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Just realized - I don't know how big a room I need for HT!

post #1 of 17
4/1/08 at 7:59pm
Thread Starter 
Hello, just realized I am in the market for a new house, and specifically am evaluating suitability for a sweet, big HT...at least 130 and as big as a 200 inch screen...

...what room size should I be looking for? I'm seeing quite a few at the 20-24 by 12-15 range. . .but rooms bigger than that are somewhat rare...should ceiling height be a minimum of 9 feet?

Would like to avoid LCD and go with DLP but I don't think they are as flexible when it comes to room size and placement...

Room size, ideally? Thx!
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post #2 of 17
4/2/08 at 6:31am
Quote:
Originally Posted by raftermanfmj View Post

Hello, just realized I am in the market for a new house, and specifically am evaluating suitability for a sweet, big HT...at least 130 and as big as a 200 inch screen...

...what room size should I be looking for? I'm seeing quite a few at the 20-24 by 12-15 range. . .but rooms bigger than that are somewhat rare...should ceiling height be a minimum of 9 feet?

Would like to avoid LCD and go with DLP but I don't think they are as flexible when it comes to room size and placement...

Room size, ideally? Thx!

Let's try a 168" (14 feet) diagonal screen

The screen would be 146" wide for 16x9, just over 12 feet. So you better shoot for a room 15 feet wide just to have a little room on the sides of the screen and plan on putting the speakers behind the screen.

The screen will be 82" tall so framed in it will be taller than 7 feet. You will need at least a 9 foot tall ceiling to give your seats behind the first row a chance to see the whole screen.

The projector will need 16 to 20 feet of throw to project an image that size.

Optimum seating for a 720p projector would be about 18 feet from the screen and row spacing is about 4 or 5 feet so a 24 foot deep room would allow a back row and you could possibly put a closer row in for those who like the front row at the theater but screendoor might be visible that close unless you used something like Panasonic's Smoothscreen technology.

Optimum seating for a 1080p projector would be about 12 to 14 feet from the screen.

Just bouncing some numbers around, if you want to go big, you need to start big. There are some folks here with big screens, hopefully they will jump in and let you know what their setup is.

Edit: When I say optimum seating, I mean merely that the chance of seeing the screen door effect at this distance is low. Other recommendations like THX standards may dictate a distance further back.
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post #3 of 17
4/2/08 at 8:55am
Thread Starter 
I see - thanks! One problem is high ceilings aren't that common in the houses I am looking at; older homes. The bigger the room, the better, it seems to provide flexibility. Going out to look at one today, will take a tape measure. Thx for your input!
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post #4 of 17
4/2/08 at 12:36pm
Ambitious project and goals for sure....

Most people when they realize all that's involved in such large screens temper themselves back to around 120". Namely the floor to cieling measurement often becomes the limiting factor.

Keep in mind 9' was given at a minimum. With that sized screen? I'd probably want a nice big vaulted cieling of some sort.

If I coudl design from scratch? I think I'd be thinking of Balcony as an ultra cool theater feature.
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post #5 of 17
4/2/08 at 12:44pm
Quote:
Originally Posted by JOHNnDENVER View Post

If I could design from scratch? I think I'd be thinking of Balcony as an ultra cool theater feature.

Oooh! A cozy box seat above the crowd. Now that's an idea... I never park in my garage anyway.
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post #6 of 17
4/2/08 at 1:03pm
Quote:
Originally Posted by reconlabtech View Post

Oooh! A cozy box seat above the crowd. Now that's an idea... I never park in my garage anyway.

Just make sure you get good drapes so you can swing from them.
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post #7 of 17
4/2/08 at 1:07pm
I have vaulted unused attic space above my theater and man if it was a nicer home in a nicer neighborhood, I'd be inclined to give it a shot.

I think that would be the coolest theater feature imaginable.
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post #8 of 17
4/2/08 at 1:09pm
raftermanfmj -- The other problem that you will have is that there are almost no DLP projectors that will have enough light output to give you a bright enough image on a screen larger than 128" - 130" diagonal (16:9 aspect ratio).

You need to read the projector reviews to determine what projectors are suitable, and how big a screen you can actually use (see www.projectorreviews.com, for instance). A small screen in a small room will look just as big as a large screen in a large room. If you can find a house that has a suitable room (few windows) that is at least 12' wide and 18" (or more) long that would be very good. You want to avoid rooms that are even ratios (length to width), like 24 x 12 or 26 x 13 (which mine is) - terrible room resonances for audio, below 80Hz. It also is nice to have about 2' on each side of the screen (for speakers, etc.), that will also limit screen size.

For your reference, I'm using a 106", 16:9 screen in my 26' x 13' room. The screen is a pull-down type mounted 4' off of my front wall (where the speakers and regular TV are - about a foot from the front wall windows, draped). I sit about 11' from the screen, and that makes for a nice viewing setup (no SDE with a 720p DLP PJ). The back part of the room is used for other purposes and includes the side and rear channels of my 7.1 surround sound system and the projector. With some room rework, I could have room for another row of seating (now there only 2 of us). By mounting the front speakers off the wall helps to reduce my room resonances.

I've also seen a dedicated HT room that was about 9' x 12', with a 92" screen (a 96" screen would have been better though), and it was absolutely great, I sat about 6' from the screen - no SDE from a Panasonic 720p LCD PJ at 1.2 x screen width. He had a Martin-logan surround sound system and a Stewart Grayhawk screen which also helped the illusion.
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post #9 of 17
4/2/08 at 1:12pm
CT_Wiebe is right on here....

Not to dissuade you at all, but reallly most people end up at 120"-ish on the high side for a lot of reasons including the physics involved with the amount of light output that is needed.

Just to make sure, you have seen a 130" 16:9 and/or a 2.35.1 screen right? Very large and impossing in the home environment.
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post #10 of 17
4/2/08 at 1:25pm
Like Art's (Projector Reviews) JVC RS1 on his 128" Grayhawk, right?
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post #11 of 17
4/2/08 at 2:01pm
Well I meant in person..... But to scale pics help too.
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post #12 of 17
4/2/08 at 9:44pm
Thread Starter 
Quote:
Originally Posted by JOHNnDENVER View Post

CT_Wiebe is right on here....

Not to dissuade you at all, but reallly most people end up at 120"-ish on the high side for a lot of reasons including the physics involved with the amount of light output that is needed.

Just to make sure, you have seen a 130" 16:9 and/or a 2.35.1 screen right? Very large and impossing in the home environment.

Well, I went to the local Theater Xtreme and looked at a 120-123" in a room that was 20 feet long; it looked fantastic. I suppose how big the screen looks is absolutely dependent on how close you sit, so shoehorning a 200" screen into a 40 year old split-entry might be an impossibility. Naturally tho I want an image that will grab you by the throat and shake you. . .

Quote:


raftermanfmj -- The other problem that you will have is that there are almost no DLP projectors that will have enough light output to give you a bright enough image on a screen larger than 128" - 130" diagonal (16:9 aspect ratio).

You need to read the projector reviews to determine what projectors are suitable, and how big a screen you can actually use (see www.projectorreviews.com, for instance). A small screen in a small room will look just as big as a large screen in a large room. If you can find a house that has a suitable room (few windows) that is at least 12' wide and 18" (or more) long that would be very good. You want to avoid rooms that are even ratios (length to width), like 24 x 12 or 26 x 13 (which mine is) - terrible room resonances for audio, below 80Hz. It also is nice to have about 2' on each side of the screen (for speakers, etc.), that will also limit screen size.

For your reference, I'm using a 106", 16:9 screen in my 26' x 13' room. The screen is a pull-down type mounted 4' off of my front wall (where the speakers and regular TV are - about a foot from the front wall windows, draped). I sit about 11' from the screen, and that makes for a nice viewing setup (no SDE with a 720p DLP PJ). The back part of the room is used for other purposes and includes the side and rear channels of my 7.1 surround sound system and the projector. With some room rework, I could have room for another row of seating (now there only 2 of us). By mounting the front speakers off the wall helps to reduce my room resonances.

I've also seen a dedicated HT room that was about 9' x 12', with a 92" screen (a 96" screen would have been better though), and it was absolutely great, I sat about 6' from the screen - no SDE from a Panasonic 720p LCD PJ at 1.2 x screen width. He had a Martin-logan surround sound system and a Stewart Grayhawk screen which also helped the illusion.

Very good info, and thanks. Naturally, I want to 'go big' as bigger is usually better, but I understand you must have the room and light control. Thx very much for the room proportions - didn't even consider that as a problem/possibility.
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post #13 of 17
4/2/08 at 10:30pm
Quote:
Originally Posted by raftermanfmj View Post

Well, I went to the local Theater Xtreme and looked at a 120-123" in a room that was 20 feet long; it looked fantastic. I suppose how big the screen looks is absolutely dependent on how close you sit, so shoehorning a 200" screen into a 40 year old split-entry might be an impossibility. Naturally tho I want an image that will grab you by the throat and shake you. . .

Very good info, and thanks. Naturally, I want to 'go big' as bigger is usually better, but I understand you must have the room and light control. Thx very much for the room proportions - didn't even consider that as a problem/possibility.

You're welcome. From your posts, I figured you had not considered the "whole" picture .

You should remember that the sound system is at least 50% of the whole HT experience, so you don't want to skimp there. I have more invested in my audio equipment than I do in my projectors (I have 2, one is a backup) and screen. This is particularly true with the new lossless audio formats (TrueHD and DTS MA) on the better Blu-Ray HD movies - that has more impact on the grabbing and shaking effect, especially with a good sub-woofer .

NOTE: It would cost me around $2500 to replace my 20 year old sub (still working great) with an equivalent one (a Velodyne DD-15 is the present day equivalent). I also need to upgrade my AVR (upgrade #2) with a new one after I get a Blu-Ray player (upgrade #1) and a 1080p PJ (upgrade #3).
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post #14 of 17
4/2/08 at 10:56pm
Thread Starter 
Quote:
Originally Posted by CT_Wiebe View Post

You're welcome. From your posts, I figured you had not considered the "whole" picture .

You should remember that the sound system is at least 50% of the whole HT experience, so you don't want to skimp there. I have more invested in my audio equipment than I do in my projectors (I have 2, one is a backup) and screen. This is particularly true with the lossless audio formats (TrueHD and DTS MA) on the better Blu-Ray HD movies - that has more impact on the grabbing and shaking effect, especially with a good sub-woofer .

NOTE: It would cost me around $2500 to replace my 20 year old sub with an equivalent one (a Velodyne DD-15 is the present day equivalent). I also need to upgrade my AVR with a new one after I get a Blu-Ray player and a 1080p PJ.

I suppose I am reasonably fixed for sound - what do you think?

PSB Speakers
Velodyne VLF 1012 Sub
PS3
Onkyo TX SR 805 Reciever
Currently this feeds a Sony KDS-60A3000

I only have 5.1 so I imagine I'll go to 7.1.

Also intend on hooking my computer into the setup for some PC goodness; with a micro fridge, why leave the HT?
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post #15 of 17
4/3/08 at 3:13am
Quote:
Originally Posted by raftermanfmj View Post

Well, I went to the local Theater Xtreme and looked at a 120-123" in a room that was 20 feet long; it looked fantastic. I suppose how big the screen looks is absolutely dependent on how close you sit, so shoehorning a 200" screen into a 40 year old split-entry might be an impossibility. Naturally tho I want an image that will grab you by the throat and shake you. . .



Very good info, and thanks. Naturally, I want to 'go big' as bigger is usually better, but I understand you must have the room and light control. Thx very much for the room proportions - didn't even consider that as a problem/possibility.


It's good you went and looked at some screens. Now you really have a good idea of what may and may not work here.

You on a decent path it seems..... Keep us posted on your prgress. Don't bite into 7.1 to much. A 5.1 system is still fully capable.
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post #16 of 17
4/3/08 at 12:56pm
JOHNnDENVER -- I agree, I've used a 5.1 channel system for years. I have replaced my L/R front channel speakers with a pair of '70s JBL L96 speakers (courtesy of my significant other). My “old” front channel speakers are re-assigned to rear channel service. The L96's are pro-level speakers use in old high-end movie theaters as surround speakers to supplement their JBL “Voice of the Theater” front channel speakers in the early days of Cinemascope movies. I had to have the L96's 8” woofers professionally re-coned because the surrounds had severely degraded in storage.

raftermanfmj -- Your audio system sounds pretty good and should support your new HT room quite well, as well as the PS3, for playing Blu-Ray discs. Additional channels can always be added at a later date, if you get “the urge”.
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post #17 of 17
4/3/08 at 1:02pm
Quote:
Originally Posted by raftermanfmj View Post

Well, I went to the local Theater Xtreme and looked at a 120-123" in a room that was 20 feet long; it looked fantastic. I suppose how big the screen looks is absolutely dependent on how close you sit, so shoehorning a 200" screen into a 40 year old split-entry might be an impossibility. Naturally tho I want an image that will grab you by the throat and shake you. . .



Very good info, and thanks. Naturally, I want to 'go big' as bigger is usually better, but I understand you must have the room and light control. Thx very much for the room proportions - didn't even consider that as a problem/possibility.


You shouldn't forget the projector's lumen output will degrade over the life of the lamp. What looks nice and bright at the beginning will be too dim at the end of the lamp's life. A too large a screen will be problematic because you won't have enough lumens which could mean a shorter lamp life cycle since you'll probably drive the lamp at a high output.
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