# Recommendations for a less than ideal room



## Kalanas (Aug 23, 2011)

Hi everybody, I've been lurking on the forums for a while now, and decided it's time to see what the experts would recommend for my setup.

The room:
The projector is going to be installed into a multi-function lower level room at my parent's cottage. The room is 16'x23' with a staircase coming down the middle of it that splits the room in half. The effective dimentions of the 'home theatre' area are about 16' x 8'.

The screen will be on the 8' wall with a couch and north facing window on the opposide end of the room. Viewing distance from this couch will be approximately 15'. The other windows and sliding glass door are at the far end of the room on the other side of the staircase.

Walls are painted beige, and the ceiling is white (like the subject says... less than ideal)

This setup is going to be used primarily for movies, and usually at night. As such, there will be minimal light coming in from outside. Interior lights can be partially dimmed, or turned off as needed.


The Screen:
Since this is the cottage, and everything is DIY, I was thinking of painting the screen directly onto the wall with the Black Widow mix found in the forums. Good idea?/Bad idea?


The Projector:
The projector will be ceiling mounted. It could easily be anywhere from 10'-15' away from the screen. 

With the viewing distance, I am wondering if there would be any noticable difference between 1080 and 720 resolution. We are not videophiles, and this is mainly being done for the fun of watching movies on the big screen in an area where the closest theatre is 45 minutes away.


The budget:
Heres' the biggest problem. Since this is the cottage, and we're only there 6 months of the year, and most of that just on weekends, I don't really want to spend more than $1000 on a projector. Maybe I'm dreaming, but I've seen a couple of options recently sub 1k. (Was looking at an Optomax HD20 on amazon this morning for 800$)

The projector is the main area that I am looking for a recommendation for. There probably aren't a lot of choices in my price range, but I thought it was worth asking. 
I would also be interested to hear any experiences with painting a screen onto the wall, and any tips and tricks I should consider. We were thinking of framing the screen with some sort of moulding. Would I be better off simply painting a black border?

Thanks for reading this long post. Look forward to hearing your thoughts


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## Alan Brown (Jun 7, 2006)

My advice is to forget front projection and get one of those big Mitsubishi DLP rear projection sets. Your room is too incompatible for decent imaging on a screen without spending extra money for one that is designed for seriously compromised viewing conditions. Save yourself all the extra work and disappointment involved in trying to implement a display format that isn't right for your room. You may not consider yourselves videophiles but you still know basically what a movie is supposed to look like. A poor quality image isn't any more impressive if you make it bigger. In fact, making it bigger can actually make it look worse in many cases.

Best regards and beautiful pictures,
Alan Brown, President
CinemaQuest, Inc.
A Lion AV Consultants Affiliate

"Advancing the art and science of electronic imaging"


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## Prof. (Oct 20, 2006)

I don't see why he would have to forego having a front projector, even if the room isn't ideal..
Obviously, you're not going to be able to have a very large screen considering the width available and the overall room is far from ideal, but I think the Optoma HD20 would be a good choice of projector, or even the HD65 which is 720p. and would be cheaper than the HD20..


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## Alan Brown (Jun 7, 2006)

Prof. said:


> I don't see why he would have to forego having a front projector, even if the room isn't ideal..
> Obviously, you're not going to be able to have a very large screen considering the width available and the overall room is far from ideal, but I think the Optoma HD20 would be a good choice of projector, or even the HD65 which is 720p. and would be cheaper than the HD20..


His problem should be obvious to anyone schooled and experienced in designing and installing theaters that meet standards: substantial ambient light and room boundary reflection challenges. The objective is a good image on a limited budget, not any one display system type. With an RPTV they will be able to enjoy a much better picture in a wide range of day and night viewing conditions. There are front projection component technologies available for overcoming certain compromised viewing conditions, but they cost more money than he indicates they want to spend.


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## Kalanas (Aug 23, 2011)

Thanks Prof and Alan for the quick replies. I am certainly willing to look at other options. The front projection is a fun thought, but I wanted to get feedback from the folks here before spending a lot on something that could potentially be an exercise in futility.

Are there changes that could be made to improve the room without major renovations? Would darkening the 16' wall that runs alongside the projector beam make a noticeable difference?

One advantage here is that there are no street lights and a lot of trees, so other than the moon, there's no light coming in from outside once it's dark.

I can see the sliding doors and floor to ceiling window being an issue, but that might be fixable with some dark covering. 

Just some thoughts while I look into the rear projection TV. They are definitely a lot thinner than the one we had in '99.


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## tonyvdb (Sep 5, 2007)

I guess the big question is how big an image do you want? The DLP rear projection sets are still very heavy and at a size larger than 65" is going to cost much more than your allowed budget of $1000
Projectors are getting very good and if most of your viewing is going to be in the evening or at night I wold not think that ambient lighting is even an issue here.


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## Prof. (Oct 20, 2006)

If you decide to go with front projection and a relatively small screen, then reflected light in the room is going to be an issue..
Darkening the walls and ceiling will certainly help to keep down the reflected light..


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