Front Projection Advice Sought (1 Viewer)

[Randy Emery]

I have recently commited to building a HT in our basement. I have a rectangular room that is about 15 feet by 23 feet. i am ready to purchase a sony vplhs20 projector. If any of you have suggestions about this, i would very much apprectiate it. I plan on purchasing a da-lite da-mat 106 inch perma screen. how dark should i be prepared to paint the walls and ceilings in this space? is a light colored floor contrary to this set up? I have a budget of $5,500. Thanks for any input you have.

 

[ChrisWiggles]

You want the front portion around the screen as dark as you can get it. I would make the front wall, and the adjacent floors/walls/ceiling black, or a very dark, flat color.

You could lay down some sort of dark area rug in front of the screen area if you want, which is you have hardwood, floors or such may also help with the acoustics.

 

[Neil Joseph]

I agree with making the front wall very dark, black for that matter if it fits your decor. I plan on doing the same.

Moved to HT construction/Interiors.

 

[Mike Dzurko]

Randy:

I'm in the process of setting up my downstairs HT. Z1 projector. I went with a 102" diag Carada screen with the cinema white and it made a huge difference over the plain white wall. The frame on the Carada is really nice the way it just soaks up light. My walls are still light and we have still been enjoying a lot of movies. We do plan on going much darker with the walls soon.
Black isn't an option unless I want to move out For the screen wall, going with a very dark red that looks sort of like an older theater drape. The rest of the room will be some sort of complimentary brown. Planning on a large dark rug or carpet for the area in front of the screen.
I think the most distracting area will become the ceiling. The top of my screen is less than a foot from the white ceiling. Future project might be some sort of roll out hanging fabric on the ceiling.

 

[Randy Emery]

Mike
I am not familiar with either your projector or your screen. Myabe yours is a higher end one than what i am looking at. anyway, it sounds as though you and I are doing something similar(?). I, too, will be able to get my walls about half way to black. I think I will enhance my observations next time to go to the movies and maybe that will help. Is my proposed Sony unit an OK one? I am only drawing about 45-personal amps when It comes to undersanding the technical data. If it looks good and I can afford it...voila...

 

[Mike Dzurko]

Randy:

The projector you're considering costs more and specs better than mine. I think I have around $1700 in both the PJ and the screen. I decided to go with a highly regarded entry level PJ because the technology is develping so quickly and prices are dropping like stones. I'll enjoy this one for 6 month to 2 years and then lose very little when I move up to a higher performing unit. This is giving me the advantage of learning what my priorities are in ternms of contrast, light output, resolution etc.
The Carada screen IS high end, but being sold factory direct, it is not all that expensive. This screen will be permanent in my system. You owe it to yourself to check it out. You also might want to spend sometime both at projectorcentral and on the AVS forums. I had been looking at high quality RPTVs for about a year and was all set to make the purchase when I suddenly starting thinking about projectors, am I glad I did! A couple of weeks of intensive lurking and reading and I made my purchases. Now the biggest problem is finding time for everyone to watch what they want.

 

[Randy Emery]

Mike
If you dont mind, i would appreciate learning more about your projector. I agree with anticipating prices plummeting and would very much be interested in spending less. I have not heard of yours so i will visit the site your suggested. Maybe i can get by with spending a little less. thanks for your continued input.

 

[Mike Dzurko]

Randy:

The AV Science forum on under $3500 projectors and the screen forum are highly recommended. My first plan was the Sanyo Z2 for around $2K. However, they were backordered and I wanted the projector during my Christmas break. I also started thinking that I really didn't know enough about what I wanted to make a "final purchase". I did a little math and figured I could get the Z1 for under $1100, keep it six month to a couple of years, sell it fairly easily (that wouldn't be easy with any kind of RPTV or big screen). By then I'll know more about what was most important to me.
There was a recent thread about just how huge the improvements in LCD and DLP are right now, and how essentially, in a year or two time it will be possible at say $2K to get the performance you'd need $4K- or higher right now. I've learned so much in the first month of having the Sanyo. Yes, I see areas I want to improve, I'm sure the more I watch, the more improvement I'll want. For now, we are really enjoying this and I think it will be pretty easy to wait a year or two. I feel there are a number of steps I can improve in the meantime. The Carada screen was the perfect choice. We'll start painting in a week or so. On the lookout for the right rug. I need to work on some low-level lighting. And, I just might want to try a video processor of some type. Have fun with your planning Randy!

 

[Randy Emery]

Mike
I took your advice and combined it with the many posts about the Sanyo Z2. I ordered one yesterday. The internet retailer is 90 miles from me and they have a showroom. He told me to expect this thing to be drop shipped (i wonder how that got its name) by late next week. I also ordered the universal ceiling mount bracket and the da lite, da mat perma screen.!!! i am jazzed up and if i have to wait another week or so, i can do it...I have some questions regarding elevation. Can you help me?

 

[Mike Dzurko]

Randy:

Congrats! Let me know what your questions about elevation are. I'm not sure if the Z1 and Z2 are the same in this regard. I am not an expert on this by any means. Also, Sanyo has the complete manual on -line as a PDF. I'd suggest downloading that as it is quite helpful.

 

[Legairre]

I have the manual on my site in zip format if you want to download it. The sites not done yet but I have it under the Links menu.

 

[Parker Clack]

Here is a link to the Carada screen(s) that Mike is referring to.

Parker

 

[Randy Emery]

Elevation!...my 52x92 screen will be located 19inches above the floor. The ceilng mounted pj will have the lens at about 84 inches above the floor and back 12-15 feet from the screen. any issues with that?

 

[Legairre]

Not a problem with a Z2 since it has lens shift. Projectors without lens shift need to have the center of the lens lined up with the top of the screen when ceiling mounted. Your Z2 will be at 84" while the top of your screen will be at 71. Just use the lens shift to angle the image down. Don't use keystoning, that will mess with the image while lens shift doesn't change the image just it's position. Here's link that shows how it works.

Lens shift

 

[Randy Emery]

Thanks for your advice. Looks like you have one elleva nice Theatre.