# Height of Fixed Screen



## emo777 (Jan 25, 2009)

Hello,

I wanted to know what would be the min height one should place a fixed screen at?? 

I am looking at around a 100" screen.

Reason i ask is cause i still want to have a 50" plasma tv for everday watching and have it installed within a cabinent and have it motorized popup. 

I know that i could easily do the drop down tension screen but i've been told that they tend to wrinkle within a short period of time.

Any recommendation on either systems??

thanks

Emilio


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## bpape (Sep 14, 2006)

General rule of thumb is that seated eye height is approx 1/3 of the way up the screen.

Bryan


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## tonyvdb (Sep 5, 2007)

Mounting a 50" plasma so it would pop up below the screen would put the screen about 4 ft off the floor and that would make the screen quite high but it could work if you can raise the seating to compensate for the height.


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## emo777 (Jan 25, 2009)

Most 52" that I've looked at are around 33" in height so if i we're to make the cabinet 36" and place the bottom of the screen at around 37-38" do you think it would work if i dont change the height of the seating position?? 

I would really like the fixed screen so that i can look into a 2:35 wide screen with masking, much better than trying to get a drop down screen with masking. Do you agree or should i just look at having a drop down. I can then have my LCR speaker hidden behind the screen. 
My father-in-law is a cabinet maker so i would get the break in making a custom screen just have to fork out the $$ for the pop up motor ( looking at the vectormotion.com only 580$) anyone else know of a good popup tv motor?? 



thanks again


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## Space (Jul 18, 2007)

bpape said:


> General rule of thumb is that seated eye height is approx 1/3 of the way up the screen.
> 
> Bryan


Would you mind further explanation? I see me measuring 36 inches from the floor to my eyeballs and multiplying by 3...and I know that isn't what you mean.


Thanks in advance,

Brien


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## bpape (Sep 14, 2006)

Let's assume that you're correct and eyes are at 36" (that's a bit low usually but it could be.)

Now, if the screen is say 48" tall in the viewable area, 36" up the floor should be 1/3 (16") up from the bottom of the visible screen area. So, 36" - 16" = bottom of visible screen at 20"

Eyes are usually more like 40-42" off the floor depending on your height and the seating height. You can go a bit higher with the screen but as soon as you start putting the bottom of the screen pretty close to eye height, it can become uncomfortable to sit and watch for long periods as you're constantly looking up.

2.35:1 screens are a bit different as they are shorter for a given size and you don't look up as much to see the entire screen height.

Bryan


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## Space (Jul 18, 2007)

I grabbed 36" out of the air  So you would actually have to know the screen size you are using for this.

I got ya. I guess I was looking at it wrong and had thought I could define my screen width/height by knowing the distance from floor to eye.

That could be done couldn't it? If I didn't have a clue[like now] what size screen to get, would this be part of a method used to get that number?

Thanks again


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## emo777 (Jan 25, 2009)

Sorry if i am confusing everyone, but i was thinking of making a bottom cabinet across the bottom of my front wall to a height of 36" and inside of it i would have a popup motorized 52" plasma come out and in each corner have 10 or 12" subs. I looked at most 50-52" plasma and most of them come in at a height of 31-33" so it should fit within my 36" height of my cabinet. Now my concern was would having the bottom of my proj screen starting at aroung 37-38" fixed 2:35 wide with masking so that i can still watch 16:9 also be too high if I am sitting at around 14-16 feet from the screen. My room dimension that i have for this room would be 12x20. I guess i dont really want it to be just a dedicated HT room but also an everyday multi-room. My 2nd option was to go with a drop down projector hidden either in the ceiling or behind a valence, but i just dont know how the tensions on those screens are and worried about it wrinkling. ALso, not too sure if the masking is as great.
This is where, i'd like to get some advice from others what they would do??

Emilio


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