[WGH]

We sit about 1.2-1.3x and just love it.  I will admit that much closer and I'm unable to play games on the screen though. 

OK, I'll bite - How big is it? Your screen that is.

I recently re-arranged furnishings in my bungalow and was able to get more space between the front speakers. I think I can now squeeze in an 80" screen with the seating at 132". I made a movable free standing screen, on movie night the screen fits between the front speakers and almost blocks the doorway to the kitchen behind it. Luckily there is another route to the fridge through the bedroom, bungalows cool too.

[Chops]

Chops, I've got a Sanyo PLV-Z2 that I think the sun rises and set on. It is fantastic. Granted it's waaay outdated, but when the time comes for a new PJ, I'll have to give Sanyo a good hard look considering the good service I've got from this unit.

I think it was mentioned here, but the definitive site for information regarding projectors has got to be (IMHO of course) is 'projectorcentral.com'. They've got a forum too.

Bob

I know what you mean. I was very seriously considering another InFocus, but at the same time I was wanting to try and get away from DLP's only for fear of the color wheel freezing up at some point down the road or something, that and to have a little quieter projector. Less moving parts is sometimes better, and less noise is always better.

All in all, I am very happy with my new Epson HC720 projector. I have to admit, the Toshiba HD-A30 is a very good DVD player as well. Upconverted SD DVD's look excellent, just about as good as HD DVD's!

I'm assuming that when you go to buy a new projector, it's going to be 1080.

[samplesj]

We sit about 1.2-1.3x and just love it.  I will admit that much closer and I'm unable to play games on the screen though. 

OK, I'll bite - How big is it? Your screen that is.

I recently re-arranged furnishings in my bungalow and was able to get more space between the front speakers. I think I can now squeeze in an 80" screen with the seating at 132". I made a movable free standing screen, on movie night the screen fits between the front speakers and almost blocks the doorway to the kitchen behind it. Luckily there is another route to the fridge through the bedroom, bungalows cool too.

133" diagonal 16x9 (116" wide).  I've got the full system description linked in my sig.  The most recent pictures I have are in a thread here (http://www.audiocircle.com/index.php?topic=44198.0)

[Chops]

You can get the screen too big for your seating location

Yeah, I have to disagree on this as well. It's really personal taste. Heck, if my main channels, center and sub didn't take up so much room, I'd definately upgrade my screen from it's current 106" to something in the neighborhood of 140-150" or whatever the max size is for my projector for in my room. I sit roughly 12' in front of my 106" screen, and I still feel that this screen is too small at times!

[WGH]

133" diagonal 16x9 (116" wide).  I've got the full system description linked in my sig.  The most recent pictures I have are in a thread here (http://www.audiocircle.com/index.php?topic=44198.0)

Very nice!

[Bob in St. Louis]

I'm assuming that when you go to buy a new projector, it's going to be 1080.

You assumed correctly.
But not just 1080.....It'll have to have the little 'p' behind the number, that signifies you're extra super cool. 

Bob

[Chops]

You assumed correctly.
But not just 1080.....It'll have to have the little 'p' behind the number, that signifies you're extra super cool. 

Bob

I figured as much. It would be rather pointless to upgrade to 1080 and not be a "p". 

I tell you what though, the HC720 is an awsome looking projector for "only" being a 720p jobbie and I am completely happy with it. We just got done watch Pearl Harbor, again on SD DVD, but even still, the image quality was great. Colors, flesh tones, contrast, blacks, whites, they were all spot-on. However, in order to get the deepest blacks possible out of this projector, I think I'm going to have to upgrade my screen eventually. Don't get me wrong, it looks pretty darn good as is, but sometimes those blacks could stand to be just a little blacker. I guess I'll have to do some research on screens now! LOL

[Bob in St. Louis]

I guess I'll have to do some research on screens now! LOL

How much are you wanting to spend?

Bob

[jonwb]

There are lots of choices out there for screens, but it seems to me that the best value for (relatively) inexpensive screens is Elite Screens:

http://www.elitescreens.com/

Do some research, there are lots of vendors for their products...  I'm looking at their CineTension 2 line (100" or 106").  You can get them for between $600-$700.  That money for a electric tension screen is hard to beat. 

Then again there are plenty of options for DIY screens.  Here's a link:

http://www.avsforum.com/avs-vb/archive/index.php/t-646534.html

Jon

[Chops]

I guess I'll have to do some research on screens now! LOL

How much are you wanting to spend?

Bob

Well, the screen I have now is just 1.3 gain screen material that I bought off of e-Bay several years ago for about 50 bucks shipped. In fact, here's a current listing from the same guy for the same screen material... http://cgi.ebay.com/3-LAYER-PROJECTOR-SCREEN-MATERIAL-106-SHIPPED-ROLLED_W0QQitemZ110223438031QQihZ001QQcategoryZ48655QQssPageNameZWDVWQQrdZ1QQcmdZViewItem

It's a good screen and gets the job done, but it's nothing special either. It looked good with my old low lumen InFocus DLP, but with this higher output LCD I have now, it's showing its limitations. Or maybe it's just the nature of these entry-level LCD projectors.

I only have the projector on at night and the room is pitch black as far as light control is concerned. I am eventually going to paint the walls a very dark crimson (except of the front wall where the screen is mounted), the ceiling a very dark gray, and replace all of the floor and door wood trim with new wood trim finished in a natural wood color, and I am also going to add some matching ceiling trim, but about 4" wide or so to give a feeling of a slightly higher ceiling and just to "snazz" things up a bit.

As far as how much I want to spend on the screen... Not a whole lot. I may be willing to spend a max of about $400, but preferably lower in the $200-250 range if that's possible, and expand the screen to 110". I would also want to still have a fairly high gain screen, like the 1.3 I have now. I like to have a nice, bright, crisp image but with good contrast, so probably a silver/gray screen.

[Chops]

Here's a few screen shots from tonight's movie, James Bond - Die Another Day, on SD DVD. It is quite obvious that the quality of blacks is also dependant on the movie as well as the projector. THe reason I say this is because the contrast in this particular movie looked great. Blacks were just about as black as black can get, and there was plenty of shadow detail throughout. Yet on other movies, blacks look like crud and are just dark grays.

Upconverted SD signals are excellent as well, but unfortunately my camera doesn't want to capture the sharp and clean quality of the projected images. However, it does seem to pick up on the shadow details though.

As for upgrading the screen, I'm pretty sure I'm going to shoot for a light gray one for a little better contrast. I think that would give the image just the right kind of tweak.

[Bob in St. Louis]

WOW, That's the best photograph of a screen shot I've ever seen!
I'd be happy watching your movie on my PC screen with that kind of video quality!
Normally I hate screen shots because they look like crap, but that's looks fantastic on my monitor.

Bob

[Chops]

WOW, That's the best photograph of a screen shot I've ever seen!
I'd be happy watching your movie on my PC screen with that kind of video quality!
Normally I hate screen shots because they look like crap, but that's looks fantastic on my monitor.

Bob

Thanks again Bob! I doubt they're the "best" looking ones you've seen, but I guess they're passable. LOL  Anyway, here's a few more for your viewing enjoyment. These are from the HD DVD of "Lady In The Water". The same camera placement (right above and behind my head) and zoom which is just inside the edges of the screen. The camera is a little Casio EX-Z1080 that can shoot in 16:9 format, which is perfect for this kind of thing. Obviously, this movie was done in 1.85 and the James Bond one above was done in 2.35, hence the black bars on the top and bottom. 

PS... I just noticed that I had the camera's metering set on "spot", which may have caused these images to be a little underexposed. Next time, I'll be sure to have it set on "center weighted". That will probably do a better job with these screen shots.

[Chops]

Here's a few more shots, this time with the camera is matrix metering mode, not centered or spot. As you can see, they came out much better this time around, and even seem to be sharper. Hmm...

[Bob in St. Louis]

  It's 5:30 in the morning and YOU just made me look at a naked fat guy with his legs spread. 

GROSS

Chops, that's going to scar me for the rest of my life.

Bob

[Chops]

It's 5:30 in the morning and YOU just made me look at a naked fat guy with his legs spread. 

GROSS

Chops, that's going to scar me for the rest of my life.

Bob

LOL!!! So you like it?! 

[Bob in St. Louis]

  No. Other than the quality of the screen shots, it sucks.   
I do still mantain that you've got the best quality screen shots I've seen.
Usually they're dark an crappy looking. You've obviously got a little 'shutterbug' in you.

Bob

[Chops]

No. Other than the quality of the screen shots, it sucks.   
I do still mantain that you've got the best quality screen shots I've seen.
Usually they're dark an crappy looking. You've obviously got a little 'shutterbug' in you.

Bob

Sorry... I couldn't resist. I actually included that shot only as a joke! It seems as though it worked! LOL!!! 

But thank you on the photo compliments. I really appreciate it. I sold camera equipment and delt with professional photographers on a regular basis for over 6 years, so obviously I picked up on quite a few things over the years. I in turn also taught others as well. If you're interested, check out my site sometime when you get the chance. You might just like it... http://charlest.zenfolio.com/ 

[Bob in St. Louis]

If you're interested, check out my site sometime when you get the chance. You might just like it... http://charlest.zenfolio.com/ 

Wow, very nice! 
Aircraft, cars, audio/video, landscape and architecture. My kinda stuff dude. aa
Nice website, user friendly and well organized.

Bob