Best Buy is replacing my C7 65" LG OLED under warranty, and I am trying to decide which the best way to go will be. I can receive the C9 65" for free, or upgrade to the C9 77" for about $2500. If I keep the 65" I want to add a projector and screen that will come down in front of the TV. This is in a living room with large windows, but all have blinds that can be closed. Our viewing distance is about 14 feet from the TV. My projector budget would probably be limited to around $4,000 including the screen. If I did the projector it would solely be for movie watching, mostly at night. I would also be limited to a 120" screen due to speaker placement. I am hoping some of you have similar setups and can comment on which you have preferred. Thanks!

I rocked a pull down in front of the TV for years. My various rooms all had light issues until night time and even then there were some issues. TV during the day and regular watching. PJ for movie time or special watching. Even now in my more dedicated multipurpose room I have a 65” TV. It’s great for gaming and watching things that doesn’t necessarily require a big PJ screen.

Given your budget, you can definitely go 4K for under $2K including a pull down! 65” isn’t big enough for the big screen experience. 77” will get you close but a 120” at your distance...Now you are talking!

You will get a better experience with a fixed frame but again, I rocked pull downs for years and was totally happy.

77'' OLED is amazing but really it just comes down to the simplicity of the jump in screen size.
Going from 55'' to 65'' is huge. going from 65'' to 77'' is huge. And going from 77'' to 90'' + is when you hit the territory of "wow, this is immersive AF and amazing".
77'' OLED is basically HUGE TV territory but its not "I'm at the cinema territory".
My personal opinion is that 77'' OLED and projector go hand in hand.

77'' oled gives you pixel perfect HDR with infinite contrast ratios and gsync for video games with great app integration for easy and quick viewing.

The projector gives you the best (I would say even better than the cinema given I haven't been impressed with a cinema's display in a long time re: black levels, contrast, sound) cinematic display and experience you can imagine but its obviously got bit sacrifices (aka no light lol).

for reference here is 77" vs 120" 16:9

Your 14 foot viewing distance is the killer. MOVE IT UP (if at all possible)! If it were maybe 10' I would say go for the 77'' since light control is so difficult with PJ's. But you aren't going to get an immersive viewing angle at 14 feet even with a 77'' display. You could consider going with an 85'' LED and really try to move up to may 10-12 feet away. I am a huge proponent of an immersive viewing angle but getting the proper light control for a PJ in a non dedicated room will be a constant pain. Will also be difficult to fully realize the benefits of an OLED vs LCD in a room with windows.

I am struggling with this myself. I have an old 60'' Kuro in the living room at a 7.5-8 feet distance and the thought of replacing it with anything but a 65'' OLED is just painful. However in the non light controlled living room I would probably get a better picture with the lights on or in daytime. And after having the fully dedicated room with a projector I now know just how important viewing angle is for an immersive experience. A much larger LCD screen being cheaper is attractive. I will watch all movies in the theater so it makes getting a smaller screen more palatable

For reference I am 9 feet away from a 120'' diagonal screen (110'' wide 2.35:1) and I feel it is just right for 2.35 but too small for 16:9. I have one of the smaller screens of our local enthusiasts.

A PJ will need total light control which means night viewing with all lights out. I this is not always possible then spending money on a JVC with high contrast is probably a waste. You could be better off getting a cheaper Epson light cannon even with some inaccurate colors and then possibly get the 77" OLED as well. I could ramble on forever. Tough choice. But moving the seating distance up would solve a lot of problems.

Thank you for all the input. Unfortunately, moving the seating closer isn't an option with our current living room setup. We have two toddlers so having an open area in the living room for them to play takes priority over having the prefect viewing distance. After talking it over with the wife she made me realize that even if I do a PJ for movies, I will still want the larger 77" for watching TV anyway so I went ahead and had them upgrade me to the larger size. Now I can just use that until I figure out what I want to do for a PJ down the road. Thanks again for the suggestions.

Exactly. 2:35:1 content really shows the inadequecies of TV sizes

Ideally, both. The OLED tv in the living room and projector in a dedicated theater room. With that, it will all depend on you where to watch movies. Sometimes living room, sometimes home theater room. Certainly I would be gaming more on the OLED because of the more vivid picture.

I wish I had a theater room, but that isn't going to happen unless I buy a new house someday. The 77" OLED for now with hopefully adding the PJ in front of it for my current living space will have to do for now.

That sounds good too if you can do it The problem with projectors is that you need a good environment to get the best out of them. By good environment I mean black velvet (or really dark paint ; velvet is the best though). You can't do all that in a living room for obvious reasons. But you'll still be able to enjoy it, just not at it's full potential.

I would consider an Epson 5050UB or BenQ HT5550 paired with a Silver Ticket tab tensioned electric screen, which would fit your budget and give you a great movie experience.


Edit: Nevermind, looks like you went with the 77". Hope you enjoy it and maybe you can get into the projector game later on!

Like your name. I live on a lake and used to wakeboard a lot. My first wakeboard was a Skuffer Launch. Bought it in 1986. No one on our lake had ever seen a wakeboard at that time, so had to teach myself how to ride it. Sorry for off topic.

I got into it a little later than you, probably '96 or so. My first board was a directional Hyperlite skurf-style board with 3 rear fins and elastic sandle bindings. I also had nobody to teach me so it took almost a full summer off and on of trial and error.

Wow I was just debating this dilemma and I saw your post For those of us that do not have a dedicated theater room, I think its very practical to have a "regular" tv for the days when you just want to maybe watch some tv series, documentaries, etc heck even some movies. I think its a great idea to just use the projector for "movie nights". I too am deciding to just a get a decent 65" mounted on the wall and a motorized 125" in front.


The only thing that kinda bothers me is I read of people saying the pull downs are not even and wavy sometimes, etc. I think I'm gonna take my chance lol

I know plenty of people use pull down screens with success. Obviously there is a trade off, but having a fixed screen is not an option in my living room.

I went from my 65VT60 plasma to a 116" 2.35:1 screen and Runco RS-1100 Ultra projector and never look back to TV. 120-140" scope screen is a big win against any TV for movie nights. 116" scope screen aginst 77" 16:9 screen size:






Of course I have to paint walls darker than plain white, install black curtain for window and also for ceiling. If you can't handle your living room walls, furniture, flooring to darker color, you probably stick with OLED, beacuse poor contrast will overcome on immersion in bad enviroment.


This is my livingroom normally:


And at movie night:

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I can't see your 2nd picture.

Just get a tab tensioned screen and you won't have to worry about it being uneven or wavy. Silver Ticket sells a motorized tab tensioned screen in the 600-800 range, depending upon size needed.

I did practically the same in 2014; went from a 65VT60 to a 117.4" diagonal (or 9 feet wide) scope screen. Took my home theater experience to a completely new level.

I had been considering a 70-80" flat panel, but knew it wouldn't satisfy the experience I was wanting.

Added a photo.

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I'm not sure what I like better - the instant black velvet treatments or the projector popping out of a box idea - very clever ! Stealth theater. Bravo - excellent execution !

Have to admit, I looked at the earlier picture with the cabinet closed and wondered why he had a cabinet there. After seeing the second picture, it was pretty obvious.

Ok, my .02, as my viewing distance is roughly the same in my den.

First, I have an LG OLED in the bedroom(and I have a lot of OLED displays that I use in my professional life) and a projector isn't going to touch the blacks and overall image, but when it comes to size, the tables turn.

Now, onto the important stuff. I currently sit 15' away from my screen. I used to have a 60" 720P Sony rear projection set. At first, I thought it was huge moving from a 27" SD CRT(this was 15 years ago). That wore off in a few weeks. Then I moved onto a 73" Mitsubishi rpj set and again, it seemed pretty big at first, then it was "normal", again. Next(and currently), the last rpj set that Mitsubishi made, a 92". At 15' I would not want anything smaller and am currently in the process of transitioning to 120" front projection fixed screen set-up. My LG HU85 is here, so I'm just waiting on the screen to arrive so that I can swap it all out.

My den is a functioning den, not a dedicated theater, but the light is well controlled and I keep it fairly dark, even during the day, so I'm not worried about a lot of light pouring in. The only time it would(could) get direct light is first thing in the morning, if the curtains were opened.

Side note: I'm not spending that much more for a 4K projector and 120" screen than I did for my 60" 720P rpj set ~15 years ago.

Ha! Outstanding what you did with such a heavy projector. Good solution overall; that's not an easy room to deal with. Have you considered adding a piece of black velvet to the interior of the lid to deal with that spilt light?