So we started painting the theater tonight. You can't tell from the picture, but the ceiling is a nice rich and dark brown. The walls are still primer as we ended up putting a second coat of white ceiling paint everywhere (I thought that the primer would have helped, but I guess not much). We also did some second coats in the office and game closet on the walls.

Anyway, that isn't why I am posting. I marked off and put up some masking tape up to mark the *maximum* screen sizes I could go with physically. I am not saying that I will go this big, but I wanted to see what it looks like.

Below are two pictures of the front wall. Keep in mind that I need to build the stage and false wall yet, so this is just for visual purposes only.

I could go with a 2.35 or 1.78 (HDTV) size. Going with the same maximum width (I don't want to extend under the soffits as the projector image could get "clipped"). The width is 126", so that yields a 137" diagonal 2.35:1 (wide for blockbuster movies), or 145" diagonal for HDTV format. Exact dimensions are:

2.35:1 - 126" wide x 54" tall
1.78:1 - 126" wide x 72" tall

With the 1.78:1 *IF* it was that big, even with a riser for the second row, the bottom of the screen will be partially blocked by people in the front row. This is a limitation due to the low ceiling (7'9" in the theater room). The 2.35:1 doesn't have this problem.

I was sold on the 2.35:1 for a long time since we will watch probably 95% movies, maybe 2% TV, and 3% XBox gaming, but now I am wondering about movies like The Dark Knight and Transformers that switch aspect rations mid-movie. I would miss out on the effect of the IMAX portion of movies like those.

Again, not going by screen size alone since this size would be somewhat at the upper limit of my projector when paired with a 1.2 gain AT screen that I want (It wouldn't be a problem with a higher gain at all), I am torn as to what to do. The screen will be DIY for sure, and the fabric will cost the same since it comes in 92" widths which will become my height and then I will buy 126" plus several extra inches for wrapping around my frame if I went with something this big.

So do I just go with the 1.78:1 and know that for a majority of the time when there is 4 or less people in the room that things will be just fine, and it is only when a lot of people are over and watching something in 1.78:1 like maybe the Superbowl or something, then the bottom would be obscured for the back row.

Thoughts? Opinions?

For those that like to play around with it, here is an awesome projector calculator. Again, select JVC RS45, 1.2 gain screen, and a throw distance of about 18 feet.
http://www.eliteprojectorcalculator.com/

Oh, and I don't care about 3D.

Here are the pictures.




And one with my 13 year old daughter standing up front. She is tall for her age. Not sure how tall though, but at least it is something for some sort of reference.


Farewell - June 4, 2020