Does a projector at ceiling height have to be mounted upside down?

[KPS2525]

I just picked up a Benq TH671ST for my garage setup. My plan was to attach a wood panel to the underside of the roof joists (unfinished, detached garage), set the projector on its feet on top of that panel, and project downward onto the screen. However, in scouring through the settings, I can’t find a way to angle the lens downward to project onto the screen. Are these projectors only designed to mount upside down near ceiling levels and project an inverted image down onto the screen, or am I missing a way (outside of physically tilting the entire projector) to project from the ceiling downward, but with the projector sitting on its feet.

Hope that made sense!

[Burtgolf]

The image from a projector starts at the base (bottom) and moves upward towards the top of the projector. So if you want to "project" an image from the top down then you have to invert (turn it upside down) the projector and mount it at the height you want the base (now the top) to project downwards (from the projectors prospective it is still sending the image from its base to the top).

So basically yes you have to mount it upside down. And you will mount it upside down at the height you want the top line to start the image at .. for example you have your screen mounted at 9 foot and want the image to start at 8 1/2 foot then your projector would get mounted upside down 6 inches lower than your screen height. Check projector central web site as it has an excellent calculator for all of these settings!

Hope this helps!

[KPS2525]

Thanks much Burt. That is helpful. I’ll adjust the build to mount it upside down.

[trhuke]

You might consider getting a projector ceiling mounting kit. It's a post with a plate you can mount to the ceiling, usually adjustable in length, the other end had two lockable swivels on it and an assembly to attach to your projector. The ability to swivel it and tilt it makes aligning to the screen much easier. I got a nice one for under $20 from Amazon.