# Help with deciding on screen wall



## santosh (Sep 29, 2013)

Hi All
First time poster and need help with deciding which wall to place the screen on.
Getting ready to build a new home theater in the basement. Room size is 13'6'' x 20'9''. There is a beam in the room as shown. Clearance under the beam finished is 7'7''. The ceiling heights vary on either side of the beam as shown.
Plan is to have 2 row of seats with a 10 inch riser for the 2nd row and preferably a 120 inch 16:9 screen. 
I need input as to which wall to place the screen on. I am concerned about the ceiling mounted projector as it has to be below 7'7'' to clear the beam. Please the illustration. Any other suggestions is welcome.
Thanks


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## Prof. (Oct 20, 2006)

Hi Santosh..and welcome to HTS

My suggestion would be to mount the screen on wall "B"..That should give you enough length to mount the projector in front of the beam..
Your ceiling height forward of the beam is 8'8", so there is plenty of height to mount the projector..


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## jbrown15 (Dec 7, 2011)

So from the beam towards wall A the finished ceiling height is only 7'8"? 
If that's the case I would use wall A as the screen wall, have the bottom on the screen 24" off of the floor and that would still give you plenty of clearance to use a 120" screen.

Not too mention you wouldn't be opening the door and then having to step right up onto the rising. 

Could I make a suggestion, your room in just screen for a front stage/false wall setup along with using an acoustically transparent screen! You would easily be able to hind your speakers behind the wall and screen, so all you would see is a nice screen and stage. 

Your room is basically the exact same size as mine and it would work perfect!


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## santosh (Sep 29, 2013)

Prof. said:


> Hi Santosh..and welcome to HTS
> 
> My suggestion would be to mount the screen on wall "B"..That should give you enough length to mount the projector in front of the beam..
> Your ceiling height forward of the beam is 8'8", so there is plenty of height to mount the projector..


Thanks for the reply.
The concern I have is that the projector would be 12 feet ( 10 Feet if i do a false wall). That limits me to a short throw projector of which there are few options.
Thanks


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## santosh (Sep 29, 2013)

jbrown15 said:


> So from the beam towards wall A the finished ceiling height is only 7'8"?
> If that's the case I would use wall A as the screen wall, have the bottom on the screen 24" off of the floor and that would still give you plenty of clearance to use a 120" screen.
> 
> Not too mention you wouldn't be opening the door and then having to step right up onto the rising.
> ...


Thanks how much space did you leave behind the false wall.


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## jbrown15 (Dec 7, 2011)

santosh said:


> Thanks for the reply.
> The concern I have is that the projector would be 12 feet ( 10 Feet if i do a false wall). That limits me to a short throw projector of which there are few options.
> Thanks


Sorry, why would the projector only be 12ft or 10ft if you did a false wall setup?

It's usually a good idea to leave a minimum of 24" of spacing between the wall and the false wall.


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## santosh (Sep 29, 2013)

jbrown15 said:


> Sorry, why would the projector only be 12ft or 10ft if you did a false wall setup?
> 
> It's usually a good idea to leave a minimum of 24" of spacing between the wall and the false wall.


sorry for othe confusion. I was responding to the option of placing the screen on wall B and placing the projector in front of the beam which would limit the distance.
Using wall A as screen wall, the projector would have to be at a height 7feet 7 inches to clear the beam and can be located at the back of the room. Am i correct or am i missing something with the projector position and height.


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## jbrown15 (Dec 7, 2011)

Yes, you would mostly likely need a drop down pole when you mount the projector. This really shouldn't be a problem though as most major mount have a 6" or 12" pole that you can buy to work with them. 

I personally think you're far better off using A wall as your screen wall, it just makes laying out the room a little easier.


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## ALMFamily (Oct 19, 2011)

The downsides I can see to using wall A is that the door could very well be in the first reflection area which will cause some issues trying to dial in your sound. Also, if someone comes into the room while a movie is in progress, they will be walking in front of the rest of the viewers (this one is not a big deal, just a possible. I or annoyance).

Me personally - I would agree with Prof and opt for wall B. Granted, it does limit your choice of projectors, but to me that first reflection issue would be a deal breaker.


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## jbrown15 (Dec 7, 2011)

ALMFamily said:


> The downsides I can see to using wall A is that the door could very well be in the first reflection area which will cause some issues trying to dial in your sound. Also, if someone comes into the room while a movie is in progress, they will be walking in front of the rest of the viewers (this one is not a big deal, just a possible. I or annoyance).
> 
> Me personally - I would agree with Prof and opt for wall B. Granted, it does limit your choice of projectors, but to me that first reflection issue would be a deal breaker.


True but it's easy enough to install an acoustical panel to the back of a door to deal with that.
The short list of projectors to use would bother me more then having to deal with someone walking into the room while watching a movie.


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## Prof. (Oct 20, 2006)

santosh said:


> Thanks for the reply.
> The concern I have is that the projector would be 12 feet ( 10 Feet if i do a false wall). That limits me to a short throw projector of which there are few options.
> Thanks


If you do a screenwall and use an AT screen, the depth of the wall to the screen only needs to be as deep as the speakers and subs that you're planning to use..
The speakers only need to be a few inches back from the screen..That would give you a bit of extra length for the projection distance..
To find a relatively short throw projector you might have to try a few projectors on the calculator at projectorcentral.com, or some one might chime in whose using a projector over that distance and screen size..


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## santosh (Sep 29, 2013)

ALMFamily said:


> The downsides I can see to using wall A is that the door could very well be in the first reflection area which will cause some issues trying to dial in your sound. Also, if someone comes into the room while a movie is in progress, they will be walking in front of the rest of the viewers (this one is not a big deal, just a possible. I or annoyance).
> 
> Me personally - I would agree with Prof and opt for wall B. Granted, it does limit your choice of projectors, but to me that first reflection issue would be a deal breaker.


Thanks
Once I decide on the screen wall i guess i can calculate the first reflection area and adjust the door position. I do have some flexibility in the door position.
thanks


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## orion (Sep 18, 2009)

I made two theaters in rooms similar to yours (mine and my brothers) and on mine I put the screen on the front wall away from the door and on my brothers I built a screen on the left side wall with an at screen. Where your beam is we made an arch that turned out really well. That would kind of seperate the room to make it feel like two rooms if you want to put a bar there or something. I have the build threads on here if you want to see them


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