Couple PJ questions, oddly shaped house

[djsa4]

OK, first of all, the major issue: Ceiling height is 78in in the largest room of the house, the widest wall is 180in, the shortest wall is 125in. Distance from widest wall to the back wall is 125in. Some of the PJ's I've researched (Optoma, sony, infocus etc) tend to have better images with throw distances in the 25+ ft range. When using projectorcentral's calculators on any of them, I always end up with a situation where the throw distance is meant for high ambient light situations. Would this affect picture quality? Would it be possible for a projected image to be able to take up the larger wall without needing a higher ceiling? Or should I just get an older 4:3 PJ (Infocus in112a for example) and have a 120in image?

 

[blcskate]

There are a few projectors that could be rear-mounted in your situation and hit 120" screen. Your total distance is about 115 inches. Maybe a little less (remember the length of the projector itself 125-10=115).

With a throw distance of 115" there are a few projectors that can produce a 120" image. However that gives you a different problem.

Seating:
You do not want to be 8 feet away from a 120" screen. You will get neck strain and headaches. Recommended seating distance is 1.5-2x the width of the screen. Figure about 104" for a 120" 16:9 screen. 104 x 1.5= 156" or in your case behind the wall.

You are much better off going with a 84" screen. This will put it in the range of a lot more projectors and you will be sitting at a proper distance. Don't worry about the ambient light thing you are seeing on projectorcentral. That is at reference lumen. If you run in eco or cinema mode it will cut the light output a ton and the added perk is you will get longer life out of your lamp.

In your room assuming it has 4 walls I would switch it up and go the other way if you want a bigger screen. You could get a 120" screen on your 125" wall and sit back to the right distance of 13ish feet away.

 

[blcskate]

Just a one more thing to keep in mind. Make sure you are buying a 1.1 or less gain screen. You do not want a high gain screen in your case since you are way overpowering the light output in a light controlled room.

Assuming you went the 84" route here is a couple calcs for you.
Epson 5030UB with 84" screen at a throw distance of 9'7"
The fL at max lumen is 43. The recommended for light controlled room is about 16.
Setting eco mode on the project drops the lumen by about 60%. Going number for number. 43*.4=17.2 fL. This is acceptable. A lot of people like the image a hair bright.

This is at reference levels. I will say this realistically the 5030ub could produce a perfect 84" or 100" screen from your throw distance with calibration. Just be careful not to oversize yourself. You will hate it and so will people watching with you. It is the most common mistake in home theaters.

 

[lsiberian]

I would not under any circumstances suggest a 4x3 projector. Get a 1080p native resolution projector. I also suggest you get an LCD projector with a wide zoom range and lens shift to allow for easier setup. You can use them with a rear shelf mount in a narrow room like yours and get the screen size you want with more optimal lumens.

Eye strain is a real issue, but an 84" screen is probably too small. I'd go for 92" you can get a pull down for less than 100 bucks from Favi.

 

[BMXTRIX]

If you know nothing about projectors, then just ask for some options. Tell us where you would like to sit, and what you are hoping to achieve. You are like 10 steps down the road, when you need to be back at step one or two.

1. How far away do you intend to sit from the screen?
2. Where do you like to sit in the theater (front/middle/back)
3. What are your technical capabilities?
4. Can you ceiling mount the projector?
5. Can you run power to the projector and cabling to a ceiling location?
6. Can the projector go anywhere on your ceiling within the limitations of the room?
7. Do you have audio already setup for the room?
8. What budget do you have for the projector (and just the projector)?
9. What material will you be watching on screen?
10. What are the room lighting conditions like?
11. What are the room paint colors like (wall color? ceiling color? floor/carpet color (and material)?)

My initial reaction is that your ceiling height is going to impact your purchasing decision immensely. You have a 6.5' tall ceiling. So, projectors that have 8"+ of offset, putting the screen over a foot off the ceiling, aren't appropriate. On the cheaper side ($1,000ish range) that means the Epson 2030 or the BenQ W1070 or the Epson 8345 or the Panasonic AR100. The 8345 and AR100 don't support 3D, but have significant lens shift which allows for easier placement in the room and look pretty good.

The 2030 has negative lens offset, which means the projector lens is UNDER the top edge of the screen, which may be good for the room you are in. It looks good, but if you don't care about 3D, I may opt for the Epson 8345 instead.

The W1070 is the best looking of the bunch. It must have the lens about 2" above the top of the screen, so with a tight ceiling mount installation, the top of the screen would be about 6" or so away from the ceiling, which is pretty good. You can get about a 100" to 130" diagonal from a 11' lens to screen distance with the W1070 which is also pretty nice.

You can ignore the 'red' color on the Projector Central website for the calculator. It tells you what it means, but most people don't get it... So, just ignore it.

Once you have answered ALL the questions I gave, then we can get into the specifics of what you may be looking for. But, at this point, it's just general recommendations and guesswork since we don't know enough to give you a really accurate answer.

Perhaps the JVC X35 or Sony HW40ES are better choices for you.