I'm looking at the 142" Carada Precision 16x9 screen. My room is 22x19 with no windows and all walls and carpet very very dark. Would this projector look good on a screen this large or am I thinking too big? How do you size up a screen for a projector that you don't yet own? I'd like to buy both pj and screen at the same time.

Any thoughts?

I made some calculations. If you use a 2.8 gain screen, you can get away with a maximum of 128 inches. Factors considered are the following:

maintain 12 ftL at 100 IRE over the life of the Lamp
30% drop in light output after 300 hrs. of use
Use of maximum Wide mode in itd zoom range.

Can you tell me how you made this calculation? I have never owned a PJ so I want to make an educated choice for my first one.

Having briefly owned a AE 1000 with a 106" 1.3 gain Carada screen, I would not recommend going over 110" without a really high gain screen. The calculation in the post above sounds about right, although I have no personal experience with that type of screen. The AE 1000 is a really nice projector in most respects, but brightness is not at the top of the list.

great :( - so you're saying that I'm screwed if i've already purchased the panny with a screen innovations 130'' microperf screen in a completely dark room? room size is 16x24 and the screen is a gain of 1.1. I suppose I should call and see if screen innovations can make the perf with a higher gain.

thanks,

tum

great :( - so you're saying that I'm screwed if i've already purchased the panny with a screen innovations 130'' microperf screen in a completely dark room? room size is 16x24 and the screen is a gain of 1.1. I suppose I should call and see if screen innovations can make the perf with a higher gain.

thanks,

tum
Or you could always mask it off and shrink the image for now(if its not bright enough).... Later on down the road you will always have to buy another projector, but you'll never have to buy a screen again.

I use a 1.3 gain screen with a 120" diag. screen with the 1000u set at the long end of the zoom range with excellent results. Granted I'm only at about 150 hrs on the lamp.

I'm using a Carada 2.35:1 120" BW screen with my AE1000U, using the zoom to maximize the image height, so using the full width when possible. About 100 hours on the lamp and the picture seems bright enough in a controled basement room. I intend get an anamorphic lens when funds allow to improve brightness (as I would the be using all the pixels).

I think 142" would be pushing the pj a bit too far with a Carada BW, something with higher gain would be better. There is a calculator at http://www.projectorcentral.com/projection-calculator-pro.cfm that will help you decide.