Couple more questions before puilling the trigger

[Onefastwrex]

So I am in the process of finishing my basement in to a "man room"....bar, pool table and of course...home theatre area! I debated for a while on going with a 60ish inch LCD/plasma, or to go with a projector. Well I decided to do a projector, and am going to most likely do the Panasonic AE3000.

Some background info-It will be going in my basement. There is one small window on a wall to the left of where the screen will be. I do plan on some type of light control for this. I will have the lights on a dimmer switch so they can be brightened/dimmed as needed.

I do have a few questions for the resident projector experts. I have read about screen gain, screen aspect ratio, lumens etc...I am sure some of these have been answered before, and I did most of my research based on reviews from other on this website, but it will be much easier for me to have all my answers in one place, rather then scour through a bunch of different threads.

I will use this primarily for Blu-ray watching, PS3 and XBOX360 playing, and some TV watching.

What is the largest size screen I can go with without starting to sacrifice picture quality?
What screen gain would I want based on what I have written here?
Will the color of the walls have any bearing on what I choose?
Manual or automatic pulldown? (pros and cons)
What is the best aspect ratio(I believe this is the term...i.e. 2.35.1, 1.78.1) for what I will be doing?
Recommended projector placement(celing mount, on a table, in a cabinet).

Thanks guys and gals!!

Justin

[squirrel101]

The best movie experience is 2.40 the best gaming or watching ball-games1.78 and fixed frame if its not necessary to move the screen; preferrably acoustically transparent which also allows for larger screen because you put the speakers behind the screen , size of the screen and placement of the pj depend on how much space you have for the HT area preferrably ceiling mounted level with the top of the screen. Screen gain depends on room lighting when watching and throw distance from pj to screen, now just give a little more info as to the room size etc. and your personal preferences and how much DIY your doing.

[Onefastwrex]

The room itself that everything is going in to is fairly large(roughly 25' x30') but the home theater area is only going to be in a portion of that, I am also putting in a bathroom, bar and pool table area down there. The projector, I would prefer to ceiling mount, so that will work. It will be approximately 12-15' away from the screen. The only window is about 1' x 2' and can/will be covered. I will have dimmable recessed lighting throughout the basement, so it can be turned completely off, but I would still prefer to be able to watch sports/regular tv while the lights are on. I will probably end up going with a 2.40 then because I want the primary use to be for the best PQ possible, obviously being blu-ray.

I saw in your signature that you did a DIY screen with the Seymour acoustically transparent material. I have seen a few other people talking about this. What all is involved in making my own screen vs. actually buying one? The wall is going on will be used only for the screen, so if it is stationary, that is fine with me. Are you able to fit center/front speaker behind those? I am most likely going to be starting off with a smaller satellite surround speaker setup (7.1) with the possibility of upgrading in the future. If the screen is wide enough I can hopefully fit the fronts/center behind the screen so they are out of the way. I am going to be running all wires behind the drywall so I am trying to get an idea of the layout before framing everything out. Myself and a friend are going to be doing pretty much everything ourselves. What all is involved in making a screen vs. buying a screen? Cost savings by DIY vs. purchasing?

With all that being said, 2.40 will be the way to go for screen ratio...only question would be on screen gain and size. I was hoping for something between 120" to 130" diagonally. Will the Panny projector be able to throw that size picture without losing any quality from that distance?

I hope this gives enough information for some more answers!

Thanks again!

[Another_Dude]

I think projectorpeople.com has the really nice throw distance/lumen calculator for each projecter, but if it isn't there look at other sites. Once you find that calculator many of your questions will be answered.

Nice choice in projectors by the way, I hope to have my 3000U by the end of the month.

[Grevlin]

Question:

I'm very close buying a projector as well, and Ive narrowed my search down to the Panny AE3000 and the Sanyo Z3000. They seem this >< close in reviews and specs and both were voted in top three in the projectorpeople shoot-out.

Did you look at the Sanyo during your search, and what made you choose the Panny??
Can anyone who has ordered or has the Panny chime in on this one?

The Sanyo is a few hundred cheaper, but that's not really my primary concern. I also like the Sanyo because of the auto-slide lens cover to keep dust out of the "works."

I want a 120" screen, but I think I will put up the projector first to see if the image is not too overpowering in my 14' x 15' room.

[Grevlin]

Justin,

I would say a darker paint job in the room if you can. Projectorpeople.com has some 50' hdmi cables for cheap if you need one that long, and 106' to 120' screens should be fine- depending on how bright/dark the room is.

I know I don't own a proj yet, but I've done quite a bit a research so far.

[Onefastwrex]

I chose the Panny based on review I read online and the one difference I noticed was that the Panny had 1600 lumens and the Sanyo 1200. I have overall heard a lot of good things about this projector. I got the wife convinced to let me finish the base.ent and buy. All kinds of new home theater toys...now I gotta sell a dark paint color...wish me luck!

[Another_Dude]

Originally Posted by Grevlin

Question:

I'm very close buying a projector as well, and Ive narrowed my search down to the Panny AE3000 and the Sanyo Z3000. They seem this >< close in reviews and specs and both were voted in top three in the projectorpeople shoot-out.

Did you look at the Sanyo during your search, and what made you choose the Panny??
Can anyone who has ordered or has the Panny chime in on this one?

The Sanyo is a few hundred cheaper, but that's not really my primary concern. I also like the Sanyo because of the auto-slide lens cover to keep dust out of the "works."

I want a 120" screen, but I think I will put up the projector first to see if the image is not too overpowering in my 14' x 15' room.

I'm taking the Panny over the Sanyo because of:

Lens memory feature.
Sounds like it does the 120hz/FI stuff better.
Rated higher on lumens.
I was pretty much set on the AE-2000U but didn't pull the trigger and the AE-3000U has a lot of bang for the buck.

[Onefastwrex]

I definitely like the idea of the DIY screen and it doesn't sound terribly difficult. Just to make sure I have a good understanding of the construction of it-making a 4 sided frame(I can figure out the length of each keeping it at a 2.40 ratio) measure it out. And cut a 45 degree angle @ each end so they will fit against one another to make the frame. Before attaching them, cover them in black velvet( what size boards did you use?(I.e. 2x4). Then attach the boards with corner bracket/bisquit joints, then staplingg the screen material stretched out screen material to the back side of the frame. Once that is done, if you were looking at it from the front, there would be a small lip around the inside edge of the frame and the screen, correct? How did you mount your screen then that you were able t fit speakers behind it? Where did you purchase the screen material and velvet from? Just curious if you have a good source with a good price.