Advice on FP ceiling mount concerns
 

I'm considering making the jump to a front projector. I'm looking at the Mits HC1500 and have done the measurements to see how to lay it out and it looks like to be able to use a 84" of 92" screen the projector needs to be ceiling mounted in the middle my basement ceiling. My concern is that other people walking around upstairs above the projector will cause the image to shake as they walk over the floor above the projector. How likely is this and how do I avoid it? Any input is welcome.

A little bit of movement is not something to worry about. I'd mount a flashlight or one of those lazer pointing pens and do a test and see how much movement there really is.

When I did mine I tried to isolate it with as much insulation in between the joists as I could. I also put a 2x12 board between the joists and secured it with several screws to have a "platform" in the ceiling to bolt the mount to.

I occassionally get a little vibration but it is rare and quite minimal.

I have never noticed this problem. I really have to jostle my mount to get to move. Tighten the joints and you shouldn't have any issues. A good mount will absorb most of that.

That's a great idea. I guess I could just clamp a flashlight onto the joist to check for movement right?

Exactly. Better would be to hang a pole of the length you would use for the projector, as the extended length could enhance the movement. My guess, unless someone is running a jack hammer above, that you are not going to see a whole lot of movement and will proceed with confidence. Good Luck!

My basement has a drop ceiling so I poked my head up to see how to do the mount. The joists are spaced just about right to add a board between them that the mount can be attached to. So are you saying that the board should have something between it and the joists to isoloate them from each other?

I checked out your HT pics Brian. Nice setup you have there. My screen looks to be mounted quite a bit lower than yours. What would be the normal viewing height on a 92" screen from about 13' back?

Thank you very much.

You could add something like Dynamat in between the joists and the board if you choose, or any other sound deadening/insulating material. That is the beauty of doing some of the work yourself.

My screen is 100", that may account for some of the height difference. Also I was taking into account the 8" riser in the back of the room and what it would look like from there, plus the position of my center channel is ear level with my front row.

The way we did mine (with my brother in law helping) was to mount the projector first and use the alignment grid for setup to see where the screen would look best. Then we marked it off and put the screen up.

Yeah I was planning on hanging the PJ before the screen so I could align the screen to the image. I have a really hard mounting scenario made more difficult by the limitations of the Mits PJ not having a lens shift.

My drop ceiling is about 7'4" but right off center running parallel with the PJ to the screen is a sheetrocked section where my duct work is. This hangs down another 7 inches so the projected image needs to clear this and the screen needs to be mounted below it. The way I figured it out to get the image size I want with the limitations I have, I'll need the top of the screen to hang down about 15 to 18 inches from the ceiling. This means the bottom of the screen will be about 20 to 24 inches from the floor.

Chip, you want your eyes about 1/3 of the way UP the screen from the bottom. Ideally. My screen is higher than that to accomodate my first PJ's offset. Actually, I think my 2nd PJ has a similar issue, that's why I didn't move it down.

I generally don't get much vibration from upstairs, I also have a basement setup with drop ceiling. I have no dampening material at all and the mount is directly attached to the side of the joist. The joists go sideways compared to the typical traffic direction of the house, and I only get vibration if someone steps hard, real close to the joist the PJ is attached to. Our 90lb dog doesn't vibrate it at all, unless he dashes through the house and slams into something, shaking everything. I'm a little surprised the sub doesn't ever cause vibrations. It seems to vibrate everything else in the house.

Thanks for all of the advice everyone. I did the flashlight test and it passed with flying colors.

Spiky I also read that 1/3 rule over at AVS and think I should be fine. If the 92" screen has a height of 45" that would be 15" + the 25" to 28" floor to bottom of screen gives a total of approximately 40" to 43" viewing height.

I've read some more pro and user reviews and I think the decision on the FP is very close. I was going back and forth on this or a Mits 65" DLP with 1080p. The FP right now is cheaper and has a larger screen even though it's just 720p I thinks it's going to win out. Now to find a screen to match up with it. I hear this FP goes well with a light grey screen. Any thoughts?

I didn't look it up, but I'm assuming DLP, right? Grey is purposed for all the digital technologies to improve black levels. LCD, DLP, even LCOS. And all of these generally have a fair amount of lumens to deal with the dimmer screen. White is more for CRT that needs the brightness and supplies its own inky blacks.

Course, mine is white and I've had DLP and now LCD. Practice what you preach, eh?

Yeah it's a DLP. The reviews say it has very good blacks and that's what I'm after since I'm moving from a CRT RPTV. But even with the good blacks some say that a light grey will help it along even more. What kind of PJ do you have Spiky? Do you have any pics?

I'm getting more and more psyched about this and I'm going over my measurements trying to make sure it will work in my room. I'm still searching for a mount that gives me the vertical height and adjustments I need and isn't too much of a pain to dismount since the PJ needs to be taken down to change bulbs.

Mine took several months to complete. It's operational now, and I'm still working on it. It's a lot more work then it is expense. You'll learn a lot in doing all this, for example, I pulled carpet for the first time to run/hide cables. Just have fun and when all is done you'll have the envy of all your friends, family, and neighboors, as well as a Theater that rivals the actual theater down the street. :)


My HTR

MrVette what model Mits PJ do you own? By the way, great looking setup. Nice and clean. Do you have a name or number for the color grey paint you used?

The projector is a Mitsubishi HC3000. And works perfectly with my rooms high mounted screen. I bought the projector mount from an Ebay Online store. Very inexpensive, and has a rather quick disconnect if you ever need to drop the projector for maintenance or to take to a friends for the superbowl party or something. Ebay Online Store -- Mount Direct

The paint on the walls is called Slate Green from Lowes. The ceiling is Oops paint (i.e. $5 and is a creamy yellow), that somebody had mixed and didn't pay for.

I've about 5 big projects yet to do in the room. You'll notice that I did a faux recessed ceiling with the paint, and like it so much I'm going to get out the miter saw and put up 1x4 board to make for a more dramatic recessed ceiling and will consider running rope light up there as well.

Beware an HTR can become an all comsuming passion. I consider that to be a good thing. :)

I know that some of the screen companies will send out samples to see. Failing in that are there any stores in your area to see screens? That was how I decided on my screen which is a Dalite HCCV screen

Mine is currently a Panny AE900. I don't really have any pics set up, though.

There is a specific forum for DIY screens at AVS. Good place to get paint advice.

I stopped into a local AV store last night to ask questions and see what they carried. The owner was a real ass. I played it pretty dumb to see how helpful he would be and he treated me like he couldn't be bothered.

I asked what kind of ceiling mounts he carried and he asked what kind of PJ I had. When I said that I was still deciding he said that the PJ would come with a mount. I told him when I looked online it seemed that you needed to buy them separately. His answer was that that was the problem with buying online because they separate everything to charge you more. I then asked about screens and PJs and he just started rambling off names and high end prices without even explaining the benefit of spending a lot of money. I even asked what the high dollar items added that the low items didn't and he blew me off. He basically told me that if I wasn't spending a high $ amount I might as well just point it at the wall and not to bother with anything else.

So I came home and ordered a Mits HC1500 from Pro View Digital, a PMS Series PJ mount from Mount Direct (thanks MrVette) and HDMI and component cables from monoprice for a grand total of $925. I'll use the bare wall for now until I can build or buy a screen.

I checked out the DIY screen forum on AVS and my head hurts. I don't know if I'm handy enough to pull that off so I might just look for an inexpensive screen until I have the funds to upgrade later. I prefer to have a fixed wall mounted screen but I'm having trouble finding a deal I can afford.

Thanks everyone for the continued support and advice.

DIY isn't that tough.

Get some Behr Silverscreen (find the precise color at AVS) and a roll of 3" blackout tape (got mine at rosebrand.com). Then, if your wall is flat enough, just map out a screen with the tape and paint it. Well, probably in the opposite order.

If it isn't flat enough, get a standard sheet of whatever will not warp that you feel like attaching to the wall. MDFB would be great, but is very heavy. I used a piece of Polywall that is around 1/16" thick and weighs very little, others have used 1/4" melamine or other thin hardboards. You should be able to paint whatever board easily and wrap the tape on the edges and mount it to the wall. Here's one way: A standard sheet of anything is 4'x8', so if you put a 2" border all around you get a 44" tall screen area without cutting the board at all for the height. You do have to cut off 14" for the width. That happens to work out to a 90" 16:9 screen. That's 44"x78" with a 2" border all around.

Either way, you are getting a screen for probably well under $50 that will rival screens costing a couple hundred or more.

Spiky I found some thorough and easy to follow instructions for building the frame that I think I can handle. The question I have is, is it better to buy material intended to be used for PJ screens and use that or to go through the trouble of buying fabric and having to paint and prep it in order to get the right color and reflectivity.

I see projector screen material being sold on ebay. Can this simply be stretched to the frame or does it need to be painted and prepped also?
I found this link with instructions and he also sells material to put on it. I think I can handle this. I still have duvutyne left over from my CRT RPTV that I can use to wrap the frame with for the black border.

I also found these inexpensive screens and was considering the 92" model but I still don't know if I want grey or white. If I go DIY and I want grey I realize I'll be painting either way since I don't know if you can buy grey material to mount on the frame I built.
Any thoughts?

I think if you are going to buy screen material you might as well just buy a screen. For my skills, making and stretching over a frame is harder, that's why I like the idea of a firm board instead.

I would think grey is superior for DLP.

Hows this HTR coming along. Been 8 months, lets see some pictures. :)

Can't you tell? I've been enjoying it so much that I haven't been posting here as much as I used to since I rarely have the time.

The installation went really smooth. Fine tuning it took longer with adjusting the size with the zoom lens to see how big I could get it, calibrating the greyscale and color and all of the other things they let you adjust that needed entry into the service menu on my last RPTV.

I added a PS3 shortly afterwards but even SD DVDs from my old Panny RP56 looked great. I couldn't believe the upconversion of the PJ would be so good on SD material. The PS3 upconversion is a touch smoother so I retired the Panny and Blu-rays look sweet.

I bought some blackout cloth with the intention of making my own screen but it looks so good on a bare wall that I still haven't done it. The cloth color actually matches the color of my wall now. Either way whether I build the screen or not I know I need to paint the wall just to tone down the light bleed around the image. The side walls tend to wash out the image on bright scenes.

So since you asked I threw a web page together with some photos. Here's the link.

Yup, I fought with the screens for a good time. Finally spent some coin and am happy with the pull down.

FYI, I bought a carpet kicker, cheap off Ebay, and pulled the carpet to run the cables beneath. Makes for a cleaner and more complete look.

I have being delivered today (via Amazon) my Sony upconvert player. My HDMI cable was on the doorstep last night. I'm anxious to see the improvement. And I get to pull the carpet again, which I did just a few weeks ago. Grrrrrr :doh: