Need help deciding on a projector

[Danzilla31]

Hey guys could appreciate your experience and feedback on this.

I have a large room open floor plan 8500 cubic feet of air with seating 14 ft back from the front wall where the TV is. As you can see in the pic my TV I brought over when I bought this house a year ago is ridiculous sitting up there. 55inch 1080p Samnsung nice TV tho. Just too small. Especially as I upgrade my equipment.

I'm not crazy about 4k I think the HDR is the best thing about it. I think picture quality I won't notice much. I don't think my eye is good enough to see a difference.

What I have always wanted is a projector. I even like the look of them. Sometimes I feel the high def tv's get a little too high def? If you know what I mean. I don't need to see every grain in the color of your eye. I miss the soft look of the cinema screen would like to replicate it in my home.

That front wall is huge and would easily fit a big big screen. As my system gets better I would like the visual experience to match the audio experience that is developing.

I currently have a denon X4400H paired with 3 SVS prime towers for my F C L I have 4 Elan Theaterpoints thp650sl for surrounds. And 4 RSL c34e's as my surrounds. I'm running amps the 1002 XLS crowns for the fronts and an Emotiva UPA-7 for the surrounds and heights. I have 2 PB 4000's SVS subs behind both couches Near field.
I plan to upgrade to 3 SVS ultra towers for the front 3 move the prime towers for surrounds to lower the surrounds for separation from my heights. Keep the C34E's. Love them.

I like the idea of a big screen for the row of seats stretching across the theater area. I shop at Bjorn's a lot and am currently exploring the idea of a drop down projector to cover the TV. This way I can use the TV during the day but also since I love movies so much use the projector at night. Also if I want to upgrade the TV later to an oled or something when the prices make more sense I can do so.

I initially thought short throw but it seems like having a short throw with a drop down screen is a nightmare due to the need for maximum flatness on the screen. I'm not averse to moving that ceiling fan over to the other table. And I'm not averse to having a long throw projector. I also don't have to have the best of the best just something for good value that puts out a solid enjoyable 1080p experience. My budget would be $3-5,000 tops.

Any feedback would be great. If this is a great idea great if not it's either 3000 for last year's Sony 85inch or 5000 for this years version. Really want to explore my options before I do this tho.

Here's my room pics thank you for your time.

 

[Danzilla31]

@snakeeyes hey bro I saw that like! Lol how are you! You getting over that pneumonia?

 

[snakeeyes]

@snakeeyes hey bro I saw that like! Lol how are you! You getting over that pneumonia?

I’m over the pneumonia finally. I did miss out on thanksgiving but that’s ok.

I think a projector would be sweet in that space.

 

[Drunkpenguin]

How much light control do you have? I'd be a bit cautious about a livingroom PJ. In my theater if the lights are on even just a little it washes out the screen quite a bit. I think day time tv watching would be tough. A drop down screen could solve that tho, but I have no experience with them really.

 

[Danzilla31]

How much light control do you have? I'd be a bit cautious about a livingroom PJ. In my theater if the lights are on even just a little it washes out the screen quite a bit. I think day time tv watching would be tough. A drop down screen could solve that tho, but I have no experience with them really.

Actually that room is pretty darn dark even during the day I have all the windows in the listening area very heavily covered and not much light gets in elsewhere unless I have the lights on I too have your concerns but since I only want it for movie or Netflix watching at night with a screen dropping down and use the TV during the day. I'm not concerned about the lighting.

Since the only reason I want to get a bigger TV is for movies and the bigger TVs are so expensive I figured a solid 1080p projector for nighttime movie watching hopefully would make send. From the digging I'm doing I can easily get a projector screen and install done for $2500. And have a pretty decent 1080p pic too.

Hopefully that's why I appreciate your guys feedback. In case I'm wrong LOL

 

[snakeeyes]

A projector seems like the ideal setup in a room that big. I would go 1080p. The 4K projectors are crazy expensive.

 

[Danzilla31]

A projector seems like the ideal setup in a room that big. I would go 1080p. The 4K projectors are crazy expensive.

That's the plan right now I gotta go in and speak to my sales guy tommorow. I'm thinking a drop down screen to go over the TV. That way I can upgrade the TV to 4k down the road and in a couple years upgrade the projector to 4k when the prices go down.

I've done a lottof research and you can get a solid 1080p projector and screen up to 120 inches for right around a $1000 bucks. That's a crazy good deal. Also with 4k content just getting started even with the benefits of HDR I'm just not convinced I'd need it yet.

But Id sure like that bigger screen! Well I've already set back about 5k for the budget but my sales guy doesn't know that yet. But from what I see I don't even have to come close to that then the rest can go to that speaker upgrade.

My only final debate is long throw vs short but I'm thinking now long throw cause it is almost impossible to find a short throw pull down screen from what I'm reading That screen has to be perfectly flat I mean perfectly

 

[Drunkpenguin]

WIth PJ's you get what you pay for. I've got a JVC RS1 that I paid about 5 grand for back in 2007. Its 1080p and the picture is so beutiful and film like that I really have no desire to replace it. I've been out of the game a while on the current offerings but a while back I asked what I would need to spend to replace it with something of simliar quality today and was told 5 grand is still pretty realistic.

 

[snakeeyes]

That's the plan right now I gotta go in and speak to my sales guy tommorow. I'm thinking a drop down screen to go over the TV. That way I can upgrade the TV to 4k down the road and in a couple years upgrade the projector to 4k when the prices go down.

I've done a lottof research and you can get a solid 1080p projector and screen up to 120 inches for right around a $1000 bucks. That's a crazy good deal. Also with 4k content just getting started even with the benefits of HDR I'm just not convinced I'd need it yet.

But Id sure like that bigger screen! Well I've already set back about 5k for the budget but my sales guy doesn't know that yet. But from what I see I don't even have to come close to that then the rest can go to that speaker upgrade.

My only final debate is long throw vs short but I'm thinking now long throw cause it is almost impossible to find a short throw pull down screen from what I'm reading That screen has to be perfectly flat I mean perfectly

Ya so basically the 3 towers are behind the screen and the screen allows sound thru, correct?

 

[Drunkpenguin]

Im sure you know this, but make sure the screen is accoustically transparent.

 

[Drunkpenguin]

I would also look for a screen that has a black fabric backing behind it. Light will travel through a screen and since you will not have a dark covy area behind it you'll need fabric to help you out, other wise youll see through it and see silhouettes of your speakers and the tv behind it could reflect back.

 

[Danzilla31]

Ya so basically the 3 towers are behind the screen and the screen allows sound thru, correct?

Well the height of the screen is going to be above where I have my towers so I don't have to worry about an acoustically transparent screen. The towers are all 2 ft out from the wall so the screen will be above and beyond it. I measured when he put in the TV and had him place it exactly above where the ultra Towers would fit

 

[Danzilla31]

Well the height of the screen is going to be above where I have my towers so I don't have to worry about an acoustically transparent screen. The towers are all 2 ft out from the wall so the screen will be above and beyond it. I measured when he put in the TV and had him place it exactly above where the ultra Towers would fit

Meant to say behind them lol

 

[Drunkpenguin]

Well that makes more sense.

You know what would be killer? Get a motorized drop down screen!

 

[Danzilla31]

I would also look for a screen that has a black fabric backing behind it. Light will travel through a screen and since you will not have a dark covy area behind it you'll need fabric to help you out, other wise youll see through it and see silhouettes of your speakers and the tv behind it could reflect back.

Yeah I don't need the acoustic transparent screen but I do need the black backing I fuigered Id have to go with something thick enough to block out the TV.
Yeah like I said my budget is up to 5k but since I don't need this to be a perfect experience since in a couple years I plan on upgrading to a 4k projector I'm leaning towards a decent midrange or budget one especially since this will be my first one. Just to learn and get used to it I can always flip it and go up the chain every year my own version of the SVS trade up program Although if my sales rep gives me a good deal on a higher end one of course I'll splurge.

 

[Danzilla31]

Well that makes more sense.

You know what would be killer? Get a motorized drop down screen!

That's the plan my friend! I found some good deals for some online. But that was my idea do a motorized drop down over the TV for movie and Netflix watching at nighttime! I'll run the models by you when I'm ready to purchase so you can tell me if there a good buy or not

 

[Danzilla31]

That's the plan my friend! I found some good deals for some online. But that was my idea do a motorized drop down over the TV for movie and Netflix watching at nighttime! I'll run the models by you when I'm ready to purchase so you can tell me if there a good buy or not

On both the screens and projectors lol

 

[Drunkpenguin]

You wont need a black backing with a non at screen. They are thick enough no light can come or go. My old screen was basically like a white piece of vinyl.

 

[Danzilla31]

You wont need a black backing with a non at screen. They are thick enough no light can come or go. My old screen was basically like a white piece of vinyl.

Sweeeet! Even better!

 

[BMXTRIX]

Let me start with a link to show you how ambient light can mess with a projected image. Unfortunately, it's not your room and was shot after dark, so I'm using lights in the room, but you want to know how ambient light messes with a projected image.

http://www.avintegrated.com/lighting.html

Now, I am down with front projection in a family room, but any ambient light is going to negatively impact what is on screen, and you will have to suck up the loss in quality. The fact that you have those speakers in that particular room indicates to me that you have some serious addiction problems already. (ha!) So, you will have to balance your need for image quality against the desire for perfection.

With the speakers where they are, and your setup, you really are in a motorized acoustically transparent screen situation it seems to me. Your ceiling is tough, and I would probably look to build a soffit in front of the speaker area which you can mount a screen behind (or in) to hide it, and have the screen drop down in front of your existing speaker system. I like that the area where the screen will be is reasonably dark without any direct light falling on that wall, but obviously, any ambient light will impact things, and the white walls and CEILING are especially bad in the projector world. Any chance to add some darker colors to that room?

From there, a projector like the Sony HW45ES still delivers about the best image available under $2,000 on the market. From there, a JVC RS420 or RS440 is an incredibly good way to go. Maybe get one of those for under $3,000.

No, I don't see a way to avoid an AT screen with the way things are setup.

Moving the screen forward a bit will allow you to get to a 120" diagonal for a bit more reasonable of a cost. But, you want a tab-tensioned screen, and those will run you about $2,000 at the very least for a quality model from DaLite or Draper. Yes, tab-tensioned, yes, acoustically transparent for best results.

Short throw, as you already found out, demands a perfectly flat screen, which causes issues when the screen is retractable.

In my world, I get rid of all the gear up front, move the subs out of the line of site, or leave them just under the screen, go to a flat center channel, and put the main L/R speakers on either side of the screen area. Put the motorized screen on the front wall into a soffit and have it drop down about 5" or so off the wall and put a 85" flat panel TV on the front wall so you get top-shelf daytime viewing with lights on or off, then press a button on the remote and switch to the projector and 133" of diagonal for movie night.