Need some projector advice

[mattyk04]

Hello all! First post here...I am in the process of building a sim/home theater in my garage. However the projector has me a bit baffled. I have 10 foot tall ceilings and I bought a 120"x96" (10x8) swing bag. My hitting area is 8 feet or so away. Normally I would just install the projector right above my head however the garage door is right above my head where I would want to mount it by like inches. So I have thought about getting an angled mount or something to slide but still can not find a somewhat affordable 800 and below projector that will work for 8 feet. I also do not want to mount it on the floor due to my kids will be using this as a home theater as well. All of the short throw projectors I have looked at to fit the screen require about 6 feet...which means it will be right in front of the screen which scares me that it may get hit. Any input or suggestions would be amazing as this is the last step to the build. Thanks

[3on3putt]

Assuming you'll be projecting in 4:3, the InFocus 138HDST would mount 6'8'' away to cast an image 120 inches wide.

https://www.projectorcentral.com/InF...ulator-pro.htm

It has 14 inches of vertical offset from that distance, which will work in your favor by allowing you to mount it closer to the ceiling.

If you're hitting from 8 feet away, what's your concern about the projector being just over a foot in front of that? If the projector is in line with the ball, it's not going to get hit by anything.

I use this same projector. I hit from 7 feet and it's mounted at 6 feet away for my screen. Don't even notice it's there.

Also, if you wanted to fill your screen you would be able to back that projector up to 7'1'', getting it even closer to your hitting spot. (I don't always recommend doing so but the option is there regardless).

[mattyk04]

I'm just worried that if I am hitting from 8ish feet away that it could possibly be in the swing plane or something depending on how low I am going to have to mount the projector.

[3on3putt]

mattyk04 --- If the projector is mounted in line with your body then yes, it could certainly be in the way of the follow through. But if possible, you want the projector to be in line with the ball. (Either directly over the ball or slightly in front of or behind the ball but on that same line). If it's in line with the ball, it's not getting hit.

[mattyk04]

I’m still confused in terms of the vertical offset, does that mean it would require it to be placed 14 inches below the screen? I have a viewsonic 600x laying around and it has the same vertical offset at 6’1”. I have it taped on my ceiling hanging 14 inches below the top of the hitting bay and it looks ridiculously low and a bit scary.

[mattyk04]

I guess I’m just really lost on how low I would have to hang it.

[3on3putt]

Vertical offset is the distance between the lens and the top edge of the image for a projector mounted on the ceiling. So for example if the top of your image was 100 inches high and the vertical offset of the projector is 15 inches than the projector would be 115 inches high (15 inches above the image).

[mattyk04]

Ohhhhh lol I was thinking it was the exact opposite...well this makes things much easier

[3on3putt]

Vertical offset is good when you have a lot of space between screen and ceiling. Because then you can mount the projector high and out of the way and let the vertical offset drop the image down to the screen. Vertical offset is obviously a bad thing though when you don't have much room between screen and ceiling. Use that projector central tool. It pretty much tells you everything you need to know.