15:53

Keeping an eye on pb tech as their prices are generally the best even compared to amazon US with the new import taxes. AV world used to stock BENQ but don’t seem to recently... other stockists just seem expensive. There doesn’t seem to be many stockists here in NZ.

I’m not sure when the tk850 is due for release here but I will wait until it’s had some reviews to see how it stacks up.

Dunnersfella

4086 posts

Uber Geek

#2382264 28-Dec-2019 18:14

Yeah BenQ has gone through numerous suppliers / sub-distributors in NZ recently... not many retailers seem to want to play with their entry level models though. The $2-$3K market is tough and I'm guessing they aren't winning over stores / e-tailers.

robbon44

252 posts

Ultimate Geek

#2382322 28-Dec-2019 22:50

It must be to do with potential market numbers ?

The NZ home theatre market I would guess is relatively young compared to uk/USA/Asia or Aus so the larger market is commercial ? As such epson optoma or viewsonic are probably the mainstay with high end installations sold through “specialists” being the playground of the likes of Sony.

Wie just don’t have the distribution numbers to support an amazon distribution hub.... shame...

At a guess anyway..

As usual I would say the geekzone community are ahead of the curve but are the minority...😉👍

ShinyChrome

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#2382343 29-Dec-2019 08:22

Looks like the TK850 only just got released in the states, so it will probably be a little bit longer before we see it here. Given that it is retailing for $1699usd in the states, it might be awhile before it is sub $2k here. Reading the first impressions from that thread though, it looks like a bit of an upgrade.

It might be worth looking at the older TK800m if your budget is solid.

Dunnersfella

4086 posts

Uber Geek

#2382407 29-Dec-2019 11:46

robbon44: It must be to do with potential market numbers ?

The NZ home theatre market I would guess is relatively young compared to uk/USA/Asia or Aus so the larger market is commercial ? As such epson optoma or viewsonic are probably the mainstay with high end installations sold through “specialists” being the playground of the likes of Sony.

Wie just don’t have the distribution numbers to support an amazon distribution hub.... shame...

At a guess anyway..

As usual I would say the geekzone community are ahead of the curve but are the minority...😉👍

Epson is the big dog, the likes of Viewsonic are just toys for business installs where budgets have been cut.

In the retail market, Optoma are in the same knife fight as BenQ / Asus / Casio /#insert budget brand here#.

Many models appear to be cookie cutter units with the same Texas Instruments wobulator technology delivering psuedo 4K (8 million pixels, sure... just never on the screen at the same time). Every few months a new model comes out that claims more brightness, better blacks, more accurate colour... then the forums kick off because it looks like the new 'hot choice' has hit the market!

In reality, the marketing muddies the water and the super bright output turns out to be much lower in the real world due to the colour wheel robbing output... the rainbow effect is worse than feared, fan noise is silly high, lense shift is a forgotten spec, the remote is junk etc etc.

Basically, if you're playing at the entry level FauxK part of the market, I'd be putting my time and money into researching Epson. They make parts for almost everyone else at that segment of the market AND while they're not the first to jump on the band wagon, they almost always do it better.