My room measures 14.5 deep and 14' wide. Brown paint, but I can repaint. Room is just about completely dark when viewing movies.

I have a budget of $6k +/- a bit for the projector, though I don't have to use then entire amount. I have a budget of up to $2500 for the screen.

My main goals are to have the biggest screen that I can possibly fit into this room. Has to be AT material. I'm not a videophile, but prefer a bright picture, probably over contrast ration, etc.

Which projector would allow me to project a nice, large, bright picture that is in my budget?

Which AT screens should I use? They seymorav screen looks good and has a gain of 1.2, will it work?

Thanks in advance. Jim.

Generally the shortest of the digital projectors throws is around 1.4 (not all cover that though). Assuming you bump the projector to the back of the room, that would make your throw about 12.5' or maybe a tad more. 12.5/1.4=107" wide. However, I personally this that is WAY too big in that room. I would say more like 106-110" diagonal is in order.

Seymour is a great acoustic screen, but video isn't as good as some of the competition so you'll have to weigh out your preference. 1.2ish gain is plenty for the screen sizes we are talking about.

Thanks Jason. I'll talk your advice and look at a screen around 110" diag. Do you have a projector that you can recommend? I was looking at the jvc rs25 until the new epson and panasonic came up. Then I started looking at the Planar that you'd mention in some prior threads....I want some thing that is bright and vibrant. I've never payed much attention to grey scale, etc. Something that pops out a bit. Also something that is low maintenance and lasts a while. I'm not too keen about changing bulb every few months.

Also, if there is an AT screen that has better picture/sound quality, please suggest.

With that size room and your budget you should definitely consider a 2.39 ratio screen and anamorphic lens, especially if it's mainly for movie watching. I sit about 11 feet from a 108 inch wide 2.39 screen and I think its perfect, very immersive for movies. I agree a 107 inch wide 16:9 screen would be way too big from that distance because its uncomfortable to be looking up and down but with 2.39 its OK really. Plus with an anamorhic lens you can go with a shorter throw. Worth checking out for sure.

I'm definitely open to any suggestions. I've thought about the widescreen/anamoprhic rout. Most of my movies at this point are SD though. And there are some thoughts that my room is not wide enough to justify the added cost. What projector/lens combo do you use, and what is the distance from your lens to the screen?

Well the Seymour is good value, and acoustically very good. You might just want to request some samples.

If pop is what you desire, DLP tends to have the edge there. But DLP is not without its limitations so you would be best served to go out and look at a couple first, just to get a feel for them.

Jason...what do you think about anamorphic setup in my situation?

My room is 14ft deep and 11 1/2 ft wide and Im throwing a 126" 1.78 image with my Pioneer FPJ1/RS2. Perfect size screen for my seating distance. In my opinion!

Jason...what do you think about anamorphic setup in my situation?

Depends...you'd have to either lower the potential projector level in order to get the lens in the same budget, or increase your overall budget. Lenses (good ones) aren't cheap.

It also mostly makes sense for CIH. In other words, say you want a 54"x96" 16:9 screen. To really make sense in doing 2.35:1, you'd want 54"x127"....that might prove too large for your room. Vice versa, if you want a 60"x107" 16:9 screen, you physically cannot fit a 60"x141" (too short a throw), so basically you'd be making your effective 2.35:1 smaller. Those are just blind examples.

I think that a 54" x 127" screen would be great! Do you have a projector/lens/screen combo that wouldn't blow my budget? Looks like the epson 85000 is out b/c it doesn't work with the anamorphic lens right?

I think that a 54" x 127" screen would be great! Do you have a projector/lens/screen combo that wouldn't blow my budget? Looks like the epson 85000 is out b/c it doesn't work with the anamorphic lens right?

Anamorphic lens / CIH 2.40 screen is the only way to go! With such a system you are getting BluRay for sure, you'll be blown away. DVD's will look good too. You can get CIH with your budget. I bought a used Prismasonic excellent condition lens for fairly cheap right here on AVS classified. My projector is the original Epson 1080 and I use my Lumagen ProHDP scaler for the stretch. I have this from my CRT projector phase but its still great scaler.

I doubt you can go that big though, remember with anamorphic lens you are projecting smaller image on the screen that is being stretched by the scaler and the lens to bring it proper 2.40 dimensions. That is why you can go with a shorter throw and have a larger image. Even with that said though your room is 14.5 that leaves you with about 12.5-13 ft at most with PJ against the back wall feet so you do the math. There is some CA distortion from this distance but its minor and can be hidden by tiny bit of overscan and black velvet borders, no big deal, well worth the trade off IMO.

Thanks stopdog. How big a screen can I go with?Will the Panasonic 4000 with a prismasonic rebrand from avs work?

Thanks stopdog. How big a screen can I go with?Will the Panasonic 4000 with a prismasonic rebrand from avs work?

I said Prismasonic but actually I have the Panamorph UH380, the predecessor to the current UH480, sorry about that. They're both good lenses though. From what I remember the Panamorphs are slightly larger lens which allows for a shorter throw (bigger lens catches more light from projector).

Like Jason said, 107-108" wide is about max from a 12.5 foot throw. Unless you're sitting under or behind your projector, the seats will be 11-12 feet. That puts you at just slightly over 1:1 screen width/viewing distance. What I was saying is I think it's much easier on the eyes to look side to side rather than up and down. So at 110" viewing distance and 107" wide screen 2.40 ratio, you will be completely immersed in the film but not struggling to look up and down all the time.

Remember too that you can do CIH without having an anamorphic lens. I'd recommend doing a little bang-for-the-buck analysis to see whether it makes sense to use the zoom method with a nicer projector or a lower-end/used projector + lens.

My HT is similar to yours, although a little deeper (13.5' x 18'). I've got a Seymour AV CenterStage screen (2.35:1, 10' wide) and an RS20. Absolutely love it! CIH is the way to go for sure whether you zoom or use an a-lens.

I'll probably get an a-lens at some point in the future, but for my initial setup, it would have meant significant compromises elsewhere in my room.

Jay

My opinion is do not buy the screen before setting the projector up.

Jason has his opinions on the correct size, but there are some that want the largest picture possible. Bluray is an amazing thing.

I can say my sim2 can be watched at 2 feet away and see no major deficiencies! Because of this I like my image as large as I can get that's watchable/bright enough.

-ELmO

My opinion is do not buy the screen before setting the projector up.

Jason has his opinions on the correct size, but there are some that want the largest picture possible. Bluray is an amazing thing.

I can say my sim2 can be watched at 2 feet away and see no major deficiencies! Because of this I like my image as large as I can get that's watchable/bright enough.

-ELmO

That's a great idea. I'm still on the fence in regards to CIH, and so I have to be careful and make sure the PJ has the capabilities. As for screen size, I'm most concern that the max screen size is not too small such that it's not worth the trouble of retrofitting my HT with a front projector. For me, too big is just big enough :)