CurtPalme.com Home Theater Forum

[akajester]

I was wondering if someone could help me. I've looked all over and have found guides to setup a crt projector, but nothing on the physical setup. For instance, how do you know if your screen is flat, or straight. How do you know if the projector is lined up with the screen properly. This may sound simple, but I'd love to find a good article to learn the basics. I've heard of a string technique, where you tape it to the green lens bottom and check the lengths to the screen corners. Anything like this would be really helpful.

I think some of the issues I'm having relate to either the projector not being straight with the screen, or perhaps the screen wall wasn't perfectly plumb so the screen is off a little on one corner. I'm hoping if I fix these physical issues I can go through the setup again and better the pq.

as always, thanks in advance!

-akajester

[ecrabb]

Do some searching. There are several different threads with info on physical setup and alignment.

To check plumb on the screen, a good old plumb bob or 3-4' carpenter's level is hard to beat. To check flatness, some mason's string or fishing line will easily reveal any bow or waves.

To get the projector square to the screen and centered, there are several methods. The string technique is one, but I don't care for it for several reasons. Instead, I prefer to find the ray precisely from screen center and project it out to the mount. If you're careful, it's extremely accurate. Use a tape measure and mark your screen center at top and bottom on some removable painter's tape (use the screen border if you have a delicate screen material). Tape a string between the two points. Project that line into a point on the ceiling. You now have two points on the ceiling that match the plane the screen is on. Then, use the 3-4-5 rule/technique (google it) to find the central projection ray. You can combine all that with a spinning laser level to get the projector square to the screen within 1/16" or so. You'll need some masking tape to make the marks on and you'll probably need a helper. It's not super-fast, but it works really well and it's damn accurate.

If you have questions, ask away.

SC

[ecrabb]

Here's a thread on the subject:
https://www.curtpalme.com/forum_archived/viewtopic.php@t=12911.html

I go into a little more detail on the method I outlined above in this one:
https://www.curtpalme.com/forum_archived/viewtopic.php@t=12056.html

SC

[akajester]

Thanks for the info, sounds like I have some reading to do. Thanks!