[ShaharT]

Hi,

I'm building a new home theater (my first dedicated one) and my wall allows a wide 2.35 screen - I could go up to 160" wide (174" diagonal) screen, or even slightly larger.

As I'm importing both the projector (Sony VW-1100ES) and the screen (currently considering a 2.35 Stewart with masking) it will take a couple of months lead time from order to delivery - and I need to order them both sight unseen, and soon.

My installer is cautioning me not to go "too big" with the screen.

As I can't experiment with the projector and need to order both (as the lead them to getting them imported is so long) and returning them if I order the wrong size is going to be very difficult - I've been trying to read online on seating distances from 4K projectors.

I've read Sony suggests seating at 2X screen height.

For a 160" wide (174" diagonal) screen, the screen height is 68", meaning seating distance should be 136" from the screen (if the 2X seating distance is right...).

The farthest back my room dimension would allow seating is about 160" from the screen, and I'm looking for a single row of seating.

Am I being crazy wanting to "go big" and this is indeed too big, or will my theater work okay planning to seat at about 2X screen height, even with a relatively big screen of 160" wide, 174" diagonal, 68" screen height?

Many thanks!!!

 

[coolrda]

I watch 4K from time to time and while it's cool sitting at 1xPH back, it's just not practical. 2.4x to 1.7x which is the minimum I would suggest. Otherwise , your movie watching will resemble a front row center seat at Wimbledon. You could fudge it a little both directions but that's been the consensus sweet spot over the years and having 4x the pixel density really doesn't change that recommendation.

 

[ShaharT]

I watch 4K from time to time and while it's cool sitting at 1xPH back, it's just not practical. 2.4x to 1.7x which is the minimum I would suggest. Otherwise , your movie watching will resemble a front row center seat at Wimbledon. You could fudge it a little both directions but that's been the consensus sweet spot over the years and having 4x the pixel density really doesn't change that recommendation.

Thanks, Coolrda. I'll aim for front (and only) seating row to be somewhere between 1.7PH to 2.0PH.
Will that work, regardless of screen size? I.e. if my room can support a 180" Diagonal 2.35 screen, will this screen seating distance work for that?

 

[stanger89]

Yeah, seating ratio is more important than size for the sense of immersion or being overwhelmed. I'd just double check the brightness, you don't want to go so big as the image is too dim.

 

[Kelvin1965S]

Not sure why you need to import a VW1100ES if you are London based as per your Avatar? There is a dealer near Newbury (Gecko) that could demonstrate a VW1000ES (maybe has an '1100 by now) on a 5 metre wide screen. Spending that amount blind seems crazy to me, though having seen the '1000 at Gecko (I own a JVC X500) it certainly does produce a lovely image, but I'd rather see before I buy.

 

[ShaharT]

Not sure why you need to import a VW1100ES if you are London based as per your Avatar? There is a dealer near Newbury (Gecko) that could demonstrate a VW1000ES (maybe has an '1100 by now) on a 5 metre wide screen. Spending that amount blind seems crazy to me, though having seen the '1000 at Gecko (I own a JVC X500) it certainly does produce a lovely image, but I'd rather see before I buy.

Thanks, Kelvin. I guess I should update my profile info I moved to Israel a couple of years ago, and no one here carries the 1100 in stock (nor a large Stewart projector screen) - so I need to order both 'blind', and wait a couple of months for them to arrive. Not to mention they cost about 35% more than MSRP.

 

[Kelvin1965S]

Ah, makes a lot more sense then. Still seems a heck of a risk buying something that expensive without seeing it first though, fingers crossed you will be happy with it (if not, just send it to me I'll look after it for you ).