720p content - 120" - 13ft distance?

[rossyl]

Hi guys,

I'm thinking of doing the following but am concerned that much of my content will be in 720p, just due to an old library I built up a while back that I still enjoy watching.

Just wondering if 720p on a projector might lack detail?

I'm yet to buy a projector but if want the projector to at least handle 1080p and maybe 4k for more modern content.

Throw distance is about 13ft.

Screen size will be 100-120" (more likely 120")

Grateful for thoughts, before I go making mistakes!

Thanks

 

[Praetorpwj]

Hi there could you give a bit more info.

Is your 100 - 120” screen measured diagonal and will it be 16:9 or 2.35:1?

Are you measuring throw distance from lens to screen or from back wall to screen?

What is viewing distance to screen?

In general I find that 720p material will not look great on a screen that size without upscaling. I personally don’t watch anything less than 1080p on projector. I also like a lot of older material but generally get better results on tv.

 

[3rdignis]

Compression and quality of the master will have an effect.
A streaming subscription may be better, or go slow with used bluray.

 

[rossyl]

Hi there could you give a bit more info.

Is your 100 - 120” screen measured diagonal and will it be 16:9 or 2.35:1?

Could be either.
As being used for TV, I would assume 2.35.1

Are you measuring throw distance from lens to screen or from back wall to screen?

16ft
Lens to screen, though its pretty much the same measurement, projecting the length of the room

What is viewing distance to screen?

13-14ft

In general I find that 720p material will not look great on a screen that size without upscaling. I personally don’t watch anything less than 1080p on projector. I also like a lot of older material but generally get better results on tv.

A little worrying. As loads of my content is 720p.
It will be going via a AV Receiver to the projector.

Would I be better with a 720p projector?
Would it be OK at 100" or 120"?

 

[3rdignis]

THX viewing distance
120" 2.4:1 - 14.2feet
Gives 96" 16:9 - 10.7feet

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I have 2.4 100"screen and sit at thx distance. When watching 80" 16:9 DVD I keep chair at same position, 16:9 bluray I move chair closer to thx distance.

You will have light spill with a 2.4:1 screen.

 

[moujik]

Hi guys,

I'm thinking of doing the following but am concerned that much of my content will be in 720p, just due to an old library I built up a while back that I still enjoy watching.

Just wondering if 720p on a projector might lack detail?

I'm yet to buy a projector but if want the projector to at least handle 1080p and maybe 4k for more modern content.

Throw distance is about 13ft.

Screen size will be 100-120" (more likely 120")

Grateful for thoughts, before I go making mistakes!

Thanks

I was in the same predicament, as bigger part of my library wasn't HD.

I got a BenQ HT2150ST 1080P Short Throw Projector.

I cannot see pixels on 720p material from 12ft on a 10ft wide screen.

I have it sat on a coffee table in front of the sofa.

Pluses:
RGBRGB colour wheel = natural colours
Shorter HDMI run
Ability to maximize the screen space by moving the PJ outside of its zoom range. Only more expensive ones cover the differnece between 4:3 to 2.39.
Very quiet

I had an ambition to watch sports with lights on, but soon realized it's stupid to fight light with light (often at the expence of natural colours), so lumens don't matter..

That model is from 2016, so I was a bit worried when I got it summer 2020, but no issues so far.

Can highly recommend it!

 

[rossyl]

Thanks very much.

Forgive me for lack of understanding, but do you feel there's much to gain by having a 1080p projector, projecting 13ft, compared to a 1080p short throw projector with a much smaller projector cting distance... When viewing distance for each will be the same?

Thank you

 

[3rdignis]

Going from my BenQ w1070 short throw to a Sony hw40 was a big jump.
From hw40 to Epson 9300, not so much.
Don't think short throw vs long throw had much to do with it.

 

[moujik]

Thanks very much.

Forgive me for lack of understanding, but do you feel there's much to gain by having a 1080p projector, projecting 13ft, compared to a 1080p short throw projector with a much smaller projector cting distance... When viewing distance for each will be the same?

Thank you

In terms of picture quality, it's pretty similar.. Short throw can theoretically give you more spill because of more acute angle, but deliver a brighter picture with the same lumens. Better manufacturers balance it out, so the throw and the brightness make sense

In terms of usage, ST works better for me.. A lot depends on the screen aspect ratio.

If you use a 16:9 screen and no 4:3 sources, you'll see black bars on top and bottom for 2.39:1, and won't have to adjust zoom.

If you, like me, have a cinemascope AR as a base, you'll need to adjust zoom and focus AND vertical throw.. and that's a thing to keep in mind..
The bottom level of the projection stays the same when you zoom in and out, but the actual visible picture edge goes up and down.
So going from 16:9 to 2.39:1, after zooming in, I need to lower the projection, that's spilled over the top.

Expensive x3 models have both a zoom range to cover for it, auto-zoom and vertical adjustment and position memory. But it takes 5 sec. for me to adjust it now

Lots of series come in 18:9 now and some in 20:9 and oldies in 4:3, so it looks better to me to keep the same height and experience the biggest picture for films!

I saw Benq released 700sti last year.. I don't know much about it, but I would consider it. The throw is slightly longer though, so I would not get 3 feet behind the PJ I do now..

 

[rossyl]

Thank very much.

I do not have bluray and rarely watch DVDs.

Everything I watch is Sky+, Netflix, Prime, and Plex (the latter which holds my old stuff).

I'm thinking 16:9 is most common format I watch, or, converted to 16:9.

But I think I need to read up some projector buying guides.

But, the more "Auto" stuff I have on this projector the better.