Quote:
Originally Posted by
akrauss 
Hi all. Three somewhat related questions:
1)
Screen Choice - I have had my 5010e projector running for a few weeks and am ready for a screen. I have a fully light controlled room (approx. 20 x 22), but not a "bat cave." White ceiling , dark blue walls on three sides and yellow on the front (was previously kids playroom). Throw distance is approx. 11 1/2 feet, with ceiling mount. I can not move the projector any further back, b/c the ceiling pitches down at a fairly extreme angle. I havent measured my viewing angle cone, but it is not extreme on either side. I have projector in eco mode and either normal or living room. I was considering a 102 inch Carada BW. Spoke to Rex at Carada today and he suggested I go with the Classic, as he felt the BW would be too bright at the cost of black level. It seems like a number of people in the Epson forum, have the Carada BW paired with this projector, although many have greater screen size and throw distance. I would appreciate any comments as to appropriate screen for my situation and specifically if anyone who has the BW in a similar set up is happy. I note that a number of reviews have reported that the BW is not actually 1.4 gain, so perhaps I should go with the BW and be done ?
2)
Image Uniformity Issues - I am unable to get a properly justified 16:9 image. I know a few others have reported this problem and some were fixed by adjusting the level of the projector. I tried for over an hour and couldnt fix it. As noted above, I am currently projecting onto a painted paneled wall. Projector is ceiling mounted and I am using a fair amount of V&H lens shift. I have the peerless UNV geared ceiling mount. When I project an approx. 103 inch image (almost maxed out in size), my measurements are as follows: Height - 50 5/8 inches (left side), 49 5/8 inches (right side) & Length - 89 3/8 inches (bottom), 90 5/8 inches top. If I zoom out to max size I get the following measurements: 51 5/8 inches (left), 50 5/8 inches (right) & 91 1/2 inches (bottom), 92 7/8 inches (top). I am pulling my hair out trying to fix this ! Could someone please walk me through a possible fix. Could it be my wall ? If so, should I wait until I get my screen up and stop driving myself crazy now ? Although, if its the wall, wouldnt that carry through to the screen, unless I start using shims ? How do I determine if projector is precisely level, when ceiling mounted ? Also, as the projector surface does not appear entirely flat, where would I even lay the level ?
3) Question related to both of the above - Given the limitations on my projected image size and the image uniformity issues, I was considering the Carada 102" which has a viewing area of 88.9 inches by 50 inches. This way, I can be confident I wont end up being unable to fill the screen, although I might have overscan onto the frame. Does this approach make sense ?
Thanks as always to all for the great info !
I got my 5010E mount installed and leveled (torpedo level works great for this) and I will be able to fit a 126" screen just like I wanted to with my 12 ½ ft throw. I am projecting onto a dark khaki wall and it actually has great contrast. It is real close to the dark gray cinema screen material that Carada sent me. I taped up the samples from Da-Lite and Carada at the same time so I could see the difference between them side by side. Here are my impressions so far:
I had it on Cinema (Eco) and the iris set to fast:
Da-Lite Cinema Vision 1.3 gain- It has less gain then the Carada Classic Cinema White (1.0 gain) I didn't care for it at all.
Da-Lite HP 2.4 gain- This reminds me of a reflector, it will reflect light only when the light and your eye are at just the right level. This was real bright when the projector was sitting on a table, but once I mounted it from the ceiling I couldn't tell the difference between it and the Carada Brilliant White.
Carada Brilliant White 1.4 gain- This was really bright and made any light that hit it look bright and was really close to the HP material. My wife who knows nothing about this stuff picked this screen material as the one she liked the most. She compared it to our LCD TV.
Carada Classic Cinema White 1.0 gain- This material surprised me a lot. It was bright, but not too bright. In several scenes this looked no different than the BW, but if a "sun" in a scene shot onto it and the BW the BW was brighter by a little bit. The thing that surprised me the most about this material is the contrast. On dark scenes it was a little bit darker then the BW. If a scene like space was on the black level was just blacker then on the BW. The BW raises the brightness and the black level equally. This is where it was really hard for me to decide between these two.
The projector is new so as it gets dimmer it will be nice to have that little bit of extra brightness of the BW, but I also enjoyed the darker blacks with the CCW.
I tried 3D with the Epson glasses and the BW had the edge in a little brighter picture and seemed to have more depth to it. At different viewing angles the BW held the brightness better than the CCW IMO.
IMO, I would get the biggest screen you can fit and have room for a little over scan so that you don't end up with a white frame around your picture. To make sure your projector is square with your screen wall use a tape measure and measure from the top left corner from the screen to the projector lens and do the same for the right. The two measurements should match if it is square.
Also worth noting is Carada's customer service. I called and spoke with Rex for 30 min and he was most helpful and knowledgeable and answered all of my questions.
When I called Da-Lite to get screen samples, I was on the phone for 3 minutes, long enough to tell him what I wanted and my address. The guy sounded like he was having a bad day and seem bothered to even talk to me. I know everyone will have different experiences, but to me this left a bad taste in my mouth for Da-Lite. (I didn't let this experience sway my decision on which screen I liked better either)
I have a convergence (pixel alignment) issue with my 5010e and Epson is going to send me a new one, but the 5010e's are on back-order. Hopefully you don't have the same issue as me with yours.
No worries about your screen taking on the shape of your wall. The screen will stay true (flat) as it is rigid and hangs on very stiff support brackets that screw into studs.
I would say stick with your option #3 for safety sake.
I hope this helps.
