Projector Help! (total noob) (1 Viewer)

[Irfanhuss123]

New to the forum and hoping I don't piss anyone off with this post if its already been brought up.
I currently have a home theatre that is a bit out dated. Nothing runs HDMI, etc. so I'm working on upgrading everything. So far I've installed a new receiver; I've purchased a Blu-ray player and I'm working on other things as well. I also upgraded our projector from an old sharp projector that was about eight years old to an Optoima HD 33. Make a long story short, my current mount is about a foot too far from the range calculator results on optoma.com. Will I have to remount this projector?? I'd prefer not to make another hole in my ceiling and plus my entire system was installed before walls were up so all the wires are running behind the wall to one location. Thanks for any help, I'm sorry if this maybe a silly question.

 

[Irfanhuss123]

Sorry about so many posts! The server said my thread wasn't going through and to try again!

 

[schan1269]

So we can come up with guidance...
Screen size/aspect?
What is the distance?

 

[Jason Charlton]

Irfan,

Different projectors have different geometry requirements. Some will have placement options that overlap, others will not. If you have determined that the current mounting location won't result in the same image size there's really nothing you can do except reposition the projector or live with the different screen size.

For the mount, you may want to consider attaching the mount to a square piece of plywood that is large enough to span a couple of ceiling joists. The plywood could be painted to match the ceiling and be pretty unobtrusive. The impact to the ceiling, then would only be a few holes that can easily be patched with some spackle later on.

As for cabling, the power cable should be long enough to reach the extra foot, you can use a short "patch" HDMI cable, and unless you're running a PC or older analog component to the projector, shouldn't need any other cables.

 

[schan1269]

I just checked the OM for the HD33...
For a 100" image it needs to be between 13.07-15.69 feet.
If you aren't there, move up the Optoma line to get a greater zoom.
The 8200/8300 have a 100" mount range of 10.85-16.55.

 

[Irfanhuss123]

So we can come up with guidance...
Screen size/aspect?
What is the distance?

The width of the screen is 104"
Diagonal measurement is 118"
The measurement from top to bottom is 57.5"
Which on the optoma HD33 gives me a range of 13'-15'7"
My current mount sits about 16'6" from my screen.

Irfan,
Different projectors have different geometry requirements.  Some will have placement options that overlap, others will not.  If you have determined that the current mounting location won't result in the same image size there's really nothing you can do except reposition the projector or live with the different screen size.
For the mount, you may want to consider attaching the mount to a square piece of plywood that is large enough to span a couple of ceiling joists.  The plywood could be painted to match the ceiling and be pretty unobtrusive.  The impact to the ceiling, then would only be a few holes that can easily be patched with some spackle later on.
As for cabling, the power cable should be long enough to reach the extra foot, you can use a short "patch" HDMI cable, and unless you're running a PC or older analog component to the projector, shouldn't need any other cables.

Unfortunately, you're correct. It seems that the image my new projector will be too big. Does that mean that even zooming won't correct the problem? Or does the zooming only cover the range that I received from my measurements, nothing more or nothing less? Unfortunately living with the bigger screen size isn't an option. The screen I have is bordered with about 6 inches of velvet boarding along the screen, and the image being too big might result in the image being displayed on the boarder, which of course, will look pretty ridiculous.
Do you mean just taking a piece of plywood and drilling 4 holes in each corner and mounting it to that? Sorry, I'm a business professional who is simply trying to save money and have a sense of satisfaction when I'm done. Cabling is going to be difficult for me. I'll need to run both component wires, for my 5 disc DVD player which is hooked up to my receiver and an HDMI cable out from my receiver; running my DISH box and blue ray player. The component wires aren't a problem for me, because those wires are already set through the wall. Running a new HDMI cable will be the issue. What do you mean by short "patch" HDMI?? I'm not sure what that is, but would like to know more.

I just checked the OM for the HD33...
For a 100" image it needs to be between 13.07-15.69 feet.
If you aren't there, move up the Optoma line to get a greater zoom.
The 8200/8300 have a 100" mount range of 10.85-16.55.

Thanks for the info! I'm just out of that range. What do you mean by move up the Optoma line? Like I said, I would prefer not to put new holes in my ceiling. I've thought about different projectors, but the HD33 is too hard to pass up with its pricing/reviews/3D capabilities. I thought about the 8300, but it's close to 5K, and too out of my price range at the moment.

 

[Jason Charlton]

Cabling is going to be difficult for me. I'll need to run both component wires, for my 5 disc DVD player which is hooked up to my receiver and an HDMI cable out from my receiver; running my DISH box and blue ray player. The component wires aren't a problem for me, because those wires are already set through the wall. Running a new HDMI cable will be the issue. What do you mean by short "patch" HDMI??

I was under the assumption you already had HDMI running to the ceiling location (if you do, I'm curious why you still use your DVD player/component video...).

By "patch" cable, I was simply suggesting that you piggy back another short cable onto the existing cable (if you had one) to extend its reach a bit.

If you don't currently have HDMI to the projector location, I'm not sure how changing the position of the projector is introducing the cabling problem - you'd have to run HDMI regardless of where the projector is located.

So as I understand things, you need to run HDMI regardless of which projector you get or where it is placed, correct?

If that's the case then the projector location/selection is the least of your worries. Go with the projector you want and bite the bullet to run HDMI to wherever the new projector needs to go. You shouldn't need to use the component video cables anymore, unless you REALLY love your DVD player, hate getting up to switch discs, and your receiver doesn't convert analog to HDMI (most newer models do this).

 

[schan1269]

And where are you seeing the 8300 at $5000?
http://www.amazon.com/gp/offer-listing/B008OJKRDE/ref=dp_olp_refurbished?ie=UTF8&condition=refurbished

 

[Irfanhuss123]

Even zooming all the way out (1.0) won't give the screen size you want at a 16'6" throw distance - it comes out to about 126" diagonal.
Kind of - the point of the plywood is that you can "ballpark" the location of the plywood to coincide with the ceiling joists - using just a couple of 3" screws to hold the plywood in place.  You can then "fine tune" the location of the projector mount within the plywood to put it in just the right location (screwing the mount to the plywood - not into the ceiling).
Of course, if you're faced with having to relocate the projector in the first place, then it's somewhat moot - you can just position the projector at the nearest joist anyway, and use the projector's zoom to make up the difference.
Sorry - didn't mean to confuse you...
I was under the assumption you already had HDMI running to the ceiling location (if you do, I'm curious why you still use your DVD player/component video...).
By "patch" cable, I was simply suggesting that you piggy back another short cable onto the existing cable (if you had one) to extend its reach a bit.
If you don't currently have HDMI to the projector location, I'm not sure how changing the position of the projector is introducing the cabling problem - you'd have to run HDMI regardless of where the projector is located.
So as I understand things, you need to run HDMI regardless of which projector you get or where it is placed, correct?
If that's the case then the projector location/selection is the least of your worries.  Go with the projector you want and bite the bullet to run HDMI to wherever the new projector needs to go.  You shouldn't need to use the component video cables anymore, unless you REALLY love your DVD player, hate getting up to switch discs, and your receiver doesn't convert analog to HDMI (most newer models do this).

First of all Jason,
Thank you so much for your help. It's greatly appreciated. I think going to home depot to purchase a square piece of plywood is the best idea. I knew that coming to this forum would help me out.
Yes, I need to run HDMI regardless of the projector or where it is placed. HDMI isn't really the issue, it's the cable hiding that I didn't really want to deal with.
As far as the cables go, my father loves the 5 disc DVD player that he purchased. When I plug that into my new Yamaha Receiver, I figured I would have to have an HDMI out and a component out. I know, its ridiculous that he has this weird attachment to the DVD player, but it's a great DVD player that he won't let go. I'll just have to figure out a good way of hiding the cable that's going to run from the receiver to the new projector.
Setting up through DVI with an HDMI female input was also an option through my current SHARP projector, but I didn't like the fact that the projector didn't give me an option to have the "stretch or smart stretch" capabilities when using the DVI input.

 

[Irfanhuss123]

And where are you seeing the 8300 at $5000?
http://www.amazon.com/gp/offer-listing/B008OJKRDE/ref=dp_olp_refurbished?ie=UTF8&condition=refurbished

I read on a bunch of projector review sites that it's $5K, and i didn't want to buy refurbished.

 

[schan1269]

Somebody else brought it up, but wireless HDMI...
I haven't tried it since a failed experiment in an office building with sending just video. You might research it and see if it can work in your situation.