My room's 11' by 13', and I'd like a huge screen. :)
Due to the positioning of doors and such, the biggest screen I can fit is 11' wide (on the smaller wall), and that means the height will be about 6'.
The problem is, I found some online tool that said (if I understood it correctly) that the projector (a certain model I was looking at) would need to be something like 17' from the screen for such a large image, but my room's not that big.
Can some projectors project this image (~150") while being closer to the screen? Could I get some sort of zoom lens for my projector? It's be great if there were some solution for the Mitsubishi HC5500, but otherwise I could look at different models.
Thanks. :cool:

You have two challenges the way I see it... first, you need to get a projector with a short enought throw to project such a large image at the relatively short distance. Someone else can probably point you in the right direction.

The second challenge is where to put the speakers, making the room clean enough not to overwhelm the room visually. I would suggest placing speakers behind an acoustially transparent screen.

You really need to show a drawing of your room so Those here could give you some correct advice.

You must be one of those folks that sits in the front 10 rows at the theater.. 150" and seating less than 12' way would be a bit uncomfortable for most people I think. If you have not read about screen size and seating distance now would probably be a good time to do so. http://www.projectorcentral.com/screen_size.htm

Maybe this 150" is not diagonal, but width? ;) With 2,4:1 A.R.? :D

You could get an anamorphic lense but that distance is too small to not see many imperfections from what I understand, and woudl be cost prohibitive.

Your screen will "Look" huge by just filling up nearly the full width of your wall.

My dedicated theater is in a 11x14 room and I sit about 8 feet away from a 7 foot wide 2:35 screen. I have the panny 4K and though I haven't measured it yet it seems able to throw a 10' wide image from 14'. Unless there is a physical reason that you have to sit at the back of your room you might just want to try sitting closer to the screen and throwing an image that is a bit smaller. It will feel just as big. Plus your surround channels tend to sound better when you aren't sitting up against the back wall.

Good points, but to me larger is always better with 1080p. I would look into the Panny 4K and project as wide as possible with it - you would be happy. It's not like you can get super wide anyway with such a small room? You would have to get an acoustically transparent screen to put your speakers behind it.

You have a couple of options.

First would be to use an external wide angle converter lens. The Navitar Mini Screenstar .65x would probably work for you. They're rather pricey ... about $1000 without a mount. AVS is a dealer, so you might be able to get a better price. This lens would shorten your throw by a factor of .65, so, 17 x .65 = 11.05'

http://presentation.navitar.com/pages/product_information/screenstar_projection_conversion_lenses/overview.cfm

You could use a high quality camcorder wide angle adapter. I did quite a bit of experimenting with this, and the only one I found that worked acceptably for me was the Sony VCL-HG0758. It's a .7x, so, 11.9'. This would probably be just shy of what you need, as the pj body has to be taken into account, but close. I think it can be found online for around $100. Here's a recent thread that shows some pictures of the test mount I McGyver'd.

http://www.avsforum.com/avs-vb/showthread.php?t=1161554

Alternately, you could use the 'mirror trick'. Mount your projector 4' from the back wall, and fire the image at the back wall. Place a mirror ( preferably a first surface mirror from a junked RPTV, but I've had good luck with regular mirrors ) where the beam lands on the back wall, and then it bounces to the screen, effectively increasing your throw distance. Here's a recent thread.

http://www.avsforum.com/avs-vb/showthread.php?t=976780

Hope this helps,

Jonathan

Thanks for all the replies! :)

You have two challenges the way I see it... first, you need to get a projector with a short enought throw to project such a large image at the relatively short distance. Someone else can probably point you in the right direction.

The second challenge is where to put the speakers, making the room clean enough not to overwhelm the room visually. I would suggest placing speakers behind an acoustially transparent screen.

Oh yes, "throw distance" is the term I was looking for, and the thing I'm trying to minimize.

You really need to show a drawing of your room so Those here could give you some correct advice.

http://freefile.kristopherw.us/uploads/kristopherwindsor/my-room.png

You must be one of those folks that sits in the front 10 rows at the theater.. 150" and seating less than 12' way would be a bit uncomfortable for most people I think. If you have not read about screen size and seating distance now would probably be a good time to do so. http://www.projectorcentral.com/screen_size.htm

Not exactly, but I'd definitely like this to be a step (or 9x :D) bigger than the 52" my dad recently bought. I preferably sit about 6' from that to see it clearly, but it's still not "theater-big" from that distance, which is what I'm going for.

Maybe this 150" is not diagonal, but width? ;) With 2,4:1 A.R.? :D

I was thinking 150" diagonal, with the aspect ratio for 1920 * 1080 (Blu-ray).

My dedicated theater is in a 11x14 room and I sit about 8 feet away from a 7 foot wide 2:35 screen. I have the panny 4K and though I haven't measured it yet it seems able to throw a 10' wide image from 14'. Unless there is a physical reason that you have to sit at the back of your room you might just want to try sitting closer to the screen and throwing an image that is a bit smaller. It will feel just as big. Plus your surround channels tend to sound better when you aren't sitting up against the back wall.

I could always move the projector close to the screen if I get tired of the hugeness. Maybe I'll settle for a 120" screen and mount speakers at the edges or something.
Maybe your projector has less throw distance than the one I was looking at? I'm not sure how to find one with a good throw distance.

You have a couple of options.

First would be to use an external wide angle converter lens. The Navitar Mini Screenstar .65x would probably work for you. They're rather pricey ... about $1000 without a mount. AVS is a dealer, so you might be able to get a better price. This lens would shorten your throw by a factor of .65, so, 17 x .65 = 11.05'

http://presentation.navitar.com/pages/product_information/screenstar_projection_conversion_lenses/overview.cfm

Ouch! ;)
Do any projectors come with a lens like this (which would hopefully make it cheaper)?

You could use a high quality camcorder wide angle adapter. I did quite a bit of experimenting with this, and the only one I found that worked acceptably for me was the Sony VCL-HG0758. It's a .7x, so, 11.9'. This would probably be just shy of what you need, as the pj body has to be taken into account, but close. I think it can be found online for around $100. Here's a recent thread that shows some pictures of the test mount I McGyver'd.

http://www.avsforum.com/avs-vb/showthread.php?t=1161554

Will this work with just about any projector?

Alternately, you could use the 'mirror trick'. Mount your projector 4' from the back wall, and fire the image at the back wall. Place a mirror ( preferably a first surface mirror from a junked RPTV, but I've had good luck with regular mirrors ) where the beam lands on the back wall, and then it bounces to the screen, effectively increasing your throw distance. Here's a recent thread.

http://www.avsforum.com/avs-vb/showthread.php?t=976780

Hope this helps,

Jonathan

That's a bit too hacked for me. (And I suspect the image would lose some brightness.) ;)

Thanks for all the replies! :)


Ouch! ;)
Do any projectors come with a lens like this (which would hopefully make it cheaper)?



Will this work with just about any projector?



That's a bit too hacked for me. (And I suspect the image would lose some brightness.) ;)


You can get business class projectors with very short throw lenses, like the Epson 410W, but, they're optimized for Powerpoint, not movies. I also don't know if they will focus on a screen that large, as they are designed for 80 to 100" at a very short throw distance. HT projectors that have a selection of lenses to choose from are $$$ ... well above this forum's price range.

I can't testify that the Sony will work with all projectors. It worked with all 3 that I have, an old Mits HC3, a Mits HD1000, and an Epson HC400. In the thread I linked to the member I recommended the Sony to said they got good results.

No, you won't lose any brightness with the mirror trick. It's actually easier to setup than an external lens, as you don't have to rig or buy a mount, and deal with the critical distance from prime lens, vertical offset from the prime lens, pitch of the adapter lens. Also, you can try it the mirror with virtually no cost. Just place the projector on the floor instead of mounting it, and use a suitibly sized wall mirror. If the diagram you posted is proportionally correct, then the beam won't be in your eye-line.

Jonathan

I may be mistaken but I thought that nearly this exact same problem came up a short time ago. Wasn't there a doctor over in the UK that wanted advice on putting a 150 inch diagonal screen, a long throw projector, and two rows of stadium seats into his entryway coat closet? It sounded completely ridiculous at first, but he claims that he was successful. It might be worth a PM. I believe his last name was Who. :)