Aaron
I do presentations in different hotels on a weekly basis. It's tough to be space efficient when I have a table with a projector right in the middle. I want to be able to have a classroom style presentation, but there's wasted space because no one can sit in front or behind the projection. I can't do a regular projector mount because it's meant to be permanent, so I would like one that sets up in 30 mins or less and can be taken down without making a mess or leaving holes in the hotel ceiling.
Answer
If we take a leaf out of the film industry's book, the lighting gaffer on documentaries often use telescopic poles to span a room and act as a temporary bridge. The pole presses against the walls at each end. Lights can then be hung off it and there's no floor stands or tripods in the way. There are quite a few caveats though. If the room is very large then the poles will be enormous. This means they're difficult to transport and they flex under load. There's the room construction itself to consider: Are the walls strong enough to stand the pressure, and will it leave marks after removal. Then there's permission and insurance. Finally, cost, which I'll come back to at the end.
Rigging up some sort of tall stand then having an inverted mount on the top is an option. However, do you and your audience want to be looking past the centre pole at each presentation? Probably not.
You could invest in a smaller table or pedestal stand for the projector. That way you aren't losing an entire desk space.
However, the most sensible solution would be an ultra-short throw projector. These have a lens that makes a very large image at a much shorter distance than conventional projectors. The typical throw ratio is around 0.5. Put it another way, for every 1ft of image width the projection distance needs be only 6". Position your work table in front of your screen. Place the projector at 3ft from the screen surface. The image width would be 6ft (72"). That would be bigger than a 96" diagonal 4:3 screen. You'll have gained back all the space lost with the older longer throw projector.
I said I'd come back to costs at the end. Short throw projectors are used a lot in classrooms and meeting rooms now. They start at prices of under $600. For example, the Infocus IN124ST can be bought at BestBuy for $598. There are other makes and models and other suppliers. Compared to complicated solutions with poles and stands the short throw projector works out much cheaper and a lot less hassle.
If we take a leaf out of the film industry's book, the lighting gaffer on documentaries often use telescopic poles to span a room and act as a temporary bridge. The pole presses against the walls at each end. Lights can then be hung off it and there's no floor stands or tripods in the way. There are quite a few caveats though. If the room is very large then the poles will be enormous. This means they're difficult to transport and they flex under load. There's the room construction itself to consider: Are the walls strong enough to stand the pressure, and will it leave marks after removal. Then there's permission and insurance. Finally, cost, which I'll come back to at the end.
Rigging up some sort of tall stand then having an inverted mount on the top is an option. However, do you and your audience want to be looking past the centre pole at each presentation? Probably not.
You could invest in a smaller table or pedestal stand for the projector. That way you aren't losing an entire desk space.
However, the most sensible solution would be an ultra-short throw projector. These have a lens that makes a very large image at a much shorter distance than conventional projectors. The typical throw ratio is around 0.5. Put it another way, for every 1ft of image width the projection distance needs be only 6". Position your work table in front of your screen. Place the projector at 3ft from the screen surface. The image width would be 6ft (72"). That would be bigger than a 96" diagonal 4:3 screen. You'll have gained back all the space lost with the older longer throw projector.
I said I'd come back to costs at the end. Short throw projectors are used a lot in classrooms and meeting rooms now. They start at prices of under $600. For example, the Infocus IN124ST can be bought at BestBuy for $598. There are other makes and models and other suppliers. Compared to complicated solutions with poles and stands the short throw projector works out much cheaper and a lot less hassle.
Can a projector be mounted to the side?
booieh
We have a projector that we would like to use outside by the pool, and the screen would be located directly behind the pool, but due to throw distance we would have to mount the projector off to the left of the screen. It doesn't really matter if part of the image is slightly cut off as long as the entire screen is filled. We also havent built the screen yet, so we can build it to any size. The location that we are considering is approxamitley 22 feet from the center of where the screen will be.
We decided to change the position of the screen. We will angle it so it is in line with the projector. Thanks for the answers.
Answer
What you are proposing is not practical. Most projectors will allow you to be a few degrees off-centre (although some must be mounted in line with the centre of the screen). 22ft off-centre is far too much and you would have a very distorted picture (the part of the screen nearest the projector wouldn't be totally filled and the part that is furthest away would overlap over the edge).
Most projectors only have a small range of places where they can be mounted (limited horizontal and vertical shift). The distance from the screen is also determined by 2 factors: the zoom on the lens and the size of the screen. You really need to ensure the light from the projector is at 90 degrees to the screen, otherwise the picture will be distorted.
What you are proposing is not practical. Most projectors will allow you to be a few degrees off-centre (although some must be mounted in line with the centre of the screen). 22ft off-centre is far too much and you would have a very distorted picture (the part of the screen nearest the projector wouldn't be totally filled and the part that is furthest away would overlap over the edge).
Most projectors only have a small range of places where they can be mounted (limited horizontal and vertical shift). The distance from the screen is also determined by 2 factors: the zoom on the lens and the size of the screen. You really need to ensure the light from the projector is at 90 degrees to the screen, otherwise the picture will be distorted.
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