Throw Distance query

hellarda · 17 Mar 2015 at 14:21

Hi,

I am currently researching projectors and screens for my parents as they are having an outbuilding done which they want to use as a home cinema.

The wall space available to mount a screen (Not sure whether to go for a pull down ready made screen, or make one?) is about 3.15m which with my calculations would just about allow for a 133" screen?

Now the throw distance available is only about 3.5-3.7m. Would this be enough? Looking at the Optoma HD50, that needs over 4m for a 133" screen, but my Benq W1070 that I have up at uni would be able to do it just?

So are there (decent) options for this size screen at that throw distance?

They probably would want to spend around £2k on projector and screen.

Thanks

Ali

lucid · 17 Mar 2015 at 15:06

133" diagonal 16:9.......that's a big big screen for a fairly small room.It's going to more or less fill the entire wall width. Depending where they sit it could end up being uncomfortable to watch; either eyes constantly scanning left and right or looking ahead and missing action outside of the centre portion of the screen.

As for screens, if you're considering making something then the wall must be suitable for a fixed screen, so that's exactly what you should go for.

Others here will recommend you make a screen, but personally I'd recommended you purchase a fixed frame screen. Unless you're a real whizz with a spray gun then the bought frame screen will give you the flattest and and most even surface for projection.

Manual screens at that size (or any size much over 72"/180cm diagonal) will ripple either straight out of the box or over time. The screen surface has to be relatively thin to make it light enough to retract on a spring roller. Thin and light screen surfaces sag over time. It's not good. A 133" screen will look awful because the material weight will bend the roller mechanism as well as sagging under its own weight.

A decent electric at that size overcome some of these issues but it will also eat 60-70% of your budget

hellarda · 17 Mar 2015 at 15:46

Lucid,

Thanks for the reply. Yes I had worried it would be slightly too big but they asked for the biggest that would fit on the wall. I have setup a demo with the screen size that big and the sofa where they would be sat so they can have a better idea of it would be too big. Otherwise I assume the next drop down would be to a 119"?

With regards to screens, I also thought that fixed would be the best way to go, its an external wall so will be fine to hold a fixed screen. What are the prices like for pre-made screens for size? And how much does price reflect quality?

Thanks

Ali

Chris1712 · 17 Mar 2015 at 17:28

I would personally go for a cinemascope screen first and foremost, fixed and DIY if possible. If you keep the majority of your budget available for the actual projector you can start to look at proper high contrast kit like JVC and the LCoS Sony units.

hellarda · 25 Mar 2015 at 22:31

So decided 133" would be too big! 119" thinking now, are there any decent projectors that can produce that image size with a throw distance of ~3.5m?

lucid · 26 Mar 2015 at 00:10

Well if your budget is still £500-£1000 as per the original enquiry then you've already short-listed the two best projectors, so have a look on each manufacturer's web site and check out the throw distance calculators.

If your budget is other, then say what it is.

hellarda · 26 Mar 2015 at 00:37

lucid said:
Well if your budget is still £500-£1000 as per the original enquiry then you've already short-listed the two best projectors, so have a look on each manufacturer's web site and check out the throw distance calculators.

If your budget is other, then say what it is.

Will a fixed screen cost £1000-£1500?! (IE leaving only £500-£1000 for the proj?)

The W1070 seems to be the only one I can find that doesn't need over 4m for a 119" screen

seems a little weird.

Could possibly stretch the budget slightly if theres a good reason to jump up a model or so

lucid · 26 Mar 2015 at 03:26

I'm not sure where you're getting "over 4m throw" from for the Optoma HD50. The nearest size available to 119" in the brands that I supply and install is 122" diagonal. The throw on a HD50 for that is 3.75m~5.6m. A screen of that size in a fixed frame format is about £500.

If your total budget is £2K, and it's a DIY install, then taking out money for mains and signal cabling and a decent bracket probably leaves around £1700-£1800. Your projector budget then is £1200-£1300 after buying the screen. Around that price the two main contenders are the Optoma HD50 (£999) and the Epson TW6600 (£1300). The third option is a calibrated HD50 for a shade under the price of the Epson.

If it was a straight fight between the HD50 and the TW6600 then it would come down to sharpness and noise. Out of the box the HD50 is set to high power lamp-mode. That makes it noisy. The Epson is quieter except for the auto-iris It helps black detail and peak brightness as the picture content changes), but the motors can be heard. Set the Optoma to low power mode and it gets noticeably quieter. Have it calibrated and it gets quieter again; it's near silent from about 2ft away.

The Epson has a sharper lens, and the 3-chip LCD display technology it uses makes an image that looks sharper too thanks to the gaps between the pixels.

Optoma is DLP and the glass in the lens isn't as good. In isolation you'd never realise any limitation. But in an A/B dem then there is an obvious difference. The imaging technology used in the Optoma is DLP. There's hardly any gap between the pixels, so the image off the chip has a smoother look. The Optoma lens just can't match the focus of the Epson. If you could afford the extra £300, then you'd go for the Epson.

What throws a cat amongst the pigeons is calibration. The HD50 is the lowest cost Optoma that can be fully adjusted for correct colour and shadow detail rendition. When it has had that done the picture takes a huge leap forward. Calibration can't improve the optical focus of the lens. But it does allow the projector electronics to show more detail and an improved colour palette. The projector also gets quieter again, even lower than in Eco mode.

The Epson needs 3.6m for a 122" diagonal 16:9 viewing area. The Optoma needs 3.75m for the same screen.

hellarda · 26 Mar 2015 at 10:50

lucid said:
I'm not sure where you're getting "over 4m throw" from for the Optoma HD50. The nearest size available to 119" in the brands that I supply and install is 122" diagonal. The throw on a HD50 for that is 3.75m~5.6m. A screen of that size in a fixed frame format is about £500.

If your total budget is £2K, and it's a DIY install, then taking out money for mains and signal cabling and a decent bracket probably leaves around £1700-£1800. Your projector budget then is £1200-£1300 after buying the screen. Around that price the two main contenders are the Optoma HD50 (£999) and the Epson TW6600 (£1300). The third option is a calibrated HD50 for a shade under the price of the Epson.

If it was a straight fight between the HD50 and the TW6600 then it would come down to sharpness and noise. Out of the box the HD50 is set to high power lamp-mode. That makes it noisy. The Epson is quieter except for the auto-iris It helps black detail and peak brightness as the picture content changes), but the motors can be heard. Set the Optoma to low power mode and it gets noticeably quieter. Have it calibrated and it gets quieter again; it's near silent from about 2ft away.

The Epson has a sharper lens, and the 3-chip LCD display technology it uses makes an image that looks sharper too thanks to the gaps between the pixels.

Optoma is DLP and the glass in the lens isn't as good. In isolation you'd never realise any limitation. But in an A/B dem then there is an obvious difference. The imaging technology used in the Optoma is DLP. There's hardly any gap between the pixels, so the image off the chip has a smoother look. The Optoma lens just can't match the focus of the Epson. If you could afford the extra £300, then you'd go for the Epson.

What throws a cat amongst the pigeons is calibration. The HD50 is the lowest cost Optoma that can be fully adjusted for correct colour and shadow detail rendition. When it has had that done the picture takes a huge leap forward. Calibration can't improve the optical focus of the lens. But it does allow the projector electronics to show more detail and an improved colour palette. The projector also gets quieter again, even lower than in Eco mode.

The Epson needs 3.6m for a 122" diagonal 16:9 viewing area. The Optoma needs 3.75m for the same screen.

Thanks for that informative post lucid,

Apologies I had not noticed the zoom slider on the throw calculators, hence why I thought you'd need over 4m!

I will have a look at both of them. The cabling etc isn't part of the projector budget (I think anyway) as its going to part of the new build and I intend to run HDMI over cat6 rather than running ~25m of HDMI in the walls.

Thanks

Clipsey · 26 Mar 2015 at 17:42

Great post lucid (as always).
I'm currently in the market for a projector and all this reading is helpful.
As you say, PJ's are not the same in the fact you can ever get a side by side comparison of them both! So, you have to go off reviews and other's experience.

sastusbulbas · 28 Mar 2015 at 22:30

Having worked with a few screens and mainly budget projector set ups you may find the suggested size or what someone wants, may be more than expected. I would follow Lucids advice, but it may be worth trying to demo the size in the space available before commiting to screen size, and also do so while playing with the expected aspect ratio's you are likely to experience.

Distance from the screen is important, but sometimes having a screen too near side walls can look appaling in the wrong decor or room layout. Too big a screen can be as fatiguing as a strained audio system being pushed hard.