Guest Genesis56 Posted June 30, 2021 Posted June 30, 2021 To upgrade or not to upgrade? That was my question. I purchased a 100 inch CinemaScope screen from OzTheatre Screens about two years ago. Nice screen. I use a Panasonic PT-AE4000 projector. My screen is on the long wall with the projector on a wall shelf the other side of the room. I was considering an upgrade to a 130 inch CinemaScope screen and I had a browse through oztheatre's website. Then I spoke with Richard. Silly me. He said if I am going to upgrade, and I have the space - go bigger. Bigger is good! Taking Richard's advice, I zoomed my projector out to 150 inches to get an idea of how a larger screen would look in my room. After getting over the initial impact of the much larger image, I quickly began to appreciate the immersive experience. Interestingly, the Panasonic zooms out nicely for a 150 inch image. I'll loose a little brightness, and maybe a little sharpness - but I won't have to switch the projector out of eco-mode for a nicely watchable experience. It just goes to show that even an older projector is still a viable proposition as long as the lens quality is there. I am sure a true 4K projector or maybe a pixel-shifter like the Epson EH-TW9400 are worthwhile upgrades, but in the mean time I can still use the Panasonic. This gives me some breathing space until I have recovered from the cost of the new screen. The 150 inch CinemaScope screen in 2:40 aspect ratio has been ordered and paid for. Richard gave me a very nice price for the new screen. Thank you. I should get the new screen in a couple of weeks or so. I might need to find a home for my oztheatre 100 inch CinemaScope screen...
Draka76 Posted June 30, 2021 Posted June 30, 2021 Hi Genesis56, That's awesome! ! Firstly, Richard from OZTS is super helpful and I would agree that bigger is definitely better where suitable. I thought I'd post this site I've came across a while back, called displaywars, as its handy for anyone who wants to compare screen sizes for any display (TV, pj etc). As you can see using the link below, going from your 100" screen to the 150", is over double the viewable area (125% more), hence why it has such an impact on immersion. The pic of the 2 screen sizes says it all. http://www.displaywars.com/100-inch-235x1-vs-150-inch-235x1 Congrats on the new screen Enjoy Draka 1
hopefullguy Posted June 30, 2021 Posted June 30, 2021 hopefully going from a diy 123" 16:9 screen to a diy 145" 2.35:1 A/T screen. hope my old epson ehtw8200 can handle it but as i only do 1080p should be fine. too bad for the front rowers seating at 3.2m haha, i sit in the back row. reckon you will go ape over that 150" screen.
idrabble Posted June 30, 2021 Posted June 30, 2021 21 hours ago, Genesis56 said: This gives me some breathing space until I have recovered from the cost of the new screen. Looks like it's too late now as you have ordered, but I would research the projector you believe you might upgrade to in future to ensure the picture will fill your new screen. You are probably looking at future models rather than current, but the current models should give an indication of throw size at your projection distance.
oztheatre Posted July 1, 2021 Posted July 1, 2021 22 hours ago, Genesis56 said: The 150 inch CinemaScope screen in 2:40 aspect ratio has been ordered and paid for. Richard gave me a very nice price for the new screen. Thank you. I should get the new screen in a couple of weeks or so. I might need to find a home for my oztheatre 100 inch CinemaScope screen... Glad I could help. That site showing the image size comparisons is quite handy. Thank you @Draka76 I hadn't ever seen that one before will be handy to show visually the differences in sizes and formats.
WasM Posted July 1, 2021 Posted July 1, 2021 I also recommend going bigger for the feels. My initial setup was for 130" but went to 150" scope after setting old projector onto blank wall for a few weeks between the two sizes. The front row and back row seats both fall within the THX and SMTPE viewing ratios but the front row is where its at.
Draka76 Posted July 1, 2021 Posted July 1, 2021 20 minutes ago, oztheatre said: Glad I could help. That site showing the image size comparisons is quite handy. Thank you @Draka76 I hadn't ever seen that one before will be handy to show visually the differences in sizes and formats. Anytime mate 1
Guest Genesis56 Posted July 1, 2021 Posted July 1, 2021 (edited) Thanks for the link, Draka. I wasn't aware of this web site. Wow! The image of the 2 sizes certainly says it all. I can't wait to get the new screen. Hopefullguy, I started out going down the diy road when I got my first 'business' projector which I co-opted for home theatre use. A diy screen was all could afford at the time. Your epson ehtw8200 should be fine idrabble, the Epson EH-TW9400 or it's coming replacement should zoom out nicely for the new 150 inch screen. My room size is 6.5m x 5.5m and the projector is thus about 5.5m from the screen. I could always switch the projector to fire from the shorter wall if necessary. Wasm, I was worried that if I went 130 instead of 150, I would regret not going bigger. I really have an eye for the future and 4k is it. Thanks for your help and advice, Richard. Much appreciated. Edited July 1, 2021 by Genesis56
Guest Genesis56 Posted August 2, 2021 Posted August 2, 2021 (edited) My new 150 inch CinemaScope screen arrived and was unpacked on the floor. The screen had been carefully packed and there was no damage. After unpacking the screen, it looked a LOT bigger than I anticipated. I immediately felt buyer's remorse. Screen assembly was easy and I only required help when I needed to slightly stretch the screen fabric so that it was wrinkle free. After I secured the screen fabric with it's plastic retainer strips, the time came to mount the screen on the wall. This was by far the easiest part of the process. I activated my trusty Panasonic PT-AE4000 projector and in a matter of minutes, I was able to perfectly align the image - my previous 100 inch screen was far more difficult to align. Maybe the increased screen size made things much easier. The first bluray disc I played was '1917'. My buyer's remorse vanished. The image was stunning. My concerns about losing definition and brightness were misplaced. I now realise that that my Panasonic projector had never had the opportunity to demonstrate it's full potential. I can't believe what I have been missing out on all these years. I know I will upgrade the projector soon. An Epson projector is in my sights. But, I'm glad I can enjoy the Panasonic in the meantime. I’ve attached a couple of pics. The first is my old 100 inch screen The second is the new screen. The last is of the new screen showing a screen shot of '1917' with partial light management so we could see what we were photographing. Edited August 2, 2021 by Genesis56
Draka76 Posted August 2, 2021 Posted August 2, 2021 Nice one Genesis56, looks awesome!! Time to sit back and enjoy the new screen. Stepping up to a 4K pj will further improve the experience. The Abbey Rd LP looks like a postage stamp compared to the 150" hehe - enjoy mate Regards, George
hopefullguy Posted August 2, 2021 Posted August 2, 2021 (edited) what seating distance, eye to screen, did you settle on? to get my 145" 2.35:1 screen i need to do an A/T screen as room is 3.9m wide. i could possibly squeeze 150" but i think the front row users at 3.3m will lynch me. anyway looks good but you dont find the side walls a bit reflective? oh i see, you did the ceiling (very important) and sort of boxed the screen.. gee thats a wide wall Edited August 2, 2021 by hopefullguy
Guest niterida Posted August 2, 2021 Posted August 2, 2021 1 hour ago, hopefullguy said: what seating distance, eye to screen, did you settle on? to get my 145" 2.35:1 screen i need to do an A/T screen as room is 3.9m wide. i could possibly squeeze 150" but i think the front row users at 3.3m will lynch me. anyway looks good but you dont find the side walls a bit reflective? oh i see, you did the ceiling (very important) and sort of boxed the screen.. gee thats a wide wall I sit 3.3m from my 155" scope screen - and now changing it for a 160" at 3.1m
oztheatre Posted August 2, 2021 Posted August 2, 2021 We sent a 150 scope screen to Canada once with TNT.. They snapped the entire screen frame in half, folded it over on itself, taped up the ends with tnt tape and delivered it to the receiver like nothing had happened.
Guest Genesis56 Posted August 2, 2021 Posted August 2, 2021 (edited) Draka76, the pictures don't do the new screen justice - it is absolutely huge. hopefulguy, my room is 6m x 5.5m. I sit 4m from the screen. Since I painted the ceiling, the side wall reflections aren't a factor. Regarding the 150 inch screen - you can only get lynched once! You can enjoy the 150 inch screen many times over I 'boxed' the screen in by hot gluing some black car carpet off cuts on to the wall. It worked much better than I expected. niterida, I am already jealous of your proposed screen size upgrade. Like Richard at OzTheatre told me - "bigger is better". I am SO glad I listened to Richard. I would have been very upset with myself if I had gone smaller. oztheatre, LOL! I'm glad you didn't tell me that story before you sent the screen. I think you might be interested in my delivery story; Last week I heard a knock on my front door and it was the delivery guy. He looked quite young and very sheepish. He pointed to the packaged screen on the ground. I couldn't see his delivery truck and I asked him where it was. He said it was out on the road and he had carried the screen by himself to my front door. I said to him he should have driven into the driveway. He took his 'phone out. I thought he wanted me to digitally sign a receipt or something. Instead he said he had hit my fence post as he tried to back his truck into the driveway. He tried to show me a picture of the damage. I said don't worry I'll look at the fence post later. But he insisted and he showed an image of my front fence post totally flattened. He said his truck was okay but he felt real bad about the fence post. He offered to take a damage report so he could file an insurance claim. This dude looked miserable. Instead, I told him he should just forget it ever happened and I would fix the fence post myself. The delivery guy looked as though he had won the lottery. He thanked me and said that he probably would have been fired or at least he would have had the damage deducted out of his wages. The good news is, the fence post has been replaced without too much effort and more importantly, the new screen survived the collision with the fence post without a scratch. Edited August 2, 2021 by Genesis56
Guest Genesis56 Posted August 3, 2021 Posted August 3, 2021 (edited) Here's another image. It really shows the size differential between the 100 inch and 150 inch screen. Even though the 100 inch is over a metre closer to the camera, it still looks tiny: Edited August 3, 2021 by Genesis56
Guest Genesis56 Posted August 3, 2021 Posted August 3, 2021 Niterida, it's a good sized room. My ATC actives are usually placed each side of my screen, but I moved them out of harms way while I was in install mode. Sound at the moment is provided by the Yamaha YSP 2700 sound projector. It's the first time I've used it in the bigger room, and I'm very pleased at the immersive sound I'm getting. The sound stage is huge and it wraps all the way around. The bass impact is surprising as well. The YSP2700 is vastly under rated.
flamjam Posted August 7, 2021 Posted August 7, 2021 I would sell my soul to have a wall wide enough for a 150 inch screen! I completely agree about Rich, he is super easy to deal with and has great screens!
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