10x12' room no windows $5,000 budget

LeonDES · 05-10-2005, 04:02 PM

Hi All,

I am new to the scene and looking for tips and information
on building my first home theater.

My plans are to setup in a room in my house that has no windows. The room is approximately 10feet wide x 12feet long. I am a bit confused on the best viewing distance or "throw range" for a projector in a room of this size.
It will only be one row of seats and they will be against the back wall.

I am working with a $5,000 usd budget. Can you guys give me some opinions on your screen/projector 16:9 picks for this cost. Do not worry about sound as I already have speakers here.

Thanks in advance,

Leon

Glenise · 05-10-2005, 05:51 PM

Go to www.projectorcentral.com to check on projectors.

I'd probably get a Dalite and a NEC, Infocus or some other popular projector.
You could always get your own screen made using sheetrock or some other material.

LeonDES · 05-10-2005, 07:26 PM

Thanks for the info Glen. I will check out that website and see what they got for my budget any idea on screen size with that size of room and only 1 row of seats against the back wall.

Leon

Neil Joseph · 05-10-2005, 11:24 PM

Something like the Panasonic 700 (1280x720 pixels) with a 92" 16x9 screen, purchased or made, would do the trick for that size of room. Then again, I view from about 12' in my room which is 15' long with a 96" screen. I see no screendoor from 8' with the screen I have.

LeonDES · 05-11-2005, 01:10 AM

I checked out that panasonic on projectorcentral
and found the throw distance at 11feet to have a diagonal screen size of 55". This seems a bit small to me as I am wanting somthing more like 83"+ diagonal screen size if not a little more.

Did I calculate that correctly ?

Forgive me if I am wrong with my calculations as I am learning here.

Thanks,

Leon

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Michael Whitney · 05-11-2005, 10:58 AM

I saw that also, but I fiddled with the calculator and was able to get a larger screen. Is this bacuase of the 2.0X zoom possibly? Maybe you can lower that and get the larger screen. Any comments from owners?

Chris Dias · 05-11-2005, 11:15 AM

Yeah I checked it out for you, 55" is the Minimum screen size that you can get with a Throw of 11'. But that's what the zoom is for, if you zoom in you can push that image up to a Maximum of 109" with no loss in quality (it's an optical zoom)

I don't have that particular projector, but I've got a Sanyo Z2 and the zoom function is similar for most projectors.

Chris

LeonDES · 05-11-2005, 07:45 PM

I did not notice the zoom capability. Thanks for pointing that out. I will look for that feature in other projectors also and see what I can come up with. Are there any owners of the Panasonic out there with comments on its zoom?

Thanks,

Leon

Jim Gloeb · 05-11-2005, 08:10 PM

Leon, I have a Panny L500, basically the same machine. We have a 100" screen with about 134" throw. Also we sit around 11 1/2 to 12 feet back depending how you slouch on the couch. We have a similar setup to Neils, as far as an open room. We watch Cox HD and use it for daily TV watching. I am glad to see your thread since we are moving at the end of the month and I will need to change our setup. We will be changing to a dedicated room as well but was concerned about the smallish size.

LeonDES · 05-11-2005, 10:42 PM

Thanks guys for all the input. I have narrowed my search down to 2 projectors right now. This might change lol anyhow I am looking at the Panasonic AE700U and the BenQ7700
both of these projectors have a 106inch diag screen at a 11foot throw and the option with their zoom capabilities It can drop down to a 92inch diag (dont want to go any smaller then that. My concern now is the recommended seating distance for these projectors ...

at 106" the calculator says 11-17' away.
at 92" 9-15' away

I folded up a black sheet and stuck it to the wall at both sizes to see how it looks and I really do like the 106" but
with my room being 12 feet in length the 106" recommended seating would only give me 1 foot of seating ...

Anyone have any experience with either of these projectors and screendoor affect or pixelation when using a 106" diag screen and say around 9-11feet seat distance?

Thanks in Advance,

Leon

LeonDES · 05-13-2005, 03:04 AM

Thanks all for tips and advice. I ended up getting a 92" and the Panasonic after talking to someone from projector solutions on the phone.

Thanks again.

Leon