As I'm coming to the end of my home theater reno the standard issues of how far to go with light control are also coming home to roost.
I'm curious about the members in this high-end projector forum: How far have you gone...or NOT gone...in terms of maximising your room for the performance of your projector.
Did you go for really dark decor? Are you in a "Bat Cave?" Or is your projector in more casual settings, lighter room decor etc? Which screen are you using and how well does it work with how you've designed your room in terms of maximising the performance/contrast available from your projector?
And how happy are you with the results?
I'd expect some people are more casual about eking out the last bits of performance, others more determined.
I'll start:
I don't have a finished room, but I'm almost there. I've had the challenge of doing a home theater reno in an existing living room with bay windows etc. The AV-phile in me would do a bat cave because I always want to get the most out of any projector/display I buy. But I couldn't do that in a living room so I've done my best to almost get there. I re-designed the ceiling, dropping a large portion - about 12' square - over the screen/seating area and covering it with dark brown felt (behind which sits acoustic treatments for the room as well).
I went with a fabric ceiling not only for the ability to place acoustic material behind it, but also because the mantra has generally been that a dark fabric will almost always absorb light reflections better than a dark paint.
I got a dark chocolate brown shag rug covering most of the floor, although it does have some sheen to it.
The seating is a very large, dark brown sectional sofa (very light absorptive).
The screen is 125" wide by 61" tall viewable screen area.
I have automated black out blinds for the bay windows - light sealed.
The room has a large opening, about 6 feet wide, to the hallway, which will be closed with curtains when watching a movie (curtains have not arrived).
The one major concession I made was to choose a light colored wall fabric covering. For one, it was just too beautiful to resist. But most of all it is the one element that helps keeping the room from feeling dark and cave-like. It really does strike just about a perfect aesthetic balance at the moment.
This wall covering isn't super bright but it does have a slight sparkly sheen too. My strategy has therefore been to have designed curtain tracks between the edge of the bulk head and the walls (several inches of space), which will hang in a neat, contemporary fashion. They will be a dark chocolate velvet. These will close to cover the room opening. But they will also be on the other side of the screen too. I've even had a roman blind designed with the same velvet fabric, to pull down over the fireplace on one side of the wall. I've also got a curtain in the back corner of the room that can be pulled across one particularly reflective portion of the back wall.
With all the curtains pulled I will have effectively dark brown velvet covering the walls from the screen wall out about 9 feet on either side of the screen, plus some portion of the back wall covered. The black out blinds, when deployed, also add a bunch of black material behind the seating position (the bay windows are behind the viewing sofa).
The room is about 13' wide by 15 feet deep.
So I haven't covered EVERY bit of the walls, but a large portion of them at least.
Like many I've agonized over the choice of screen and ended up with the Stewart ST-130 screen material, which is now up, combined with a Carada Masquerade masking system (for masking top/bottom of image - I'll be using a variable image size, zooming).
I had a big screen so I didn't want to go with a lower gain gray screen. Also, while some of the gray screens with gain could have made my life easier in terms of rejecting ambient/reflected light, I didn't wish to live with some of their compromises after viewing them (e.g. I could still see the coating on the Stewart Firehawk screen overlaying the projected images, as well as it's hot-spotting was very noticeable to me). So I tried to go with the ST-130 for it's more invisible screen coating, mild but useful gain, and wide viewing angles.
RESULTS? Well...the results aren't in yet because I have been using my old Panasonic AE900 projector as a sit-in for my JVC RS20. For various reasons I am keeping the RS20 out of the room until it is entirely ready.
My curtains aren't up so I don't have perfect light control. Nonetheless, the "black levels" of my AE900 projector are so high they are much brighter than any stray light making it on to the screen.
I'm both happy and a tad concerned with what I'm seeing so far. Happy: The Stewart screen strikes me as very high quality, probably the best screen material I've seen. Of course we are always talking about the interaction of any particular screen/room/projector. But in my case the image I'm getting from my AE900 is now sharper, more refined looking, more detailed - especially the level of color detail - than I've ever seen before (which includes seeing it on various screens, including neutral gain, Da Lite High Power etc). Only the Da Lite High Power looked perhaps a bit sharper due to the high brightness of the image, but I didn't like the poorer viewing angles of the HP.
So, anyway, on lots of scenes I'm seeing a more amazing image than I've seen before in my room from this projector.
But my concerns: I'm still hoping I got the balance of screen/light control correct. The "Bad" in this new set up with the Panasonic projector is the black levels SUCK on the Stewart screen, no doubt due to the higher gain.
I thought the black levels looked acceptable on a neutral gain screen, but the image looks even more washed out in this set up. (Having it masked by black now may not be helping either). It really isn't at an acceptable level and I have to assume that all the positives directed toward it's black levels on the old reviews came from people using a gray screen. One thing that kills me is that my friend has an even older Panasonic AE700 projector on a 94" diagonal Graywolf screen, and has done nothing to the decor of his room
(e.g. has a white bulk head over the screen) and yet he seems to be getting BETTER contrast, with punchy intra-scene contrast, than what I'm getting in my multi-thousand dollar room!
Of course I know the RS20 is going to get me much better black levels.
But I also see a sort of "wash out" in lots of the images from the Panasonic projector in the current set up and I'm hoping this is a combination of the fact I still have the bright walls uncovered and it's poorer black levels.
I'm hoping I didn't make a mistake going for the ST-130 screen and that you truly need a full Bat Cave for it to work well.
I should know in a few weeks when my curtains are up, my 4-way masking system is hopefully finished, and the RS20 is put into the mix.
What is your experience?
I'm curious about the members in this high-end projector forum: How far have you gone...or NOT gone...in terms of maximising your room for the performance of your projector.
Did you go for really dark decor? Are you in a "Bat Cave?" Or is your projector in more casual settings, lighter room decor etc? Which screen are you using and how well does it work with how you've designed your room in terms of maximising the performance/contrast available from your projector?
And how happy are you with the results?
I'd expect some people are more casual about eking out the last bits of performance, others more determined.
I'll start:
I don't have a finished room, but I'm almost there. I've had the challenge of doing a home theater reno in an existing living room with bay windows etc. The AV-phile in me would do a bat cave because I always want to get the most out of any projector/display I buy. But I couldn't do that in a living room so I've done my best to almost get there. I re-designed the ceiling, dropping a large portion - about 12' square - over the screen/seating area and covering it with dark brown felt (behind which sits acoustic treatments for the room as well).
I went with a fabric ceiling not only for the ability to place acoustic material behind it, but also because the mantra has generally been that a dark fabric will almost always absorb light reflections better than a dark paint.
I got a dark chocolate brown shag rug covering most of the floor, although it does have some sheen to it.
The seating is a very large, dark brown sectional sofa (very light absorptive).
The screen is 125" wide by 61" tall viewable screen area.
I have automated black out blinds for the bay windows - light sealed.
The room has a large opening, about 6 feet wide, to the hallway, which will be closed with curtains when watching a movie (curtains have not arrived).
The one major concession I made was to choose a light colored wall fabric covering. For one, it was just too beautiful to resist. But most of all it is the one element that helps keeping the room from feeling dark and cave-like. It really does strike just about a perfect aesthetic balance at the moment.
This wall covering isn't super bright but it does have a slight sparkly sheen too. My strategy has therefore been to have designed curtain tracks between the edge of the bulk head and the walls (several inches of space), which will hang in a neat, contemporary fashion. They will be a dark chocolate velvet. These will close to cover the room opening. But they will also be on the other side of the screen too. I've even had a roman blind designed with the same velvet fabric, to pull down over the fireplace on one side of the wall. I've also got a curtain in the back corner of the room that can be pulled across one particularly reflective portion of the back wall.
With all the curtains pulled I will have effectively dark brown velvet covering the walls from the screen wall out about 9 feet on either side of the screen, plus some portion of the back wall covered. The black out blinds, when deployed, also add a bunch of black material behind the seating position (the bay windows are behind the viewing sofa).
The room is about 13' wide by 15 feet deep.
So I haven't covered EVERY bit of the walls, but a large portion of them at least.
Like many I've agonized over the choice of screen and ended up with the Stewart ST-130 screen material, which is now up, combined with a Carada Masquerade masking system (for masking top/bottom of image - I'll be using a variable image size, zooming).
I had a big screen so I didn't want to go with a lower gain gray screen. Also, while some of the gray screens with gain could have made my life easier in terms of rejecting ambient/reflected light, I didn't wish to live with some of their compromises after viewing them (e.g. I could still see the coating on the Stewart Firehawk screen overlaying the projected images, as well as it's hot-spotting was very noticeable to me). So I tried to go with the ST-130 for it's more invisible screen coating, mild but useful gain, and wide viewing angles.
RESULTS? Well...the results aren't in yet because I have been using my old Panasonic AE900 projector as a sit-in for my JVC RS20. For various reasons I am keeping the RS20 out of the room until it is entirely ready.
My curtains aren't up so I don't have perfect light control. Nonetheless, the "black levels" of my AE900 projector are so high they are much brighter than any stray light making it on to the screen.
I'm both happy and a tad concerned with what I'm seeing so far. Happy: The Stewart screen strikes me as very high quality, probably the best screen material I've seen. Of course we are always talking about the interaction of any particular screen/room/projector. But in my case the image I'm getting from my AE900 is now sharper, more refined looking, more detailed - especially the level of color detail - than I've ever seen before (which includes seeing it on various screens, including neutral gain, Da Lite High Power etc). Only the Da Lite High Power looked perhaps a bit sharper due to the high brightness of the image, but I didn't like the poorer viewing angles of the HP.
So, anyway, on lots of scenes I'm seeing a more amazing image than I've seen before in my room from this projector.
But my concerns: I'm still hoping I got the balance of screen/light control correct. The "Bad" in this new set up with the Panasonic projector is the black levels SUCK on the Stewart screen, no doubt due to the higher gain.
I thought the black levels looked acceptable on a neutral gain screen, but the image looks even more washed out in this set up. (Having it masked by black now may not be helping either). It really isn't at an acceptable level and I have to assume that all the positives directed toward it's black levels on the old reviews came from people using a gray screen. One thing that kills me is that my friend has an even older Panasonic AE700 projector on a 94" diagonal Graywolf screen, and has done nothing to the decor of his room
(e.g. has a white bulk head over the screen) and yet he seems to be getting BETTER contrast, with punchy intra-scene contrast, than what I'm getting in my multi-thousand dollar room!
Of course I know the RS20 is going to get me much better black levels.
But I also see a sort of "wash out" in lots of the images from the Panasonic projector in the current set up and I'm hoping this is a combination of the fact I still have the bright walls uncovered and it's poorer black levels.
I'm hoping I didn't make a mistake going for the ST-130 screen and that you truly need a full Bat Cave for it to work well.
I should know in a few weeks when my curtains are up, my 4-way masking system is hopefully finished, and the RS20 is put into the mix.
What is your experience?