Jun
13
How-to: Install a Front Projector & Screen
Filed Under Front Projection, Mounting & Installation | Leave a Comment
As far as I’m concerned nothing says home theater like a front projection system, there’s just something about a 2-piece system that really captures the magic of going to the movies. The beautiful thing about front projection is that even in this day a 50” Kuro plasma’s and a 40”- 1080p LCD’s for under a grand, front projection still provides the best bang for the buck in screen size, and with fuel prices continuing to climb that trend will likely continue.
As much as everyone around here loves projectors, it’s obvious that they aren’t for everyone. There are multiple reasons for this but two of the biggest are the need for a relatively dark environment and the fact that installing a projector really isn’t seen as a do-it-yourself project. Well, I can’t help with the dark room but I assure you that if you’re even moderately handy around the house, you can install your own front projector and screen.
First things first, I like to start with the screen. The screen should be your anchor, not the projector. Think of it this way, the screen is what you’ll actually be looking at, so it’s important to have it where you want it in the room and then worry about how to get the projector where it belongs. I fully acknowledge that there are other schools of thought on which comes first (the projector or the screen) but after having installed an upwards of 125 front projection systems over the years, I have come to know, love and embrace the path of screen first.
So with that we need to establish the proper height to mount the screen at. Even though we’re installing the screen first, take a quick look over your shoulder at the area where you’ll mount the projector and look for any obstructions. If you see a heating and air vent, smoke detector, ceiling fan or anything else that might be in the path of the projector or mount, you’ll need to factor that in. i.e. if the true center of your room is offset by 2” to the right due to an obstruction, you’ll want to shift your screen over to the right by 2”.
Jun
13
How-to: Install a Front Projector & Screen (Part 2)
Filed Under Front Projection, Mounting & Installation | 2 Comments
Read the First Part of the Article: How-to: Install a Front Projector & Screen.
So with our projection screen mounted and waiting for video, it’s almost time to mount our projector. But before we do (you guessed it) there are a few tasks we have to accomplish first, one of them is determining the screens centerline, centering a projector is critical for proper optical alignment. I’ve seen and heard dozens of methods for determining true center in relation to a fixed object but none of them seem as easy or ultimately accurate (no, using a tape measure isn’t accurate, that assumes your room is perfectly symmetrical, it’s not) as the one I use.
For this part you’ll need an assistant, a ladder, the nylon string and pencil I mentioned previously. Pull off a long piece of the string and tie a knot at one end, have your assistant hold that knot in their hand and hold it up to one end of the screen frame (fig. A – at the top of the screen). Now, pull off enough string to make it back far enough so that you’re into the projector manufacturers recommended throw distance (Fig. P) for your particular screen size. (Note: the throw distance can either be found in the owner’s manual or on-line by searching for brand/model + throw distance).
Once you’re certain you’re back far enough into the recommended throw distance (preferably ¾ into it), tie the string around the pencil and pull the string tight. Once you’ve done so point the pencil toward the ceiling and make a light mark in an arc motion. Have your assistant move to the other side of the screen (Fig. B) with the string and then make a second, complimentary mark from the other side. As long as all the variables were minimized, i.e. the assistant held the string at the same position on each side of the screen and you pulled the string tight, you’ll have a perfect center mark.
Now a bit about cabling, of course you’ll want to run a HDMI cable from your equipment to the projector, and for good measure I’d recommend a component cable as well but go ahead and run a CAT5/6 cable as well. You may use the CAT5 cable as a screen trigger, you may use it as an IR emitter, you may never use it at all, but there is no time like the present to build in a little future-proofing. Now, since we’re on the subject of cables, we need to talk about getting power to the projector.
Jun
2
Samsung LCD’s with HTPC’s
Filed Under Media Servers (HTPC) | 1 Comment
These tips are somewhat brand specific but I just wanted to share a few things that might be helpful to those of you with shiny new Samsung LCD televisions. First off and this shouldn’t really come as a surprise to anyone familiar with consumer displays, but just keep in mind that just about every type of consumer grade display be it LCD, plasma, LCoS, front or rear projection will need to be calibrated; to get the best image the set is capable of displaying.
One of the biggest adjustment problems with off-the-shelf displays has to be brightness and contrast settings cranked up into the ionosphere. Honestly some of these televisions could light a small home, don’t be afraid to take the brightness down a notch or five. Getting to the HTPC specifics, if you’re using a VGA cable to connect to a recent “LN” or similar series Samsung (LCD television) you’ll want to select setup and then select “Home Theater PC”.
If you’re using HDMI and or a DVI to HDMI converter you’ll simply want to select “Just Scan” via the picture size control, this allows the display to operate in a 1:1 or pass-through mode which is preferable with HTPC’s. Note if you do use the 1:1 mode you may need to tweak the over scan controls of your HTPC to get an exact screen size match.