Need Advice on Screen Size (1 Viewer)

[Bart Goldberg]

I'm just starting to research what equipment I will need to set up a home theater in my basement. I finished my basement several years ago and had set aside one area for Home Theater (its already prewired). The area I intend to use for HT is about 12 ft wide by about 21 ft long with a drop ceiling that's 8 ft high. I'm interested in going Front Projection for the size/price advantage. Given the dimensions I'm dealing with, what size screen can I expect to accommodate within this space? Any info would be appreciated.

 

[Neil Joseph]

You have enough room for a very decent sized screen. If you intend to have your speakers to the left and right of the screen (rather than behind a perforated screen), then the width of the room is more the limiting factor than the length of the room is. You will need seating no closer than 1.5 x screen width.

Here is one scenario.... A 92" 16x9 projector is 45" high and 80" wide, not counting the blackout borders. You would need to sit optimally between 1.5 - 2 times the screen width away from the screen. This would translate to seating around 120" to 160" or 10ft to 13ft 4". The screen would be 80" wide or 7ft with borders which gives you 2.5ft on each side of the screen for your tower speakers, or speakers on stands.

If you went with a 110" 16x9 screen then you will not have much space to the left and right for the speakers (about 1ft on each side), plus you will want to be using a good quality projector for an image of that size. Your seating would be 12 - 16ft from the screen.

Notice how your room width became the limiting factor before the length did.

 

[Neil Joseph]

By the way, what kind of budget are you looking at for your setup? Most projectors with short "throw" will be set up right around the area where the seating is (or further back) using the zoom of the projector to compensate. (assuming a digital projector with zoom rather than a CRT). This is just to give you an idea. Some projectors have a long throw though and will need to be placed further back. You should be fine with 21ft to play with though.

 

[Ricardo C]

Seating is entirely a metter of personal preference. I like 1.2-1.4x much better than 1.5-2x (at least for scope films), although some crummy DVD transfers may make you wanna watch from a couple blocks away

 

[Bart Goldberg]

Thanks fo all the replies. Here is some answers to the questions that were posted. I have not yet determiend a budget for a project. Based on some of the posting I've seen, I looks like I may want to send around 4-5 K on a projector, That would be within my means. I would assume that for that price I can get a really decent LCD projector. As for a screen - I don't know enough yet to understand what I should get. BTW, is there a difference in the qualify of the projector needed to create a 7-8 ft wide image versus a 10 ft wide image. Would a 5K project be capable of handling a 10ft wide image?

 

[Neil Joseph]

I think if you were looking at going 10ft wide then you would be looking for a projector that has a decent light output as well as a higher resolution. The resolution is important because screen door effect can be a problem at that screen size. A good CRT will also be an option but in a room that is completely dark. Based on the info so far, it looks like you could be in the market for a variety of projectors including the Sanyo PLV70, Boxlight HT20, or even the Sony 12HT, as well as a few others that would meet that criteria.