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How big is too big?

post #1 of 15
9/9/07 at 7:03am
Thread Starter 
I'm in the planning stages of my home theater. The Epson Powerlite 400 is on the way. I've ordered the screen paint I will use for my DIY screen.
The room is our family room which is 15' X 21' with a cathedral ceiling and a solid wall at one end which is where the screen will be. According to the projector throw calculater I used, if I hang the projector 20' back the screen will be just abou 10' wide for the 16:9 format.
I woke up this morning, got my coffee and headed for the family room to watch the news as I do every morning. I was wondering what it would be like watching the morning news at somewhere around 10' wide.
See, the family room is everyones daily TV watching room. Is a 10' screen too big?
I was thinking this morning that maybe I would just have a smaller TV in the room for watching daily programs.
Or maybe we all will be tickled with the big screen and will watch everything from it.
One of my questions is, should I scale down the screen size or go as big as possible?
Another is, did anyone out there, in hind site, discover that their screen size should have been bigger or smaller once it was in operation?
Any insites, comments or suggestions are appreciated.
Thanks,
~john
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post #2 of 15
9/9/07 at 8:13am
What is the seating distance from the screen?
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post #3 of 15
9/9/07 at 8:32am
Thread Starter 
viewing distance will be from 12' to 18'.
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post #4 of 15
9/9/07 at 9:01am
Welcome the the AVS Forum!

There's lots of recommendations for screen size vs viewing distance, but the deciding factor should be personal preference. I sit 6 feet away from an 85" diagonal screen, which is much closer than the "recommended" distance, and I love it.

If your existing wall is a light color, you might try projecting on it temporarily before deciding on a permanent screen size.

Garry
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post #5 of 15
9/9/07 at 10:52am
As an added note, the recommended distance is 3 times the screen height.

mech
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post #6 of 15
9/10/07 at 7:42am
This is just my opinion based on what I like, and using a 480p projector in low lamp mode.

With your size room, I would suggest a 100" screen with the projector mounted somewhere in the 13' to 15' range if the throws work out. Allow yourself some flexibility using the zoom. Maybe 85" to 106". On my projector, using the zoom raises or lowers the picture. This could be an issue to watch out for.

I watch everything on my projector. My room is small, but light controlled and painted dark colors for better viewing. My viewing distance is 12' maximum due to the room length which is 13'6". I can zoom up to about 90", but usually watch at about 82" diagonal for 16:9.

I zoom up to full screen width of 81" for 2:35 DVD movies. This works out to 88" diagonal. For me, this is about the maximum before SDE becomes a problem at 12 feet. If I could view from 15 feet, a 110" diagonal would be suitable from the SDE standpoint, but brightness would suffer, forcing me to use high power mode.
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post #7 of 15
9/10/07 at 10:25am
Thread Starter 
Thanks for all the information. I plan to set up the projector this weekend to play with the formats/size. Once i'm satisifed with the throw/screen size, etc. I'll start to make some decisions on building the screen. The room was textured when the house was built so I haven't decided if I'll sand down the existing wall (yikes), put up new dry wall or put up a some sort of substrate.
I"m leaning towards an MDF substrate at the moment.
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post #8 of 15
9/10/07 at 10:55am
Quote:
Originally Posted by jlillie View Post

I'm in the planning stages of my home theater. The Epson Powerlite 400 is on the way. I've ordered the screen paint I will use for my DIY screen.
The room is our family room which is 15' X 21' with a cathedral ceiling and a solid wall at one end which is where the screen will be. According to the projector throw calculater I used, if I hang the projector 20' back the screen will be just abou 10' wide for the 16:9 format.
I woke up this morning, got my coffee and headed for the family room to watch the news as I do every morning. I was wondering what it would be like watching the morning news at somewhere around 10' wide.
See, the family room is everyones daily TV watching room. Is a 10' screen too big?
I was thinking this morning that maybe I would just have a smaller TV in the room for watching daily programs.
Or maybe we all will be tickled with the big screen and will watch everything from it.
One of my questions is, should I scale down the screen size or go as big as possible?
Another is, did anyone out there, in hind site, discover that their screen size should have been bigger or smaller once it was in operation?
Any insites, comments or suggestions are appreciated.
Thanks,
~john

Just for the record, most home theater projectors are optomized for a 100 inch diagonal image@16x9 AR. Of course, 92" to 120" is very doable with most PJs.
Going BIG is what projection is all about. If your PJ has the lumens you may be able to push the envelope. Go big, but not to the point of a compromised image.
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post #9 of 15
9/10/07 at 2:00pm
For about $12 you could get a 4 x 8 sheet off glossy white faced hardboard from Lowes or Home Depot to experiment with. It will hotspot if untreated. One coat of white or light gray paint rolled or sprayed on should take care of the hotspot issue. I hang mine on two nails. It's only about 1/8th inch thick.
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post #10 of 15
9/11/07 at 4:18pm
I've owned a PJ for less than a year. When I first contemplated buying one I pinned a 72 inch diag sheet ofpaper on the wall and it looked ridiculously large.

However when the PJ arrived, I roughed in an 84' screen (paint) and watched for about a month.

From 13' it became too small rather quickly. These toys make you greedy for screen size.

My "finished" screen is now 90" but I intend to take it to 100" soon. Hell, I have the paint and the time, all I need is the energy. This is my max to keep it between the speakers and above the equipment rack.

As a relative newbie my advice is to take this endeaver slowly. Blowing up SDTV for the news and non HD material can be disappointing. And light control in your room is a must.

A second TV for the daily stuff is a capital idea.

Do you want to drink morning coffee in the dark? Didn't think so.

Go big for movies/HDTV and small for routine viewing.

Humble opinion expressed. Enjoy your PJ. I LOVE mine.
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post #11 of 15
9/12/07 at 6:23am
You know what they say in Hollywood... "you can't be too thin or too rich." Same thing regarding screen size!

My screen is about 100 inches, but my son did his at about 148" and I love it.
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post #12 of 15
9/14/07 at 3:23pm
size is not everything. I would go with a screen no larger then 8' wide. My thought is based on placing the projector as close to the screen as I can to reduce distance to screen which will help with brightness and lighting. my seating and lights in my HTR is behind the projector ,so I don't get image wash out.
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post #13 of 15
9/21/07 at 5:13am
you might not want to keep the projector for daily watching because the lamp will most likely blow or finish quicky
i suggest putting it somewhere else or if you have money to spare to keep getting a new lamp then its your choice
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post #14 of 15
9/26/07 at 11:16am
Quote:
Originally Posted by mech View Post

As an added note, the recommended distance is 3 times the screen height.

mech

Or, 1.5x to 2x the screen width, less if you have 1080 res.
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post #15 of 15
9/26/07 at 10:57pm
weve got a 135 inch diagonal hooked up in a room that is 21 ft wide. With the PJ at the back of that 21 feet it works well and we sit about 16 feet from the screen and we love it for everything including SD broadcasting. I actually hate anything SD and don't watch much of it, but everyone else really digs the large size. We would've gone with 11 feet wide instead of 10, but the screen would've been touching the floor. I feel from 12 or 13 feet away its to large for my tastes, but further back its great.
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