OK, so I am building a home theater in the basement of my new house I am building. It is a dedicated theater room with no windows and will have canned lighting. The screen is going to be a whopping 161 " and I am looking for a projector that will be able to throw a beautiful picture onto a screen that size, preferably a 1080p projector. I plan on having two levels of seating. The front row which will be used the most will be about 20 feet from the screen.

I am thinking about the Sharp 1080p unit and the Sony vw60 as well as the RS1 (I would like the RS2 but it is simply too much money at this point). This theater room will be 90% of the time used to watch Blu-Ray movies as well as DVD upscaled through the PS3. I will also have an HD Dish box but I'm a movie watcher through and through. Are there projectors I should be considering? The Epson possibly? I am able to put the projector anywhere on the ceiling so that isn't an issue.

Any help would be greatly appreciated!

If you mean a Sharp 20K? I'm not that up on Sharp projectors addmittedly.

Out of the three metioned?


The RS1 would only need a modest gain on the screen. Like 1.4 gain.


The others would require an HP screen mostly likely for PQ bliss.. Like 2.0 gain or higher.

If you mean a Sharp 20K? I'm not that up on Sharp projectors addmittedly.

Out of the three metioned?


The RS1 would only need a modest gain on the screen. Like 1.4 gain.


The others would require an HP screen mostly likely for PQ bliss.. Like 2.0 gain or higher.

yep, the Sharp XV-Z20000

The guys that are installing my theater also put a theater in a new hotel in town using the same screen I am getting and the Sharp 20000. The picture is fantastic but that Sharp is a pretty penny. I have only seen that model and an Optoma so I don't really have a lot to go on as far as PQ.

I am guessing there is a reason the Espon is over $2,000 less than an RS1? One other question...is the RS2 a large jump in quality over the RS1? With my screen size would an RS2 make a big difference?

Large jump in quality build wise from the Epson to the RS1. On the PQ it's more trade offs than anything else. Better black level performance -vs- more accurate colors.

There is said to be a decent jump in PQ going to the RS2 from the RS1, they have similar build quality.

I actually have never an RS2, I have seen a couple of different RS1's well an RS1 and an HD1 anyways in action though, properly setup in owners theaters. None with the size screen your looking at. I think they were both on 120" screens, no gain to speak of and they were indeed impressive.

You seen an Optoma HD80? I had the somewhat lowly thought of around here HD80 in my theater for a four projector shootout and man was it an over achiever brightness wise. I'd bank it would be as good brightness wise as the RS1 at around 1/2 the cost.


PS: I wish somebody else with more experience with this sort of screen size would chime in. I am weak above 120", virtually no experience with anything bigger than that.

yeah, I know that the screen I am getting is very large for a home theater but my room is ready to handle it. When the house was designed the room was made to house a very large screen. It has 10 foot high ceilings and is quite large both width and length. I have the speaker set-up and pre/pro covered but the projector purchase is my biggest concern at this point.

I have been planning this theater for a year now and the house will be done in under 3 months which is why I am really looking into projectors at this point. I know that there are new models coming out all the time which is why I wanted to wait.

So many projectors get really high marks but they are being viewed on 90 " to 120 " screens. I would like to hear some feedback on screens much larger than that. I appreciate your help thus far JOHNnDENVER!

OK, so I am building a home theater in the basement of my new house I am building. It is a dedicated theater room with no windows and will have canned lighting. The screen is going to be a whopping 161 " and I am looking for a projector that will be able to throw a beautiful picture onto a screen that size, preferably a 1080p projector. I plan on having two levels of seating. The front row which will be used the most will be about 20 feet from the screen.

I am thinking about the Sharp 1080p unit and the Sony vw60 as well as the RS1 (I would like the RS2 but it is simply too much money at this point). This theater room will be 90% of the time used to watch Blu-Ray movies as well as DVD upscaled through the PS3. I will also have an HD Dish box but I'm a movie watcher through and through. Are there projectors I should be considering? The Epson possibly? I am able to put the projector anywhere on the ceiling so that isn't an issue.

Any help would be greatly appreciated!
If you like any punch to your image at all, you will need a High Power screen at that size.

One of the forum moderators returned a Sharp 20K because it was too dim for his tastes on an 11.5' wide scope screen and that screen was a High Power. I believe he had it stopped down to 11' wide for a time even. The Sonys are not very bright, either. It depends on your tastes...some people like a punchy image and some like a dim image. Personally, the only one of the three projectors I would consider for a large screen would be the Epson, but at 150". The maximum size image the Epson 1080 UB will project is 150" diagonal. That's in the manual.

Really hrd???

The Rs1 on the projector calculator looks pretty good here with only 1.4 gain. I'd think 1.8 gain or even 1.6 gain would have lots of pop on it.

The lowly HD80 as well for that matter.

Really hrd???

The Rs1 on the projector calculator looks pretty good here with only 1.4 gain. I'd think 1.8 gain or even 1.6 gain would have lots of pop on it.

The lowly HD80 as well for that matter.

so basically the Epson would not be able to fill an entire screen at 161"? It is looking more and more like I will be going with the RS1 or RS2 if I can find a half ways descent deal on one of them.

DENVER, you are viewing the RS1 on a 120" screen correct?

That is a big screen for any of the projectors being discussed...it is huge. But, each person has their own idea of what they like. If he has seen the Sharp XVZ20000 on it, and liked it (which it is not a bright projector by any means) then his expectations will be different than many on the forum (and that is aokay).

The RS1 will be quite a bit brighter than the Sharp (as will the Epson).

That is a big screen for any of the projectors being discussed...it is huge. But, each person has their own idea of what they like. If he has seen the Sharp XVZ20000 on it, and liked it (which it is not a bright projector by any means) then his expectations will be different than many on the forum (and that is aokay).

The RS1 will be quite a bit brighter than the Sharp (as will the Epson).

When I watched the Sharp on the 161" screen the guy had Planet Earth on blu-ray at 1080p and it looked incredible. I walked right up to the screen and it still looked good. I then watched Charlies Angels: Full Throttle on it via DVD player that was not upscaled but just progressive scanned and while it didn't look "great" it still looked good and very watchable.

That's good to hear that the RS1 is even brighter than the Sharp as I was quite impressed with it. My friend has an Optoma HD70 I believe, whatever the model it is just a 720p model and it is running on his 161" screen. I can tell a serious difference from that versus the Sharp. Things seem duller and more washed out and I was watching Planet Earth blu-ray on that as well.

I have viewed an RS1 and an HD1, both on 120" screens... I really don't remember what screens they had though.

Both were professionally installed / calibrated though according to the owners. The RS1 is a dynamo for the money. I mean, some have gotten them for $3K-ish... Almost a no brainer at that price in my opinion, that is if your budget is $3K or more anyways.

I didn't have that much to spend, so I did not eval one for my theater, plus when I did my theater there were no RS1 - $3K deals anywhere either. I was quite topped out at $2500...... Ended up paying $1600 for a Panny AE1000U as my keeper. 106" 16:9 screen, 1.4 gain here.

There was one forum member Tutmos who is pairing the RS1 with a 159" diagonal Hi Power screen with reportedly excellent results.