Question Is 150" too big for my space? and other questions :)

sebna

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Hi All,

I am thinking about getting my first PJ and I am trying to decided on the screen size and other factors. I am reading forum and articles to get my bearings but in the meantime I am re-posting (with some extra info about the room) from Epson 9400 thread to reach bigger audience :) and to stop OT there.

I have figured out SketchUp just enough to make it useful for my needs. Below is my room done to scale, all dimensions are exact.

Screen on back wall with shelf.png


On the left is 150" 16:9 and on the right is 133" (smaller 16:9 shape is LG Oled 65" for comparison). 150" with smaller than modeled here frame would fit as can be seen in the picture (throw is also about just enough) but my question is: will the beam of projector not hit my head in either of the cases (133 or 150)? The screen would be stretching all the way to the floor and actually C channel would be masking small part of 150" but as I would mostly watch cinema scope formats that does not matter that much as there would be black bars there anyway.

The room is multi-purpose. My home office / audio room and now I tough why not to add PJ :). The room has one small window with blackout blind installed (not pictured on the renders, but it is on one of the side walls). All ceiling are painted white and all side walls are very light sky blue shade. Cream thick rug covers most of the floor. At this stage I am not prepared to turn it into bat cave or even paint it dark colours but at the same time I only watch after dark and I live in the middle of nowhere so there is no ambient light getting in after dark. In the future I could easily do acoustic panels but for the moment I do not want to re-paint. I think I will go with Epson 9400.

I have 0 experience with projectors so is covering the wall top to bottom with screen a good idea? I am asking from all perspectives, like eye fatigue, quality of 9400 projection at the distance of 2.85m to the 133-150" etc. everything considered. Please mention even obvious things as I might not think about them as I am that new to whole PJ thing.

I will also model how 140 and 145" would fit but as I can see that 150" could fit I might be interested in squeezing it in :D, unless advised otherwise. How important is to retain the black velvet frame? Modeled here screens have 12cm black velvet frame (Amazon links in my previous post).

PJ will be hanged centered at the back wall as close to ceiling as possible.

EDIT: The sitting distance to screen would be adjusted based on REW measurements, but ATM I kind of felt that 2.85m would work well purely on gut feeling and what I visually like in the room.
Screen on back wall with shelf(3).png
Screen on back wall with shelf(1).png
 
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Just to add that when I was going to see a movie in the cinema in the past (I have not done so since I bought C6 65" some years ago) I would always go to screen where I could not see all of it at the same time. I remember liking being enveloped in the action / story rather then to be able to see all of the screen at once. I think I would like to try it again, this time at home but if it is silly from technical point of view due to my head getting in the way of the projectors light etc. or resolution and quality of 9400 being too poor for such close distance then those would be the reasons for me to re conisder.

I am not keen on purely CinemaScope aspect ratio as I would not gain anything by going with it and I would loose 16:9 as I cannot fit a wider CinemaScope anyway so if I would do that I would just be giving up 16:9 for no reason.
 
We all have different preferences with screen size etc. Have a look at the guidelines from THX, SMPTE, CEDIA etc and take into account how close you like to sit to the screen at the cinema. Also test what you can at home. Perhaps get the projector and watch some films whilst projecting onto a blank wall, and see what size you like. Then get the screen.

Why do you say that having a scope screen would be giving up 16:9? Do you mean it would be giving up the maximum size 16:9? That's true, but it's not yet clear that you want the maximum size.
 
Like triggaaar said, we all like different size screens and it really comes down to personal choice, I sit the same distance from a 110" 16:9 screen and really would not want to sit any closer/have a bigger screen, especially for 16:9 content, thats just me though. Are you able to project on a blank wall first to determine what size you like?
 
@sebna there also one issue that I didn't address in my posts on the other thread and that's light output. When you increase screen size your projector requires more light to produce a similar brightness of image as the screen size increases, whilst this is OK with SDR films you will quickly run into problems when you switch to HDR 4K because the whole objective of HDR is the increased colour palette but most projectors including the Epson require a filter to produce this great range and this in turn decreases the amount of light they produce.

If colour accuracy is important to you then maybe reducing the size a little would be advisable but if not you could forgo the filter mode and lost the accurate colour range to gain light output as US owners have done.

Most would say about 130" 16:9 is the upper limit to produce a quality HDR image from the Epson whilst using the filter. Trust me if you seen a 130" screen in front of you it have the WOW factor written all over it.
 
my question is: will the beam of projector not hit my head in either of the cases (133 or 150)?

In your Sketchup model - build a cube the size of the projector body with a point where the lens is on the body. Put it on the wall where you're planning on mounting the PJ. Then use lines to connect where the lens is to the bottom corners of the proposed screen. You should be able to work it out from there if it's going through your head height on the sofa - you might need to measure your head height sitting on that sofa in real life if it looks tight.
 
In your Sketchup model - build a cube the size of the projector body with a point where the lens is on the body. Put it on the wall where you're planning on mounting the PJ. Then use lines to connect where the lens is to the bottom corners of the proposed screen. You should be able to work it out from there if it's going through your head height on the sofa - you might need to measure your head height sitting on that sofa in real life if it looks tight.

I came with the same plan yesterday evening. To be implemented today :). One of many things on my ToDo list for today.
 
Like triggaaar said, we all like different size screens and it really comes down to personal choice, I sit the same distance from a 110" 16:9 screen and really would not want to sit any closer/have a bigger screen, especially for 16:9 content, thats just me though. Are you able to project on a blank wall first to determine what size you like?

I think that is what I should really do. Get the projector and try it on the wall without screen to assess what works size wise and what does not. It would also allow me to confirm that indeed 150, and if not, what max screen will fit on my wall in case my modeling is not as exact as I think it is :)

I have to be very careful with this approach tough as I have only one chance for the new setup to make the right 1st impression on my wife and I need her to be sold on it. I got her into right place with the whole idea for the moment but it can easily change and I need her to be sold on it as PJ is only part of equation. I also need to add speakers ;), which she does not fully understand yet :D.

Ideally I would like to test the projector in the target room but in that room the wall I would be projecting on is light blue... so it probably will look bad? I know it is only a test but 1st impression matters.

I could test in the other room where I have white wall. Or would you say that blue would do for half movie to assess different sizes without my wife saying she prefers Oleds we have?
 
@sebna there also one issue that I didn't address in my posts on the other thread and that's light output. When you increase screen size your projector requires more light to produce a similar brightness of image as the screen size increases, whilst this is OK with SDR films you will quickly run into problems when you switch to HDR 4K because the whole objective of HDR is the increased colour palette but most projectors including the Epson require a filter to produce this great range and this in turn decreases the amount of light they produce.

If colour accuracy is important to you then maybe reducing the size a little would be advisable but if not you could forgo the filter mode and lost the accurate colour range to gain light output as US owners have done.

Most would say about 130" 16:9 is the upper limit to produce a quality HDR image from the Epson whilst using the filter. Trust me if you seen a 130" screen in front of you it have the WOW factor written all over it.

Would I be right, and please correct me if I am wrong, that I could always project smaller scope for HDR content if I find it lacking? Could I have a preset saved in PJ settings which I would activate and the zoom would change making things more vibrant and less taxing for the lamp output?

I am just thinking out loud.

Probably 150" is a unrealistic for logistic reasons. But I will model 140" and 145" today and see how much margin they would leave. I also have to model the head block for projector beam as it simply might be a no go from this perspective.
 
I tried out my first PJ with a corporate one borrowed from work projecting onto a white bedsheet hanging off a plank of wood.
The first time you see a big screen in place it's impressive.
In your boat I would attach a bedsheet to the wall in the room you plan on using rather than another room or a blue wall.
 
Why do you say that having a scope screen would be giving up 16:9? Do you mean it would be giving up the maximum size 16:9? That's true, but it's not yet clear that you want the maximum size.

Yes that is what I meant. That I would prefer to maximize available space rather then displaying 16:9 with black bars on the side on Scope screen. But I should really start with projector first and then just see how I like 16:9 in such big dimensions.

16:9 for me mostly would be streaming so the quality of the streams at that size might be a problem. So I might be better off projecting it on scope format to scale it down. Remains to be confirmed but usually I always go for the biggest I can fit and afford (TV screens previously) and I have never been disappointed with this approach before. Although now we are talking quite a jump so maybe I will hit the limits of what I find comfortable eventually :D
 
Would I be right, and please correct me if I am wrong, that I could always project smaller scope for HDR content if I find it lacking? Could I have a preset saved in PJ settings which I would activate and the zoom would change making things more vibrant and less taxing for the lamp output?

I am just thinking out loud.

Probably 150" is a unrealistic for logistic reasons. But I will model 140" and 145" today and see how much margin they would leave. I also have to model the head block for projector beam as it simply might be a no go from this perspective.

Yes the Epson can have a preset to resize to a smaller screen for 4K HDR but since this is the direction movies and streaming is going why wouldn’t you design your system for the future rather than the past.

The other issue with resize smaller on a big screen is the borders you will hear us talking about a lot of the time. When a picture switches from 16:9 to CinemaScope you have borders top and bottom which are grey, dark grey in the case of the 9400, lighter grey in the case of a DLP and even darker grey with a JVC..... resizing you will not only have these borders top and bottom but also on the sides, trust me this will not the experience you are after.

If you are heart set of the biggest screen possible don’t go down the route of wanting the most accurate colours possible, there will have to be a compromise either from brightness, colours or noise if you need to use the HIGH lamp mode.

Not trying to knock your ideas down here it’s just knowing what works. I would ask the community on here if anyone has a screen size of 120” or greater in your area which you go see, I think you will be shocked how big a 120-130” screen actually looks like in person.
 
Yes the Epson can have a preset to resize to a smaller screen for 4K HDR but since this is the direction movies and streaming is going why wouldn’t you design your system for the future rather than the past.

The other issue with resize smaller on a big screen is the borders you will hear us talking about a lot of the time. When a picture switches from 16:9 to CinemaScope you have borders top and bottom which are grey, dark grey in the case of the 9400, lighter grey in the case of a DLP and even darker grey with a JVC..... resizing you will not only have these borders top and bottom but also on the sides, trust me this will not the experience you are after.

If you are heart set of the biggest screen possible don’t go down the route of wanting the most accurate colours possible, there will have to be a compromise either from brightness, colours or noise if you need to use the HIGH lamp mode.

Not trying to knock your ideas down here it’s just knowing what works. I would ask the community on here if anyone has a screen size of 120” or greater in your area which you go see, I think you will be shocked how big a 120-130” screen actually looks like in person.

Not at all. I do not feel you are trying to knock my ideas down. That is exactly what I have asked for. Advice from experienced users as I have none of my own.

In the bedroom I have C9 65" in the foot well of the bed so about 1.9m away from my eyes. I really like this setup but sound system is difficult to implement (I have 5.1.4 there but it just cannot spread it wings and I feel that it trips on itself). But 65" at such a close distance and it being Oled already makes for really nice cinematic like experience (and my wife loves it).

I will do today set of calculations to compare relatively how much bigger 150, 130 (and every other size in between) would really be taking correction for bigger distance to the screen. That is one of the reasons why I push so hard for the biggest I can fit as I need to be vowed by the size increase to justify lower PQ in both 1080p and UHD (HDR) to my Oled.
 
We have a 65” OLED in the family room and the difference we you watch something in the cinema room is quite a bit and mine is only a 100” screen, a 130” is 26” (66cm) longer than mine and 15” (38cm) taller and I see 9.5ft from my screen.
 
We have a 65” OLED in the family room and the difference we you watch something in the cinema room is quite a bit and mine is only a 100” screen, a 130” is 26” (66cm) longer than mine and 15” (38cm) taller and I see 9.5ft from my screen.

How does Oled (in pitch black if you watch it like at times) compare PQ wise to your blackedout cinema room and 9400?
 
How does Oled (in pitch black if you watch it like at times) compare PQ wise to your blackedout cinema room and 9400?

Blacks are better with OLED and this is the case with any projector. Picture quality, genuinely the Epson is better with 1080P than my OLED TV.

Different movies but grain of the picture very similar.

OLED
04C78AA0-0A2B-40EF-98C8-DA8A3140B914.jpeg

Epson
D985FB8B-527E-4181-93D4-0316DFA3733C.jpeg
 
Blacks are better with OLED and this is the case with any projector. Picture quality, genuinely the Epson is better with 1080P than my OLED TV.
Wow that sounds like I am in for a treat! (I realize I will have different experience due to room) You said that it is better in 1080p other then blacks because in 4k HDR (and blacks) tip the scale towards Oled?

How does the motion handing compare? I read that some people do not rate 9400 motion. How does it compare to Oled (which brand do you have?)?
 
How does Oled (in pitch black if you watch it like at times) compare PQ wise to your blackedout cinema room and 9400?



If you want the best of the best blacks, can you 'stretch' to a JVC N5?

By stretch, its nearly triple the price.
 
If you want the best of the best blacks, can you 'stretch' to a JVC N5?

By stretch, its nearly triple the price.
I am considering x7900 which has supposedly better blacks then N-series.

It is not the blacks that really would sell me but pixel structure and most importantly motion quality as I am very sensitive to it.
 
Wow that sounds like I am in for a treat! (I realize I will have different experience due to room) You said that it is better in 1080p other then blacks because in 4k HDR (and blacks) tip the scale towards Oled?

How does the motion handing compare? I read that some people do not rate 9400 motion. How does it compare to Oled (which brand do you have?)?

With the LG OLED if I use its motion handling software I notice What I call sparkles around things when motion happens quickly as I tend to leave everything OFF. With the Epson this is much less noticeable, at least to my eyes but if you sensitive to such things always try before you buy, I will say that Sony is probably the best at this

I am considering x7900 which has supposedly better blacks then N-series.

It is not the blacks that really would sell me but pixel structure and most importantly motion quality as I am very sensitive to it.

I haven’t seen the x7900 but I did see the x5900, in my opinion the x5900 looks better without e-shift ON which is the opposite to the Epson. I also felt the Epson looked the sharper of the two images but the JVC had the better blacks, but as the viewing wasn’t side by side I didn’t get the impression of the difference being huge which I know it probably is. This is the thing, in isolation the Epson’s blacks look really good, after viewing the JVC I raced home approx 20 minute drive and put the same disc on in my room and I didn’t think “my blacks are sh*t”, the impression I got was a little less black but not night and day difference.

If you are undecided try and see both, the x7900 are hard to find so prepare to travel at the drop of a hat if one shows up but the Epson should be easy to see as most dealers will have one on display to demo.
 
I think that is what I should really do. Get the projector and try it on the wall without screen to assess what works size wise and what does not. It would also allow me to confirm that indeed 150, and if not, what max screen will fit on my wall in case my modeling is not as exact as I think it is :)
Good plan.

I have to be very careful with this approach tough as I have only one chance for the new setup to make the right 1st impression on my wife and I need her to be sold on it. I got her into right place with the whole idea for the moment but it can easily change and I need her to be sold on it as PJ is only part of equation. I also need to add speakers ;), which she does not fully understand yet :D.

Ideally I would like to test the projector in the target room but in that room the wall I would be projecting on is light blue... so it probably will look bad? I know it is only a test but 1st impression matters.

I could test in the other room where I have white wall. Or would you say that blue would do for half movie to assess different sizes without my wife saying she prefers Oleds we have?
I'm confused. In the room where it's going, you're going to have a fixed screen, right? So paint the wall white first.

And regarding first impressions, you don't need to tell her that you're testing it. Although I would say that although you (and I) might like a very large screen, it's unlikely you're wife will want the screen quite so large.

Paint the wall white, and then test it on your own. Then set it up with 2 or 3 memory settings of different sizes, and show your wife a film on each. If you do go really large, I'd suggest having a memory setting for a smaller screen for when the film is fast moving and a bit much for the large screen.
 
Remains to be confirmed but usually I always go for the biggest I can fit and afford (TV screens previously) and I have never been disappointed with this approach before. Although now we are talking quite a jump so maybe I will hit the limits of what I find comfortable eventually :D
Yeah, this is a whole different ball game. Previously you might have gone for a 42" screen (back in the day), then 50", then 65. They're tiny little screens compared to 150".
 
I think you are massively complicating this process by just not having the projector first and checking which screen size you prefer on a wall.

Every normal person I know is blown away from a projector with a good sound system, whether its a £500 projector or a £5000 projector due to the size factor so I wouldn't worry about her being impressed or not.


Re: Motion, if you're sensitive, you might have a hard time with the Epson. I'm not that sensitive to motion but I definitely noticed a clear setback with some content (mainly anime TBH that made it VERY apparent). I've heard the best motion in town in PJ land is Sony & JVC.
 
Also you seem to have an obsession with size but please realise that the bigger the screen, the less lumens you have. And ideally with HDR projectors, they usually use a filter which decreases and nearly halves the light output, and for 3D content you need all of the brightness you can get.. so I'd just try to keep that all in mind.

The last thing you want to do is have to run your projector in high lamp mode all the time and deal with that noise.
 
Here’s a direct comparison on the same scene from Gemini Man. LG OLED top image and Epson bottom, ignore the colour differences because the Epson has been professionally calibrated and the LG hasn’t, concentrate on the sharpness and detail in the images. But it does show the importance of getting it calibrated.

C905E6FD-7D61-40A2-9E38-330FF3EADF93.jpeg
639A009D-DCE6-4ECE-B727-B5288755CA0B.jpeg


Both look great but when I go upstairs to the movie room I can instantly see the superior detail from the Epson.
 
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