Just bought an Epson 6500UB. Is it best to ceiling mount AS CLOSE or AS FAR as possible for the best quality?
I want the "brightest" and BEST looking picture. I am building my room AROUND the home theater and am TOTALLY flexible on seating and how close or how far I should mount it. I have an Elite Gray Screen with 1.2 Gain. I just have no clue whether it is best to mount as close or as far away as possible. I am "hoping" that I am upgrading from my current projector which is a Panasonic PT-DW5000U DLP Projector with 5000 Lumens but is WXGA. This is a basement install with NO ambient light and I have TOTAL light control for TOTAL darkness. I originally purchased the Panasonic because I thought that Lumens were the thing to look for. I paid THOUSANDS for it. It has 5000 lumens but only 800:1 contrast ratio. Now I’m only going to have 1600 Lumens but 75000:1 contrast ratio and true 1080P Hi Def and have DirectTV W/ All their Hi-Def programming. I still have my Panasonic PT-DW5000U mounted and am ready to take it down and put my new Epson Home Cinema 6500UB up, but I want to get it right the first time. Again, my seating is totally flexible, and currently am sitting about 8 feet in front of the screen, in the middle, and although I am ceiling mounting, I can mount the projector directly to the center of the screen too, for as little "tweaking" as possible, but have never known whether I will get a brighter picture / better quality picture if it’s closer to the screen or further away from the screen. Also, since I’m "downgrading" a LOT in Lumens, am I going to be happy? I’m going from DLP to LCD, going from 5000 lumens to 1600 lumens, but going from 800:1 to 75000:1 contrast, and am going to WXGA 16:9 120" screen to true 1080P Hi-Def, so am I going to be HAPPY and is this a true UPGRADE or am I going to want to send it back and keep my Panasonic? I’d really appreciate any/all comments from people that may have some answers. I knew NOTHING about projectors when I bought mine, so I just got the BRIGHTEST possible and didn’t pay attention to anything else. Now, I’ve read a bit, and really debated between the Panasonic PT-AE3000U and the Epson 6500UB which is what I ended up with. Did I make the right decision in YOUR opinion, and again, with total light control and a gray screen w/ 1.2 gain, do I have the "right" screen still, with this new projector, and am I going to be HAPPY or SAD, lol? Let me know YOUR thoughts and THANK YOU SO MUCH IN ADVANCE, for taking YOUR TIME to help ME! I really appreciate it.
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3 comments
agb90spruce on August 31, 2010 at 3:37 pm
The Epson will give a MUCH better image than the Panny.
As to mounting, with a 2.1:1 lens and both horizontal and vertical offset you have complete freedom to mount it over a wide range. I suggest considering a rear shelf mount. Simply put it on a shelf, zoom the image to fit the screen and use offset to centre it. Done. No expense or hassles of a ceiling mount. The only limitations are the limits of the zoom (ability to fit the size of image to the screen from the back of the room).
I have my Epson 1080UB on a rear shelf (about 7 ft high) almost 20′ from my screen (110") and it works great. The only disadvantage to being far back is that light output is reduced a bit, but since many people with light controlled rooms get great pictures with 500-700 lumen projectors, the Epson 6500UB will give you all the brightness you need. I run mine on the lower brightness setting even in a 22′x20′ room, and with a 1.2 gain screen you will too.
Theoretically the image is BEST from about the middle of the zoom range, so ideally try to avoid having the zoom at either extreme. You don’t say how big your screen is, but since you have it you will need to zoom to fit it, and that will result in a certain closest/greatest throw range that you will have to respect. See the "Calculator Pro" (and review of the 6500UB) accessible from the page at the link.
Don’t worry, you made a fine choice and will LOVE the picture. And as I said, you have almost unparalleled flexibility in mounting. BTW, the only reason (in my view) to ceiling mount is to reduce the chance of fan noise, and the Epson is pretty darn quiet so this isn’t a likely problem unless shelf mounting would put it right behind you ear.
Edit:
Re the Epson being "entry level" …. Bullsh*t (at least vis-a-vis home theater)! The ONLY thing going for the Panny is high brightness … great for large venues, but a disadvantage in a home theater. 75,000:1 CR (even recognizing this is with a dynamic iris) is night and day better than 800:1, and 1080p beats the pants off WXGA.
Re mounting of the Epson, it’s nowhere as critical as suggested by the other respondent. Yes you need space for air circulation, but lens offset (unlike keystone) DOESN’T require the projector to be other than within vertical and horizontal range of the offset. It DOESN"T need to be upside down either.
bbt91945 on August 31, 2010 at 3:37 pm
The Epson is an entry level projector while the Panasonic is the midrange projector. I do own the Panasonic projector and it is on a table about 12 feet away from the screen which is 106". I use this for movies only for blu-ray and use an older model panasonic for dvds. Go online to Home Theater magazine and read the reviews on both projectors and then you decide. I am very happy with the Panasonic.
Hope this will help.
D (A/V) ID on August 31, 2010 at 3:37 pm
The Epson has lens shift built in so you can place it anywhere. Ideally projectors should be as close to the screen as possible that yeilds the correct screen size. To avoid too much lens shift mount it upside down and down as far so that the lens is parallel to the top of the screen. You want to give the projector room to breathe also. Ensure there is plenty of room around the intake and exhaust vents and so the intake air is cool (away from HVAC and it’s own exhaust).
I have an Epson Powerlite 550 (a little older) and have it set back 11 feet projecting onto a 92" matte white laminate screen (about 1.2 gain). My room is 100% light controlled also. Its rated at 1400 lumens. It’s preferable to watch it in Theater Black mode which is a lot dimmer. I can have my pot lights at 25% brightness and still have a good quality image. Any more and it gets washed out. In vivid mode I can have all the lights on but it sacrifices contrast.