 You should plan for the placement of your DLP projector and screen before anything else. Here are four basic plans for your consideration. Plan A is cheap, easy and will get you started quickly. But read and consider the plan before purchasing your projector.
In all the plans your PC will typically have a dual monitor hook-up with the projector as the primary display and a CRT or LCD screen as your secondary monitor. |
General Considerations for All Setups
Plan A - Quick and Easy
Plan A works well if you have your PC set up by a office type desk or table placed against a wall. Basically you are using the wall as the projector screen or hanging a screen on the wall. I've taped large, white poster board on the wall with good results. You will place the projector on a platform sitting 4 to 5 feet behind you while sitting at the desk. |
There are some drawbacks to Plan-A, but you may find them tolerable. The projector must be offset as shown below so that your torso does not block the projector beam. This offset causes some minor "key stoning." That is, the screen image will be slightly trapezoidal instead of rectangular. The offset only needs to be 2 to 3 feet off-center, and is minimized if you sit slightly to the side of the screen or sit at a slight angle |
At the 3D Flight Simulation laboratory an example of plan A is set up. The projector had to be dimmed for the camera, but one can see that key stoning is hardly evident. The projector set back is 4 and 1/2 feet from the desk and 7 feet from the white board wall hanging (used for the screen). The image produced is a 54 inch display. An old TV table is used for the projector platform. The height of both desk and platform is 30 inches. |
Be sure to have a stable platform for your projector. A low cost option is the kind of utility shelving (left) available at your local hardware store. This particular shelf has a height of 39 inches which places the image above eye-level. Wood blocks were used to tilt the image back down to desired level.
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Plan A - Advantages and Disadvantages
Besides being easy to set up, this arrangement makes your projector easily removable for use in other rooms for DVD home theater, to take along for demonstrations, etc. You may not, however, like having to sit in a set position to avoid casting your shadow onto the screen. Having cables strung across the floor may also be an annoyance.
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MORE PLANS
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You will need to buy a 10 foot or longer VGA extension cord for your projector. These are fairly inexpensive and available at Tigerdirect.com.
You may also need an extension cord for power to the projector. Obtain a heavy duty, 3-prong cord. Do not use a 2-prong lamp extension chord.