Screen suggestion -- lots of details

[samandnoah]

I think I'm finally ready to take the plunge into a projector. I've been through most of the pros and cons on this and many other forums, and believe I've settled on the Panny AX200 for the placement flexibility and ability to deal with ambient light.

My situation is that I'm converting a dining room area into the theater.

• The space is 11' 6" wide, and 14' 4" long.
• Will have 1 row of seating ~ 10ft from the screen, and will take up much of the width of the room.
• The throw distance will be right around 11' and a couple of inches (could be as much as 12', but being conservative), and will be shelf mounted
• That shelf mount will still be slightly overhead and will use some vertical and horizontal shift
• The screen size will be in the 92" - 100" diagonal range (open to other suggestions/comments if you have thoughts on the size)
• Definitely will have ambient light during the day, and will get *some* use during the day (sports, occasional kid's movie, and some Wii gaming). Should be mostly light controlled at night
• The windows (facing East and South, but on the east side of the house with shade trees & other homes blocking direct light on the south side) in the room will have black-out cellular shades, and will likely also have some sort of drapery window treatment.
• The screen will be on the wall with one of the windows behind it, so it won't be able to lay flat directly on the wall.
• Will be used for both HD & SD TV at times, an Oppo DVD player, and some Wii gaming. Will probably get blu-ray at some point within next 12 months.
• The walls can get painted pretty much whatever I want. Today, below the chair rail is a beautiful deep cerulean blue, and above is a light peach-ish color with an off-white ceiling. Don't know if I'll find another dark color that will complement the blue, or just repaint the entire room a darker color. Will likely do something for the ceiling as well.

Based on all of that info, and using the projector calculator, looks like I'll be ~ 1.66x zoom for a 92" screen at 11', and getting pretty good image brightness at around ~33 fL (assuming zero screen gain). I do care about gray-ish blacks and shadow details. I have a pretty well decent eye, but not an ISF calibrator or anything like that.

So, I'm looking for some screen advice.

• How do you feel about the size I mentioned? Sound reasonable? (I'm not a front row @ the movies guy, but I do like the bigger image)
• I'm assuming I need a grey screen of some sort to help with ambient light & blacks
• Do I need some gain on the screen?
• What type of reflective screen?
• Would much prefer a fixed screen
• Will need to either mount from ceiling, or have some sort of arm that extends from above the window behind the screen to hold it

What would you recommend? I'd really like to keep the screen <$300 (and obviously the less is better. I've been looking at the Elite Silverscreen thread here, but not really sure whether that will meet the requirements.

I love reading the DIY threads, but I really and truly have zero aptitude for that stuff. I can't really paint in my situation. What appeals to me with the Elite is that it is a complete package that won't require me to cut things, wrap things, paint things. etc.

Thanks in advance for everyone's assistance and suggestions.

Rich

[mechman]

Welcome top the Shack Richard! In your particular situation, I'd look into the Elite Silver Frame with the CineWhite material. I've seen them as low as $232 for the 92" screen I reviewed.

mech

[samandnoah]

Thanks Mech! The CineWhite and not the Grey? Really? I assumed that something more grey would be more appropriate. Did I miss a discussion about the Grey in your review? I remember seeing the high gain and white comparison (hockey, eh), but don't recall seeing a word about the grey.

Thanks again.

Rich

[mechman]

samandnoah wrote:

Thanks Mech! The CineWhite and not the Grey? Really? I assumed that something more grey would be more appropriate. Did I miss a discussion about the Grey in your review? I remember seeing the high gain and white comparison (hockey, eh), but don't recall seeing a word about the grey.

Thanks again.

Rich

They didn't send me any Grey to look at. While i seen where you said you'd have some ambient light during the day, I also saw the blackout cellular shades and draperies. Are you building this room or is it finished? Cause if you can, remove any light that would strike the screen. Or place them on a separate switch/dimmer. I guess what I was trying to tell you though was if you can blackout the daylight, you might as well keep it dark! Or is your wife like mine? Has to have a few lights on all the time. I hope she doesn't read this!!

What kind of ambient light will it be? Are you going to watch any hockey?

I thought the CineWhite was nice though. And I tell you what, for that price, it makes DIY a tough choice! I believe it was Visual Apex where I had seen some great prices. I don't think we sell them through our Shack store here, but you can check!

mech

[samandnoah]

The room is finished. It's our current dining room. Don't have the blackout shades yet, or draperies. Just plantation shutters.

During the day when we're not watching, the shade(s) will need to be up. There are overhead spot lights, and a ceiling fan with lights. I will remove the lights on the fan, and only use the overheads when not watching.

Will likely bring in a floor lamp with dimmer for the corner when you need a little lighting. There is no door to the dining room, but considerng adding one so that the adjacent living area doesn't introduce unwanted light. But there will definitely be plenty of times when it is more of a "social" watch and not hard core viewing. Definitely won't have any lights directed at the screen.

Yes, my wife likes to have some lighting, but she's a good sport when it comes to needing a full theater experience. We do have a 60" Sony in the main living area, and that's where most of the daytime viewing will take place.

Will watch the occasional hockey game, but won't be a regular issue. And my real passion -- lacrosse -- (talk about fast!) only gets shown a few times a year. But like football, it's mostly green grass.

I appreciate you not berating me for not wanting to go the DIY route. That is obviously a passion (obsession?!) of yours. I know that I searched a couple of sites, and one had the Elite for $230ish, and one had it in the mid $300s. Maybe if I hate the Elite I can just put some other surface on the frame!!

Take care,
Rich

[mechman]

samandnoah wrote:

The room is finished. It's our current dining room. Don't have the blackout shades yet, or draperies. Just plantation shutters.

During the day when we're not watching, the shade(s) will need to be up. There are overhead spot lights, and a ceiling fan with lights. I will remove the lights on the fan, and only use the overheads when not watching.

Will likely bring in a floor lamp with dimmer for the corner when you need a little lighting. There is no door to the dining room, but considerng adding one so that the adjacent living area doesn't introduce unwanted light. But there will definitely be plenty of times when it is more of a "social" watch and not hard core viewing. Definitely won't have any lights directed at the screen.

Yes, my wife likes to have some lighting, but she's a good sport when it comes to needing a full theater experience. We do have a 60" Sony in the main living area, and that's where most of the daytime viewing will take place.

Will watch the occasional hockey game, but won't be a regular issue. And my real passion -- lacrosse -- (talk about fast!) only gets shown a few times a year. But like football, it's mostly green grass.

I appreciate you not berating me for not wanting to go the DIY route. That is obviously a passion (obsession?!) of yours. I know that I searched a couple of sites, and one had the Elite for $230ish, and one had it in the mid $300s. Maybe if I hate the Elite I can just put some other surface on the frame!!

Take care,
Rich

Well if you want to watch the occasional hockey game, then I'd stick with the CineWhite and concentrate on getting the ambient light to a minimum. Keep in mind that just because it's white, that doesn't mean you cannot have some lights on! Take a look at this thread comparing white and gray laminates.

As for DIY - passion? obsession? nahhhh I'd take door number three - illness!!

One other thing, why don't you send Elite an email and ask them for large samples of the Gray and the CineWhite. If you talk to David Rodgers maybe you could ask him if you could exchange materials if one doesn't work out. It's relatively simple to do and I'd bet they'd do it!

mech