Need advice on setting up a projection TV and screen. (1 Viewer)

[BrianM]

Over the past 10 years the members of this forum have been my best source of information on several projects. I am now planning on installing a projector and screen in my family room and I would love any advice I can get.
1. My projector will need to be about 4 feet above the top border of the screen and about 18 to 20 feet away. Is this too high for an adequate picture and is there a particular projector that can handle this better than others?
2. I will need to use a retractable acoustically transparent screen because my center channel speaker will sit behind it. Is the black masking above the screen acoustically transparent as well?
3. Will a ceiling fan blowing on the screen affect the image quality?
4. Does an HDMI signal degrade over a distance of 30 feet?
5. When 3D becomes more common will FPTV's be able to utilize the technology? Will this require buying a new projector in the future?
I realize these are a lot of questions but I trust the members of this forum more than any salesman or home theater installer. Thanks for any advice anyone out there can give me.

 

[soundprogress]

Hi.

1. The vertical offset of a projector is calculated by the % of the screen height. What is the size of the screen you're going to use? When trying to find a projector look for this first. The vertical offset in itself doesn't significantly effect the image but it does limit your choice of projectors. You'll also need a long throw lens which again, doesn't necessarily effect image quality in and of itself. For example, Panasonic projectors have a built in vertical offset that puts the projector half the vertical height about a 16:9 image (54" high image = 27" above the top border) without electronic keystone adjustment.
2. Acoustically transparent screens are great except they have a couple of basic issues. They have lower gain than regular screens (

 

[BrianM]

Thanks for replying so quickly. Your input has been a great help. I should have mentioned in my original post that the screen size I am shooting for is 110 inches and my budget is about $7000 total including installation. I would love to do it for under $6000 and be able to add a Phillips pronto remote control as well. The area behind the screen will be fairly dark. The screen will be coming down in front of my 72" RP TV which will still be used for casual viewing. I am not clear about the loss of gain that was mentioned. is < 1 significantly noticeable? My receiver is a Denon 5308 if that makes any difference.

 

[soundprogress]

Do you mean 110" diagonally which is a 96" w x 54" h 1.78 screen or 110" wide 2.35 screen (about a 83"x47" equivalent 1.78)?

Acoustically transparent screens have lower reflectivity that regular screens so they are not as bright. A Stewart StudioTex 130 has a screen gain of about 1.3 and a typical Screen Research screen has a gain of about .95. That's somewhere around 60-65% as bright a picture so you'd need to make up the brightness by getting a higher output projector to get the same brightness. You can play around with all those shapes, sizes, different projectors and screen gains at www.projectorcentral.com.. Their projector (should be called projector and screen ) calculator is free and very useful advice is very useful.

You're vertical offset problem is a different issue. Needing to have a projector that high is a problem. Do you really need to leave it that high above the image? Would a projector lift or even a mirror system (bend the light path once or twice) help solve the problem.

From first post. Most acoustically transparent screens are either a cloth weave or micro-perfed. The cloth version are usually are fabric everywhere so the speaker ca be located anywhere. Perfed screens may be able to have perfed holes above or below the image.