Ok, I'll make this as simple as possible. We're moving out of state, we've sold my old CRT Barco 808 and 119" screen to the new owners. I'll be getting the RS1 to replace it(from what I've seen, it'll be a dramatic improvement). So I'll also need a new screen. Thing is, I'm not sure if I need a grey screen material for it, or if white is fine(the store has it set up on a Firehawk). So, I want to get it, and set it up in my current out, 1, to be sure that it works, 2, to see if I need a different screen material.

Since I'm leaving the CRT pj, I cant take it down to mount the RS1. I would like to put the RS-1 on a platform just below the old CRT, which would center it's lense almost halfway down the screen. Is this an acceptable method as a temporary measure? Can the RS-1 do it?

Thanks

Thing is, I'm not sure if I need a grey screen material for it, or if white is fine(the store has it set up on a Firehawk). So, I want to get it, and set it up in my current out, 1, to be sure that it works, 2, to see if I need a different screen material.

Since I'm leaving the CRT pj, I cant take it down to mount the RS1. I would like to put the RS-1 on a platform just below the old CRT, which would center it's lense almost halfway down the screen. Is this an acceptable method as a temporary measure? Can the RS-1 do it?

The RS1 should have no issues with that position. OTOH, you will need a new screen, IMHO. The two most popular seem to be the HP and the ST130. A grey screen is probably not the best idea for a PJ with these black levels. In fact, I have a Firehawk and went to a ST130 for the RS1. I bet the store was using the Firehawk beacuse it was already installed. You can order samples of screen material and decide, several folks have done that.

Beware, however, of testing the screen with PJ positioning that is not the same as what you will be using in it's permanent home. Screen vs. seating vs. PJ postion can make a huge difference, especially with retroreflective screens like the HP.

Yeah I'm going to a larger size screen in any case(159"). Since it'll work in the position I mentioned, I can see if a white screen will be fine(currently use a white Da-Lite perm wall 119"). I was thinking this didn't need a grey screen, I just want to be sure, since I'm coming from the CRT world. A Studio Tek is above budget right now, we're pushing things getting the PJ to begin with. It'll be a material I can get on a Da-Lite perm wall screen. HP sounds cool, but it's ceiling mounted. MAYBE in the future I could see going with a Silverstar screen, but there again they are limited to the 123" size.

A Studio Tek may be in the distant future, but Da-Lite is what the wallet can handle atm. :)

Yeah I'm going to a larger size screen in any case(159").
Yikes! I would think an HP would be mandatory at that size. I know your ceiling mount wouldn't support that but if there's any way you could manage an HP-friendy installation at that screen size you would have a spectacular result. Just my thought.

I have played around a lot with the placement of the RS-1. I was originally planning on a ceiling mount and then using the lens shift to center the image. I ended up mounting the PJ on the rear wall just about level with the center of the screen. It was my observation that using lens shift created more chromatic abberation. Basically it caused enough convergence error between red and green that I was unhappy with the results. You might want to examine this yourself prior to determining how you will mount your PJ.

Yikes! I would think an HP would be mandatory at that size. I know your ceiling mount wouldn't support that but if there's any way you could manage an HP-friendy installation at that screen size you would have a spectacular result. Just my thought.
I was thinking it would be bright enough for that screen size without HP. Anyone know for sure? Seems like I heard some people say they have screens that size with the RS1

I was thinking it would be bright enough for that screen size without HP. Anyone know for sure? Seems like I heard some people say they have screens that size with the RS1
16X9 or 2.35, measuring diag or wide??????

16X9 or 2.35, measuring diag or wide??????
16x9, 159" diagonal, or 78x139.

16x9, 159" diagonal, or 78x139.
I dunno... the very brightest of the tested RS/1's didn't reach 700 lumens at short throw, max light and new bulb. So you're looking at 9 ft-lamberts at the very best with a unity gain screen. Given the more average RS1 brightness, a bulb with 1000 hours on it and a nice high-contrast long throw I'd say the (real world) 2 to 2.5 gain you'd get from an HP would provide a very reasonable brightness.

But then, I'm building a 120" wide 16:9 1.1 gain SMX AT screen. So I may be pushing it too. I'll just have to see... I may end up with the HP also.

I dunno... the very brightest of the tested RS/1's didn't reach 700 lumens at short throw, max light and new bulb. So you're looking at 9 ft-lamberts at the very best with a unity gain screen. Given the more average RS1 brightness, a bulb with 1000 hours on it and a nice high-contrast long throw I'd say the (real world) 2 to 2.5 gain you'd get from an HP would provide a very reasonable brightness.

But then, I'm building a 120" wide 16:9 1.1 gain SMX AT screen. So I may be pushing it too. I'll just have to see... I may end up with the HP also.
Hrmmm. It's hard to say, because when I went with a 120in screen for a CRT projector, people said I was pushing it then too, and it's a fine image. I wonder how many ft lamberts I get on my current set up. I KNOW the RS1 is brighter than what I have, so I can at least do a 133" screen.

But what about Video Spectra and Pearlescent sceeens? Both are 1.5 gain, not sure which is better, but that should help.

EDIT: I'm gonna start a new thread on this, hope thats acceptable.

Mine is a ST130 (1.3 Gain) - a 120 x 51 anamorphic and the PJ is at about 16 feet. Way more than plenty bright so far with the RS1 (although so far only about 30 hours on the bulb).

Mine is a ST130 (1.3 Gain) - a 120 x 51 anamorphic and the PJ is at about 16 feet. Way more than plenty bright so far with the RS1 (although so far only about 30 hours on the bulb).
Can you tell us how it looks if you do a "ghetto" zoom? That's like lighting up a 120" wide 16:9. If it messes up your setup too much nevermind. I'm thinking I'll need to replace my bulb every 500 hours.

Can you tell us how it looks if you do a "ghetto" zoom? That's like lighting up a 120" wide 16:9

Never tried it and now the lens is in the way, I suspect. My guess is that it would work but with the damn cheap mechanism I would bet that if one did this very often, something would break. One of the main reasons I went with the lens and HP HTPC with combo drive.