Viewing Distance/Angle Opinions Requested...

[ECOCO]

Hi all, I am building a dedicated home theater with controlled lighting mainly for Blu-Ray movies and HBO-style HD entertainment. I am having trouble deciding on where to place my 2 rows of seating. My room has 13 foot ceilings, and is 22' wide by 27' deep. I'd like to put a bar in the back of the room and allow about 4 feet for that, so my back row of seating could be as far back as 23'. My two rows will have a 14" height difference. I'm thinking about putting the front row on a 7" riser and the back row on a 21" riser.

So here is my question. Should I:

A. Go with a 14' wide 16X9 screen which will give my back row (23') a 34 degree viewing angle and front row (17') a 45 degree viewing angle or

B. Go with a 150" wide 16X9 screen which will give my back row (23') a 30 degree viewing angle and front row (17') a 40 degree viewing angle or

C. Go with a 144" wide 16X9 screen which will give my back row (23') a 29 degree viewing angle and front row (17') a 39 degree viewing angle or

D. Go with a 132" wide 16X9 screen which will give my back row (23') a 27 degree viewing angle and front row (17') a 36 degree viewing angle.

E. ????


Thanks so much for any and all advice. It is sincerely appreciated.
-E

[Cathan]

Maybe this will help. Reconsider going with a CIH screen. Also figure out if you can afford a projector that is capable of projecting a 14' wide 16x9 image.

[ECOCO]

Originally Posted by Cathan

Maybe this will help. Reconsider going with a CIH screen. Also figure out if you can afford a projector that is capable of projecting a 14' wide 16x9 image.

Cathan, I've thought about going CIH. I think I would rather not, if I don't have to. Then again, that might be the best alternative. Do you have any idea as to the cost of a projector that could properly fill a 14' wide 16X9 screen? A 13' wide screen? A 12' wide screen? And an 11' wide screen?

I'm guessing 50% of my viewing is Blu-Ray movies, so going CIH wouldn't mean shrinking screen size except on 16X9 HD viewing. I'll have to work out how much of a shrink that is when watching 16X9 in a CIH format. Maybe I should do that...

Thanks for the tip. It's really appreciated!!!
-E

[carboranadum]

Check out the projector calculator at http://www.projectorcentral.com.

CJ

[ScruffyHT]

Originally Posted by ECOCO

Cathan, I've thought about going CIH. I think I would rather not, if I don't have to. Then again, that might be the best alternative. Do you have any idea as to the cost of a projector that could properly fill a 14' wide 16X9 screen? A 13' wide screen? A 12' wide screen? And an 11' wide screen?

I'm guessing 50% of my viewing is Blu-Ray movies, so going CIH wouldn't mean shrinking screen size except on 16X9 HD viewing. I'll have to work out how much of a shrink that is when watching 16X9 in a CIH format. Maybe I should do that...

Thanks for the tip. It's really appreciated!!!
-E

Think about CIH like this ... pick the vertical height that is most comfortable for first and second rows ( eye level in first row should be about 1/3 from bottom of screen ) then see how big a 16.9 & 2.35:1 picture you get starting from that dimension

With your room size you could put a MONSTER screen but you would also need a MONSTER projector budget