BenQ 2150ST 3' behind or Optoma GT 1080 1' in front

[brg1875]

Hey guys,

I know this topic has been beaten to death but I'm trying to get some insight for my personal setup. I'm looking at doing a 12x9 enclosure and screen and will be able to hit from 8' (9' may be a stretch) I want to get the projector as close to the ceiling as possible to avoid any hits (I'll have a number of tall people up to 6'9" playing) and have come up with these two options:

1. Optoma GT1080 - 7' from screen projecting ~10.75 x ~8 in a (4:3) - this will be 1' in front of the hitting area (any risk of hitting the projector?) - to get this directly overhead
2. BenQ 2150ST - 11' from screen projecting full 12x9 (4:3)- this will be 3' behind the hitting area (any risk of shadows with this?)

The other option would be to project 16:9 but I feel like there will be too much wasted space, image would only be 6.75'. I feel like 4:3 takes advantage of the height to fill the entire screen.

Thanks,

[wbond]

If you are trying to get it as close to the ceiling as possible, you probably don't want the optoma. It has a pretty large image offset, like 15" from 7' away. Also, it looks like in order to get 12'W on the Benq, it would be mounted at 12', not 11. But the Benq only has a 2" image offset, so way closer to the ceiling.

[Osprey]

I know the benQ get great reviews in the right setting but 11-12' back the brightness level is pretty low. About 1/2 the recommended for a home theater, not sure what that means for a golf sim but something to think about. The Optoma is better as far as the brightness level goes. Also I know near nothing about projectors, just passing on what I learning from Projector Central as I am also shopping for one.

[brg1875]

I was definitely worried about the brightness factor with the BenQ. With the Optoma I can mount it to the ceiling but would have to push it a foot closer to the screen to do that and I will obviously make it smaller losing the full 12x9. If I'm doing a 12x9 screen I have 6" above the screen and therefore with a 10.75' x 8.1' image I can make up for the difference in the ~17" offset.

[longhornlove]

I recessed my projector into my attic, might be an option. Had to use keystone to correct image but it cannot be hit with a club. May I suggest shorter friends?

[gene438]

I have the exact same position (1 ft. in front) on my Optima and there was never a problem

[brg1875]

If I cut them off at the knees I think that will allow me at least 24" of clearance allowing for optimal swinging conditions. Not sure how flat a swing will be in a wheelchair but I'll bring a chair down and measure it out. I'll also take this dilemma up with them and let you know if they're willing to help out to make my job easier setting up the sim.

Thanks!

[jesseasi]

Did you take zoom into calculation for the BenQ? I just set mine up - with -2 offset but with 1.2 zoom - this allowed me to put the project 9'10" from the screen with the hitting zone at about 9 - 10 feet away. I also run mine at 4:3 aspect ratio.

[brg1875]

Yeah I did take the zoom into account. How is the birghtness on it with it that far back? I'm assuming your screen size is just under 12x9?

[WalksAus]

I just got the GT1080darbee and I have recessed it in the roof. It was only last night and looking now it is recessed too much as I am going to put some folded moving blankets and consitina them about 1 inch down from the roof so I need to come down and in a little bit.

It's mounted about 2.4m back at the moment projecting on a 5m by 3m screen in 16:9. I needed some keystone correction but not much, only had to set it onto 2 but now I am going to move it down a bit I think I will get that figure to just one. Was a bit of a stuff around to set up as you have to place it exactly where you want it as there is no zoom digital or optical.

All in all it is a great picture and I'm very happy with my purchase

[vrpunk]

I am getting the GT1080Darbee version to do 4m x 2.25m so projector will be 2m from screen (0.5 throw ratio). How far from the top of your 3m screen is the centre of the lens? (if your using 500cm width you are getting a 283cm height? so calculator says 48cm lens offset from ceiling (283+48=331cm).
Did this workout for you? I am going to purchase an adjustable arm to try and get the lens centre offset from ceiling correct, so not to use and keystone.

[jesseasi]

Yeah I did take the zoom into account. How is the birghtness on it with it that far back? I'm assuming your screen size is just under 12x9?

Yes - my screen is 128" x 96" (10'8" x 8') - my screen is actually a little taller but there is no way to fill the whole thing. So I just created black borders to frame out the screen so it it is exactly those dimensions.

One of my oversights was that the projector could not be mounted flush to the ceiling. The GT1080 would probably have been a better choice since it has a larger offset and that is what I am dealing with here. The brightness seems ok to me. I am not blown away by the picture - but I am not complaining either. Also the location is really out of the way of being hit. Not an issue.

[brg1875]

I'm leaning towards the optoma based on brightness since it will be closer. I would really love to take advantage of as much of my 9' height as possible. How much distortion would I expect if I move from 7' to 8' to get the full 12x9 and then tilt and keystone. The tilt would be affecting about 11" of the image.

[WalksAus]

I'm leaning towards the optoma based on brightness since it will be closer. I would really love to take advantage of as much of my 9' height as possible. How much distortion would I expect if I move from 7' to 8' to get the full 12x9 and then tilt and keystone. The tilt would be affecting about 11" of the image.

My keystone is set to 1 and I tried it at 2 and I couldn't notice a difference at all. On the impact screen I don't think it makes much of a difference given the surface is woven.

[brg1875]

For the optoma my head is spinning trying to figure out how far down the projector would be mounted if it's flipped upside down? Ceiling is 9'6 tall, screen would be 6" below that. Would it be the offset (17") minus distance to screen (6") for 11" down?

[Kent]

Here is your equation: offset + distance from ceiling to projector = distance from ceiling to top of image on the screen. I have a GT1080Darbee and my offset is 15" and I have it mounted 13" from the ceiling so my image is 28" from the ceiling.