mdrew,
You have been a big resource of information. I know that my dad will not spend $2000 to $7000 on a screen. I was reading reviews of the Planar on ultimateavmag.com and they were able to get 21.48fL in economy mode and 27.72fL in standard mode on an 87 inch 1.3 gain 16:9 screen after 30 hours on the lamp. The JVC RS1 was able to get 16.3fL in normal mode and 20fL in high lamp mode on a 78 inch 1.3 gain 16:9 screen with 200 hours on the lamp. He mentioned that the JVC RS2 was a bit dimmer than the RS1. So, you are probably right about having to use a grey high gain screen with the RS2. However, with the Planar I think that we will be fine with a 1.3 gain screen as long as the area of the 2.35 screen isn't much larger than the are of the 87 inch 16:9 screen. Even taking into account that after 500 hours on the lamp and using an anamorphic lens will drop the 27.72fL to 16.63fL (by taking 60%) which is still great. If I go to a 118x50 2.35 screen, which is about as large as he would go, then the 16.63fL is now 12.84fL.
I was leaning toward the JVC RS2 slightly over the Planar, but now the Planar looks like it would have the light output to aviod going with the high cost grey screens. I should be able to find a bulk roll of 1.3 gain screen material cheap, so everything is great. I just realized that if my dad will go about $10,000 for a projector and anamorphic lens then I am in the nieghborhood of the Runco with Cinewide. Now, I just have to narrow it down from the Planar, Marantz and Runco.
He already plans on darkening the room to watch the projector. But, what is the best color to paint the room to optimize the picture? I'd like to get this narrowed down before my step-mom picks out a color and then we are stuck.
- Nick
