# Portable Screen and Projector Recommendations?



## ChristianCrowley (Apr 18, 2011)

Greetings,

I've received some very helpful guidance from folks here on selecting my AVR and speakers for my home theater/listening room. Now I'm ready to start thinking about the screen and projector.

This room is part of a townhouse basement renovation in Washington, DC. I'm using curtains to section off about 1/4 of the basement for a home theater and listening room. I expect it will be used equally for watching movies, listening to music, and general hanging out. 

I'd like to be able to stow the screen away when movie time is over. It seems that a 60" wide screen would fit this space, and I think 16:9 would be the best fit for our viewing (mostly movies, some Netflix DVDs or streaming). Please feel free to comment if 60" width or 16:9 seems wrong.

I'm wondering about a portable projector that could be positioned in front of the couch for viewing (maybe 5' from the screen). The projector could then stowed away when not we're viewing. Another option would be a ceiling mount at the back of the room, about 12' from the screen. Hopefully the image throw would be well above the head of anyone on the couch. A resolution of 720 might be fine; 1080 would also be great if the price fits. I see that the screen size is a major determinant of which projector to get. ProjectorCentral's calculator indicates that the Sim2 Grand Cinema MICO 40 might be the best fit. If I can fit a larger screen, like 70" width, the calculator calls for the Mitsubishi HC4000.

1. Room dimensions: The ceiling is about 7.5' high. curtains form an irregular pentagon: 6' x 6' x 6' x 7' x 9'. The 9' segment has an attached rectangular alcove 5' deep (x 9' wide). Please excuse my crude attempt at an ASCII rendering:

|------======------======-------|
|.......................9'.......................|.
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|.............................................5'.|
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|.-..-..-..-..-..-..-..-..-..-..-..-..-..-..|
|??PROJECTOR??.............9'.............\
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|..................................../\...............\
|................................./.....\..............\
|..............................H.........\..............\
|.6'.......................C......./\.....\..........7'..\
|......................U......../.....\.../................\
|..................O......./...........\/...................\
|..............C....../.......................................\
|............/......\...........................................\
|.............\......\....??PROJECTOR??..................\
.\..............\..../............................................\
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.............\..6'..........................6'......./
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............................\/

2. Seating distance: a single row (couch and chairs) about 6-9' from the screen. The screen will go against the lower right 6' wall. When movie time is over, the screen and projector will be stored away in a closet.

3. Lighting conditions. Overhead lights can dim to off. Two small windows will be covered with black-out curtains.

4. Viewing habits. Most viewing with lights off. Only watch movies on the big screen. I'm looking for a portable screen that I can put away when we're not watching.

5. Projector: None chosen yet - recommendations welcome! I'm looking for something that's portable, so I can put it away when we're not watching. I have a budget of around $1500 for the projector and screen (please let me know if that's not reasonable).

It seems that a 60" wide screen would fit well in this space.

Thanks for any ideas you can share!

Best regards,
Christian Crowley
Washington, DC


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## mechman (Feb 8, 2007)

Christian,

I would look over at Projector Central. You can browse through their lists on the upper left side of the page - Home Theater Projectors, PICO, Pocket, Portable, etc. Take a look at the higher rated ones and then open them in the calculator. There's usually a link to the calculator on each products page. You'll want to look for something that won't be overly bright at 60" and the placement you require. This will not be an easy task as a 60" image isn't usual for projection.

Good luck and let us know how it turns out. :T


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## ChristianCrowley (Apr 18, 2011)

Thanks for the pointers, Mechman.

I spent a couple hours last night browsing through the calculator. Should I be looking for a projector that is in the calculator's "green zone" for my screen size? Most of them are over in the "red zone" and it's not clear from the documentation what that indicates. My guess is that the red zone is higher fL and might be tiring to watch without some additional ambient light.


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## mechman (Feb 8, 2007)

ChristianCrowley said:


> Thanks for the pointers, Mechman.
> 
> I spent a couple hours last night browsing through the calculator. Should I be looking for a projector that is in the calculator's "green zone" for my screen size? Most of them are over in the "red zone" and it's not clear from the documentation what that indicates. My guess is that the red zone is higher fL and might be tiring to watch without some additional ambient light.


Green closer to red or red closer to green would be fine. You just don't want it so bright that it causes eye fatigue.


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