I am converting a room to a dedicated home theater. The room is 10 x 14. How big can I go on the screen?

Question

I want the screen on the small (10' ) wall. Projector on the ceiling. 2 rows of chairs.

Answer 1

Consider a 50" or 60" (Pioneer or Panasonic) plasma instead of the projecter. You'll like the picture much better.

Answer 2

General rule of thumb while calculating optimal viewing distance - 1.5 times the diagonal measurement of the screen. This usually works fine, although you can usually bend the rule by about a foot or two without too much issue.

This rule will be superseded by optimal viewing distances recommended by the projector manufacturer (most owners manuals will give you detailed descriptions).

LCD projectors will typically have screendoor type artifacts visible if you view at less than recommended distances (although the technology has improved considerably).

There are, however, times when you may want to factor this in while making the projector purchase decision - some projectors have lesser throw distances than others (this can be important in a situation where say you want to project a 100" diagonal image, but that the particular projector may require to be placed 16 feet from the screen and your your room measurements, you end up having to project a smaller image). Got to www.projectorcentral.com and open up the details of the projector you are considering. There will be a button saying "Throw Distance Calculator" Click on it and move the scale (it's an interactive tool) either by image size, which will you how far the projector must be to project your desired image size - or move the scale of distance and it will tell you how big the image will be.

Answer 3

To get a real-world idea, go down to your local store that carries what you want in a TV screen and sit down where your front row would sit and then where your second row would sit, and you should be able to determine which screen size will work best for you. In smaller rooms, you can easily get too big of a screen. Kind of like sitting in the front row at a public movie theater -TOO CLOSE! Of course, on the other hand, if that doesn't matter, then go as big as you can. It matters to me (and to your average movie-goer).

The largest screen I had in my room (measuring 10' x 13') was a 32" Sony XBR CRT. Since it was a CRT and had a depth of about 2 feet, a larger screen would have worked if it was placed closer to the back wall (which was on the shorter 10' wall).

Living with a 32" CRT about 2.5' into the room, the optimum size in a recommended LCD HDTV (I've seen a projector in such a small space, and it looked good, but not as good as a plasma or LCD direct view) placed on the wall or even on a TV stand would be 42" diagonal.

Of course, that's what I would prefer as the optimum size. For best results for your taste, pull up a chair in front of a few screens at your local TV store -bring your tape measure.

Enjoy!

Answer 4

Depends on the projector, if that's what you're looking for. DLP prjectors have a screen door effect, where if you sit too close, you can see the grids formed by individual pixels. The rule of humb is you should sit at least 1.5*the screen diagonal. Assming hat you'll use the 14 feet for viewing and with r ows of sets (-4 geet), you have 10 feet distance or 120". 120/1.5 = 80" diagonal will be the best you can do.

Answer 5

Sounds similar to our theater. Depend on the projector but also your own preference. I wouldn't go any larger than 100' diagonal. Make sure to actually go to home theater stores and watch some parts of movies on different sizes and types of screens to see which suits you best. You can then order the screen from wherever you get the best deal!

Answer 6

I would choose a 50" Plasma Flat Panel. A 60" would be better, but the cost difference in hard to swallow.