I’d really appreciate some counsel on projectors. I’m looking to turn the majority of our far living room wall into a projector screen. The more I think about it—and the longer I sit in the space we have to work with—the more it makes sense that the starting point for this project should be to set up as big a screen as possible and then work from there. Here’s a rough design of the space, which for lack of a better term I’ll call our “hybrid home theater/living room”...
I’ll be leaving a 70” TV (soon to be to 86”) on the side wall of the living room for the majority of daytime viewing (connected to its own set of 5.1 speakers running on a separate amp, but sharing the same AVR with the projector for video content).
From my limited understanding of aspect ratios to choose from for a projector screen, I’m leaning towards 2.40:1, as the majority of what we watch at night is movies. I must say, I’m a little baffled by the 2.35:1 vs 2.40:1 choice. I've seen comments from both camps and I'm not sure what to make of it...unless the slight difference would somehow impact the need for a better projector over a less expensive one. I’m also curious if there are any good arguments to consider a 16:9 over a 2.40:1 (or 2.35:1).
I don’t understand enough about the technology (anamorphic, etc) to know if special considerations would need to be taken in order to be able to watch 16:9 or other ARs on a 2.40:1 screen. Though we won’t be watching much "regular TV" on the projector, we probably will from time to time when hosting Oscar’s night, Superbowl night, Champions League night, etc.…when we have a lot of people over. It would be nice to have those viewing parties on the big screen if possible. I realize a 2.40:1 AR may not be ideal for that type of content, but there’s a lot I don’t understand about how higher-end projectors might be able to help with that issue.
I’ll list my main questions in point form so that I don’t go on rambling:
Best Regards,
Nathan
I’ll be leaving a 70” TV (soon to be to 86”) on the side wall of the living room for the majority of daytime viewing (connected to its own set of 5.1 speakers running on a separate amp, but sharing the same AVR with the projector for video content).
From my limited understanding of aspect ratios to choose from for a projector screen, I’m leaning towards 2.40:1, as the majority of what we watch at night is movies. I must say, I’m a little baffled by the 2.35:1 vs 2.40:1 choice. I've seen comments from both camps and I'm not sure what to make of it...unless the slight difference would somehow impact the need for a better projector over a less expensive one. I’m also curious if there are any good arguments to consider a 16:9 over a 2.40:1 (or 2.35:1).
I don’t understand enough about the technology (anamorphic, etc) to know if special considerations would need to be taken in order to be able to watch 16:9 or other ARs on a 2.40:1 screen. Though we won’t be watching much "regular TV" on the projector, we probably will from time to time when hosting Oscar’s night, Superbowl night, Champions League night, etc.…when we have a lot of people over. It would be nice to have those viewing parties on the big screen if possible. I realize a 2.40:1 AR may not be ideal for that type of content, but there’s a lot I don’t understand about how higher-end projectors might be able to help with that issue.
I’ll list my main questions in point form so that I don’t go on rambling:
- If I want to use somewhere between 130” – 170” of the width of the wall (the wall is 195” in total width) for a projector screen (in 2.40:1 that would be 140.83” diagonally, or 184.17” respectively), is there a projector that could handle that size screen in the 21.1’ of total length of the room? -- (Maybe even a little bit shorter than 21’ based on the next point.)
- If it’s terribly wrong to have the L/R front speakers so far apart from each other and so close to the side walls, I could sacrifice some room space by bringing the screen away from the wall by a foot or 2 to place the speakers behind the screen (which would in turn shorten the length of the available space for the projector).
- If you would please help list some options (models and numbers) ranging from cheaper to more expensive that could work for this setup, I’d appreciate it!
- If there’s an argument to be made for not going with a 2.40:1 aspect ratio (because a different grade projector would be needed at this screen size), please let me know.
- This may be a dumb question, but is it ever a good idea to get the projector first, then do some tests by projecting on to the wall and seeing what size works best...before getting (or making) the screen?
Best Regards,
Nathan