Short Throw projectors are a big boon for someone who wants to set up a projector within a small room. As the name suggests, short throw projectors require a small space to produce a big projection size.
As a result, you can place a short throw projector either on your coffee table and place it very close to your projection surface. To further save your space, it is crucial to question, can short throw projectors be ceiling mounted? And that’s what we’re going to answer in this article.
Before that, it is important to understand that there are two types of short throw projectors:
- Regular short throw projectors: It produces a 100-inch screen from a distance of just 5-6 feet from the projection wall
- Ultra short throw projector: It sits just a few inches away from the projection surface to project a 100-inch screen. UST projector’s ideal placement is on a TV stand.
In comparison, a long throw projector requires around 10-12 feet distance to produce a 100-inch screen.
Can Short Throw Projectors be Ceiling Mounted?
The short answer is Yes, you can easily ceiling mount a regular short throw projector, whereas, for an ultra short throw projector, you’ll need a specialized wall mount like this one.
Ultra short throw projectors are a relatively new technology and sit on the pricier end of the spectrum. On the other hand, regular short throw projectors have been selling for a long time and are readily available under $700.
If ceiling mounting is concerned, you can easily mount a regular short throw projector with the VIVO adjustable projector mount and run power to it.
In comparison, the ideal placement for an ultra short throw projector is on a TV stand. Although, several wall mounts are available in the market that will help you mount a UST projector on a wall and free up your room’s real estate.
Having said that, ultra short throw projectors work best when used with an ALR (Ambient Light Rejection) screen. In case you wall mount an ultra short throw projector, it defeats the whole purpose of the ALR screen.
An ALR screen works best when an ultra short throw projector is placed on a TV stand. It’s because the screen displays the content from the projector and eliminates glares and reflections from sunlight and surrounding lights.
As you can see in the above illustration, an ALR screen has a textured surface that displays anything that is projected from the bottom of the screen. On the other hand, any light coming from top is rejected and not reflected by the screen.
What are the uses of a Short Throw Projector?
A regular short throw projector works like other popular long throw projectors like Epson EX9220 or the BenQ HT2050A. However, it requires almost half the distance to produce a big projection than a long throw projector.
If you’re wondering, can you ceiling mount a short throw projector? Then the answer is Yes, you can ceiling mount a short throw projector. Plus, you can also use it on a coffee table or a dedicated projector stand.
Short throw projectors work well in a small room or limited space. They find their main applications in gaming or to set up a home golf simulator in a compact room.
The shorter projection distance also means you can get brighter projections even with the same brightness as long throw projectors. Since the projector lamp’s light needs to travel shorter distance, short throw projectors seem brighter even at a similar brightness output.
Some of the popular short throw projectors are BenQ TH671ST, Optoma GT1080HDR, and Viewsonic X10-4KE.
What are the uses of an Ultra Short Throw Projector?
While short throw projectors are an excellent replacement to long throw projectors in a compact room; however, ultra short throw projectors aim at replacing your TV by providing a massive 100-120 inch screen. Moreover, a UST projector sits very close to the projection screen; hence, cable management is effortless. It eliminates the need of longer wires or run them across your entire room.
Ultra short throw projectors are relatively new, and hence a decent UST projector can cost upwards of $2000. Moreover, a satisfactory 100-inch ALR projection screen costs $500+, which increases the total price by a significant margin.
On the upside, you get a massive screen size that can work during daytime with the help of ALR technology. Most people prefer UST projectors because they require very small space, the projection quality is faultless and has no problem with lamp replacement. It’s because UST projectors use a LASER light source and can last up to 20,000-30,000 hours.
Problems Associated with Ceiling Mounting Short Throw Projectors
For a regular short throw projector, there’s hardly any problem with ceiling mounting. Hundreds of ceiling mounts are available to mount your short throw projectors, and you’re good to go.
In comparison, ultra short throw projectors aren’t made with ceiling mounting in mind. Most UST projectors either don’t have mounting holes at the bottom, or the option to flip the screen.
In addition, ultra short throw projectors are also heavy and weigh upwards of 20 pounds. It’s because UST projectors consist of multiple lenses and the LASER equipment that adds up the weight. Furthermore, several UST projectors also come with an inbuilt speaker system consisting of several speakers.
For example, a popular UST projector like the Epson Epiqvision LS300 comes with a 2.1 speaker system from Yamaha. It consists of two tweeters and one subwoofer module, which increases the projector’s overall weight.
Hence, before purchasing an ultra short throw projector, make sure the projector has mounting holes and a flip screen option. You can check it by going through the projector’s instruction manual from the manufacturer’s website.
Conclusion
I hope this article helped answer your question, can short throw projectors be ceiling mounted? The simple answer is yes, but there are quite a few caveats that need consideration.
While regular short throw projectors are ceiling mount-friendly, the same cannot be said about an ultra short throw projector. Suppose you are considering purchasing an ultra short throw projector, then make sure the projector has ceiling mounting holes and the option to flip the projection screen.
In addition, you can cannot take advantage of an ALR screen and need to use a regular projector screen or paint your wall with projector paint.
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