Help in Design of Difficult New Home Theatre New Home Construction

[bpape]

If you have only one row - or - you want to optimize for the front row at the expense of the 2nd, then dipoles directly beside the front row are correct. If you want to compromise slightly to improve the effect for the 2nd row, then placing the sides between the rows (still 6-6.5' high) is an option.

Rears, personal preference. I prefer monopoles in a 7.1 setup with dipole sides. In either case though, they should also be around the same height.

Bryan

[Conrad]

Thanks Guys for the info, just to recap. First I am only going to have one curved row of four seats. I figure to my best guest my head will be approx. 11 feet from screen and 3.5 feet from back wall.

So I should have wires come out at side walls 11 feet back at 6 to 6.5 feet above floor? Is that correct?

I spoke to Drywall guy and he said he can fix anything I cut. Of course it will cost $$$ because I did not think to pull those wires. But at least I put wires there whew!!!

Once I have wires pulled I will post new photos of all wire placements. And will post all exciting screen info I have gathered so far soon.

Thanks

Again in Advance

Conrad

[Conrad]

Oh sorry Prof I do have front firing speakers for rear as of now I may switch to Dipole if I need to. Do you think this room because of its shape would benefit from Dipole speakers.?

Cheers

Conrad

[Prof.]

Conrad wrote:

Thanks Guys for the info, just to recap. First I am only going to have one curved row of four seats. I figure to my best guest my head will be approx. 11 feet from screen and 3.5 feet from back wall.

So I should have wires come out at side walls 11 feet back at 6 to 6.5 feet above floor? Is that correct?

If you're 11' back when sitting in the centre of the curved seating..then yes..

I would just have dipoles on the side walls and monopoles on the back wall..as Bryan suggested..should be fine in that room..

[Conrad]

I took everyones advice here and it is done I now have another option for a pair of speakers. You can say now I can have wired in my room 9 speakers and 2 subs do they even process that yet?

I will send updated photos when I get a chance.

Cheers

Conrad

[Conrad]

Just to update on room design now I am in the middle of now selecting my home theatre projector and I am definitely going to go with Panasonic PT-AE3000. As being able to have a 2.40 screen without all the extra gear is just great. It is a dream come true at the right time I was ready to drop maybe 8 to 12 grand for Panamorph set up now should be able to save thousands of dollars!!!!!!! I have been doing a lot of reading of the pros and cons of this projector but the price is right and I what I am hearing your are not giving much up on image quality!!!

That being said my projected screen size is to be 45 inches by 108 inches with a 117 inch diagonal. I figure top of screen material will be at 83 inches from floor. My room is 15 ft 2 inches deep and 14.5 feet wide with 9 foot ceiling as seen in earlier posts here. I figure seating position will be at 11.5 to 12 feet back from screen. Walls and ceiling will now be medium brown in color with Wine color wall in back of room. And room is 100% light controlled complete darkness if needed.

I want to build a shelf for projector to sit on at back of room coming from back wall. Instead of ceiling mount I have my own personal carpenter and he can build this shelf very easily and it wont distract from LED Rope lighting like ceiling mounted projector would.

Question 1. At what height should I build shelf for Pany 3000 to sit on and how far from back wall should I allow for air space? And should projector be at front of shelf? And should shelf just be big enough to hold projector?

Question 2. Any thoughts or comments on screen size? I spoke to Stewart and Da-Lite and they both came up with this size but when was at local Audio/Video store they thought screen was to big and said Stewart and Da-Lite reps just use formulas and don't really understand what to use? And I should go for a 40 inch CIH screen. This seems kind of small any thoughts on this?

Question 3. And lastly any thoughts on what Stewart or Da-Lite screen to go with my room.

Question 4. Now I am going with Anamorphic screen at 117 inches where should I put my front speakers I think I do not have enough room depth for stage and hidden speakers. Will the sound field be to far away from a screen this wide? Has anyone had a similar size screen width towers at ends of screens? Did this sound good still?

Thanks In Advance

Conrad

[MatrixDweller]

The 3000 has lens shift so you could mount the shelf at practically any height. The only thing you need to consider is obstructions (ie: people standing up, chairs int he way. Ideally you want the PJ as close to the screen as possible to give you your desired picture size. That helps with brightness and people standing up and blocking the image.

For the shelf you'll also want to make sure you have adequate airflow by the intake and exhaust. My Epson 550 has it's intake on the bottom so I cut some breathing holes in the bottom of the shelf. As long as the intake isn't obstructed and there are no obstructions to the left and right of the projector then minimal space should be needed. Make sure the exhaust isn't contaminating the intake (which it shouldn't unless blocked).

As for shelf size and projector placement on the shelf. You could use any size really. You would not want the projector lens to be back too far if the shelf was deep as it might block the light, but other than that shouldn't matter. Projectors can run while sitting on desks so airflow shouldn't be an issue.

Screen width could be 2/3 as wide as your seating position is from the screen. So if you sit 12 feet back then approximately an 8 foot (96") wide (not diagonal) screen would work. Check out this viewing distance calculator: http://myhometheater.homestead.com/v...alculator.html. At 40" height and 2.35:1 ratio the width would be 94". If you like to sit closer to the front of the movie theater then bigger might suit you.

You will also want to consult the projector's projection calculator (www.projectorcentral.com) to see where you can place your projector and still get the image size you want.

[Prof.]

Conrad wrote:

That being said my projected screen size is to be 45 inches by 108 inches with a 117 inch diagonal. I figure top of screen material will be at 83 inches from floor. My room is 15 ft 2 inches deep and 14.5 feet wide with 9 foot ceiling as seen in earlier posts here. I figure seating position will be at 11.5 to 12 feet back from screen.

That size screen and seating distance is about right for a CIH screen...Front row seating is usually about 3 times the screen hieght..and it wouldn't be too wide for that room.

Question 4. Now I am going with Anamorphic screen at 117 inches where should I put my front speakers I think I do not have enough room depth for stage and hidden speakers. Will the sound field be to far away from a screen this wide? Has anyone had a similar size screen width towers at ends of screens? Did this sound good still?

My room is the same length as yours, and I have a screenwall 2' out from the front wall..
Of course, that only leaves enough room for one row of seats..Otherwise, if you want the extra length, placing the fronts at the sides of the screen will be fine..

[Conrad]

[You will also want to consult the projector's projection calculator (www.projectorcentral.com) to see where you can place your projector and still get the image size you want.[/QUOTE]

Just curious would you not want the projector always as back possible in a room size my lenght to achieve the largest possible screen. Would not most projectors be able to handle this for lighting up screen?


Cheers

Conrad

[Conrad]

Just curious Prof with a screen this wide and sound field this far apart would the sound still seem to come from the movie or would it be to far apart? Or the turning the speakers to the curved seating position do this for you?


And prof with a room the same lenght as mine did you find 2 feet of screen wall still allows enough room for speakers to perform and play like they are suppose to? And do you have a couple photos of your theatre and your screen wall?


Cheers

Conrad

[MatrixDweller]

Conrad wrote:

Just curious would you not want the projector always as back possible in a room size my lenght to achieve the largest possible screen. Would not most projectors be able to handle this for lighting up screen?

The farther back the projector is, the intensity of light hitting the screen becomes weaker.

For example, if you use the projection calculator at projector central

Throw Distance: 9'
Image Height: 45"
Zoom: 2.02x (Full)
Screen Gain: 1.0
Image Brightness = 32 fL

Throw Distance: 14'
Image Height: 45"
Zoom: 1.28x
Screen Gain: 1.0
Image Brightness = 21 fL

When using your projector in high contrast mode, or when there is some ambient light in the room this becomes important. You should still be fine with the PTAE3000 since it is a fairly bright projector.

[Prof.]

Conrad wrote:

Just curious Prof with a screen this wide and sound field this far apart would the sound still seem to come from the movie or would it be to far apart? Or the turning the speakers to the curved seating position do this for you?

Conrad..with floorstanders at the sides of the screen, and angled in slightly..and providing that you have a good centre speaker, then you should have a solid sound field across the screen..

And prof with a room the same lenght as mine did you find 2 feet of screen wall still allows enough room for speakers to perform and play like they are suppose to? And do you have a couple photos of your theatre and your screen wall?

My cinemascope screen is almost wall to wall ,as you will see in the photo.
My room is only 10'6" wide and the screen is 8' wide, so it doesn't leave enough at the sides for speakers..consequently my speakers are mounted above and below the screen..6 in all..and I get a smooth sound field across the screen, sitting just 9' away.!!









If you click on the "My Photos" link, you can see the pics of the construction process..

[Conrad]

Prof thanks for the pictures your room looks great and I am sure sounds awesome too!!! As I am 99.9 % sure on the Panasonic 3000 now for my projector. What I am trying to decide is to go for either the following screens?

Part Number Da Lite #33099V HC-DMAT 45 x 106 inch 2.35 to 1 ratio 1.1 Gain screen
Da Lite #33110V HC-DMAT 45 x 108 inch 2.40 to 1 ratio 1.1 Gain Screen

If I do not go for Da Lite, I may choose Carada instead. Price and picture quality will be the deciding factor here. I have samples of both here now. Just waiting for projector and Room to be finished first.

I attended a Anamorphic Wide screen demo of a Schneider lens and Meridian projector worth $29,000 CAD last week to see what this Anamorphic deal was all about. Which Prof introduced to me a few months back. WOW and WOW again I am sold on this.

But of course I will not spend $29,000 for that set up I will live with the Pany 3000 with the zoom feature memory mode to create this affect.

What my question is do I go with 2.40 to 1 or 2:35 to Ratio? The Meridian Rep said since all projectors have a 16:9 chip in it to go with 2:35 to 1. But when I spoke to Panamorph guys earlier in year they said to go with 2:40 to 1 ?????

There will be a 3 inch black border around either screen I am sure of. I am so torn over what ratio to go here??? Does this extra 2 inches from 45 x 106 2:35 to 1 compared to 45 x 108 2:40 to 1 make any difference to the actual experience??? Will I notice the over scan here? Or under scan?? What is the safe bet here to go with? What will I see with either screen compared to each other?

Any advice here greatly appreciated on what screen ratio to choose here and why?? As for cost the 2:40 is about $250 dollars more since they charge for the larger screen of 49 x 115 and cut it down to 45 X 108.

Cheers

Conrad

[Prof.]

Hi Conrad..and thanks for the compliment..

Conrad wrote:

Prof thanks for the pictures your room looks great and I am sure sounds awesome too!!! As I am 99.9 % sure on the Panasonic 3000 now for my projector. What I am trying to decide is to go for either the following screens?

Part Number Da Lite #33099V HC-DMAT 45 x 106 inch 2.35 to 1 ratio 1.1 Gain screen
Da Lite #33110V HC-DMAT 45 x 108 inch 2.40 to 1 ratio 1.1 Gain Screen

If I do not go for Da Lite, I may choose Carada instead. Price and picture quality will be the deciding factor here. I have samples of both here now. Just waiting for projector and Room to be finished first.

Carada would be my first choice, but both are good screens..

[I attended a Anamorphic Wide screen demo of a Schneider lens and Meridian projector worth $29,000 CAD last week to see what this Anamorphic deal was all about. Which Prof introduced to me a few months back. WOW and WOW again I am sold on this.

That's some serious gear!!..No wonder you got hooked..

What my question is do I go with 2.40 to 1 or 2:35 to Ratio? The Meridian Rep said since all projectors have a 16:9 chip in it to go with 2:35 to 1. But when I spoke to Panamorph guys earlier in year they said to go with 2:40 to 1 ?????

You need the 2.40:1 ratio screen for anamorphic projection..

There will be a 3 inch black border around either screen I am sure of. I am so torn over what ratio to go here??? Does this extra 2 inches from 45 x 106 2:35 to 1 compared to 45 x 108 2:40 to 1 make any difference to the actual experience??? Will I notice the over scan here? Or under scan?? What is the safe bet here to go with? What will I see with either screen compared to each other?

The reason you need the 2.40:1 screen is that the 16:9 image is stretched out to 2.37:1 when using a lens..Ideally it should be a 2.37:1, but most manufacturers use the 2.40:1 AR for their screens..
If you are only zooming the image, then you only need a 2.35:1 AR screen..but If you are going to be using a lens further down the track, then I would get the 2.40 screen now and just overscan a bit, top and bottom, or mask the sides if you don't want to overscan.. for the time being..

Hope that helps..

[Conrad]

[I]"If you are only zooming the image, then you only need a 2.35:1 AR screen..but If you are going to be using a lens further down the track, then I would get the 2.40 screen now and just over scan a bit, top and bottom, or mask the sides if you don't want to over scan.. for the time being..I]

Prof just to clarify as of now I will use the Panasonic 3000 for sure so that is what you refer to as a zooming method correct? And if I was to use a sled and lets say Isco lense that is the lens set up you mention to go for 2.40 to 1?

But can the image still look good with a little extra zoom even if I am using a 2.40 screen with Panny projector. What happens if I use this set up what would I see here I am not following this still? Sorry for confusion!!!

Is there any disadvantages of going with Panny 3000 and 2.40 screen?

How about split difference any going for 2.37 to 1 screen?

And lastly I spoke to Carada rep a while back and they seem to be great screens for sure what I have read. Why would you choose Carada over Da Lite ?? Just curious.

Cheers

Conrad

[Prof.]

Conrad wrote:

Prof just to clarify as of now I will use the Panasonic 3000 for sure so that is what you refer to as a zooming method correct?

Correct..

And if I was to use a sled and lets say Isco lense that is the lens set up you mention to go for 2.40 to 1?

Correct again

But can the image still look good with a little extra zoom even if I am using a 2.40 screen with Panny projector. What happens if I use this set up what would I see here I am not following this still? Sorry for confusion!!!

Yes, it will look fine..The only difference with a 2.40 screen..as opposed to a 2.35 screen (using the zoom method) is that you will have small black bars at the sides...
With the lens method, you won't have any black bars..

Is there any disadvantages of going with Panny 3000 and 2.40 screen?

No..only what I said above..

How about split difference any going for 2.37 to 1 screen?

It's virtually "six of one and half a dozen of the other"..If you can get a 2.37 commercial screen, then that's fine..It's not all that critical..

And lastly I spoke to Carada rep a while back and they seem to be great screens for sure what I have read. Why would you choose Carada over Da Lite ?? Just curious.

Only from what I've heard of someone who had both brands and preferred the Carada..Plus screenshots I've seen on the Carada which were very striking..
I personally have always been a DIY screen builder, so you might want to ask around for other opinions..

I hope I've clarified that a bit better for you..