How to plan for future FPTV install? (1 Viewer)

[Paul Gere]

I have a friend who is finishing his basement and plans to add FPTV in the future. How far from the front wall should he plan to accomodate a cable run for a digital projector before drywalling the ceiling? I expect there should be some flexibility for digital, based on pj and screen size selected. How much +/- would be appropriate?

Thanks in advance for your thoughts!

Cheers!

-Paul

 

[RAF]

This is a tough call. Unless you know exactly what projector you will be getting it is hard to give an exact answer to this question. And, I should add, even if you know the projector involved, you still have to consider the future.

Basically there are two general types of projectors involved; CRT's which usually at mounted fairly close to the screen and LCD/DLP/etc. which are mounted further back. And even in that second group there is a wide variation is distance from the projector to the screen depending on the design of the FP, the lens used, etc. In other words, hard to gauge.

What I finally did (since I, too, designed my HT before I had decided on exactly which FP to install) was to make provisions for a "close" install and a "far" install. (My HT site goes into this). This was easy to do before the walls were up. All I had to do was to add an extra power outlet and some extra wire conduits for cabling before sealing the walls. An alternative would be to use some sort of arrangement (drop ceiling, etc. - not an option in my case due to headroom) that allows a flexible installation of cables, etc. after the projector is purchased.

Hope some of this helps.

 

[Paul Gere]

Robert,

Thanks for your post. I told my friend much of what you've mentioned above last night. I should have included that he's serious about a digital projector vs. CRT. In fact, his leaning is to the Sony - I forget the model "something-10" Don't you have this projector in your theater? PErhaps if you could share with me what your "short" and "long" runs were, I can give that to him as a starting point. Good suggestions!

Thanks again!

-Paul

 

[RAF]

Paul,
I have the Sony VW10HT which might be the projector your friend is talking about. It is a tremendous projector and does a great job. (Note: It has been superceded by the VW11HT so the 10HT might be available at bargain pricing.) If I were buying today I'd look at the 11HT, although I'm not rushing out to replace my 10HT since the 11HT is an evolutionary rather than revolutionary upgrade.
As to the location of my "close" and "far" outlets on the ceiling, the close ones are ~7 feet from the screen and the far ones (the ones I use) are ~16 feet from the screen. Your friend can probably get away with just the "far" distances, but be aware that the actual distance is related to the size of the screen to be used. My screen has a 110" diameter and is 96" x 54" (16:9). There is a program called PjCalc from SONY that you can download and use to make the distance calculations for any screen size. I understand that the SONY site no longer gives you access to the program, but it is available from the Big Picture Forum FAQ here:
http://www.thebigpicturedvd.com/vw10ht_faq.shtml
under INSTALLATION.
My screen to lens distance is 13'3" and I have about a 1-1.5' flexibility with the zoom feature of the lens.
Hope some of this helps.

 

[Matt Stryker]

If your friend is interested in the 10HT, http://www.bpcvalue.com/ has them for $3800 B-Stock.