Solved! Projector help please

[Manic9803]

Hi all,

I am an IT guy that knows nothing about projectors, now that that's out of the way I have some questions!

I am moving my office into a new room that is currently being framed up. Figured this is a perfect time to get a new projector and utilize the new space. So we have a room that's 18x15 that's going to be my new office. In that room we plan to have 2-3 gaming desktops, 2 computer desk, 2 chairs, and a couch/L section.

We wanted a TV down there but my buddies telling me a projector would be a better choice. The wall at which we would project on will accommodate a 120-180" screen. Assuming we'd have to get some speakers down there as well?

I need to know what I should look for, brand, model, lumens, features?

Would like to have the ability to use the chromecast and hook our PC's to the projector. Along with the cable box to watch hockey games/tv (HDMI ports are a must). I've been reading this evening and there's so many things I'm unsure of. Light bulbs burn out fast still? I'm overwhelmed, can anyone provide some guidance. We're looking to purchase at BestBuy due to some gift cards.

 

[feelinfroggy777]

I have a projector in my man cave at home, and my best advice is to have it installed properly. I would get help from a third party. I found a company on craigslist that does the installs and it was the way to go. There is a lot of stuff to consider such as lighting, throw distance and sound.

For a low lit room, lumens are not as important. But if it is a room with a lot of windows, you will need a lot of lumens. Throw distance is critical.

You have to pick a projector with the throw distance that will suit your room. If the room is long and narrow, a long throw distance is fine, but if it is smaller, then you will need a projector with a shorter throw distance.

You will need a separate speaker system for sound. Projectors dont have sound so you will need to figure that out. This is why a professional is suggested because they can take care of all the wiring, not only for the audio, but for the HDMI cable and power for the projector. I had a plug installed on the ceiling where the projector is mounted.

I suggest getting a fixed from screen. It will hang like a large photo on the wall. It will look more professional than a screen on a stand plus it is out of the way when not in use.

Go to visualapex.com and look at their projector packages. They have all types of projectors and they have packages that come with the projector, ceiling mount, and fixed frame screen. I like the Epson projectors. The Epson 3700 is a decent midrange projector.

But you need to look at throw distance and measure things out before you buy so you know what your are buying will work in your space.

As for chromecast, you wont get audio by hooking it up to the projector, so you will need to get a stereo receiver with multiple HDMI outs. You will plug the projector HDMI cable "In" the receiver and you will hook up chromecast, cable box, and whatever you want to the HDMI outs. Then you will just change the input on the receiver when you watch a different device.

It sounds like a lot of work, that is why you should hire someone. But after your done it is awesome.

 

[robert600]

As for chromecast, you wont get audio by hooking it up to the projector, so you will need to get a stereo receiver with multiple HDMI outs. You will plug the projector HDMI cable "In" the receiver and you will hook up chromecast, cable box, and whatever you want to the HDMI outs. Then you will just change the input on the receiver when you watch a different device.

I think the ins and outs of the above paragraph are backwards. You want a receiver with multiple hdmi 'ins' for the components ... such as the chromecast, pcs, cable box etc. and then use the hdmi 'out' of the receiver to the projector. Personally, I watch a lot of blu-rays so I find 7.1 to be worth it.

Thinking of the projector ... ceiling mounts work very well ... nice to have it tucked up out of harm's way and nothing will interfere with it's output. An often overlooked feature is ... lens shift ... very good to have.

 

[feelinfroggy777]

I think the ins and outs of the above paragraph are backwards. You want a receiver with multiple hdmi 'ins' for the components ... such as the chromecast, pcs, cable box etc. and then use the hdmi 'out' of the receiver to the projector.

I am sure you are right, I always get confused on the ins and outs.

 

[Manic9803]

Guys,

Thanks for the tips, much appreciated. I am familiar with how to hook things up, I am capable of that. I guess I should have worded my question differently, I apologize.

I need a recommendation on brand/make/model of a projector that would work for my room. Details are below

Room size (measured just now) 18x14 with 7' ceilings (sunken living room above).
Interested in using it to stream from Chromecast, Desktop PC's, cable TV, and any other media apps. As long as it has 2-3 HDMI ports we'll be good.

Areas I am unclear of- Is 1080p good? Should I shoot for higher, if so recommendation? I am using a gaming monitor which is 144hz with a 1ms refresh rate. I doubt I'll need that kind of quality but is it possible/worthwhile? I want a picture that is very clear and crisp. What options/features should I be looking for?

Would 7' ceilings work for my application? The wall we'd project to is about 15' wide and 7' tall. Shouldn't have any problem at 120-150" screen.

Should I buy a screen or paint the wall a certain color to simply project onto it?

What kind of Aspect ratio should I look for?

Thanks in advance, I'm doing my best to read in my free time and understand these a bit more. I'm looking to buy at bestbuy, and unsure of which models have the best life expectancy.

I have a projector in my man cave at home, and my best advice is to have it installed properly. I would get help from a third party. I found a company on craigslist that does the installs and it was the way to go. There is a lot of stuff to consider such as lighting, throw distance and sound.

For a low lit room, lumens are not as important. But if it is a room with a lot of windows, you will need a lot of lumens. Throw distance is critical.

You have to pick a projector with the throw distance that will suit your room. If the room is long and narrow, a long throw distance is fine, but if it is smaller, then you will need a projector with a shorter throw distance.

You will need a separate speaker system for sound. Projectors dont have sound so you will need to figure that out. This is why a professional is suggested because they can take care of all the wiring, not only for the audio, but for the HDMI cable and power for the projector. I had a plug installed on the ceiling where the projector is mounted.

I suggest getting a fixed from screen. It will hang like a large photo on the wall. It will look more professional than a screen on a stand plus it is out of the way when not in use.

Go to visualapex.com and look at their projector packages. They have all types of projectors and they have packages that come with the projector, ceiling mount, and fixed frame screen. I like the Epson projectors. The Epson 3700 is a decent midrange projector.

But you need to look at throw distance and measure things out before you buy so you know what your are buying will work in your space.

As for chromecast, you wont get audio by hooking it up to the projector, so you will need to get a stereo receiver with multiple HDMI outs. You will plug the projector HDMI cable "In" the receiver and you will hook up chromecast, cable box, and whatever you want to the HDMI outs. Then you will just change the input on the receiver when you watch a different device.

It sounds like a lot of work, that is why you should hire someone. But after your done it is awesome.

As for chromecast, you wont get audio by hooking it up to the projector, so you will need to get a stereo receiver with multiple HDMI outs. You will plug the projector HDMI cable "In" the receiver and you will hook up chromecast, cable box, and whatever you want to the HDMI outs. Then you will just change the input on the receiver when you watch a different device.

I think the ins and outs of the above paragraph are backwards. You want a receiver with multiple hdmi 'ins' for the components ... such as the chromecast, pcs, cable box etc. and then use the hdmi 'out' of the receiver to the projector. Personally, I watch a lot of blu-rays so I find 7.1 to be worth it.

Thinking of the projector ... ceiling mounts work very well ... nice to have it tucked up out of harm's way and nothing will interfere with it's output. An often overlooked feature is ... lens shift ... very good to have.

 

[robert600]

You've stayed away from the topic of sound - in many ways it's more complicated than the projector and can in fact be a huge factor in how to lay out your screen and projector. Are you planning to use a receiver ... you must be ...yes? I'll answer your projector questions as best I can but give some thought to what you will be using for a sound system.

AS TO RESOLUTION: Yes, I think you would be happy with 1080p ... as long as that is the projectors 'native' resolution. You do not want one that merely upscales to 1080p ... so pay attention to the 'native resolution'. 4k would obviously be nice but ... they are still very expensive.

PAINT OR SCREEN: Everything I've read indicates that even the poorest screen is far better than paint. Highquality screens are awesome but expensive.

ASPECT RATIO: I believe projectors these days handle all aspect ratios so that shouldn't be a factor in your projector selection - it does have some consequences for your screen size.

7' CEILING HEIGHT AND SCREEN WIDTH: That 7' height is problematic but may be just manageable. This is where aspect ratio comes into it. I'll stick to watching movies since that is what I use my projector for 95% of the time. almost all come in 1 of 3 aspect ratios (4:3, 16:9 or 21:9) - the width to height coefficients for these are (1.33:1, 1.77:1 and 2.35:1) respectively.
So let's work with a smaller screen ...120" ...

the height required for 4:3 would be 120/1.33 or 90.23" - well beyond the 84" wall height you have ... fortunately this AR is only likely to be encounter in quite old movies and tv shows so not a huge issue.

the height required for 16:9 would be 120/1.77 or 67.8" - that's ok but say you want a 2" black band at the top (recommended for contrast) that means the bottom of the image is only 14.2" from the floor - is that ok? If you watching in a reclining chair, your feet will block the bottom of the screen. I believe this is the AR your computer and cable HD channels will use.

the height required for 21:9 would be 120/2.35 or 51" - this much better ... with the 2" black band the bottom of the image would be 31" from the floor ... recline and watch lol. Almost all newer movies use this AR so a blu ray player or media player in your pc will often use this AR.

I'll write more later about projector placement.

 

[americanaudiophile]

If you want true 4k HDR the least expensive projector is made by Sony. Not the brightest but excellent color and video processing. There are some cheaper DLP projectors that are higher than 1080p but not quite true 4k without explanation. DLP projectors use a single chip so they have a color wheel which can produce a "rainbow" distortion sometimes. These are a number of manufacturers as the DLP chips are made by Texas Instruments.
There are also projectors that are 1080p but use eShift when receiving a 4k signal will play it well More important than 4k is HDR. That makes a more of a difference than 4k in most situations. Epson makes some excellent projections to consider. The ProCinema models come with a Chief ceiling bracket, a spare lamp, and a 3 year warranty. There are laser models out there which don't require lamps but they are more expensive.
Screen size will depend on how far you sit from the screen. Watching movies from too close can be annoying. For gaming you can go bigger for a more VR effect.
You will want an AVR for HDMI switching, to process audio and power the speakers. Prewire for as many speakers as you might want in the future. That could be as many as 11 speakers plus subwoofer. There are good in wall or ceiling speakers that can give you great sound at low and high volume. Check out Paradigm and Revel.

 

[robert600]

To talk about exact projector placement we have to know the screen width. In your case, because of the screen height issue, I'll use the 120" screen. I'm going to assume you'll be using a ceiling mount.

DISTANCE FROM SCREEN TO THE PROCECTORS LENS: to figure this you need to know the projector's throw ratio - this will be given in the specs of the projector ... because projectors have zoom there will actually be 2 throw ratios. I'll use mine (1.83, 2.36) as an example but each projector will have different ones.

So the distance is simply the throw ratio times the screen width. So for my projector ... for 120" screen (personally I would use 116" because I would want a 2" black area on each side for contrast). So for my projector

the minimum distance from lens to screen would be 116" X 1.83 = 212.28" = 17' 8.25"

the max distance would be 116" X 2.36 = 273.75" = 22' 9.75"

So ... my projector, your room, and that screen size have a problem. Keeping in mind that the distance is to the front of the lens so we'd have to add the depth the projector (say 8") and 12" or so for the wires to have room to plug in - that means my projector needs at least a 19' 4.25" room to project a 116" wide image.

Now ... we could jumble the formula around and see how wide an image my projector would project if we mounted in your room at say 196" from the screen to the front of the lens (this would allow 20" for the projector body and wire connecting space assuming the room is exactly 18'). The width would be distance/throw ratio = 196/1.83 = 107.1"or almost 9'.

The other thing we could do is keep that distance (196") and the 116" width of screen and figure out the throw ratio you could look for in a projector. That would be 196/116 = 1.69. So if you could find a projector with 1.69 in it's range of throw ratios you could project a 116" wide image (keeping in mind that you'd only have 20" from the front of the lens to the back wall to play with).

Does any of the above make sense to you or am I rambling on?

 

[robert600]

This one for instance has a throw ratio (1.26 - 2.30) that easily contains 1.69.

https/epson.com/For-Work/Projectors/Meeting-Room/PowerLite-4855WU-WUXGA-3LCD-Projector/p/V11H543120