Friends,
After ~12 years in our current home, I finally figured out how to configure an acceptable compromise in order to try using a projector. I'm excited.
This is a totally budget-oriented endeavor. I made a conscious decision to try a 110" projector-plus-screen rather than a cheap 70" LED. I wish I'd gotten a Panasonic Plasma, but, bygones. I'm upgrading from a 10-year-old JVC HDILA 61" RPTV. There is no substitute for "bigger". I've done the seating distance calculations and am pretty confident that 110" (at 12' viewing distance) is my sweet spot.
Pulled the trigger on a refurb 8350 directly from Epson. No tax, free shipping, $625. So, that decision is made, and you may not chastise me about alternative DLP
rainbow generators light cannons. Throw will be about 13' (above and slightly behind primary viewing position).
The space is the living room. There will be ambient light. Even when we watch at night, somebody typically has a handheld device or something.
The room is broad rather than deep, so I want to preserve the off-axis viewing instead of using an ambient-light-rejecting screen that focuses the reflected light to a specific viewing area.
So, I'm thinking that a gray screen will be best.
In keeping with my budget mindset, the alternatives are:
Silver Ticket (also at
Amazon. $289 with free Prime shipping). Has 1.0 gain and great
reviews. I found several reports of exemplary customer service. OTOH, people seem to universally have trouble with assembling the support bar, the border isn't as wide, and it appears to be wholly Chinese-made.
For the same price including shipping,
Jamestown offers 0.8 gain and a 4" border crafted in TN. But there is a production wait (which may not matter, because I have work to do). Given the throw distance, ambient light and relatively modest lumen output of the projector, I'm concerned about the difference in gain.
I guess my questions are:
1. Does anybody have opinions about or experience about these two screens?
2. Given my setup, does anybody want to try and talk me into a white screen? (which would open up Vapex, Monoprice and perhaps others as options)
3. I think that curved screens (which ARE available from both of the above) are silly and not worth the premium. Anybody disagree?
4. Relative to installation, I'll want a fairly shallow wall mount (it probably could be a shelf, but I think a wall mount will look better). Whaddyagot?
5. Monoprice for long HDMI cable?
Thanks - as always - for your guidance.
Tom
