[JaredC79]

I am pretty much all done with framing out a room in my basement for a home theatre. The front wall where the projector screen will be is 14 feet long x 101 inches tall. Sofit for the tray ceiling 12 inches below the ceiling peak and 23 deep. A friend recommended a screen size of 92 -110 inches but I am sure there are more precise ways to determine the ideal size without the wall looking goofy just for sake of going big. Can someone please recommend a screen size?


JC

 

[goobenet]

Screen size (x) multiplied by 1.2-1.5 to your front row of seats will give you your ideal screen size. So if your first row of seating is 10ft back, 96-100in would be the ideal screen size. (pretty sure i have that right).

I'm at 12ft to first row with a 115" screen, looks wonderful. I can go up to 150" screen, but then i'd have to move my head to see the whole thing from 12ft. So, yeah, bigger is not always better.

 

[phisch]

Are you doing a 16x9 or scope screen? Are you going to have 1 row of seats or 2? Have you decided on the distance for the front row yet?

 

[JaredC79]

what do you mean scope screen? i will have 2 rows of seats, the room is 14 x 25.5, so I am pretty flexibile where I can put my seats.

 

[tony123]

Hang a sheet on the wall and project an image. It's the best way to determine what is "ideal" for YOU.


I sit 140" from a 165" screen (.85 screen width to seating) and find it to be "ideal" for me. If I had followed the "rules of thumb", I would have undershot my "ideal" by something like 50%.

 

[Cathan]



Quote:
Originally Posted by JaredC79 /forum/post/15401732


what do you mean scope screen? i will have 2 rows of seats, the room is 14 x 25.5, so I am pretty flexibile where I can put my seats.

Scope screen is 2.35:1 as oppose to a 16x9 screen with is 1.78:1. 2.35:1 is what you see at a movie theater and 16x9 is a wide screen TV.


You need to figure out what screen ratio you want before you can figure out screen size. Generally the rule is have seating distance around 1.2-1.5 times the width of the screen for 16x9. You can go closer with 2.35:1.


For more information check out the CIH screen sub forums.

 

[phisch]

Another thing to take into consideration is speaker placement. If you are going with an acoustically transparent screen (highly recommended) with the speakers placed behind the screen, then this will allow you to go with a larger screen. If you are using a solid screen, then you will probably have side placement for the main speakers, which will limit the size of the screen you can use.


In regards to the apect ratio of the screen you go with, if you watch a lot of movies, I would take a look at the 2.35:1 Constant Image Height forum to see if that is something for you. I watch strictly movies in my theater, and I recently went to a 2.35:1 CIH set up and have been extremely happy. I no longer have the annoying black bars on the top and bottom of the scope movies I watch (which is about 75% of my movie collection).