EH412ST Projector - Floor Placement Positioning for 120" x 91" Screen

[asv_halvis]

Hey folks!

Just getting my SIM set up for SkyTrak and TGC 2019. Would like to hear from others who have the Optoma EH412ST on the floor with similar screen and distance/room dimensions. Specifically I'd be interested in:

1. Where you've placed the projector on the floor (in a protective shield) to maximize screen utilization and ideally avoid having it directly centered with the screen - i.e. offset from center so it is not directly in the line of the hitting mat.
2. If you have similar room/space dimensions if you were able to ceiling mount the projector. If so what mount did you use?
3. Your projector's settings.
4. Your computer (PC) resolution settings
5. TGC 2019 settings

The attached image shows the dimensions of the space, the screen, and the mats. I've listed the dimensions below:

1. Screen size = 120" width x 91" height
2. Landing pad = 126" width x 111" depth from screen to hitting mat
3. Hitting mat (Fiberbuilt) = 48" length x 12" width
4. Turf on either side of hitting mat = 48" x 48"
5. Enclosure depth from screen = 55"
6. From edge of enclosure to vent = 28"
7. From edge of enclosure to vent ceiling height = 96"
8. Ceiling height from vent to over the rest of the landing pad/hitting mat = 105"

Computer is running a RTX-3080 graphics card with HDMI output going to projector and DisplayPort to LG monitor.

Thanks so much for your assistance! I really appreciate it!

[jasonreg]

Curious why you would not center your projector. It looks like given the hitting position you would not hit it which almost all shots - even a low scull would bounce off the protective ramp. I prefer ceiling mounting and there are plenty of low profile universal mounts avail on amazon.

Also, not related to your question but I am assuming you plan on putting some sort of padding or whatever on the beam on the ceiling between your enclosure and your ducting. While it should not get hit very often - I would imagine the ricochet would be spectacular!

[asv_halvis]

Curious why you would not center your projector. It looks like given the hitting position you would not hit it which almost all shots - even a low scull would bounce off the protective ramp. I prefer ceiling mounting and there are plenty of low profile universal mounts avail on amazon.

Also, not related to your question but I am assuming you plan on putting some sort of padding or whatever on the beam on the ceiling between your enclosure and your ducting. While it should not get hit very often - I would imagine the ricochet would be spectacular!

jasonreg Thank you for your reply. Do you have a recommendation for a ceiling mount that would be appropriate for this projector and the allowable space? My concerns is that the image may get partially blocked by the duct/lower beams. I would also appreciate any recommendation you would have for padding the open beam/ducts.

[frodaddy00]

I have this projector and the same size impact screen as your setup. It is missing a few key features to make filling in your projected image easy.

1. It lacks an optical zoom. This means the image size is 100% reliant on moving it closer/further from your screen. This makes ceiling mounting tricker.
2. It lacks horiz or vertical offset. This means that if it is not placed in the direct center of your screen and mounted at the recommended height (on floor or ceiling) then you will get distorted edges. You only have vertical keystone which isn't great to straighten out the left and right edges.

However, its just a math problem on how far to place the projector from the screen based on desired projected image size. It is based on the throw ratio of the projector. This model has a throw ration of 0.50:1. You should use an online calculator to help you figure this out.

https://www.projectorcentral.com/Optoma-EH412ST-projection-calculator-pro.htm

You provide data such as the desired image aspect ratio (16:9 or 4:3), and how big of an image to project (you can base it on diagional size or length+width).

As an example using the calculator linked above.. At 4:3 ratio to fill in 120" width and 90" height this projector would need to sit centered on your floor 80 inches away from the screen. You can also see though that it wants to be 14 inches BELOW the bottom edge of the screen (a negative 14" value) which means if you just sit it level with the bottom edge you will get some distortion.


I managed to get it mounted "good enough" but it was a major hassle. The next projector I buy will definitely need optical zoom and horiz/vertical offset.

[asv_halvis]

Thanks for the reply.

1. For my space/dimensions do you recommend leaving it on the floor?
2. I have approximately 10" from the ceiling above the hitting mat to the top of the screen. I understand that some flush ceiling projector mounts are 2.5" tall so that would leave 7.5" or about 1/2 of the 14" offset required. If I was to move the projector further back than 80" would that suffice in getting a more full screen picture?
3. What did you end up doing to get it ceiling mounted?

[3on3putt]

As frodaddy alluded to, you will have a hard time filling that screen with a floor mount due to the vertical offset required. With the middle of the lens needing to be 14 inches below the bottom of the image, you would only be able to fill roughly 78 inches of height and 104 inches of width (in 4:3). That would be with the projector 69 inches away.

So you would need to raise the screen quite a bit to fill it with a floor mount.

With a ceiling mount, you'll need it 80 inches away and the lens will have to be 14 inches above the bottom of the image. So that would put the lens at 104 inches high, and it doesn't look like you have that much height to work with.

I would say your best bet is to look for a projector with a very short vertical offset (3 inches or less).

Have you tried the projector yet? What does the image look like?

[3on3putt]

Your screen is 4:3, so stick with that. Choose 1600x1200 in your computer display settings (and/or in your graphics card settings). Or just choose 1440x1080 since that's all you will actually be getting anyway even with 1600x1200 selected.

Then when you open TGC go to the resolution on the menu screen and choose the same resolution that you selected in the computer or graphics card.

If you're using a lot of zoom or keystoning to size the image to the screen, that's why your picture doesn't look as crisp. Manipulating the image size eats away at your picture quality. Optical zoom does not hurt picture quality. However, that projector does not have optical zoom. It has digital zoom, which does hurt your quality.

You only have 10 inches of ceiling height to work with above the hitting area. With that in mind, I would look for a projector with a low vertical offset. Check out BenQ. They have a handful of projectors in your ballpark of throw distance with vertical offsets of only 2 or 3 inches. That means you could mount it pretty flush to the ceiling (which would keep it out of the way) and the image height would be right for your setup.

Also, if you needed to floor mount it you could do so because again, the short vertical offset would allow it to cast the right image height from the floor.

I might also look for one that has horizontal lens shift, which will allow you to place the projector a little off-centered and then shift the image to the side to square it up without affecting image quality. That can be useful for a floor mount because you can get it out of the way for putting. Careful not to confuse lens shift with keystoning though. Those are two different things. Ideally, you will not be using any keystoning or zoom.

[asv_halvis]

Thanks again for the advice. With your recommendations I have the EH412ST on the floor - centered and slightly ahead of the hitting mat I've been able to get both SkyTrak full screen and TGC 2019 (with resolution set to 1440x1080) at full screen width with a minimal 8" black bar on the bottom of the screen. This is with slight zoom and keystone correction. At this time I don't want to purchase a new projector as the Optoma one is only a couple of months old. I will make do for now until I get truly annoyed. As the ceiling is open with just beams I will see if there is a ceiling mount with an adjustable arm that I can attach to the inside of a beam so that it is situated above the beam and the projector is flush with the bottom of the beam. That should effectively reduce the dead space to about 4" right?

[3on3putt]

Mounting it at the correct distance to fill your screen will reduce the dead space to 0 inches.