# Projector distance 19FL or 13FL which is better and why



## killintime (Aug 27, 2011)

Im trying to decide at what depth to put my projector in my new HT room...

My room dimensions are 21'Lx14'Wx8"H


I have one row at 13ft (front) and one row at 19ft Back row on 13" riser

As you can see i dont have much headroom on the backrow after the riser roughly 7ft

Would you put the projector at the back of the room (20ft)(13FL) or

hang it up above the first row around (15ft)(19FL)

i want to be able to stand in front of the screen and play the wii etc will one give me a less chance of causing a shadow on the scrren will one give me a better picture quality?

i found the Fl using the calculator on projector central..Im going to use a Epson 8350 and a Jamestown 120"white screen 1.2gain

I have total light control no windows


Any and all suggestions are appreciated


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## killintime (Aug 27, 2011)

ANYONE??????????


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## killintime (Aug 27, 2011)

I was expecting a little more help 

SIMPLE question is 20FL too much for a dark room????


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## sga2 (Nov 14, 2009)

The closer the PJ is to the screen, the better chance you'll have to avoid blocking part of the image while playing Wii. Whether or not it will make much difference is a matter of your geometry (PJ mtg height, bottom of screen height, PJ-to-screen distance, how tall you are, how close to screen you'll be). Sketch the room in section (screen on one side and PJ on other). Draw a line from the lens to the bottom of the screen - that is the line your head needs to stay below to avoid shadows. Moving the PJ closer will allow you to be closer to the screen and stay below the line.

20fl may be higher than you need but I'd think you can tame with PJ's controls if necessary. Plus that is probably the brightest the PJ will be at max settings (factory "dynamic" picture setting, no lamp eco mode, etc.) and not what you'll end up with in real, post-calibration application anyway.

Regards,
sga2


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## jarrod1937 (Oct 26, 2008)

The answer depends on the reflectivity of the room too in my opinion. Though the calculator at projector central uses the published lumen output from the manufacturer... and as sga2 mentioned, those figures are very (very) often exaggerated and do not represent real world use. I've seen proper calibration bring a 1,000 lumen rated projector to a calibrated lumen output of 500 lumens. Proper calibration brings in a lot of the tricks used to boost lumen output, like the boosting of green or blue (mercury vapor lamps tend to be lacking in red output) and so on.
If you have the projector with you i'd turn it on attached to an extension cord and move it around while pointing it at your screen. You will be able to find the balance between sharpness, screen size, and brightness. Just keep in mind that the lumen output will decrease with age, so give yourself a bit of room with work with. And as mentioned, distance also affects sharpness, generally having the zoom lens in the middle position will give you the best sharpness and lack of chromatic aberrations.


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## tonyvdb (Sep 5, 2007)

The closer the projector to the screen the brighter the image will be as even the air will reduce the amount of light that gets to the screen. Although not a huge difference there is a difference.


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## killintime (Aug 27, 2011)

Thanks for the help sga


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## NegativeEntropy (Apr 22, 2009)

tonyvdb said:


> The closer the projector to the screen the brighter the image will be as even the air will reduce the amount of light that gets to the screen. Although not a huge difference there is a difference.


I just wanted to note that my understanding is that projectors are dimmest at their furthest position for a given screen size because of the losses in the zoom lens. Though I am sure there are some losses due to scattering, I expect it's very small compared to the zoom effect.

For example, for the projector in question, Art at Projector Reviews measured 1640 lumens in dynamic mode at the furthest zoomed out position, 1378 at mid point and 987 zoomed all the way in. In general, the "higher" the zoom number (e.g. Epson's 2.1:1 compared to most DLP's 1.3:1), the larger the % loss for a furthest placement vs. nearest placement for a given screen size. 

To reduce lumen output use cinema modes (vs. e.g. Living Room, Normal or Dynamic) and engage the "eco" lamp setting (on this model it dropped brightness by 23 percent). Some projectors have a manual iris that can be used to reduce light output too, though I do not think this Epson is one if them.

Lastly, please note that the lumens reported by Art are generally at the mid point of the zoom range (for what might be called "typical" placement) and Projector Central generally reports the highest lumen number (projector zoomed all the way out or placed as close as possible to the screen).


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