Need some advice on setting up home theatre in basement

What is your ceiling height? Of those projectors the X10 would easily be my pick (I own one), but it's offset will necessitate a high ceiling or lower screen height. The throw distances you are talking about (15-17') are perfect for the X10 with a 2.4:1 screen. You would want to go as far back as possible to minimize distortion through the anamorphic lens you'll need (so 17').

Art over at Projectorreviews has his 1080p picks up which will give you the competition for the X10, though few (if any) will be break into the <$1500 range. Another consideration is that the X10/IN8x chassis can require some modification based on what anamorphic lens you decide on. Nothing major, just shaving some of the plastic on the front of the case to accomodate the lens. If you decide to go with the X10, I would suggest posting in the CIH forum to see which lenses work best with it.

The 2 LCoS projectors shouldn't have any issues with the offset. However Sony is notorious for not including the necessary scaling on some of their projectors need for a CIH setup. I'm pretty sure the VW100 probably does have the anamorphic scaling, the VW50 I would definitely check on. IIRC the BenQ does have an anamorphic mode. A 12' ceiling should pose no issues with the X10's offset.

According to the reviews I have read, the X10 will put out a better picture. The HC5500 has the necessary mode to work with an anamorphic lens and will probably be easier to get to work with one than the X10.

Both the X10 and 5500 have the necessary scaling for an anamorphic lens. The X10 will just be more problematic to fit a lens with due to its case and optics design. Whether the hassle is worth the improved picture is your call.

You are using a scope 2.4:1 screen so you will need an anamorphic lens to make any 16:9 projector work properly. If you don't buy a lens, you can manually zoom the projector to get it to work, but you will need to do this for each aspect change. You will also have light spill issues. And will need to refocus each time. Equipping the projector with the proper lens means that you simply slide the lens in front of the projector for scope (~2.4:1) films and slide it away for 16:9 (and 1.78:1 films) and 4:3 material. I would strongly urge budgeting for the lens if you truly want to use your 2.4:1 screen.

I assume you already have a sound system? I don't see it on your list......

No. If you have the projector zoomed for scope films, a 16:9 image will spill over the top and bottom of the screen. You would have to zoom the image in to get it to fit the height of the 16:9 image into your scope screen and thus leaving bars on the sides. Which also brings up the question of which projector would have the zoom necessary to expand the image out to get the middle portion of the panel to fill your scope screen and also close in enough to get the 16:9 image height into the frame. You will also have considerable light spill onto the wall zooming the image for scope presentation, so you will need to make sure your wall is painted a dark color or you will have to create some masking. Also keep in mind the projectors menus will be off the screen due to the zooming.

With the lens setup you would size the projector in it's native 16:9 mode into the 2.4:1 screen (again leaving gaps at the sides). When you wish to view scope films, you simply change the aspect mode on the projector and slide the lens in place. You lose no brightness. You do not need to refocus. You have no issues with light spill. Personally I would look at purchasing an inexpensive lens, like the Home Theater Brothers unit, and putting off some of the other purchases. Otherwise you're in for a lot of work to try to make this fit your screen.

Pretty small difference. Won't really be a factor in the discussion.


OK I'm not sure if I am getting across exactly what is going on here. First off with or without the anamorphic lens you will ideally have black bars on the sides of 16:9 and 4:3 content on a scope screen. So lens or not 16:9 material will be using 73x41" of the screen (which you are correctly stating above). And you will be getting the full resolution of the projector with 16:9 content.

I think the confusion is how you can handle scope (2.35-2.4:1) material.

1. Without a lens
With no lens and no zoom/focus changes a scope image will be shown in the 73x41" area creating an image with black bars at the sides and the top and bottom. Hardly ideal, but it will work without any changes.

Now if the projector has the zoom necessary you can optically expand the image to where the used portion of the panel, which is approximately 1920x800 for scope, fills the screen. This leaves the unused portion of the 16:9 panel spilling over the top and bottom of the screen. This will create issues with light colored walls as the light spill will cause unwanted distractions (digital projectors never truly get black so even the black bars contain some light). It also makes using the menus of the projector difficult since they are usually in the upper left and when zoomed for scope will be off the screen. The real downside is this requires that you manually zoom and focus the projector each time you change aspect ratios between scope and 16:9/4:3.

2. With a lens

When a lens enters the equation several things are happening. The first is you engage the anamorphic mode on the projector. This takes the 1920x800 scope image and scales it to 1920x1080 resolution of the panel (throwing away the black area and expanding the active area). So what you have now is the image has been distorted to fill the panel. If you were to look at this image without a lens it would look compressed. People would be tall and thin. What the lens does is optically stretch this image the same way anamorphic lenses do in real theaters. This optical expansion creates the scope image from the compressed 16:9 panel.

This has several advantages. You are not zooming or refocusing the image (the optical expansion of the lens increases the width of the image for you). You have no light spill since the height of the image is never changing. The image is brighter since the entire panel is illuminated.

I hope this clears things up.

It does have that feature. You will still lose some brightness since it is using an automatic zoom to change ratios, but with the screen size you are talking about it should still do fine. It will cost more than say the X10 (~$1200 with live cashback) and the lens ($600) but it is a fine projector and won't require as much work to get it setup.

Both the X10 and the AE3000 are great projectors. Both have different strengths. Setting up the X10 with the anamorphic lens will take some work. My concern on the AE3000 would be that when you go to upgrade it, will the next projector have the memory zoom feature? If not you'll be in the same boat.

So your first option would be to spend a few hundred dollars more and get something that is pretty painless to setup. It may be delaying the cost of a lens, but in 3-4 years it may be easier to afford one (and if the zoom feature is popular and catches on it may not even be an issue). The second is cheaper, will look a little better (due to the scope image being brighter), but will require some effort to get setup right.

I guess the real answer is how much is the convenience worth? If you can budget the extra for the AE3000 and are prepared for the possible necessity of a lens down the road then it's probably your best bet. If saving the money is more important then you're looking at lens + projector route.

Your best bet is to put a posting on the CIH (constant image height forum) and ask if the HTB lens will work with a Infocus X10/IN8x (include the IN8x as they share the same chassis).

My guess is you will need to take a rotary tool and remove some of the front lip. Since you aren't actually opening or cutting into the case and as long as you cover any vents and the lens you should be able to argue any warranty issues with the manufacturer.

You need the horizontal expansion (like the HTB). And yes, the VW100 will properly scale the scope image to the 16:9 panel.

from what i know, 2.35:1 w/ an anamorphic lens is NOT going to fit into your budget man. the lens itself is gonna cost you anywhere from $500.00 - $1000.00