And so it begins...

[predator0187]

Ok, Now that I have seen all these rooms with projectors in them and realized they are available at reasonable prices. So here comes the question....

What is a good projector...not a million dollar one but a good one, that will look amazing and be good on the wallet. and also what about a screen? can I make one or build one? Whats a good price for one...again best bang for the buck?

I am building a theater room in my basement and was wondering a few things so I thought this would be the place to ask. thanks guys...

Pred....

[ground chuck]

i'm pretty sure there's threads out there for 1) how to build a screen 2) how projectors are good 3) how to build a home theater. you just gotta search a bit.

[predator0187]

Seen the threads about how to build a screen but how does it compare to a professional one? and I know how to build a theater...lol I hope anyway. I just wanted some opinions on good ones and the best price for dollar for a projector and screen

[Brain Sturgeon]

If you have a budget, we can throw some ideas at you. There are a number of very good bang for buck PJ's out there-- I'd probably group them in the 1K and under, 3k, 5k, 8k, and price no object. Some that come to mind are the Mitsubishi HC1500/1600 & HC4900, Sony VPL-AW15, Optoma HD70/80, Panasonic PT-AE2000U, Epson 1080UB, Sony VPL-VW40, Sanyo PLV-Z2000, BenQ W5000, JVC RS-1/2.

Two things to think about with screens: 1) the frame. 2) the screen material. Frames are generally easy to DIY, with wood and aluminum being the most common materials. This can be done very professionally with limited cost, provided you have the time, patience, tools, and some carpentry skills. The most common screen material is BOC (blackout cloth) which is readily available at most fabric stores. There are also a number of sources for reasonably priced, effective screen material (eBay, AVS, etc)

If you would rather purchase a screen, there are a number of very good options out there that are affordable. Carada, SMX, DaLite, Elite, & Stewart make a number of excellent screens. Carada's frames with Brilliant White screen material gets very high marks, and is one of the most affordable "pro" screens out there. The DaLite High Power is also very popular and is a reasonably affordable, excellent screen.

[predator0187]

thanks for the help!!

as for price range well, I don't know...lol....I would imagine about $3k would be a good amount. I just want a WOW factor when viewing i guess. What about screen sizes as well? how big can I go before distortion hits? I would probably be happy with about a 10' screen.

thanks again

[AlaskaDon]

Originally Posted by predator0187

thanks for the help!!

as for price range well, I don't know...lol....I would imagine about $3k would be a good amount. I just want a WOW factor when viewing i guess. What about screen sizes as well? how big can I go before distortion hits? I would probably be happy with about a 10' screen.

thanks again

Is that $3k for just the projector/screen, or is that how much you want to spend total? That price gets you right into the ballpark for some of the value priced (but still good) 1080p models available.

It's generally best in the planning stage to start with the room that you plan to use, and select a projector that will work within that amount of space. LCD projectors are less fussy about placement whereas DLP projectors tend to need more space. If space is really tight, that might even remove DLP as an option, and it will also affect how large your screen can be. We can give you more help if you let us know the room dimensions, including ceiling height. Also it's helpful to know how far away from the screen you plan to sit and what size screen you would prefer. Depending on screen size and how far away you plan to sit, you might be able to save a large chunk of cash by going with 720p rather than 1080p.

Another big consideration is how much light control that you have. Will the room be totally dark, or is there a little/a lot of ambient light? All of this stuff needs to be considered before plunking down your money for a projector.

The best way to start would be to go to the basement, face the wall where you plan to put the screen, and then get a picture in your mind of how much screen that you want and where ideally that your seating would be. Then take some measurements. Assuming that you plan on going with a 16:9 screen, typical screen sizes range from about 92" up to 140". The most common are probably 100" or 120". Personally I never saw much reason to go below the 92" size as that starts to get you close to flat-panel sized. I believe all of the projectors that you would be considering will work fine with a 100"-120" screen, but the light output could start to become an issue if you start thinking bigger than that. Lots to consider

I use a 100" DIY screen that works just fine for my application. If you want some info on how to do that I'm happy to help. Total cost less than $100 and you can do it start to finish in a couple of hours assuming you have the tools. Other than a mitre saw to cut the corners, all you need is a staple gun, screwdriver, and a drill. It's very easy.

[predator0187]

Originally Posted by AlaskaDon

Is that $3k for just the projector/screen, or is that how much you want to spend total? That price gets you right into the ballpark for some of the value priced (but still good) 1080p models available.

It's generally best in the planning stage to start with the room that you plan to use, and select a projector that will work within that amount of space. LCD projectors are less fussy about placement whereas DLP projectors tend to need more space. If space is really tight, that might even remove DLP as an option, and it will also affect how large your screen can be. We can give you more help if you let us know the room dimensions, including ceiling height. Also it's helpful to know how far away from the screen you plan to sit and what size screen you would prefer. Depending on screen size and how far away you plan to sit, you might be able to save a large chunk of cash by going with 720p rather than 1080p.

Another big consideration is how much light control that you have. Will the room be totally dark, or is there a little/a lot of ambient light? All of this stuff needs to be considered before plunking down your money for a projector.

The best way to start would be to go to the basement, face the wall where you plan to put the screen, and then get a picture in your mind of how much screen that you want and where ideally that your seating would be. Then take some measurements. Assuming that you plan on going with a 16:9 screen, typical screen sizes range from about 92" up to 140". The most common are probably 100" or 120". Personally I never saw much reason to go below the 92" size as that starts to get you close to flat-panel sized. I believe all of the projectors that you would be considering will work fine with a 100"-120" screen, but the light output could start to become an issue if you start thinking bigger than that. Lots to consider

I use a 100" DIY screen that works just fine for my application. If you want some info on how to do that I'm happy to help. Total cost less than $100 and you can do it start to finish in a couple of hours assuming you have the tools. Other than a mitre saw to cut the corners, all you need is a staple gun, screwdriver, and a drill. It's very easy.

Awesome post very informative.

As for my room size it will be about 15'x12', with the projector going on either wall. I know you wanna sit about a foot away from the screen for every foot it is big right?

Now as for light...there will be absolutely none, unless someone opens the door. but I am building the room completely sound proof as well (just looking for a place to buy soundproof fiberboard).

I would think about 120" screen would be good, you would think anyway. I am going to need room on the sides of the screen for the speakers right? wouldn;t mind going 140" though.

As for an LCD projector, which one has the 'rainbow' in it because I notice it a lot. I want to try to avaoid that one. lol

Thanks for all the help.

[Blu-ray Fanatic]

Originally Posted by predator0187

Awesome post very informative.

As for my room size it will be about 15'x12', with the projector going on either wall. I know you wanna sit about a foot away from the screen for every foot it is big right?

Now as for light...there will be absolutely none, unless someone opens the door. but I am building the room completely sound proof as well (just looking for a place to buy soundproof fiberboard).

I would think about 120" screen would be good, you would think anyway. I am going to need room on the sides of the screen for the speakers right? wouldn;t mind going 140" though.

As for an LCD projector, which one has the 'rainbow' in it because I notice it a lot. I want to try to avaoid that one. lol

Thanks for all the help.

Well, good luck on your project. I would cough up that kind of money if I had the space, tools, and knowledge to create the dream home theater.

[AlaskaDon]

The Rainbow effect that you mentioned occurs with the color wheels found in DLP projectors. I've seen it mentioned more with some models and less with others so if you decide to go DLP this will require looking at reviews on particular models. If you're very sensitive to noticing this then I would probably just avoid DLP.

From the screen sizes that you're interested in, you will probably want to place your screen so that you have the 15' axis to work with rather than the 12' axis. My room is only 12' long and after you take the projector itself into account, that puts you down to about 11' which will make it difficult to get an image over 100" unless the projector has a lot of zoom. If you do decide to go DLP then you will be forced to use the 15' axis as 12' would probably give you a max image size of around 70" due to the weak zoom usually found on DLP's

Something else to consider. If you plan on going the DIY route for a screen, and you plan to use blackout cloth as the screen material as most people do, then you will probably be limited to a 120" maximum screen size due to the available width of the blackout cloth. Actually I'm not sure you can stretch it to fit a 120" but maybe someone else here has built one that size. I think it would just fit, but not positive on that. I know that 100" definetly works. You might also consider going with a scope screen (see recent threads here).

I'm at work right now, but can look into it more after I get home this evening. Read the couple of recent threads here in this forum. They offer some good suggestions on LCD projectors, particularly the Panasonic, Sony, and Epson models. I'm a fan of the Sony myself, but they all have their ups and downs. You have the space for a really nice set-up for sure

[Brain Sturgeon]

Originally Posted by predator0187

Awesome post very informative.

As for my room size it will be about 15'x12', with the projector going on either wall. I know you wanna sit about a foot away from the screen for every foot it is big right?

Now as for light...there will be absolutely none, unless someone opens the door. but I am building the room completely sound proof as well (just looking for a place to buy soundproof fiberboard).

I would think about 120" screen would be good, you would think anyway. I am going to need room on the sides of the screen for the speakers right? wouldn;t mind going 140" though.

As for an LCD projector, which one has the 'rainbow' in it because I notice it a lot. I want to try to avaoid that one. lol

Thanks for all the help.

A number of great points by Alaska.

For 3k, you have a lot of very good options for a 1080p PJ/Screen. The Panasonic PT-AE2000U, Epson 1080UB, and Sony VPL-VW40 are all very good 1080p PJ's that can be had for under 3k. Screenwise, a DIY can save you some bucks using BOC from various vendors (here's an ad on AVS for large BOC: http://www.avsforum.com/avs-vb/vbcla...?do=ad&id=5414 ) or something like Phifer SheerWeave from www.htiq.com (63" wide, $20 a foot). Otherwise, pre-made screens from Carada or a DaLite High Power are excellent, reasonably affordable choices.

In terms of seating distance, the general rule of thumb is 2-3x screen height for optimum viewing. If you like to sit further back in a theater, then sitting further back than that is fine; but you may not be getting the full benefit of a 1080p PJ. If so, then you may want to save some bucks by getting a 720p projector like a Panasonic PT-AX200U, a Sony VPL-AW15, or a Mitsubishi HC1500/1600. The issue with these PJ's is that they will be more susceptible to screen door effect when you sit closer to the screen.

A bit of wisdom about screens: bigger is always better. I would suggest that you go with the biggest screen your room can possibly accommodate, taking size, speaker placement, and projector placement into account. You can always mask off a larger screen if you want a smaller picture.

As long as you're mentioning LCD projectors, here is a quick overview on projector technologies. LCD is the most affordable, but, until recently, had relatively poor blacks. The more recent units, the Epson 1080UB in particular, has really improved on this. However, some LCD's have unsealed light paths, which makes them susceptible to dust blobs from dust on the LCD panels. LCD projectors use 3 panels, so they are not subject to color separation artifacts (aka "Rainbow Effect"). LCOS is the technology popularized by Sony and JVC (aka SXRD or D-ILA), and is used in the VPL-VW40, amongst others. The blacks are considered amongst the best in digital projectors with LCOS, although the images are felt to be a bit softer than the other technologies. LCOS PJ's also use three panels, and are not subject to RBE. Finally, DLP is considered the sharpest and most "3D" of the technologies, although black level is a step below the best LCOS projectors. Single chip DLP is subject to RBE because of the use of a color wheel, but is not subject to convergence issues like 3 panel LCD or LCOS may be. 3 chip DLP is very expensive and only generally seen in the highest end projectors. Both LCOS and DLP PJ's have sealed light paths, so dust blobs are not an issue.

Which projector technology you select is very individual. It would be best to see the projectors/technologies that you are interested in person to see what you prefer most. Where you want to place your projector may also impact your available choices. Check for the lens shift (fixed or variable) and zoom range of each projector to see if it will work for your placement. DLP technology does not inherently make a PJ more difficult to place, it's just that the more inexpensive units tend to have a fixed offset or limited lens shift/zoom, presumably to save a bit of money. The more expensive DLP units have plenty of lens shift and zoom range for facile placement.