Front Projector to Wall Distance

[FrankRoss]

I'm in the process of framing out my basement for a dedicated theater room.

I've decide that I want an 8-foot wide by 6-foot high screen, to get a 4:3 aspect ratio. I chose not to go 16:9 due to the fact that most programming is still 4:3. 16:9 will still be large enough for my needs on the 4:3 screen.

While I don't want to lock myself into a specific model of projector until I'm actually ready to purchase one (who knows when), I'd like to know ahead of time (while I'm framing the room out) what distance a front projector needs to be away from the wall.

Here's my room layout:

15 feet wide - 27 feet long - 8 foot high ceilings. In the center of the room I have duct-work running across the width of the room which drops the cieling down to 7 feet.

____________________________________
| | | |
| | | |
| | | |
| | 7 | 8 foot | Screen on
| 8 foot | foot | ceiling | this wall
| ceiling | drop | |
| |ceiling| |
| | | |
____________________________________

|-------14 feet----------||6 feet||----7 feet-------|


1. Based on the above diagram, what would be the best location to mount a ceiling-mount front projector?

2. Do all projectors need a precise distance from the wall or can they be focused/adjusted? Do some models require a specific fixed distance?

3. If most projectors can be mounted from any distance, will some distances yield better picture quality than others, or will the focusing take care of all that?

4. What is the average minimum distance from the wall most projectors will handle?


Thanks.

 

[FrankRoss]

Sorry - here's the correction

Sorry - the diagram didn't seem to display properly...


|-------14 feet----------||6 feet||----7 feet-------|
|------8-foot-high------||7-foot||---8-foot-high-|--screen this wall
|--------------------------||Ducts||-------------------|


Hope you can understand this.

 

[ap0the0sis]

it all depends on the projector you have in mind. they all have different throw rates and sizes. obviously the further back the projector is the larger the screen you will have. ther is no set rule. as big as you want , as far back as you can have it.

all projectors (newer models) have a "wide or tele" lens which means you can enlarge or shrink the projectoed image from the projector, aside from the focus lens.

www.projectorcentral.com has a really good calculator for figuring out distances. you might want to check that out and see how far back you need to set it to get your 8 x 6 foot screen.

ap0