what size screen?

[Lennyz]

Hi,

I have a room that is 2.9m (approx 115") wide and I want to fit a screen across the width. I read a few posts where people have bought a screen and then wished they had gone bigger from the outset, some even sell their screen and buy a bigger one. I want to get it right first time ..

I will be sitting 18 feet from the screen and I want a 16:9 aspect ratio.

What size scrren should I go for? I am thinking possibly 100" wide or should i go slightly smaller? I don't need to mont speakers either side of the screen as I have M&K K7's and they will work well underneath the screen.

My concern is how much does the screen material sit inside the screen casing on an electric screen? I also intend boxing in the screen so I need to allow for woodwork etc.

I have no idea how far away the projector will need to be to fill a screen of this size? Is there anyone out there using a projector on a 100" screen and sitting this far away? Could you give me an idea of waht DLP?LCD projectors I should be looking at for this kind of screen and view dist.

Ta.

 

[dave_st185]

Hi

I've been using this viewing distance calculator to help me make similar decisions for my house

http://www.myhometheater.homestead.com/viewingdistancecalculator.html

Plugging your numbers in suggests going for the max 115" wide you can fit, which will give you a 30degree viewing angle from your 18' viewing distance

That width equates to a 132" diaganol though, so you are going to need a bright projector to fill that screen. At that distance you may find that the resolution benefits of a 1080p over a 720p projector may not easily be noticeable, and as the 1st gen of the 1080p projectors are not massively bright, you may well be better off with a bright high quality 720p projector

I haven't researched any DLP projectors as I suffer with rainbow effects from them although the Infocus IN76 I demo'd was very good. A bright LCD in 720p that fits the bill that you may want to consider would be the Panasonic AX100

Dave

 

[Lennyz]

Thanks Dave,

I think actually a 115" screen won't fit because I only have 2900mm or 114 1/4" between walls, so this would leave me no room at all for boxing in or the case for the screen cover protrusions.

I am sure that 100"-102" will have to be my max really now I think about it.

I will have a look around for a projector but I don't know whether to go dlp or lcd yet.

Is it possible to mount the projector really close to the ceiling as I want to make the whole thing as unobtrusive as possible..

Paul

 

[dave_st185]

You should be fine mounting either type close to a ceiling, LCD projectors tend to have greater flexibility with regard mounting position if you want to shelf mount, but sounds like you don't need that functionality

There's some very good projectors around for either technology but you need to make sure you're happy viewing DLP's, some people will suffer with rainbow effects some people won't, the only way to know if you will is to find somewhere to have a demo of one before you buy

Dave