It is all about the second row seeing over the heads of the first row. I use this calculator:

For theater recliners I use eyes at 36 off the ground and top of heads at 42. Your choice of seating may differ.

Start by determining where on the front wall you will place your screen and how far off the floor is the bottom of the image. I'm guessing a 8 inch riser won't cut it, maybe 12 ft. One of my favorite theaters (Swizzle Stick) had a 24 inch riser and the feeling was extraordinary.

 

Thanks Jeff, I saw that website before starting this thread. That calculator spit out something like 30" high which is impossible with 8' ceilings. Also, eye level for the people in back would be about even with the top of the screen. That calculator really needs to take into account the size of the screen and maybe even ceiling height.

I calculated eye level at 42" since that's what my eye level is sitting in a folding chair, I'm 5'10". What do you base 36" on? When I was checking out theater recliners (fortunately there is a showroom not too far away) most of them seemed uncomfortably high, as in my feet weren't firmly planted on the floor when seated. The main reason I picked the model I am getting is because it sat a little lower so my feet could be firmly planted on the ground, it was far more comfortable. I could be wrong but I don't think eye level in my recliners will be lower than a folding chair.

If having a clear view is main objective then it sounds like 16" is safer than 8".

 

.......If having a clear view is main objective then it sounds like 16" is safer than 8".

This is absolutely the main objective. And of course, a higher riser will allow a clearer view (within limits - 30" is excessive, and Jeff is right to be checking your maths)!

FWIW, my riser height is 21" and feels great, or it will do, as the theatre isn't finished yet. The resultant reduced ceiling height shouldn't be an issue, it's not like people are standing around there socialising, they're going to take their seats and enjoy a movie.

An alternative, would be a mini-riser, that some people here deploy under the rear row seating itself. So, build a 14" riser, and then a 2" platform for the seating itself, barely perceptible, but would give your guests an extra 2" of headroom as they walk to their seats, while still achieving the 16" goal once seated.

 

The calculator absolutely does take into account the size of the screen, how tall it is and where it hangs on the wall, I suspect you aren't using the calculator correctly, how far off the floor will your screen hang at the bottom? I'll check your math. My recliners are significantly lower than a folding chair. When you say your first row seating is 8 ft back is that the front or back of the chair?

As for where I get my numbers, from a FatMax tape measure while sitting in my chair.

 

The calculator absolutely does take into account the size of the screen, how tall it is and where it hangs on the wall, I suspect you aren't using the calculator correctly, how far off the floor will your screen hang at the bottom?

Maybe you are thinking of a different calculator?

So I ran your numbers

assuming a 96 inch tall room

If you hang the screen frame 6 inches from the ceiling, with a 3 inch border the bottom of the screen image will be at 29 inches from the floor

assuming the typical HT seating from Rtheaters.com or HTmarket.com, in the movie watching position (Semi reclined) your eyes will be at 36 inches and the top of the heads at 42.

if you slide the front row back 6 inches to 8 1/2 ft (102 inches) and the the second row is at 180 inches the calculator says you need a 16 inch riser. The closer the front row is to the screen (relative to the second row) the taller the riser needs to be. You don't need a 7 ft delta first to second row, 6 1/2 is fine. That is why I moved it back

By the way that is a pretty big screen to sit 8 1/2 ft from.

Couple of points...

The top of the projected image will be 15" from the ceiling. I have a soffit running along the top-right corner of the room and if I put the screen closer to the ceiling I'll have to sacrifice quite a bit of screen size. If I go just below the soffit I can go wall-to-wall. If I were to move the screen up I'd switch to a 16:9 screen instead of 2.35. I decided to go wider and lower.

For eye level I did not consider reclined position, I considered upright position. Should I calculate using reclined position?

I can't slide the front row back any further. The back row is against the back wall and the front row is as far back as it can be. Since I don't have the seats in I am estimating seating position is 8'. I'm being conservative so it might actually be further back, and will definitely be further back if reclined. Same is true for the back row, I estimated actual distance from the screen.

The reason for the distance between my rows is because someone here showed a picture demonstrating that if I use the standard 70" depth then the feet of the second row will be nearly touching the head of the front row when both are reclined. I could have sworn it was you, but it was probably more than a year ago so I can't say for sure.

 

Graph paper is a simple and easy solution. It doesn't take much time at all to draw out a room to scale with a ruler and pencil. It is easy enough to measure the actual height of someone sitting in a chair. Within a few minutes you will have a good graphic layout that will help you understand what you can and can't do.

 

Your 8' ceiling is unfortunate. You are faced with a choice of compromises.

Use beanbag chairs for the first row? Hmmm.
Only let kids sit in front?
Excavate your floor down 2-3'?
Pick a height somewhere between 8" and 36" and tell people to enjoy it.

Another factor I took into consideration is that, even with a 2.35:1 screen, rarely is the critical portion of the image at the bottom. In the rare case where the critical portion of the image is at the bottom, people are used to having to look around someone else's head.

Next time, get a space that is 9-10' high, or sloped floor. NEVER take your wife's suggestion to go with a smaller screen!

 

So I ran your numbers

assuming a 96 inch tall room

If you hang the screen frame 6 inches from the ceiling, with a 3 inch border the bottom of the screen image will be at 29 inches from the floor

assuming the typical HT seating from Rtheaters.com or HTmarket.com, in the movie watching position (Semi reclined) your eyes will be at 36 inches and the top of the heads at 42.

if you slide the front row back 6 inches to 8 1/2 ft (102 inches) and the the second row is at 180 inches the calculator says you need a 16 inch riser. The closer the front row is to the screen (relative to the second row) the taller the riser needs to be. You don't need a 7 ft delta first to second row, 6 1/2 is fine. That is why I moved it back

By the way that is a pretty big screen to sit 8 1/2 ft from.

 

I did not mine the low tech way. Bought chairs, installed first row, stood in the back and eyeballed it. Ended up with 12".

 

I've just checked my own room, and, while I have multiple ceiling heights throughout, as I've stepped the ceiling down, as well as the floor - the lowest ceiling section is 6'7", this is where I house the rear Atmos speakers and the return air grilles. I've walked backwards and forwards under this area several times this evening, and it feels fine - not too claustrophobic. This is 1" lower than your ceiling height will be with your overall 8' initial height available. I appreciate that my area that is this low, is a lot smaller than yours will be, but still....

So, I'd either not sweat it being a finished height of 6'8", or do as I suggested earlier, build a 14" riser, and bump the seating itself up by the extra 2".

You can see where I'm talking about here.

HTH

 

The calculator doesn't take into account screen size, only the distance from the floor to the bottom of the screen. But it could be a 32" TV or a 200" screen. Here are the numbers I used:

1. Enter the distance from the floor to the base of your screen:
22
2. Seated in your front row chair, enter the distance from the floor to the top of your head:
48
3. Seated in your second row chair (without the riser), enter the distance from the floor to your eye's:
42
4. Seated in your front row chair, enter the distance from the screen to your eyes:
96
5. Seated in your rear row chair (without the riser), enter the distance from the screen to your eyes:
180

The result is 29"

 

The screen size doesn't matter because the first row is still blocking the screen regardless of the size. Obviously the larger the screen the less percentage the first row is blocking, but it is still an annoyance. You screen is relatively large for your first row, and you are mounting you screen a little low.

For what it is worth my riser is 12", front row is ~10 feet back. I would prefer the riser to be higher if I only had the two rows.

 

I found the post and it was you.

You will not be able to recline seating on a 70 inch deep riser. you need 78.

My riser is 78" because of this.

The back of the front row seats will be ~110" from the screen. What would you estimate eye distance from the screen to be? And do you calculate that upright or reclined?

 

I found the post and it was you.
My riser is 78" because of this.
The back of the front row seats will be ~110" from the screen. What would you estimate eye distance from the screen to be? And do you calculate that upright or reclined?

Fact check. That photo was created to demonstrate why a 5 1/2 -6 ft distance chair to chair wouldn't work for some other old thread. I moved the chairs forward on my 78 inch riser. do you need a photo of 6 1/2?

your eyes will be 6-12 inches in front of the back of the chair. I calculate based on semi reclined

 

This is going to take things a little off topic but a few of you have mentioned I'm too close for a screen so large. Isn't this ameliorated to some extent by the fact that my screen is lower than usual? Eye level for me will be right about 1/3 up from the bottom. And isn't less of an issue because it's a 2.35 screen? When I'm watching 16:9 content the image size is equivalent to 118" diagonal.

If I work around the soffit issue and raise my screen I would max out at 129" diagonal with a 16:9 screen.

Maxing things out a 2.35 screen will be 136x58 and a 16:9 screen will be 103x58. I opted to sacrifice 5" of height to gain 24" of width. Wouldn't you go with the 2.35?

Is someone going to play the role of my wife and tell me to get a smaller screen?

 

Maxing things out a 2.35 screen will be 136x58 and a 16:9 screen will be 112x63. I opted to sacrifice 5" of height to gain 24" of width. Wouldn't you go with the 2.35?

Is someone going to play the role of my wife and tell me to get a smaller screen?

Me!!!

You haven't mentioned room dimensions, but lengthwise, I've calculated you must be almost identical to mine at 18'6", maybe a few inches shorter, but....

I lose 7" from the rear wall for acoustic treatments and air handling, and the screen will be 12"-18" off the front wall to allow speakers behind.

I've taped up the size of screen on my front wall, like yours, a 2.35 image, with secondary tape inside showing the size of a 16:9 image.

The width of the 2.35 image, from memory, is about 115 inches, and looks huge from 10ft away, where my riser begins and I spend a lot of time sitting, contemplating my next move. Taking a step or two closer, to your sort of viewing distance, and my finished distance, and it is more massive again.

I can't go any bigger, as I too am constrained at the sides, but the thing is, I wouldn't want to, it'll just make for uncomfortable viewing, having to move your eyes to take things in is fatiguing enough, if you have to move your head, at all, then the image is too big. Heresy on this forum, as blokes, the only thing we boast about being smaller are our mobile phones - size matters, right?

I'd certainly suggest taping up your screen wall and sit in front of it. I'd also experiment with sitting in front of your TV and moving your chair backwards and forwards, as it's angles that matter, they scale without change, so sitting in front of a 55" screen at 4' is the same as sitting in front of a 110" screen at 8'. A fatmax from your eyes to the TV will give you an idea of what's ideal for you. (Yes, it probably looks weird, but I did this when the house was empty, so no-one could see)! With your screen size, you'll be the equivalent of 4 ft away from a 68" screen - try it, you may (not) like it!

 

My risers are 18" high and it was the best thing I did. No one ever blocks anyone else, regardless if someone is sitting straight up in the front row but is fully reclined in the second row.

I also dug down into the ground instead of building up. The standard ceiling height of the entire first floor of my house is 10' high. So when you walk into the back of my theater room the back row is at the same level as the rest of the house and has a 10' ceiling height. The middle row drops 18" and the first row drops another 18". So the ceiling height at my middle row is 11'6" and the ceiling height at my front row is 13' high.

My first row is 10' from the screen. My second row is 17' from the screen and third row is 24' from the screen.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk Pro

 

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often cited reference on screen size. You will be at .73 screen widths in the front row, second row in this diagram. I'm a 4 or 5th row guy.

 

If you have to have two rows in 16 ft, consider traditional bolt down theater seating for the back row, then you can move the front row back a bit. You would also sit higher in the back row reducing the height required for the riser.

 

Has anyone calculated how far back our eyes moves from the fully upright position to the fully reclined position? I'm guessing about 6-7 inches.

 

Riser help

My room is 22 1/4 ft long but only 90 inches high. The 120 inch screen starts 30 inches from the floor and goes to the ceiling. My first row is about 13 ft from the screen. How tall should my riser be? Because of the low ceiling the extra couple inches for the seating would make sense. 10 inch riser with 2 more inches for the seats?

 

Would you happen to have the room dimensions you could share? I’m in the middle of designing my theater and looking to do something similar but as of now have only planned a 21” total drop, which I’m now thinking may not be sufficient. I’m looking to do 3 levels. Top at main floor level and then a drop down 2 levels. Would appreciate any advice.

 

Wheeler, drops discussed here: Riser Height Calculator

 

thanks!

 

Here’s what I built.
Works absolutely prefect. 1/3rule for 1st row, 2/3 for second row. 25’ long room , 2’ off back wall.
Back row has zero visibility problems. ~16” high riser