Where else can I place my Wii sensor bar? Need help! (picture inside)

[sofakng]

I have a projector with a very large screen on a very small wall.

(Yes, the screen is probably too big for the wall, but it's too late now to buy a brand new screen since the one I have was quite expensive...)

Here is a picture of my home theater: (click on it to view more pictures)


Here is the wall with the screen:

The WHITE area is the screen itself (110" diagonal, 16x9 ratio)
The BLACK area is the frame around the screen.
The GREY area is the wall.

The distance from the screen to my seats is 11 feet.

As you can see, I have almost two feet underneath my screen and a couple of inches above the screen.

When I place my sensor bar underneath the screen, I have to aim the Wii remote almost towards the floor to aim. When I'm sitting in my chair, it's very, very uncomfortable because I have to aim the remote so low.

When I place the sensor bar above the screen it's too high for the Wii remote to even see it when I'm sitting down.

Ideally I need the sensor bar in the middle of the screen but obviously that's not possible. (the screen is _not_ transparent).

Can I build a custom sensor bar solution by placing LEDs on the SIDES of the screen? That means the LEDs would be very, very far apart so I don't think this would work.

Can anybody help me out?

 

[CantGetAWii]

Well my suggestions would be to try standing while playing, only if you feel comfortable doing so while playing. Although, like me I only like standing while playing Wii Sports really, and like sitting while playing Metroid Prime 3.

So if standing is no good, I hear candles can be used to work as a sensor bar, so if you can find a good spot for them that should work.

 

[LevesqueIsKing]

^Yes, I also heard that candles can be used to replace the sensor bar, although it might get a little annoying to have to light candles every time you want to play lol. Other then that, I can't think of a solution.

 

[Wh1te_Fang]

go in to the wii settings and chage your sensor bar settings DUH
you most likly have it set on above the tv

 

[Brawny]

what that guy said, but nicer.

The reason you have to point at the ground, is because the wii thinks your bar is still above the Tv.

My recommendation to you, and most other projector-using wii-players, is grab a table, maybe 30 inches or so tall, and set your bar on that, half way between your couch and your screen. Most people refuse to move their bar from the same plane as the tv, while in actuality, it doesn't really have to lie flush.

 

[sofakng]

Thanks for all of the replies.

First off, I do have my sensor bar configured properly (eg. if it's above the screen it's set to "Above TV" and it's below the screen it's set to "Below TV").

What happens when the distance between the IR emitters is increased?

For example, what would happen if I have one candle on each side of my screen? (the distance between them would be about 8 feet, where-as the Nintendo sensor bar has the IR emitters only 7.5 inches from each other)

 

[cyberzomby]

what that guy said, but nicer.

The reason you have to point at the ground, is because the wii thinks your bar is still above the Tv.

My recommendation to you, and most other projector-using wii-players, is grab a table, maybe 30 inches or so tall, and set your bar on that, half way between your couch and your screen. Most people refuse to move their bar from the same plane as the tv, while in actuality, it doesn't really have to lie flush.

Thats what I was thinking of as well. It doesnt have to be on the tv ( or under it ) it needs to be somewhere where it can pick up the wiimote.

AMAZING Basement! I would like that someday

Does the screen play wiigames niceley? Do they get pixely?

 

[6ix]

Sorry to freepost but WOW your basement looks really similar to mine exact same screen size too. Everything except that Arcade Machine.


Anyway my screen is placed in like a 3 inch indent in the wall, and since the screen is only like a quarter inch in terms of depth, I put my wireless sensor bar on the ledge of that indent. You could also just get a stand that fits the height requirements, the Sensor Bar can balance on really any surface such as a small cabinet, speaker stand, etc.

 

[Brawny]

For example, what would happen if I have one candle on each side of my screen? (the distance between them would be about 8 feet, where-as the Nintendo sensor bar has the IR emitters only 7.5 inches from each other)

Well, it's simple trigonometry really. say the lights are 3.75in from the middle. The bisector has a length of say, 6 ft. (the distance from the tv on a normal tv.) The corner angles would both be 87 degrees. Use the tan function with an adjacent side of 48 in. and find the opposite side (the distance from the projector).

This comes to about 35-75 ft. away from your tv screen..... This is to get the remote to see exactly the same thing that it would see on a normal bar, normal distance from the tv. I'd say 3 or 4 feet apart for the candles is all you would want really.

Easier would be use the normal bar, and bring it a little closer to you, as I stated earlier.

 

[billcsho]

To answer your question, check out my thread on the distance test of wireless sensor box
http://www.wiichat.com/nintendo-wii-hardware/33224-diy-wireless-sensor-bar-distance-test.html

 

[yungblood6]

can some one explain to me how candles do any thing? what does lighting candles do?

 

[billcsho]

can some one explain to me how candles do any thing? what does lighting candles do?

It emits heat (infra-red) that can be detected by the WiiMote just as the IR LEDs from the sensor bar.

 

[Sevenhurts]

what EXACT difference does the infra-red lights from candles make the response of controllers though. ive been reading about this candle idea.. and it just doesnt make that much sense to me. please evaluate on this for me.

 

[d4mahern]

From my undestanding it makes no difference. The remote picks up the infrared the candles emit just as the sensor bar emits infrared. The only thing i could see causing a difference would be if you had a drafty basement and the flame flickered alot. Im not even sure if that would make a difference but it may make the cursor jitter a little...

 

[dakuda]

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