Projector Layout and Model Selection - Need Advice.

[WinstonDoodle]

Background:
I have an 8'Hx10.5'W (4:3) hitting enclosure and I'll be hitting 13' from the screen with Mevo+. Ceiling is roughly 9'3" and there will always be some ambient light. Budget is around $1000. Based on some measurements and rough geometry, the maximum distance the projector can be mounted on the ceiling with a 6'3" player without shadows is 16'. It's possible I butchered the math. This gives me a throw ratio range of 0.5 through around 1.2. I've spent a few days on ProjectorCentral using their calculators and search tools and reaching the point of analysis paralysis.

Questions:

1. I'm looking at these 4 models: https://www.projectorcentral.com/pro...87&pid_4=10024
   • The only difference I see between the Optoma GT1080HDR and EH412ST is 200 lumens for an additional $280. This seems like a waste of money. Is 200 lumens worth this much?
   • The Panasonics have a longer throw and push the budget. If these are significantly better projectors, I can make it work. I just don't want to buy an overkill projector when I'm not running high end graphics.
2. Without jumping into the $1200+ price range, are there any other models I should consider?

[jbearley]

I have a very similar setup and am looking for a projector as well. I am considering the epson home cinema 1080. Check it out and see want you think.

[runpuddrun]

Background:
I have an 8'Hx10.5'W (4:3) hitting enclosure and I'll be hitting 13' from the screen with Mevo+. Ceiling is roughly 9'3" and there will always be some ambient light. Budget is around $1000. Based on some measurements and rough geometry, the maximum distance the projector can be mounted on the ceiling with a 6'3" player without shadows is 16'. It's possible I butchered the math. This gives me a throw ratio range of 0.5 through around 1.2. I've spent a few days on ProjectorCentral using their calculators and search tools and reaching the point of analysis paralysis.

Questions:

1. I'm looking at these 4 models: https://www.projectorcentral.com/pro...87&pid_4=10024
   • The only difference I see between the Optoma GT1080HDR and EH412ST is 200 lumens for an additional $280. This seems like a waste of money. Is 200 lumens worth this much?
   • The Panasonics have a longer throw and push the budget. If these are significantly better projectors, I can make it work. I just don't want to buy an overkill projector when I'm not running high end graphics.
2. Without jumping into the $1200+ price range, are there any other models I should consider?

what did you use to draw that?

[WinstonDoodle]

It's likely not recommended, but I just threw it together in Excel with the column and row sizes set to 25 pixels so that each cell was a square. This allowed me to estimate distances by cell count without needing to rely on trigonometry.

[Tom Howarth]

I recently installed the GT1090 HDR DLP. It's awesome. I have an 8'6 x10'0 enclosure. Ceiling height is higher than yours. I used 4:3 ratio, 6'3 back and about 8'2 high (13" above image).

[WinstonDoodle]

Wow, that image looks great. How is it with ambient lighting? I won't have the ability to get my area that dark unless I play in the middle of the night. I ended up purchasing the GT1080HDR. The GT1090 was outside my budget, but there were a ton of aspects of that model that I wanted.

[Tom Howarth]

The image is just as good in ambient light. If you look on Projector Central, it shows that it works well in a fair amount of light. It's worth the few extra $$. 30,000 hours of operation with the laser.

[MongoOnlyPawn]

I agree with Mr. Howarth. Scrape up whatever you can afford. Your biggest issue will be controlling the ambient lighting, IMOO all projectors are subject to physics & mother nature.