Tips on picking out the right screen

M

massacre

Audioholic Intern
Hi looking for tips on picking the right screen for my room. So far thinking on getting the Epson
5040ub and want 2.35:1 screen. What I don't get the different colors and screen gain. thanks
 
BMXTRIX

BMXTRIX

Audioholic Warlord
You buy a screen to fit your room. What color are your walls/ceiling/floor? What type of ambient light do you have to deal with?

IMO - 9 times out of 10 you want a standard white screen. With the Epson 5040, you will get almost no benefit in any room from a grey screen. Other screens start to be more and more specialized for weaker and weaker rooms.
 
M

massacre

Audioholic Intern
my room is 22x22 I have three windows In the back of the room. two on the back side walls one back wall and a French door front side of the room. I have blinds on all the windows but not the French door yet.
the walls are med gray ceiling is white and carpet is grey also. thanks
 
BMXTRIX

BMXTRIX

Audioholic Warlord
I will add - you WANT a 2.35 screen, or your room is appropriate for a 2.35 screen? It's important to understand the difference because all HD content that isn't movies will be reduced in size which will impact sports viewing, HDTV viewing, and gaming by making those images smaller. It only benefits movies, and not even all movies.

It also adds a manual step to switch between the two aspect ratios whenever the content changes.

That said - it's a toss up of grey vs. white in such a room. I would opt for white, but with the white ceiling you really aren't in an ideal room for best results. A grey screen may help, but you need to watch brightness with image size on a grey screen as they are typically .8 gain which reduces light output from the projector a bit.

Typical screen size is about 10" to 12" of diagonal for each foot of viewing distance. So, you need to figure out how far you are sitting from the screen and figure out a screen size.

ie:
https://www.amazon.com/STR-235138-Silver-Ticket-2-35-Projector/dp/B00I4WSZYE/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1522006477&sr=8-1&keywords=silver+ticket+138+inch+screen

or:
https://www.amazon.com/STR-235138-G-Silver-Ticket-2-35-Projector/dp/B00I4WT2A0/ref=sr_1_3?ie=UTF8&qid=1522006477&sr=8-3&keywords=silver+ticket+138+inch+screen
 
M

massacre

Audioholic Intern
I get your point so on a 138 in screen 1080 you actually be zoomed down to like 100 or 90 in
correct? thanks
 
BMXTRIX

BMXTRIX

Audioholic Warlord
A 138" 2.35 screen is 127" x 53".

If you went 16:9 and kept the width, then it would be 72" tall and a 146" diagonal. Unless you use a anamorphic lens, that's actually the size the projector will be at when you use 2.35 material.

If you go 16:9 keeping the 53" height, then the image size is reduced to 94"x53" which is a 108" diagonal.

I'm a big fan of 2.35 done right, but with the projector being 16:9 to begin with, I actually am a firm believer in striving to have a 16:9 screen if possible.
 
M

massacre

Audioholic Intern
ok that makes sense. it weird that only one company makes anamorphic lens starting at 3 thousand.
a lot of people are doing 2.35, the market can use more products.
 
moves

moves

Audioholic Chief
I will add - you WANT a 2.35 screen, or your room is appropriate for a 2.35 screen? It's important to understand the difference because all HD content that isn't movies will be reduced in size which will impact sports viewing, HDTV viewing, and gaming by making those images smaller. It only benefits movies, and not even all movies.
Just wondering about this... If you have a 2:35:1 screen and watching HDTV content, wouldn't the viewing area be the same as the viewing area of a 178:1 screen but on a cinematic screen? The only difference would be the bars on the sides because the picture would maintain the height of the 2:35:1 screen. Correct me if I am wrong... that's a lot of screens.
 
BMXTRIX

BMXTRIX

Audioholic Warlord
It depends on if you are using a anamorphic lens or not.

Projectors are like your TV at home. They are 16:9 aspect ratio. You aren't changing the width of your TV hanging on your wall.

With a projector WITH a anamorphic lens, you actually can change the 16:9 projector into a 2.35 projector by stretching the square pixels into rectangles. Widening the image by 33%.

But, content is designed to use a 16:9 screen these days. Even 2.35 content is designed to use a 16:9 screen. This is why when you watch any movie, even with black bars above/below the image, they look proper on your TV. The black bars above/below the image are actually a part of the video. So, using an anamorphic lens, the image must be stretched vertically (by 33%) before is is expanded horizontally by the lens (33%) to fill the 2.35 space and not look skewed.

Now, keeping everything the same two results occur:
1. You have the top/bottom of the 16:9 image that is cut off because you just expanded it vertically be 33% and threw that image portion away.
2. The image is not expanded vertically, but it is stretched horizontally, which means everyone and everything is fat.

There are two solutions:
1. Remove the anamorphic lens and stop the vertical expansion, and the image appears perfectly on center of the 2.35 screen.
2. Get a projector that can horizontally shrink the 16:9 image by 33%, effectively squeezing it, and then the anamorphic lens will fatten everything back up and make it all 16:9 again. Making it appear in the center of the screen.

It is much better for the 16:9 image not to use all that stretching and compressing, etc. but to leave the image unaffected by merely removing the lens from the pathway.

This is also why I think that people should not use 2.35 screens typically as you are impacting the image quality overall by enlarging it and shrinking it to fit some advertised desire instead of actual cinematic need.

But, that list bit is my own preference, and anyone can do what they want in their setup.
 
moves

moves

Audioholic Chief
Thanks for your reply.

I don't want to shrink or stretch the image in any way... I've heard that most movies now days are shot in 2:35 cinematic form and will show the way it was intended to be when displayed on a 2:35 screen.

My worry is mostly content that is not shot in 2:35:1 i.e. HDTV and other movies that are shot in 16:9.

My question is by having a 2:35 screen, how would the everyday viewing content be affected? Would the picture shrink vertically? would it distort the image because of the 2:35:1 screen?
 
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moves

moves

Audioholic Chief
Now, keeping everything the same two results occur: I wouldn't be getting an anamorphic lens.. too expensive.
1. You have the top/bottom of the 16:9 image that is cut off because you just expanded it vertically be 33% and threw that image portion away.
2. The image is not expanded vertically, but it is stretched horizontally, which means everyone and everything is fat.

There are two solutions:
1. Remove the anamorphic lens and stop the vertical expansion, and the image appears perfectly on center of the 2.35 screen. Would the image appear the same as if viewed on a 16:9 screen? Meaning not stretched in anyway? Just wondering because if this is the case, getting a 2:35 screen means you have the best of both (16:9 screen and a 2:35 screen that is wider than a masked 16:9 screen.
 
BMXTRIX

BMXTRIX

Audioholic Warlord
Thanks for your reply.

I don't want to shrink or stretch the image in any way... I've heard that most movies now days are shot in 2:35 cinematic form and will show the way it was intended to be when displayed on a 2:35 screen.

My worry is mostly content that is not shot in 2:35:1 i.e. HDTV and other movies that are shot in 16:9.

My question is by having a 2:35 screen, how would the everyday viewing content be affected? Would the picture shrink vertically? would it distort the image because of the 2:35:1 screen?
Some movies, not all movies, are in the 2.35 aspect ratio. But ALL home theater projectors are in the 16:9 aspect ratio. So, if your intent is to use a 2.35 screen, then you need a projector with enough zoom to handle zooming in/out to fill the 2.35 width (for 2.35 content) and the 2.35 height (for 16:9 content). The cheapest model which can do this is the Epson 5040. From there, you get into JVC projectors.

So, all your 16:9 content requires that you zoom in, making the image smaller, and filling the center part of the 2.35 screen.
 
moves

moves

Audioholic Chief
Some movies, not all movies, are in the 2.35 aspect ratio. But ALL home theater projectors are in the 16:9 aspect ratio. So, if your intent is to use a 2.35 screen, then you need a projector with enough zoom to handle zooming in/out to fill the 2.35 width (for 2.35 content) and the 2.35 height (for 16:9 content). The cheapest model which can do this is the Epson 5040. From there, you get into JVC projectors.

So, all your 16:9 content requires that you zoom in, making the image smaller, and filling the center part of the 2.35 screen.

So part of the original image would be missing when viewing in 16:9 on a 2:35 screen... that's not very good at all....
 
BMXTRIX

BMXTRIX

Audioholic Warlord
So part of the original image would be missing when viewing in 16:9 on a 2:35 screen... that's not very good at all....
If using the zoom method?

No, it wouldn't be missing. It would be shining right onto your wall.

When using the zoom method, you really need to paint your wall flat black or cover it in black material to soak up any light which the projector puts out above and below the 2.35 image. Because it is still a 16:9 projector, and those pixels aren't turned off. They are still in use, they are just projecting 'black'. If the projector isn't very good at projecting black, then those bars will appear dark grey on your walls and be visible, so you want something to soak it up with.

This article (trying to sell anamorphic lenses) explains it well, but you should ignore certain aspects of the article itself. Specifically that using the full 1920x1080 (or 4k) panel capability isn't that important if it requires double scaling of the image to work with an anamorphic lens. And that an additional lens degrades image quality and resolution somewhat as well as stealing light from the image. So, it is a toss up between a anamorphic lens and the zoom method for a 2.35 setup.

https://avscience.com/2013/05/anamorphic-lens-or-projector-zoom/
 
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