Screen suggestions (1 Viewer)

[horrorfreak]

So I'm in the final stretch of building my home theater (drywall goes up tomorrow). One of the few things that haven't yet gotten is a screen. I have an optoma HD20 projector that I bought a few years ago in preparation for this room (life got in the way of construction unfortunately) The room is roughly 12 feet wide and 17 feet from front to back. 2 rows of seating with the back (top) row sitting against the back wall while the front (bottom) row will be roughly 6 feet in front of that (where the viewing heads will be, about 10-11 feet from where the screen will be)


I guess I have 2 questions.


first I'm debating between 100", 110" and 120" for screen size...thoughts?


and the 2nd question is can anyone recommend a relatively cheap but decent screen in any of those sizes.


other than grabbing an Elite Screen from amazon or something like that I really have no clue as to what to get.



Any help would be great


Thanks in advance guys

 

[Josh Steinberg]

first I'm debating between 100", 110" and 120" for screen size...thoughts?

My suggestion is always to buy a white sheet (if the wall itself isn't painted white), and set up everything at about where you'd like it to be. Then you can adjust the projector to different sizes, and see what's most comfortable and pleasing to you from where you're sitting. Measure the projected area afterwords, and then get a screen of that size.


It's a little bit of a low-tech way to go about it, but to me it makes the most sense to do it that way. It's one thing to have a number of inches that sounds good, or even to measure what that would look like on your wall, but it's another thing to actually see that image at that size while sitting in your favorite chair in the room. You might find that you want something bigger or smaller, and I think it makes sense to figure that out before you've committed to spending $100 or more on a screen.

 

[Jim Mcc]

Josh makes a good point about experimenting for screen size. Also, when there are 2 or more rows of seating, you have to compromise on screen size. I would choose screen size based on where YOU will sit.

 

[schan1269]

Everything should be based on the main seat. Even speaker location.

 

[horrorfreak]

thanks for the suggestions guys. Drywall is going in today. I will defintiely be trying out different sizes to see what works best.


any suggestions on screen brand or best place to maybe purchase (online)


any opinions specifically on Elite Screens? they seem to be very reasonalbly priced and I can get it easy enough on Amazon. But I've seen one or two not so nice comments about the quality

 

[Josh Steinberg]

thanks for the suggestions guys. Drywall is going in today. I will defintiely be trying out different sizes to see what works best.


any suggestions on screen brand or best place to maybe purchase (online)


any opinions specifically on Elite Screens? they seem to be very reasonalbly priced and I can get it easy enough on Amazon. But I've seen one or two not so nice comments about the quality

I've heard other people complain about them, and I understand that it's not a top of the line screen - but I think it's decent for what it is, and that's the one I'm currently using. I got mine from Amazon with free shipping, delivery was easy and everything arrived in good condition. (In previous threads, a couple people have said that to their eyes, using an Elite screen is no better than using a bedsheet or regular wall, but that hasn't been my experience - it's not the most amazing thing ever, but for my needs it was perfect.)


For my setup, I'm in an apartment I'm only renting, and I knew going in that I was only going to be there a couple years, so I didn't want to spend big money on a screen only to have to rebuy a different size when I move. For the $100 that my screen cost, if I need to get one of a different size later on, I won't cry about having wasted hundreds or thousands of dollars.

 

[Jukebox George]

I've tried both the Elite 120" and the Stewart 120" and I found between the two that there isn't that much of a difference. Decided to stay with the Elite because of price and was able to put in a motorized unit enabling the screen to come down from the ceiling (well hidden inside) upon turning on the projector or bring the screen down manually using the independent switch. It's a matter of prefence, but both screens are great.