UST Projector from Ceiling w/ Electric Screen? (1 Viewer)

[larson92]

Folks, I built the following home theater years ago:

I'm trying to plan a similar home theater here:

As you can see, it has some challenges with it: Limited light control, requires an electric screen, etc.

My question is whether it is possible (or recommended) to use a UST projector here. The issues I see are that:
1. UST projectors are designed to go below the screen -- and any UST screen would need to be flipped upside-down.
2. UST projectors are very particular about exact placement, so the ceiling mount would need to be very adjustable.
3. Electric screens for UST projectors have very limited options.
4. Ideally, the screen would be specialized for UST -- or a UST ALR Screen (as opposed to a Long-throw ALR screen.) I'm not even sure if anyone has these available as an electric screen.

Note that the width is almost 17 feet and the main viewing location will be about 20 feet from the front wall (or roughly where the picture was taken from). So I'm looking at a fairly large screen--at least 120", possibly more like 144".

Should I go UST or just stick with the old projector technology and try a Long-throw UST screen? What other challenges am I forgetting?

Or I could try to place the projector below the screen. (Note that there will be a window seat, but the middle of the "seat" could be a projector station.)

Thanks!

 

[ManW_TheUncool]

Welcome to HTF, Adam, et al...

I don't have real experience w/ UST PJs (though my brother-in-law did recently buy one), but I'd think it's generally a bad idea to use any kind of portable and/or retractable screens w/ such PJs because I'd think the slightest change in distance from any (smallest) part of the screen to the PJ may noticeably impact image quality (unless the PJ can auto-adjust accordingly everytime).

IF I ever bother w/ a UST PJ -- and honestly, I wouldn't because such tech necessarily comes w/ PQ compromises I don't want, especially for the (current) going price/cost involved -- I would definitely stick w/ a very steady/sturdy, fixed screen (preferably stuck to a solid/immovable wall)... and probably also "mount" the PJ to a fixed spot so it can't easily/readily shift/move (and thus undesirably alter the aforementioned).

3. Electric screens for UST projectors have very limited options.
4. Ideally, the screen would be specialized for UST -- or a UST ALR Screen (as opposed to a Long-throw ALR screen.) I'm not even sure if anyone has these available as an electric screen.

Well, most people probably just use UST PJs w/ a white wall or maybe a fixed screen on a wall. That seems to be the target market, which makes sense, especially given how the tech works (as I alluded earlier in this post... as did you) on top of how people probably usually want a sizable display to be up against a wall, not blocking something else that often wanna have access.

Note that the width is almost 17 feet and the main viewing location will be about 20 feet from the front wall (or roughly where the picture was taken from). So I'm looking at a fairly large screen--at least 120", possibly more like 144".

Should I go UST or just stick with the old projector technology and try a Long-throw UST screen? What other challenges am I forgetting?

Or I could try to place the projector below the screen. (Note that there will be a window seat, but the middle of the "seat" could be a projector station.)

Thanks!

IF you really must have a retractable screen (like you probably had before), why not just stick w/ a traditional PJ (like you had before)? Traditional PJs should still (always?) be better anyway, except for certain convenience aspects and possibly effective light output perhaps (both of which many avg consumer might want/need).

Anyway, if I were you, given you mentioned 20ft(!) viewing distance, I'd completely alter the arrangement and just make use of the apparently very deep space differently to make light (and probably also audio/acoustics) control a priority. I have a 120" screen, but I don't really want greater viewing distance (for the prime seating) to be more than 10-11ft, which is only ~1/2 of what you planned -- yes, I definitely want the immersion. IMO, 20ft viewing distance is waaay too far from a 120" screen for a basically dedicated HT setup/space -- and I suspect the audio side will be compromised accordingly as well.

Anyhoo...

_Man_