Screen size...what's too big?

[XbmcPlexer]

Hello everyone.

I would like to convert an office room into a little theater, The room is 10' x 14.5. There is a patio door on one end, which is a big source of light, and the room entrance and closet facing it. I'm not worried about the light, but I mention it because I would like to avoid covering it with a screen.

My question is What is the biggest comfortable screen size I can get from sitting 9 feet away and from sitting 11 feet away? I find a lot of sources are suggesting 88 inches for sitting 9 feet away and 107 inches for 11 feet away. can i go bigger? I'd like to do 100 inches plus from 9 feet, is anyone doing that now?

Thanks!

[onyxbfly]

Originally Posted by XbmcPlexer

Hello everyone.

I would like to convert an office room into a little theater, The room is 10' x 14.5. There is a patio door on one end, which is a big source of light, and the room entrance and closet facing it. I'm not worried about the light, but I mention it because I would like to avoid covering it with a screen.

My question is What is the biggest comfortable screen size I can get from sitting 9 feet away and from sitting 11 feet away? I find a lot of sources are suggesting 88 inches for sitting 9 feet away and 107 inches for 11 feet away. can i go bigger? I'd like to do 100 inches plus from 9 feet, is anyone doing that now?

Thanks!

There are different factors involved. One being what format you want, 2:35:1 (cinemascope the way that the majority of the movies are filmed today), 16:9 the way that flat screen TVs are made. (There are a few other aspect ratios but they escape me at the moment.)

The other factor what is the type of material you will view on your screen.

You also have to take into consideration what type of screen you want. AT screen or traditional. AT screen allows you to place the speakers behind the screen. Traditional screen you have to allow for speaker placement.

Then you also have to factor in whither or not the measurement you gave for the screen is width or diagonal.

If you go with a 2:35:1 screen if you sit to close it will be like looking at a tennis match. Your head will have to pivot to see the whats going on etc.

If you go with a 16:9 screen if you sit to close you will be in the picture, induce eye strain etc.

I find that a 1:1 ratio is comfortable. At 9 feet you can enjoy a picture that is 108".

At 11 feet you can enjoy a screen a AT screen that is 132" wide, or you can subtract the width of Left and Right speakers on both sides and that will give you your traditional screen size.

HTH.

BTW if you ask a MOD to move your post to the projector forum you may get better responses!!!

[XbmcPlexer]

Thanks for the advice. You basically answered my question - if I can get 100-108 inches diagonal from sitting 9 feet away is pretty good.

I will mostly be watching movies on it - more than 90% I would say. I plan on building my screen after reading and watching some how to videos.

AT screens are not as important now, I am building a quick n' dirty room until I have a bigger place. I have an old sony 5.1 surround I will use until later, and considering doing some audio treatment panels for better sound.

For screen dimension, I mostly watch blus so I will go for the 16:9, once I have more space I will reconsider that.

If I put the projector 11 feet away, I will effectively be using the whole room and I would rather keep 1/3 of it to a computer desk and my guitars.

For projector I'm looking at the Benq w1070, seems like its been well received, and is in my budget.

[BluVinyl]

You could also get a projector before you get the screen and watch movies on a white wall, or plain white sheet if the wall idea does not work in that room. After you watch for a couple of weeks or months, and play around with the size of the image, you will figure out what size works best for you.

[frogmort]

Originally Posted by BluVinyl

You could also get a projector before you get the screen and watch movies on a white wall, or plain white sheet if the wall idea does not work in that room. After you watch for a couple of weeks or months, and play around with the size of the image, you will figure out what size works best for you.

That's a great suggestion and pretty much what I did. I started off thinking I'd go around 80"~90" diagonally, but after getting the projector in the room and playing around with it for a while, I ended up going with 130", which is a huge difference.

[onyxbfly]

Originally Posted by BluVinyl

You could also get a projector before you get the screen and watch movies on a white wall, or plain white sheet if the wall idea does not work in that room. After you watch for a couple of weeks or months, and play around with the size of the image, you will figure out what size works best for you.

That is truly a great idea. I wish I thought about that. I can see how that would work out to someones advantage. Once you get an idea of your ideal screen size and try different seating arrangements and placement options etc

One can have a realistic expectation before committing to something they will either love or either hate.

Good Job

[XbmcPlexer]

That's an amazing idea and will do it - it seems like its more or less a preference thing.

Thanks for all the replies and advice

[Anthony P]

Originally Posted by XbmcPlexer

Hello everyone.

I would like to convert an office room into a little theater, The room is 10' x 14.5. There is a patio door on one end, which is a big source of light, and the room entrance and closet facing it. I'm not worried about the light, but I mention it because I would like to avoid covering it with a screen.

My question is What is the biggest comfortable screen size I can get from sitting 9 feet away and from sitting 11 feet away? I find a lot of sources are suggesting 88 inches for sitting 9 feet away and 107 inches for 11 feet away. can i go bigger? I'd like to do 100 inches plus from 9 feet, is anyone doing that now?

Thanks!

my first row (and the chair I use) is roughly 10' away (the back of the seat) from a 10' wide screen, until we have 4k I would not go closer than 1:1 seat/screen width, but it is up to each person.

[Suntory_Times]

I personally like smpte recommended reference. Which is three screen heights away from scope content. Any larger and I find it distractingly large. Personal preference of course makes what is best for someone impossible to say. But one can go to big just as one can go to small.

[igotcabada]

I sit around 9.5' from a 125" 2.35 screen and a 120" 1.78 screen and its just about perfect for me. The best advice given is to get the projector and then decide on screen size if possible. If my room was any wider I would have gone even bigger. A large screen is the best way to get the immersive theater experience.

[jautor]

Just wanted to add that a roll of seamless photographer's backdrop paper works great for a temporary screen. And the stuff comes in a 54" wide roll, which makes it easy to cut to actual size (and is almost perfect for a 136" scope screen). I used this method to validate my screen size before ordering the screen, too. Around $20 for a roll that will make dozens of screens! (and if anyone in the Houston area needs some, I still have half a roll)

Highly recommend you follow BluVinyl's advice on this... Get the projector (last thing you should buy, though!), and test your screen size. Even custom screens don't have much lead time (a week or two tops), so it's not like you'll be suffering.

Jeff

[kpkelley]

You need to take room width and height into consideration. If the screen is too wide, you won't be able to fit your speakers. 90" wide will give you 1.25' of play on either side of the screen for your speakers, and the frame of the screen. That will still result in an image of 103" diagonal. You may need to go a little smaller to fit your speakers. Keep in mind that depending on the finish of your speakers you could get light reflection off the sides if they are too close to the screen.

Also, consider the throw of the projector. It's possible that the projector you are buying can't produce an image that large from such a short distance.

Check out this calculator, it should help.

[BluVinyl]

I should have mentioned I have 120 inch and sit about 12 feet away. I hope you also look at the pics on this website of other pj setups. I got a few ideas of how I wanted to paint my room based on looking at what others had done.

I noticed a couple of people mentioned that when they played around with screen size they went with something bigger than they first thought. I actually went smaller. I found that besides tower speaker placement, having some space between the screen and the end of the wall actually helped the picture, and later painting the wall black (a lot of people prefer felt) helped more.

I also used screen goo (a special wall paint) instead of a screen.

[arc trooper]

NO SUCH THING AS TOO BIG! lol!!!

[kong73]

I'm a size queen so nothing is too big. I wish I could make my garden screen bigger.

[flyinmunky99]

im currently 92" @ 13feet but waiting on 120" screen coming on monday.

Ive tried the projector at that size on wall and it looks amazing so i cant wait

[Visionist]

I get increasing returns the bigger I go; I was sitting 4,5 feet from a 50" and now I'm 5 feet from a 65".

When I go 4K I want 130", but I'll still be no further away than 9 feet I reckon.

[AmishParadise]

Originally Posted by flyinmunky99

im currently 92" @ 13feet but waiting on 120" screen coming on monday.

Ive tried the projector at that size on wall and it looks amazing so i cant wait

I'm 12 feet from a 120 inch screen and irrespective of the quality of my front projector and screen I find that's the maximum I'd really want to go unless I could sit further back. Absolutely love it! Blu-ray content looks fantastic, but I do wish I could sit back further when watching DIRECTV HD content and DVD's. Can see quite a bit of compression artifacting (...if that's the correct word) with much of the DIRECTV HD content just as I would if I was sitting too close to my 58" plasma display. It's just far more noticeable at 120 inches from only 12 feet away, at least with my entry level front projector and screen. Still completely watchable though. I also find that DVD's don't fare too well from that size and seating distance though I don't plan on watching too many DVD's on anything aside from my 58" plasma, my primary reason for purchasing the front projector being to take my Blu-ray viewing experience to new heights and select DIRECTV programming from time to time.

[flyinmunky99]

Originally Posted by AmishParadise

I'm 12 feet from a 120 inch screen and irrespective of the quality of my front projector and screen I find that's the maximum I'd really want to go unless I could sit further back. Absolutely love it! Blu-ray content looks fantastic, but I do wish I could sit back further when watching DIRECTV HD content and DVD's. Can see quite a bit of compression artifacting (...if that's the correct word) with much of the DIRECTV HD content just as I would if I was sitting too close to my 58" plasma display. It's just far more noticeable at 120 inches from only 12 feet away, at least with my entry level front projector and screen. Still completely watchable though. I also find that DVD's don't fare too well from that size and seating distance though I don't plan on watching too many DVD's on anything aside from my 58" plasma, my primary reason for purchasing the front projector being to take my Blu-ray viewing experience to new heights and select DIRECTV programming from time to time.

I only watch bluray, 1080p rips and PS4 games. If its dvd or low quality i watch on my pc. My screen got delayed till friday

[AmishParadise]

Originally Posted by flyinmunky99

I only watch bluray, 1080p rips and PS4 games. If its dvd or low quality i watch on my pc. My screen got delayed till friday

You are certainly in for a treat. Very significant bump in that immersion factor going from a 92 inch screen to a 120 inch screen. Up until very recently it had been several years since I owned a front projector. Had spent the better part of 10 years, the only display in my home being a front projector paired with a 92 inch screen, the last couple of those years having a 100 inch screen. This time around I decided to step up my game to a 120 inch screen. Very glad that I did. You're going to love it as well I'm sure.