Please help me feel good about my decision

[jeeve5]

9x12 screen, with a 10' ceiling height. Tee at 10' from screen and Uneekor QED mounted at 13.5' from screen. So best I can come up with is a projector mounted 14' from the screen, while being cognizant of the vertical throw. Only option I can come up with/find is the discontinued Sony VPL-FHZ55B with VPLL-Z3009 zoom lens.

Problem is this is way more money than I was expecting. The projector is like $4k and the lens $2k. I can find some used ones on eBay to save maybe like $2k total. But still having a hard time pulling the trigger.

Anyone want to suggest another option because i have spent hours and hours on projector central and I am pulling my hair out. Or make me feel good about moving ahead at that price... please! Thanks in advance.

[3on3putt]

See my reply in your other thread.

[JayJo13]

Any reason you can't mount the projector closer to the screen? I have a short throw and it's about 78" from my screen - works great.

[wbond]

Get a short throw and mount it forward of your hitting position. See optoma gt1080. That is what i have. Be aware, it has a large vertical offset and no manual zoom.

[3on3putt]

According to the throw calculator, that Sony you referenced would need to be mounted almost 25 feet away for a 12x9 image.

I think you've taken a detour in your projector search. With your screen touching the floor, you have 12 inches of vertical offset on top to work with. Sort your way through this list. Even if you can't get the vertical offset exactly right, you can use a little bit of keystone correction or just sacrificing an inch or two of your image size.

https://www.projectorcentral.com/pro...=pop&sz=15#top

[jerry3]

jeeve5 i too would look at potentially getting the gt1080 HDR or 1090hdr and mounting at about 8 feet from the screen and using the digital zoom out feature to get it to match your screen size.

[jeeve5]

Any reason you can't mount the projector closer to the screen? I have a short throw and it's about 78" from my screen - works great.

How high is your ceiling? My tee will be 10' from screen... so am worried about errant shots hitting the projector. Also, any of the short throws I find have a large vertical offset, so it would then sit even more into my hitting area.

[JayJo13]

My ceiling is 10.5 feet, tee is 10' from the screen and projector sits in front of the tee - about 78" from the screen. I don't even come close it it ever. Not a concern for me at all.

[jeeve5]

According to the throw calculator, that Sony you referenced would need to be mounted almost 25 feet away for a 12x9 image.

I think you've taken a detour in your projector search. With your screen touching the floor, you have 12 inches of vertical offset on top to work with. Sort your way through this list. Even if you can't get the vertical offset exactly right, you can use a little bit of keystone correction or just sacrificing an inch or two of your image size.

https://www.projectorcentral.com/pro...=pop&sz=15#top

Yes, until you change lens to the VPLL-Z2009 and adjust the zoom. Then I get the 14' throw I am looking for, to mount just behind the QED.

[wbond]

A large image offset shouldn't sit more into your hitting area. The top of the image starts lower. For example if you look at the optoma the projector would be mounted to the ceiling and the top of the image would be around 13" below the center of the lens for a 12' wide image.

How high is your ceiling? My tee will be 10' from screen... so am worried about errant shots hitting the projector. Also, any of the short throws I find have a large vertical offset, so it would then sit even more into my hitting area.

[jeeve5]

A large image offset shouldn't sit more into your hitting area. The top of the image starts lower. For example if you look at the optoma the projector would be mounted to the ceiling and the top of the image would be around 13" below the center of the lens for a 12' wide image.

Right. But I only have 6" from the ceiling to the top of my screen. So I would lose 7" of height on my image/screen. Unless I am just completely misunderstanding how this works...

[wbond]

Actually the image offset is worse in 4:3 with a 12' wide, 9'H image the offset is 17". You can look at a BENQ short throw, they have a much smaller image offset and they have a manual zoom which helps with mounting.

[3on3putt]

Yes, until you change lens to the VPLL-Z2009 and adjust the zoom. Then I get the 14' throw I am looking for, to mount just behind the QED.

Why do you want to mount the projector behind your hitting mat? Your shadow is likely going to be in the way.

You want to mount the projector in front of the hitting area (between you and the screen) or directly above you. If you are planning to hit from 10 feet, you should be looking to mount at 10 feet or less.

You're trying to maximize the screen height, which is great. But it also complicates the vertical offset as you've mentioned. If you scale down your image size to something like 11x8.25 you will open up more possibilities for a projector.

For reference, my screen is 9x9, so I fill my screen from left to right (108 inches) but only get 81 inches of height (because of the 4:3 ratio). My projector is mounted only 6 feet from my screen with a vertical offset of 13 inches. I hit from a little over 7 feet away. I couldn't hit the projector with my swing if I tried.

The vertical offset is in relation to the top of the image, not the top of the screen. So for me, I only need the lens to be 13 inches above the top of the image (which is 81 inches high). So my lens only has to be 94 inches high (a little less than 8 feet). I have my image spaced out about equally in terms of top and bottom, so my image is a little higher off the ground than 81 inches (and therefore my projector is too).

You can keep your screen size the way it is. But consider shrinking the image size just a little bit. You're correct in that your ceiling might be a tad low to get a 9-foot tall image. But if scale it down a little you will be able to choose from a ton of high-quality projectors where you will have no shadow in the way. And an image that is 7 feet tall is still really big when you are only 10 feet away.

[JayJo13]

Great post by 3on3putt. I agree with everything here.

[borntofly1982]

Agree with the above... I would recommend the Optoma EH515TST. MSRP is close to $4500 but since its discontinued now I just bought one for $2200. Great output and the throw is right about 10 feet. https://www.projectorcentral.com/Opt...or-pro.htm#top

[William Jenkins]

There was a post in the For Sale section, a nice Optoma 1080hd for only $300. I would grab that while you can.

[3on3putt]

Lol I saw that too and I'm kicking myself for not getting it. That's a steal. I bought a brand new projector just a few days before that was posted. I was half-tempted to return mine and buy that thing.

[William Jenkins]

There was a post in the For Sale section, a nice Optoma 1080hd for only $300. I would grab that while you can.

Yeah, I scored an Optoma X318st like 2 weeks before for $300, I should have waited.

[Stetson]

I’m holding out for a GT1090HDR ... in 2021 lol

[jerry3]

i've got one Stetson it's pretty great imo

[jeeve5]

Why do you want to mount the projector behind your hitting mat? Your shadow is likely going to be in the way.

You want to mount the projector in front of the hitting area (between you and the screen) or directly above you. If you are planning to hit from 10 feet, you should be looking to mount at 10 feet or less.

You're trying to maximize the screen height, which is great. But it also complicates the vertical offset as you've mentioned. If you scale down your image size to something like 11x8.25 you will open up more possibilities for a projector.

For reference, my screen is 9x9, so I fill my screen from left to right (108 inches) but only get 81 inches of height (because of the 4:3 ratio). My projector is mounted only 6 feet from my screen with a vertical offset of 13 inches. I hit from a little over 7 feet away. I couldn't hit the projector with my swing if I tried.

The vertical offset is in relation to the top of the image, not the top of the screen. So for me, I only need the lens to be 13 inches above the top of the image (which is 81 inches high). So my lens only has to be 94 inches high (a little less than 8 feet). I have my image spaced out about equally in terms of top and bottom, so my image is a little higher off the ground than 81 inches (and therefore my projector is too).

You can keep your screen size the way it is. But consider shrinking the image size just a little bit. You're correct in that your ceiling might be a tad low to get a 9-foot tall image. But if scale it down a little you will be able to choose from a ton of high-quality projectors where you will have no shadow in the way. And an image that is 7 feet tall is still really big when you are only 10 feet away.

Great stuff. Really appreciate it. So I guess I was thinking about it all wrong! I had seen a bunch of QED setups
with projectors directly behind.

Given that your projector is only one foot in front of your tee, and you couldn’t hit it if you tried, how tall is your ceiling? Sounds like maybe 9?