Distance from projector?

[cameron paterson]

I just got my BenQ LK970 projector. Real quick i must say this thing is HUGE! And heavy! I am waiting on my ceiling mount for it. I am sitting about 15 feet away from the 135" screen. The projector is supposed to be 13 to 19 feet away from the screen. Now if i put the projector at 13 feet would the picture be better than if the projector was at 19 feet? Or does that part not matter? I hear my 15 foot distance away from the screen is close enough that i should notice the difference between blu ray and 4k UHD movies. Thanks for your time guys!

 

[BoredSysAdmin]

https://www.projectorcentral.com/BenQ-LK970-projection-calculator-pro.htm

 

[cameron paterson]

Ok my room is pitch black without a projector on in the room. Walls are dark brown and ceiling is black and carpet is black thanks to a black 13 foot by 10 foot throw rug. I changed the image size to 135" on your calculator like my screen is and now it says 12 feet to 44 feet for recommended seating. What exactly does that mean? My couch can be that far from the 135" screen to see a 4k UHD picture? And what does image brightness mean? It says 81fL.

 

[cameron paterson]

What does 81fL mean please? With the screen set at 135"?

 

[BMXTRIX]

Don't go overboard worrying about numbers.

Generally speaking, having the projector a bit further back is better as it can provide a sharper image. In reality, this rarely proves to be the case, and as you move the projector closer the image gets brighter, which is nice if you need this extra brightness. You should not.

So, I would generally recommend that a projector be placed about 75% of the way back from the closest. In your case, 13'6" to 19'10" means that I would shoot for about 17'10" or so from lens to screen if I could place the projector at that location.

The brightness is pulled from the maximum rated brightness for the projector and will not reflect the post-calibration brightness that this projector will deliver. But, expect closer to 30-40 lumens per square foot from this VERY bright projector. My concern is that after accurately calibrating for color brightness, it may be under 1,500 lumens. This 4 segment color wheel is less than ideal for top-tier color performance.

I'm not sure what you should expect in terms of real world contrast and quality as I haven't read reviews of this model. There is a very long thread on this model at AVS if you want to dig through it for potential settings to help with setup. I loved my BenQ that I used for years, but I'm not sure how the DLP 4K models really stack up. Brightness seems really nice though.

 

[cameron paterson]

I can do 17'10". What do you mean it will be under 1500 lumens after accurately calibrating? On ECO mode you mean?

 

[BMXTRIX]

I can do 17'10". What do you mean it will be under 1500 lumens after accurately calibrating? On ECO mode you mean?

I mean that most projectors come nowhere close to their advertised brightness for properly calibrated color and accuracy. While this one apparently does a good deal better than many, and from the sounds of the reports in the thread at AVS, it appears it does get solidly bright, there are no reviews I've read which indicate just how bright it is after proper video calibration.

I've seen 3,000 lumen projectors which come in closer to 800-900 lumens after calibration because they use a clear segment to artificially boost light output at the expense of color quality.

Most of the laser models, from what I've heard, do perform better.

But, no, not necessarily, and you should NEVER trust manufacturers specifications in regards to brightness. Most lasers have some sort of sliding scale as to how bright their light engine runs at. Not sure how this specific model controls the solid state light engine.

 

[cameron paterson]

Cool i will be having it proffesionally calibrated. He said he will let me know what he thinks if it needs full brightness or not.