I need a solution for vertical image drop for a living room projector in this configuration:

- projector mounted in lift concealed in 12' ceilings
- 106' diagonal screen with a desired drop of approx 60"
- approx 12' from projector to screen

I see three opportunities to shift the image to match the 60" drop:
a. Drop the projector on a scissor lift
b. Find a projector with 100%+ vertical lens shift
c. Angle the projector and use LOTS of keystone correction

Is it realistic/wise to solve this with only b. and c.? In other words, should I try to solve this without a scissor lift, or is a scissor lift a must? Thanks.

B & C will only work if optical distortion is acceptable.

What do your suppliers recommend?

Dropping the projector, which I'm about sold on.

You should absolutely drop the projector on a lift.

A!

I did something like that using a lift (drop?) from Auton. It was the type that used what looked like a pair of roller shades that supported a platform in the middle, where the projector sat. The bottom of the platform was covered with T&G to match the ceiling, which looked really nice. The hardest part was getting the projector to drop consistently. The rolled material wanted to walk if the lift unit wasn't perfectly level, which would push the image off the screen. But we eventually got it.

EDIT - IIRC, I think we dropped the projector about 24". It was a pretty good amount, actually.

Other than Auton, any recommendations for a lift that can drop 4 to 5 feet? I’ve been talking to Draper, but the pre-Sales support has not been great.

I know you're talking about 12' from screen to projector, but is it possible that one of those ridiculously short throw projectors would do what you want? I don't remember any brands or model numbers, but they use a different approach to the throw and maybe this could help.

I just used one of those for a super bowl party temp installation and it worked out really well - 123" image with the lens just ~58" from the screen. The top of the image was about 10-12" below the projector, which is something I hadn't expected, since I'm used to 'conventional' projectors. It was just a little Optoma gaming projector someone gave me a while back...I don't even know the model number. But the people thought it was the coolest thing in the world.

crosen - it sounds like you're looking to drop the projector and screen by the same amount, and I *highly* doubt that's what you actually want/need to do. I would think (based on past experiences) that you'd first set your screen limits to drop that to the desired height, then you'd drop the projector to the point where the top of the screen is at the same height as the top of the lens when the projector is level. That amount would likely end up being way less than 60".

The 60” drop is from ceiling to top of the screen. That distance is large because the ceilings are 12’ high.

...and what he wrote about? His question was whether you want to drop the projector by the same amount as the screen.

There are also a variety of projection patterns. I'm describing this from the point of view of an upside-down ceiling-mount projector: before implementing image shift, some projectors have the lens at the height of the center of the image, some have the lens at the top of the image, and some have the lens above the top edge of the image. These different types of projector would of course result in different required drop distances and the latter type would require the least drop of the projector.

If you want a scissor drop, Draper is about it that are reasonably priced.

Chief and DaLite don’t offer that much drop.

I don’t think I’d be willing to try anything else.

The fully unpack my response:

- 60” is the distance from the ceiling to the TOP of the screen.

- I DO want the projector level with the TOP of the screen.

- The projector is dropping down from the ceiling.

- Ergo, 60” IS how much I want the projector to drop, which is the same amount that I want the screen to drop.


We haven’t speced a projector, yet, so we don’t know the pattern. However, one thing I feel we can bank on is that having the projector level with the top of the screen and mounted upside down will allow us to properly center the image on the screen.