Projector Wiring Help

[CharlieB]

Hi,

I have a cheap projector arriving for mainly watching the rugby world cup on, but will be used after for films etc and sports. Its going to be permanently fixed on the back wall and a pull down screen mounted to come down in front of current TV.

At the moment I have no AV Receiver/surround sound so looking to pick up a cheap one. I notice that at the cheaper end i.e sub say £150 they only seem to have 1 HDMI Out.

If I was to get an AVR with 1 HDMI out, I am guessing I need an HDMI splitter, with cables then from the splitter going to the TV/PJ.

Is that a feasible set up?

cheers in advance

[kingston12]

Yes it is. I used to use a 'Neet' splitter to do the same thing. What length HDMI are you planning to run to the projector? If over 10m, you can sometimes run into problems. The Neet actually helped me with this by appearing to offer a slight signal boost as well.

[CharlieB]

OK great cheers, that is exactly what I had seen.

The PJ should be no more than 4m from the screen, so cable will be less than 10m.

Cheers

[megaphone]

Have you checked the throw ratio of the PJ to screen width? http://www.projectorcentral.com/projection-calcula...

[PAULJ5555]

kingston12 said:

Yes it is. I used to use a 'Neet' splitter to do the same thing. What length HDMI are you planning to run to the projector? If over 10m, you can sometimes run into problems. The Neet actually helped me with this by appearing to offer a slight signal boost as well.

I use the neet splitter too and it works perfect for me.
http://www.amazon.co.uk/Neet%C2%AE-SPLITTER-Amplif...

I also bought a 10m hdmi cable from ebay for about £8 and it all works perfect.

[CharlieB]

For reference it is an Epson EH TW490. Should throw a 100" from 10ft and 130" from 13ft. I want to wind up with a screen somewhere in between.

Another likely stupid question. If I mount it at say 16ft on the top of a dresser on the rear wall can I then zoom the picture down to say 120"? Or do I need to mount it at exactly the distance specified on the calculator for best results (i.e 11ft10)?

Looks like I might pick up a more connected amp regardless, seems RS have some specials and budget creep feels like it is setting in. I had thought I might get the whole lot done for under 500.

[Jarcy]

CharlieB said:

For reference it is an Epson EH TW490. Should throw a 100" from 10ft and 130" from 13ft. I want to wind up with a screen somewhere in between.

Another likely stupid question. If I mount it at say 16ft on the top of a dresser on the rear wall can I then zoom the picture down to say 120"? Or do I need to mount it at exactly the distance specified on the calculator for best results (i.e 11ft10)?

Looks like I might pick up a more connected amp regardless, seems RS have some specials and budget creep feels like it is setting in. I had thought I might get the whole lot done for under 500.

My advice is to avoid a splitter if possible. My experience is that they never work (although I haven't tried Neet). Even if they do work, you'll probably find that they won't deliver 3d, if that's important to you. And they need power. A dedicated AV amp with 2 x HDMI out is preferable. However then again, 3d won't work unless both of your devices (TV & projector) are 3d compatible.

Almost all projectors come with a zoom function. So long as your throw distance is within the specified range for you projector, you'll be fine. 16ft sounds normal.

[PAULJ5555]

Correct most splitters don't work but the Neet one does, have a look at the reviews on Amazon.

I zoom down my optoma projector in the menu then fine zoom with the manual wheel on the top to get the right size with my set up.

[CharlieB]

To be honest the less clutter the better, I have seen a well specced open box number at RS that has caught my eye that has 6in/2out that is around the budget.

One final amateur question. If the PJ is roof mounted, (ceiling is 7ft10) how close would people be able to stand to the screen without obscuring the view if the PJ was mounted 16ft away?

It will see most action during the RWC, and I intend to have quiet a few over casually viewing it, and inevitably people will be standing about. After that point not too relevant.

Hoping I can achieve it!

[kingston12]

CharlieB said:

Another likely stupid question. If I mount it at say 16ft on the top of a dresser on the rear wall can I then zoom the picture down to say 120"? Or do I need to mount it at exactly the distance specified on the calculator for best results (i.e 11ft10)?

Are you using the Projectorcentral calculator? According to that one, if you place the projector at 16ft away from the screen, on minimum zoom it will give you an image of 145" and on maximum zoom it will be 174". For a 120" image from your projector, you will not be able to put it further from the screen than 13ft 3".

[CharlieB]

kingston12 said:

Are you using the Projectorcentral calculator? According to that one, if you place the projector at 16ft away from the screen, on minimum zoom it will give you an image of 145" and on maximum zoom it will be 174". For a 120" image from your projector, you will not be able to put it further from the screen than 13ft 3".

I was just using the tool on the Epson website, but having checked the above mentioned one its clearer and has far more functionality. Explains in numbers that I need to mount it closer by default which isn't a huge problem, It actually means I can just mount it as close as possible (11ft) and still throw a "120 screen, to negate the problem of people getting in the way.

The pull down screen casing has to be just under 10ft wide, since that is the width of the TV/Wall area, so 120 is kind of max. Any recommendations? Homegear do one which looks the ticket?

As an aside Argos seem to be determined not to let me collect it ordered on Sunday and not arrived in store yet! Which is frustrating, and I have stumbled on the Philips Screeneo, that thing throws 100" screen from just over a foot away!

Edited by CharlieB on Thursday 20th August 14:55