help me decide on a screen/screen size (1 Viewer)

[warren whit]

hello, i just got my hitachi PJTX100 in. Just deciding on a appropriate screen size and brand. Any ideas? I sit about 15 feet away from the picture, and the maximum length is 10 feet across (as thats the length of wall screen will be on). I haven't mounted the projector yet, was waiting on screen first, so just using wall for now. I basically will use projector for DVD's only. Thanks for any answers!

 

[Jim Mcc]

Warren, I would say about 54"X96" screen. That leaves you 1 foot on each side of screen if you wall mount your front speakers. What I did was mounted my center channel speaker above screen, and my left and right fronts at the same height on wall. The speakers sound great all up at the same level, and they're out of the way(if you have kids).
I really can't recommend type of screen. I built my own 52"X92" out of 1X3 pine frame, and blackout cloth from Joann Fabrics. I'm very happy with it, and it cost about $40 to build. I suggest you go to Avsforum.com and visit the Screen section.

 

[JohnEF]

I believe size does really matter and the bigger the better, as long as you have the room.

I think the above recommendation of an 8 foot wide screen is just about right. I placed my 8 foot wide screen on a 14 foot wall with seating about 14 feet back. The formula I have seen kicking around is that you should sit back at least 1.5 times the screen width which means you could go up to a 10 foot wide screen (of course the projector pixel count as well as its brightness is an issue here-the higher the count, the closer you can sit without seeing a screendoor effect).

One of the problems, however, is how high your ceilings are. An 8 foot wide screen meant 54 inches high (16:9 aspect) with additional space for a black border which did not give me a lot of room underneath for equipment, including a regular TV. Another factor is projector offset. My projector (Infocus 5700) which I mounted on the ceiling has to have its lens above the screen by a number of inches which gave me even less space underneath.

Good luck on your setup. If this is your first projector (it was for me) you are going to be real happy.

John