What is the best projector for going with a 16ft wide screen? (1 Viewer)

[klbii]

I would like to keep my budget for the projector at $5,000 or below. Any suggestions? Thanks

 

[Leo Kerr]

Three things come to mind, but be aware that I don't have a great deal of personal experience with any of these.

Christie DS+26 sells street somewhere in the $5k range. 1440x1024ish, I think, single-chip DLP, black-chip. I've worked with the 25; this is the next gen (higher res, mostly) unit.

Panasonic PT-AX100 successor to the highly successful AE900. very nicely received LCD projector, 1280x720.

Panasonic PT-AE1000 1080 LCD projector; hoped to be at least the high-res version of the AE900.

The AX100 is a lot brighter than the AE1000; but other than that? Who knows? To my knowledge, the AE1000 has not yet been priced.

There's a lot of good stuff in the

 

[SethH]

How far to you plan to be sitting away from this 220" screen (assuming 16:9 with 16' width)?

 

[klbii]

It will be in a theatre room to be built in my basement. It will be approximately 30 feet deep with 3 rows of seating. Since it will be exclusive for the theatre, the lighting in the room can be completely controlled.

My concern is that I know when the size is this big you may encounter issues to ensure proper brightness.

I am looking to go 16:9 but may consider 2.35:1. I just want to be sure I have a quality picture at this 16 ft wide size.

I currently have a 8ft wide screen (6ft high). I currently have a Sony VPH D50 projector. Its a great picture but I will be building a new house and want to go bigger

I am a bit of a novice so I am open to any suggestion on this matter. Thanks

 

[TicoTVA]

Here are a few I recommend:


Panasonic PT-AX100

Panasonic PT-AE1000 1080 LCD projector

Benq W1000 - great zoom, light parity , Faroudja processing, 1080p

Epson Cinema 800 HQV, 810- LCD 720p

Benq 8720 - 720p, rich picture quality and depth

 

[SethH]

I'm sure someone else will come out with the exact measurements, but I'm pretty sure that at least your first row of seating will be too close for a 220" diagonal screen in a 30' deep room.

 

[Chad Isaacs]

Is this 16' screen going to be in your house or in your back yard? Also, how much distance from the screen and the projector? Which ever projector you choose, check out the calculator at projectorcentral.com and make sure you have enough room.

I have a Z3 and we took it to the yard this summer, its been 14' wide and 12'wide. Granted the movie ( RV) was very bright so that helped quite a bit but I was amazed at the image the projector threw at such a large distance. We watched a power point presentation and it came through bright and clear as well, even trailers for movies like Monster House with a lot of dark scenes looked good.

I suspect you can do this screen for well under 5 grand. I have a 8' wide screen now, not much gain ( It was a painted on gray screen) and unless its an artsy, grainy movie there is more than enough brightness. Go with a higher gain ( 1.8 and up) and you should be good to go.

 

[Bob Maged]

You do realize, of course, that a 16-foot-wide screen will be 6 feet 9 inches tall at 2.35:1 or 9 feet tall at 16:9 -- you must have some really high ceilings in that basement of yours!

 

[Bob_L]

^^^^^^^^

TicoTV has given some excellent recommendations, IMO. In addition, I'd suggest considering a constant height 2.35 setup for such a wide screen. Plus, I'd purchase the projector, then experiment with actual screen widths before purchasing/building the screen.

My room is about 30 ft long and 14 feet wide and, while I don't believe you CAN have a screen that's too big (grin), a 16-foot wide screen would look AWFULLY big in that room. (I current have an 8-foot-wide 4:3 screen). Once you get a projector into the room, you might find that a 12-foot-wide image would be large enough and it would give you a brighter picture.

But, damn man, if you try it and the 16-footer works for you, Go For It!

I wish I had your basement!!! Enjoy.

 

[Leo Kerr]

Height is going to be an issue. The 16'x9' screen I saw, the bottom of the screen was about four feet off of the floor.

The more I think on it, the more I think you're going to need a minimum 1080 projector.

Leo

 

[Tim Glover]

Some of the new 1080p units however are not that bright. Might do better with some light canon like the mentioned Panasonic pj. Another choice is the new Mitsubishi. Said to be as bright as the Panny is normal situations and has better shadow detail.

This is a case where you really should see about demo'ing some of these yourself and then deciding. That's a freakin HUGE screen.

 

[klbii]

Thanks for all the help guys. As I said I am a bit of a novice here so I appreciate all the input. Why would a need a 1080 projector? That being said wouldn't I want a 1080 projector anyways?

 

[Leo Kerr]

One way to look at it is this:

a 1280x720 (16:9) projector on a 16x9' screen will give you 6 pixels per linear inch.

A 1920x1080 projector on the same screen will give you 10 pixels per linear inch.

(That is, a 1280 projector'll give you 36 pixels/in^2, while the 1920 will give you 100 pixels/in^2.)

You'll be able to sit closer before you start seeing pixels.

Granted, if the source you're feeding it is only VHS, well, then you're doomed, but you knew that anyway, right?

But again, with full lighting control, I don't think you'd really need to worry too much about light output of the unit. Again, I've seen a perfectly respectable 500 ANSI lumen projection on a screen that size in a dark room; it was wonderful.. (the lower light level also helps the image quality in a number of ways, too. Less internal reflections in the optics, improves contrast tremendously, and also improves color and sharpness for the same reason.)

Leo