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[Mila.G]

I’m finally ready to take the plunge and build a proper home theater system, but I’m completely stuck on the first major decision: the projector. My living room is a bit of a challenge—it’s a long, narrow rectangle about 18 feet from the wall where I want the screen to the back wall where the couch is, but there’s a ceiling fan hanging right in the middle of the room that I absolutely cannot move. I’ve been researching for weeks, and the biggest point of confusion for me is understanding the throw ratio. I know I need a projector that can fit a 120-inch image in that distance without the lens being physically blocked by the fan, which means the unit will likely have to be mounted closer to the back wall. Everyone talks about lumens and resolution, but I’m realizing that if I get the throw ratio wrong, nothing else matters. I’m trying to balance a desire for a sharp 4K image with the reality of my room’s physical constraints and a budget that’s creeping uncomfortably close to $2,000. Has anyone else dealt with a similar obstacle, and how did you calculate the exact placement to avoid shadows and still get the image size you wanted?

[Alexander_T]

Throw distance = image width × throw ratio. For a 120” diag (≈104.6” wide), at 18 ft you’d need about a 2.1:1 throw ratio. With a ceiling fan in the path, the safer route is a short‑throw/UST mounted near the screen (or a high‑mounted lens‑shift model) so the beam clears the blades. You can still get 4K and workable brightness around $2k if you pick a 2000–3000‑lumen projector.