When watching your projector...

Woody26 · 21-07-2009, 8:35 PM

....do you have any background light on? Nothing overly bright, just to lighten the room a little and make it a bit easier on the eyes

Bobdk · 21-07-2009, 8:50 PM

No. Totally blacked out room and no background lighting. The PJ is not on full power and I have a unity gain screen. JVC HD1.
It does not hurt my eyes nor anyone elses who watches a movie with me.

kbfern · 21-07-2009, 9:20 PM

No nothing on(lights that is)

*cyberheater* · 21-07-2009, 9:26 PM

I continually quest to get the room as black as possible. Even covering up LED's on amps etc...

The darker the room, the more performance you can get out of your projector.

jacko5 · 21-07-2009, 9:41 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by cyberheater

I continually quest to get the room as black as possible. Even covering up LED's on amps etc...

The darker the room, the more performance you can get out of your projector.

Ditto!

MrStinky · 21-07-2009, 9:54 PM

Blacked out, no lights.

Doesn't hurt my eyes and the pj generates ample light to allow me to find both my drink and my remote so that's all I need. everyone else just suffers in silence if it's a problem as I've had no complaints.

kaztomian · 21-07-2009, 10:08 PM

Bat-Cave for me too, although the Guano is getting a little ripe with the hot weather.

sbowler · 21-07-2009, 10:32 PM

Total blackout here too.

Grumpykev · 22-07-2009, 5:01 AM

I try to get the room as dark as possible - nightmare when I'm trying to read the remote buttons but great for the movie!

Woody26 · 22-07-2009, 9:49 AM

Seems the general opinion is dark then!

pugheaven · 22-07-2009, 10:15 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Woody26

Seems the general opinion is dark then!

Well, any sort of lighting, esepcially red bulbs (which I have in small table lamps), effects the screen image in weird way, better to just have it as black as possible... and a high gain screen if you can't get it black black

Phill1978 · 22-07-2009, 11:13 AM

perhaps for health and safety, perhaps for comfort but cinemas use subtle roof and floor lighting.

i would suggest a small glow is ok but you would have to work around how much is acceptable.. its just plain odd to sit in darkness constantly in your living room.

many people are sat down away from the light switch and on a movie if you need to pause and walk to the loo its a wee bit dangerous to fumble around.

but then again turning the light on midway to go to the loo loses the ambience offered and then it reminds you or your room/house and watching a pj screen.

for me subtle lighting is perfectly acceptable, some users on here have a band around the top of the room in a recess !

kbfern · 22-07-2009, 4:40 PM

Maybe you should carry a torch and it would be just like when I was a kid at the flicks when the attendant showed you to your seat with her torch>

Normal Bias · 23-07-2009, 12:38 PM

I think some light behind the screen is ok, ie a dim glow, not so much that it finds its way onto the front. This may even be preferable to a batcave, for two reasons:

1. Your eyes have a dynamic iris (which you can't switch off

). If it is really dark then obviously your irises will open to allow more light in, and you will "get used to the dark". This will make you more aware of the dim glow that is a projected black screen.

2. Lots of black velvet provides a reference black that will contrast with the almost-black of the screen.

Clearly you don't want any unprojected light to hit the screen, via reflections and so on, as it will affect your C/R, there is no doubting that. But the "no light whatsoever, ever!" is not necessarily nirvana either.

To test this out I've created two images to simulate an almost-black screen, one in a batcave and one with a light wall behind. The grey looks blacker in the latter case (ideally the pics should be viewed in total darkness, so that your eyes get used to the dark, but if you look close up and block out light with your hands it gives an idea of the effect I'm talking about). This is an extreme case, as such a light wall would probably spill light onto the screen, but the principal is the same.

PS you may need to adjust your contrast/brightness to see the grey rectangle

mossym · 23-07-2009, 12:44 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Normal Bias

I think some light behind the screen is ok, ie a dim glow, not so much that it finds its way onto the front. This may even be preferable to a batcave, for two reasons:

framing your screen with a lighter color will also make the screen appear smaller*...so there is a trade off

supposedly comes from basic home decorating and design, framing something makes it smaller...

Normal Bias · 23-07-2009, 12:49 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by mossym

framing your screen with a lighter color will also make the screen appear smaller*...so there is a trade off

supposedly comes from basic home decorating and design, framing something makes it smaller...

Quite possibly yes, hadn't thought of that. Depends how relatively problematic your black levels and screen size are I guess. If it's plenty big enough but not black enough....

tryingtimes · 24-07-2009, 9:00 AM

If someone does find that they prefer some light in the room. The best bet would be to put it behind the screen. There was a trend a few years ago on AVS for people to pull the screen a few inches off the back wall and fit rope light behind it to create an ambient glow.

The trick is to stop this light from bouncing around the room back onto the front of the screen.

Personally, as close to blackout as possible works for me
I've tried the rope light thing and it works pretty well for TV, but it still stops me being completely immersed in a film.

Woody26 · 24-07-2009, 9:23 AM

Some interesting debate here! Didn't think I'd generate this many posts. I think the ideal solution would be some lights on dimmers so they could really be turned down low when watching the projector. Do agree that films really need to have no light at all

mossym · 24-07-2009, 9:26 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Woody26

Some interesting debate here! Didn't think I'd generate this many posts. I think the ideal solution would be some lights on dimmers so they could really be turned down low when watching the projector. Do agree that films really need to have no light at all

i have my in ceiling spots controlled by a dimmer which has an ir sensor so i can control it with my harmony remote. It has a full on or full of control, or i can dim via the remote as well. i find as they are spots i can have a very low level of light, enough to see, not enough to read) without affecting the picture too much. however the effect is definitely better in the full dark, which is how i watch movies

i would never put lights around a screen...they serve no purpose as far as i can see except for a visual effect and i don't like the effect they can have