[parsonbeast]

I will be building a home theater, and I have a limited budget so I am going to get the panasonic ax200u. My eyes will be 14 feet from the screen.


Being the projector is 720p, do you think 120" is too much? While I use blu ray I am mostly concerned about dvd not looking good that close. It will be upconverted to 720p via panasonic bd35k player. I really want the big screen effect without the artifacting and blurriness. Would 100" be more logical at that distance?


And I am also a stickler for black levels, the room will be painted very dark and there are no windows or no lights. Will the black levels be alright, what screen could I get to enhance them without ruining the color accuracy.


Thank you!!

 

[d james]

I run a Hd70 720p pj to a 135" screen and wouldn't have it any other way. I think 120 is a nice size as well, but the limiting factor is the brightness of the pj, and if i'm not mistaken that panny is pretty bright, much more than mine, so you should be fine with 120. Personally I wouldn't go less than 110.


As far as blu rays go, I only have HD DVD and they look pretty amazing on the big screen, much better than SD, however, I do rent a couple SD movies each night and they are very tolerable. Some even look close to HD, when upscaled through the player. I don't have any complaints watching SD, except knowing they could be better, sometimes artifacts make themselves known more than other movies, but its really not bad. I never watch movies on my 40 inch LCD as the size sucks and the pq isn't any better. In fact it seems like the pj presents the picture better with less grain, and the tv is a an expensive Sony Bravia, so I'd expect the opposite. What does suck is SD broadcast tv stations, boy they suck real bad! I watch on the tv for those shows because the problems of tv show up very well on the pj. Some people don't seem to mind, but for my eyes, its a no go.


I'd hit the screen forum for some ideas, purchasing a screen should be one of the last things to do, to make sure you get it right the first time. The blacks are better on a grey screen, but I still prefer the white as it keeps the image brighter.

 

[imjay]

What will be your lens-to-screen throw. It might need to be longer than 14ft. with the Panasonic to achieve a 135in wide image (or did you mean diagonal)?


Everybody has different acceptance levels of image. We're happy to wait a while for Blu Ray prices to drop and, more important to us, more options and lower prices for 3D Ready projector models.


720p Panasonic makes us very happy. Some aspects of our 56in 1080p HD TV image are better than the projected image but the trade-off is worth it. Our "little" TV is just a television while the projector and screen is like being at the movies.


NO tv available today can deliver the visual experience of Theater in the Home - requires a projector, properly set up room and a Theater sized screen.


We are perfectly happy with the resolution via Up Conversion of standard def. dvd movies - heck, even when "shrunk" to fit on a 4.7Gig disc these movies with Up Conversion look very, very good on the big screen.


Screen - we bought a white screen first and then a gray one and the gray one was, to us, by far the better for three reasons.

1. Better blacks and contrast

2. Reflects almost no light back into the room - white screens are the worst culprits of reflection and re-reflection of light.

3. Minimizes visibility and annoyance of the "black bars" that ALL projector images have when scaling wide screen movies to their native aspect ratio which is usually just 16:9 and most movies are much wider than that.


My final thought is that you remember that you have the Theater basics covered - room characteristics, light control and screen size. Everything else that a lot of people put into their theater rooms is just eyewash - nothing wrong with spending a lot of cash on that stuff but it has nothing to do with the basic visual experience. Movie posters, special room lights, a stage, special popcorn gadget and etc. and etc. All that stuff becomes invisible when the lights go down and the big screen lights up.


Fasten your seat belt and get ready for the WOW!!!

 

[parsonbeast]



Quote:
Originally Posted by imjay /forum/post/15472215


What will be your lens-to-screen throw. It might need to be longer than 14ft. with the Panasonic to achieve a 135in wide image (or did you mean diagonal)?


Everybody has different acceptance levels of image. We're happy to wait a while for Blu Ray prices to drop and, more important to us, more options and lower prices for 3D Ready projector models.


720p Panasonic makes us very happy. Some aspects of our 56in 1080p HD TV image are better than the projected image but the trade-off is worth it. Our "little" TV is just a television while the projector and screen is like being at the movies.


NO tv available today can deliver the visual experience of Theater in the Home - requires a projector, properly set up room and a Theater sized screen.


We are perfectly happy with the resolution via Up Conversion of standard def. dvd movies - heck, even when "shrunk" to fit on a 4.7Gig disc these movies with Up Conversion look very, very good on the big screen.


Screen - we bought a white screen first and then a gray one and the gray one was, to us, by far the better for three reasons.

1. Better blacks and contrast

2. Reflects almost no light back into the room - white screens are the worst culprits of reflection and re-reflection of light.

3. Minimizes visibility and annoyance of the "black bars" that ALL projector images have when scaling wide screen movies to their native aspect ratio which is usually just 16:9 and most movies are much wider than that.


My final thought is that you remember that you have the Theater basics covered - room characteristics, light control and screen size. Everything else that a lot of people put into their theater rooms is just eyewash - nothing wrong with spending a lot of cash on that stuff but it has nothing to do with the basic visual experience. Movie posters, special room lights, a stage, special popcorn gadget and etc. and etc. All that stuff becomes invisible when the lights go down and the big screen lights up.


Fasten your seat belt and get ready for the WOW!!!

Thank you very much, I have decided to go with a 110 inch screen. I have been able to make the room bigger and I am now about 16 feet from the screen. Thank you very much for the advice about the gray screen.


I agree about the posters and everything, we will have all the move theater "gadgets" in the room beside it and the posters will be on the way down the stairs and the hallway to the room beside the theater. The actual theater room is going to be completely black and fabric everywhere, I might decide to go up to 120" since I have moved back, but I think 110" is sufficient.l


Thank you VERY much!!!

 

[RABBITFISH]

Recently as, does everyone else I purchased a larger screen! I went from an 86" to a 104". It is BIG!!! I realized that it's a good thing that my space was limited. I had to move my seating further back, I only had a foot left! Good thing I had room. Imagine sitting in the front row at the theater. You have to keep looking side to side to see the picture!! Try to get a feel for the size with a picture on the wall or on a sheet first, and measure it to see what will be a comfortable viewing size. Bigger is not always better..........