Projector point installations

The formula is also essentially untouched. There is seldom a reason that you cannot mount the projector so it is exactly lined up with the horizontal center of the screen, and there are two big reasons you should do everything within your power to mount the projector horizontally centered on the screen. First, lens shift can degrade picture quality by subtly distorting the image.

The distortion might not be very noticeable, but is still a possibility. Second, vertical and horizontal lens shift interact with each other. The more of one you use, the less of the other you can use. JVC warns consumers about this in the image below. In either case, I always suggest powering on and testing out the projector to double check the calculations. At this point, you should know exactly where the projector lens needs to be. The next step is to mount the projector to the ceiling.

There are a wide variety of mounts on the market, and they all work similarly. The biggest difference I have noticed among mounts is how easy they are to install. This is especially true when it comes to dialing in the pitch, roll, and yaw of the projector, which is the final step in this article. Cheap mounts tend to be very difficult to make precision adjustments on. They also tend to be prone to drift, which is when the projector slowly moves out of alignment over time. Nice mounts are more likely to hold the projector in the exact location you leave it.

All of the parts are above-average quality, which means you can feel confident the projector will stay mounted and not end up in your lap half way through a movie.

The PJT40 is a little on the expensive side, but I think that the ease of install and high quality construction make it worth it. Projector mounts are split into two major sections, the part that attaches to the projector projector plate and the part that attaches to the ceiling ceiling plate.

You always start by attaching the projector plate to the top of the projector. Follow the instructions for your particular mount. Note that leveling the projector is easiest if you center the plate on the projector and ensure the plate is close to level. Next, you need to determine the exact location the ceiling plate should be mounted. Attach the ceiling plate to the projector plate.

Your goal here is to completely assemble the mount while the projector is still sitting on the ground. Measure the distance from the lens to the ceiling plate. Carry over that measurement to where you marked the ideal lens placement on the ceiling earlier in the install. Measure back and make another mark for the ceiling mount.

In the below image, the ceiling plate is centered side-to-side with the lens, so no additional measurements were needed. Detach the ceiling plate from the projector plate and proceed to mount the ceiling plate on the ceiling are you tired of reading the words projector, ceiling, and plate yet?

The mount should come with 4 lag bolts, but most of the time only two are needed if they are properly centered on a ceiling joist. I never fully trust stud finders especially on textured ceiling , so I recommend poking a small nail or precision screw driver into the ceiling to ensure you found a joist. Once the ceiling plate is secured, install any sort of trim ring that came with the mount. Ready for the projector!

Try to ignore the ugly border. Enlisting the help of a significant other or friend is a good idea when attempting the next step. Verify everything is secure, then lift up the projector and attach it to the ceiling plate.

Install any safety screws that came with the mount. Attach any power or video cables, and loosely zip tie the cables in place. To help avoid drift and lessen the risk of damaging the inputs on the projector, zip tie the cables to the mount, not the projector. You still need to leave enough slack for final adjustments. Every screen mounts a little differently, but steps are completed in the same order.

This tutorial assumes you are using a fixed frame screen, as opposed to a retractable screen. First, assemble the frame. Second, temporarily mount the frame on the wall and check that it is horizontally level and vertically plumb.

You may need to use shims between the frame and wall in order to achieve a plumb screen. Third, take down the frame and attach the actual screen to the frame.

Fourth, re-mount the frame now with screen attached and double-check horizontal level and plumb. I recommend using a 2 or 3 foot level instead of a short 5 or 8 inch level a. You can see in the above image that I also had to use shims when leveling. Stacking two matching projectors on top of each other does NOT mean the image will perceptually appear to be twice as bright.

You can also use the stacked projection to cover twice as much area with the same perceived brightness as using just one with half the square footage. Stacking also brings up the issue of brightening the black level with 2 stacked projectors, which in turn will change the perceived contrast between black and white and image quality. For optimal perception for your eyes, you want the projected image to have as much contrast from the surroundings as possible…there is a reason we watch movies in dark theaters.

To stack projectors you will ideally want ones in the installation or large venue class with motorized lens shift or ones that offer perspective distortion in their hardware — otherwise aligning the images of 2 projectors to be pixel perfect can be a nearly impossible feat.

Access to lens shift is preferable, followed by the projector doing the actual distortion. Your video signal path is another very important consideration when planning. Analog and digital signals have their strengths and weaknesses. Dual Link cables occasionally list their bandwidth resolution limits of around 9. I tend to trust DVI cables up to about 35ft, although the spec will get you to about 50ft.

HDMI cables are more reliable at longer distances and have a larger consumer marker so it may be easier to find a reliable long cable. Symptoms of a digital cable that is too long or poor quality or just not plugged in all the way!

Fiber optic extenders are top of the line because of their clean signal quality and ability to extend over ft on a single cable. Fiber is VERY delicate roughly handling it or kinking the cable can shatter the glass inside and needs special considerations when running it. Fiber is also one of the more expensive extension options, so be prepared to rent your cable and extenders.

A final note is to pay attention to how your extender handles passing an EDID. An EDID is basically a packet of info that a video source and destination share that gives info about resolutions and timings.

They use a fairly common BNC barrel connector. VGA is the most common analog cable that is still kicking around. It is still able to push p and above at certain distances, but it will probably die out over the next decade as we transition to 4K.

It can potentially destroy your expensive bulb! Projectors run their fans for a minute or two to cool the bulb in preparation for the next lamp on. If you unplug a hot projector, plug it back in and shock it with the electrical charge needed to spark it on, you risk damaging the delicate filament and either blowing your bulb out or severely reducing the lifespan.

If you happen to unplug a projector while it is on, let it cool for minutes before turning it back on. Projectors need to suck in new cool air, blow it over the bulb to absorb its heat, and then push it out another side. Without air flow, the bulbs temperature can rise to unsafe levels. Luckily, most projectors have detectors for this and will automatically shut off when their bulb temperature reaches a certain threshold. Still, you probably want to avoid having your projector auto-shutoff during an event or long running installation.

Some projectors also have a specific filament placement that can impact whether it is safe to run them in unusual configurations because the filament may not be centered within the bulb.

You can get multiple projectors and edge blend them complex setup depending on your environment. A lot of consumer ultra short throws that are closer than 0. A mirror is a good way to extend the distance of your normal projector as well, with an important caveat: you need what is called a first surface mirror, or front surface mirror. A first surface mirror has the reflective coating on the top layer rather than underneath the glass. A normal mirror with coating on the backside will have a potential to give you a double image or color distortions because of the beams bouncing from the glass and the reflective surface.

Ultra short throws and mirror solutions have a noteable side effect to plan for: projection offset. I have experienced this a few times first hand until I figured out my mistake. When using these solutions, the projector will need to be either sigificantly above or below the center point of the desired screen. Sometimes they need to be almost ft below the bottom or top of the screen itself. Trying to shoot these offset solutions straight out to the center will result in extreme warping and a reduction in image size primarily height.

The focus and brightness fall off much more quickly than with a longer throw lens, so mapping with these can be a challenge. The following are some links to some equipment that would be fairly unusual to see in most major productions at the moment. A big dream for a lot of us would be to have a projector with an embedded infrared camera that looks through the exact same lens as the projector in a relationship so that there is easy alignment between camera and interactive content.

Also, having a look at the DIY projector scene can give you some really interesting ideas. You can make an almost passable projector with an LCD screen and a fresnel lens surprisingly enough.

Huge thanks also to Elliot Woods who gave me a really helpful review with extra tips and probably the most hilarious point by point commentary on the article. The following companies share the same passion for creating amazing home theater experiences as we do. As a result, Epson utilizes their technology to help us demonstrate our latest home theater projection technology.

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The rest is history. Ever since, Screen Innovations continued his focus on quality and innovation in their hand-built product line, growing into the company they are today. Laser Projection Display. Television Redefined. We found the closest joist that would give us the ideal screen size and center the mount with the back wall. If your mounting kit was nice enough, they should have a paper template for you to draw where your center hole will go.

Get a drill bit big enough to fit the heads of the cables you will be phishing and drill the hole in the center of your marked spot. Once your cables are phished, you can put the mount hole cover on to give it a seamless look. Okay, now for the biggest and most embarrassing failure of the project.

When phishing cables down the wall, you will probably have to drill a hole in the stud running along the top of the wall from the attic. While my roommate and I were downstairs hooking up the surround sound system, my brother was in the attic drilling the last hole for the last wire for the surround sound system.

While crouched and drilling the last hole, his finger got caught on the drill bit cutting his finger. He jumped up from the pain and took to steps backwards. What he didn't realize was the "board", behind the board he was standing on, was actually a piece of cardboard. His entire leg came crashing through the ceiling, putting about a two foot hole in it. After we found out that he was alright, then came the arguing and fighting. Once everyone had cooled off, we drove to Home Depot and picked up some sheet rock and sheet rock mud.

We cut the broken sheet rock up the closest studs and cut a patch piece to fill the hole. We then floated the seams with the sheet rock mud This was just a quick fix and haven't sanded and painted the patch yet. You will be pretty upset when you find yourself falling through the ceiling. Cut hole for your wires and get a face plate to cover the hole.