I'm just starting to convert a bedroom to a small home theater and have just made the decision to switch from a plasma tv to a projector. The projector I'm thinking about is the Panasonic PT-AE4000U that gets talked a lot about here. My room size is 13' wide by 14' deep by 8' high. For an approx 11' from seat to screen, a 92 inch screens seems to be optimal. This projector will display 4:3, 16:9 and 2.35:1 up to 120 inch diag. I plan on doing some soundproofing and blocking out the windows when watching a movie.

What screen should I be looking at for this? There are a lot of options to choose from, and looking at them all is confusing. I've read about them, but now I'm looking for someone else's experience or opinion. I'm sure there are a lot of other people out there with the same question. Pricewise, hopefully not over $1500. The cheaper the better, without losing quality.

You can use paint, or buy fabric like I did off of ebay and stretch around a frame, much cheaper. Make sure in that smaller room you can achieve the size screen your wanting from the throw distance you plan to put the projector. You don't want the screen to be to big if your real close.

projector central has a calculator that will tell you what size can be achieved from any given throw distance.

Primarily my question is what kind of fabric would be best for this projector? Something that would look as good as an LCD TV that is not too bright and not too dim. Also, is there a screen that can adjust between the different aspect ratios, without going overboard on price.

Definately consider Carada, they are probably the most popular fixed screens on the market. I just assembled my own last week (Criterion series 110"), the build quality went far beyond my expectations, and I am a stickler for quality and detail.

There are really not any options for a masking system that I know of that is not very expensive. There are kind of two ways to do it, you can keep constant image width (CIW) which is the way 16:9 TV's work. You use a 1.78 screen, and when you watch a 2.35 movie, you have the black bars top and bottom. Some hardcore theatre guys or people with wide rooms prefer to run constant image height (CIH) which is a 2.35 screen, and then when you are watching 1.78 content like HDTV, you have the bars on the sides. Generally doing CIH you will not have as large a 1.78 image as if you do CIW, so you have to decide. Is sounds as if in your room you would be best off with a CIW setup.

Screen material depends on how much light is in the room, how far back the projector is from the screen, and whether you prefer brightness, or black levels. I would use the projector central calculator to determine what is best for you, or you can ask the guys at Carada to help if you decide to go that way (they are EXTREMELY helpful). I am using their standard white screen, but the high gain one is generally more popular for anyone with ambient light.

Well, I'm using a screen material from Dazian (they also have an ebay store) that has a gain of 1, my old Sanyo Z2 does not have as good as contrast and brightness of the newer projectors. If you get something with to much gain, you will get hotspotting and it will looked washed out.

You can also get 4 x 8 x 5/16 sheets from Parkland Plastics from places like menards, works great for a screen. Carada makes nice screens as well, but they cost a lot more. Back in the day I used various paint mixtures, one was called Mississippi Mud.

I think Carada offers a self adjusting screen, but you would not need that with the Panny, you just have a 2.35 screen, and the Panny adjusts automatically to the AR.

Using the Carada calculator, with a throw distance of 12 ft. using the PT-AE4000U proj., the maximum screen size I can have is 88 inch diag. Carada has this in the exact screen size of 2.35:1. I think I would rather have the wider screen, even though narrower aspect ratios would be a smaller picture. Here's another option, get both size screens, a 2.35:1 and a 1.78:1 and swap between them. (Just a thought).

They have 3 different brightnesses with a gain of 1.4, 1.0 or 0.8. I'm leaning toward the 0.8 for extra contrast, perhaps. The 1600 lumen should compensate for a darker screen.

The projector central calculator says the AE4000 will be able to handle a 115" diagonal 2.35:1 screen at 12' throw. Now, you don't really want to max out the zoom, so call it 110" max.

This is 101" x 43", which would equal a 88" screen in 1.78 like you say. If you can fit the 101" wide (about 108 - 110" with frame) that would be a viable option for you. If you go into something like a 100" 2.35:1, that would equal a 80" 1.78, which is really getting kind of small.

Some people do get a 2.05 screen to split the difference, but then you will always have bars except on a few movies.

Hmmm. Using this same calculater, with Panasonic Home, PT-AE4000U, English units, Throw range at 12 ft., Aspect at 2.35, I get 81 x 35, 88 diag.

Everyone does this when they first start using it, I did it as well.

Don't use the + and - to the right of the slider bars to change the screen size or throw. Use the box in the top left and click on "diagonal range" or "throw range" then you can change them independently.


12' throw, 110" 2.35 and .08 gain is basically bang on perfect. Just make sure the room can go DARK with that gain, otherwise use the 1.0 gain. You want the fl to be in the 13 - 16 range ideally, too high is fine you can just turn the projector down.

I see now. Thanks. I can get a bigger screen. Gloat, gloat.

CatBrag, keep in mind I sit 13ft back in my front row. My 2.35 screen is 120" wide and I would not want it any bigger. Fast moving action movies sometimes are to much, so I sit in my back row for them... Sometimes BIG is not best.

To determine size, I'm just going to hang a sheet or something and twiddle with different sizes until I find one that seems appropriate for that distance.

Also, I remeasured the room, and the measuring tape grew a little in length because I get 11 x 12 instead of 13 x 14. (I was looking at the inches side which popped out at me and somehow the 1st 2 characters of that got interpreted as feet.) So the throw is now going to be about 10 feet instead of 12, which makes maximum possible screen size as 106 inch diag. instead of 115.

Get the projector as far back as possible if you can, if there is 3 - 4" behind it that would be plenty for ventilation assuming the sides are open. You don't want to use the max size and max out the zoom, you won't be able to make any small adjustments if you have to, I would use one size smaller than maximum.

I've been in contact with Carada, and here's what they had to say concerning my issues. Here's some quotes from what they had to say.

"I use the Projector Central calculator a lot as well. I guess I am a little unsure of what is driving the choice of the screen size for you. AT 1080p resolution a good rule of thumb is sitting back from the screen at least the same distance as the width of the viewing area of the screen. From 11’ back you can successfully have an 11’ wide image at 1080p (particularly with the AE4000U) and not see digital artifacts or the screen door effect. So anything less than an 11’ wide image is just your choice. Commonly, sitting 11’ back, I think most people who want a big theater like image would use a 100-110” diagonal 16:9 screen. If you want to go 2.35:1 for your screen, the 104-112’ model would definitely be appropriate."

"Regarding screen size, one thing I like to ask is “where do you like to sit in a commercial movie theater?” (front, middle, back). That can tell you a lot about what perspective you want from your big screen at home."

"As someone noted, the AE4000U is a pretty bright machine. It also has a published 100000:1 contrast ratio. That means your black levels are going to be good if you have good light control. A white screen material is not going to significantly detract from that in a light controlled room."

"Before you choose to use the High Contrast Grey I would really like for you to examine samples of the screen materials to make sure of that choice. While the black levels will be enhanced greatly, I’m not sure you will like that a gray screen material will do to the image otherwise unless you have seen it in action. Samples of the screen materials are available for you to review and test with in your own theater environment. We will mail them out to you promptly if you will provide us with a mailing address."

"The “self adjusting screen” that someone mentioned is probably our line of Masquerade™ Masking Systems. They aren’t actually screens, but work with a screen to mask black bars and unused screen during video presentations other than the native aspect ratio of the screen."

"One last thought before I send you this e-mail, I looked at your calculations for 12’ throw range. The Projector Central calculator shows this:"

I tried to copy image...and failed.

"From 12’ back the calculator shows that a 92” 16:9 image is the mid-throw range image size. Without any zoom in or out the image is a 92”. But the image range is actually anything between 63” to 122” because it has a throw ratio of 2.00:1."

"So from a mounting point of 12’ back from the screen, all of the images sizes I have mentioned will work with this projector."

More:

"Of course, you can make a 2.35:1 image that is the same width as this (80” wide) from the same throw distance."

"The 2.05:1 can be a compromise type aspect ratio, but one thing to especially keep in mind is that nothing will ever actually fit the screen. You will always have some black bars top and bottom or always have unused screen material on the left and right. I prefer to make a commitment one way or the other (16:9 or 2.35:1) so that my main viewing is filling the screen. I can tolerate the bars or empty space better if I get to use the whole screen sometimes. That’s just my opinion though."

"Regarding size, usually a home theater screen is a little smaller perspective than a commercial movie theater screen. If you like the front 1/3 to ½ way back I doubt you can over-do it in your home theater. The sizes we are discussing here will not be too big at all. And you have the added benefit in your home theater of moving your seating to match the screen you choose. Once you have it, if it seems a little small to you for some reason, just move your seating forward to change the perspective. Vice-versa works as well."

Carada is reluctant to sell the grey screen, I am not surprised. They even checked with me after I placed my order for the normal one if that is for sure what I wanted to do. I think perhaps they have had returns in the past for higher gain as people were unhappy and perhaps are a little gunshy from it.

I do agree with them though, get it larger than you think you'll want if you aren't using all the zoom in the projector. From 12' I think we determined that is 110" diagonal. It is generally accepted normally you will sit at 1.3 - 1.5 times the width of the screen back from it (so for a 8 foot width you would sit back 10 - 12'). It will seem large at first but you will get used to it, and then you'll want even bigger . Of course you need to leave some room for speakers on the front wall as well.

I’m not sure if Carada contacts everyone but they also contacted me to ask what projector I was using and under what conditions after I placed my order. I think it may be a common practice for them to do that and I found there advice was accurate. I bought a 134” 1.78:1 Brilliant White as I have an light controlled room. I’m using the AE4000 from 19’ back and have a perfectly bright picture using eco-mode. In normal or dynamic mode it still projects a great image with all four room lights on as long as the light isn’t shining directly at the screen.

I agree with Potatohead that you should get the projector as far back as you can. I also suggest you get the largest screen you think you will want keeping in mind what Randy said about fast moving scenes sometimes being to much. I’m sitting 14-15’ away from my 134” screen and fast motion is just at the limit of what I want however anyone prone to motion sickness would likely puke if they watched it for to long. Just last night I put on LOTR FOTR and during the scene in the Mines of Moria where Boromir almost falls off the stairs I got an adrenalin rush from the vertigo it cause. Just remember you can always cast a smaller image than your screen size as long as you’re willing to deal with the black bars which you can make DIY masking for pretty easily.

My corrected distance will only be about 9 feet from screen. Given the calcs I did below, I think the 110 inch 1.78:1 probably looks like the best option here. That puts me at 1.3 times the width of the screen, away from it.

1) Distance of 1 to 1 (9 feet from screen and 9 foot screen)

9 feet = 108 inch (adj down to 103) = 118 inch diag 1.78:1.
9 feet = 108 inch (adj down to 103) = 112 inch diag 2.35:1.

2) Distance of 1.3 to 1 (9 feet from screen and 8 foot screen)

8 feet = 96 inch (adj down to 92) = 110 inch diag 1.78:1.
8 feet = 96 inch = 104 inch diag 2.35:1.

3) Distance of 1.5 to 1 (9 feet from screen and 6.75 foot screen)

6.75 feet = 81 inch (adj down to 80) = 92 inch diag 1.78:1.
6.75 feet = 81 inch = 88 inch diag 2.35:1.

I have that exact screen, I posted some pics in this thread the other day : http://www.axiomaudio.com/boards/ubbthreads.php?ubb=showflat&Number=276662&fpart=1

I do plan on sitting more like 13' back from it for most things like TV and sports, although I may move a bit closer for movies and gaming. I was limited by room width otherwise I would have gone more like 118" or so.

If you do decide on 1.78 I think you have chosen well. The 2.35 is a cool thing too if you watch a lot of movies, but you will give up a good amount of screen size watching HDTV.

Nice cat! I remember seeing this yesterday. I just had a brain fart. I might go to Walmart or online and buy some curtain blackout cloth (like I've been reading about elsewhere), and make a huge screen for testing. then watch some movies on it until I feel comfortable with the size. Measure that and order a screen that matches. Only problem, I've got to wait until I get a projector which will be somewhere around 2 months from now. So, I guess I'll just go and hibernate somewhere until then.

No worries, that's right when the 8500UB will be shipping