Front Projectors anyone?

[Ogeez]

Ok I am new to HT configs and have made the big plunge in. I see we are in the HT Forum but funny enough I see nothing about Front Projection Systems. So here I go. I just bought an Epson PowerLite S1 and I am remodling my Family room to accomadate it (so far I am waiting for specialized 35ft cables I ordered for the system) and have not bought the screen yet, anyone want to jump in on this and give me your opinion on a screen?

I think DA-Lite has a great web site to help with the decision but I would like to get feedback from those of you who have well.."been there got the t-shirt"...sort of speak. I have to let my budget dictate that it will be a Perm-Wall Mounted Screen but yeech, should it be white, grey, cinema contour, Clear-Pix ($$$$$) or what, I keep hearing that I should not scimp on the Screen or Video cables ever so I have Gold Plated Shielded High Resolution S-Video from the HK AVR-220 to the projector and from the projector to the DVD Playerit is Component, but the screen is still on the research page.

Thanks in davance for the opinions and suggestions. :cool:

[AVMASTER]

you're missing key data to make the correct determination:
throw distance of projector
room size
placement of projector
viewing distance in relation to screen and seating

judging from info gathered about this "data grade" projector i'd use:
Da-Lite fixed screen Cinema contour video format pearlescent and add the pro-trim

cable-wise, you'll need 15 pin VGA to component for best performance

[Ogeez]

you're missing key data to make the correct determination:
throw distance of projector
room size
placement of projector
viewing distance in relation to screen and seating

judging from info gathered about this "data grade" projector i'd use:
Da-Lite fixed screen Cinema contour video format pearlescent and add the pro-trim

cable-wise, you'll need 15 pin VGA to component for best performance

Ok at the risk of sounding like a prick :p - "Gold Plated Shielded High Resolution S-Video from the HK AVR-220 to the projector and from the projector to the DVD Player it is Component, but the screen is still on the research page." :D

Back to the original question - your suggestion is well noted as long as you can help me understand the throw distance. I am aware of this factor but neglected to say anything about it as I wanted someone to point it out to me with some detail, I guess I should have stated more of what I was looking for, I take fault for that. My main concern is how to determine the proper screen when A) In my area it is hard to find a shop that has a few screens on display for comparisson, B) The room itself is a HUGE factor and I don't have $$$ for someone to come into my house and size up the room and tell me what exactly would be best for the conditions, and C) Epson's specs state that 10' - 12' is optimal viewing throw distance for a total 100" viewing. But how much crispness do I truly lose if I try for 110" viewing in HD Wide of course?

Again here is more:
Just started sewing (yes Men can sew) these nice velvet curtains I bought today and will be using them on the entrence to the room to black out ambient light, the rear window has in-room shutters and a blackout blind so that is taken care of. The room itself is 11' X 24' yet I am presently sitting 12' - 15' from the 32" Postage Stamp I have now. The room is painted as so: The wall the screen will be on (11' W) and the the wall on the left of it (24' L)are painted a mix of shades of burgandy which resulted in a fake leathered look, really cool actually, everyone first thinks it is leather on the wall; the remaining wall on the right is more of a sandy/grey color, and the rear wall is 90% the window I mentioned. Keeping the fabric clean is not an issue.

So another part of my issue is how far down the ceilling does the projector have to be to get the view distance correct?

Thanks in advance :cool:

[AVMASTER]

why the s-video run from your receiver? from info gathered about your projector, there is on RCA component video input. I'll take it that the specialized cable you're waiting for is VGA to RCA component video?
Your main limitations are within the projector; a fixed lens, limited inputs, no zoom, no keystone, native 4:3 aspect( not really a problem), low resolution, etc... given the parameters you've got to work with , i would place the projector about 13' from screen and use a 100" screen with the material and format i suggested earlier.
An easy way to find out how far to hang it from the ceiling is to sit your projector on top of a ladder with it connected to a source, with masking tape, frame out the screen size on the wall,adjust ladder position to make sure your projector is centered near the top of the screen. With an image being projected, manually lift your projector to determine best picture to height of ceiling mount

[Ogeez]

why the s-video run from your receiver? from info gathered about your projector, there is on RCA component video input. I'll take it that the specialized cable you're waiting for is VGA to RCA component video?
Your main limitations are within the projector; a fixed lens, limited inputs, no zoom, no keystone, native 4:3 aspect( not really a problem), low resolution, etc... given the parameters you've got to work with , i would place the projector about 13' from screen and use a 100" screen with the material and format i suggested earlier.
An easy way to find out how far to hang it from the ceiling is to sit your projector on top of a ladder with it connected to a source, with masking tape, frame out the screen size on the wall,adjust ladder position to make sure your projector is centered near the top of the screen. With an image being projected, manually lift your projector to determine best picture to height of ceiling mount

That's the info I was looking for thanks. By the way, what do you mean Native 4:3 aspect? On the spec sheet it states WideScreen 16:9. Also my HK does not have a Component connection, so what else can I do but S-Video for TV viewing, right? The HK has a monitor S-Video connection so I thought that was the only way and then for the DVD I could connect directly to that with Component as Movies are the main thing here. And you also said a fixed lens, but again the specs state -/+ 15 degree ajustment ratio, I am so confused now.

And back to the screen, the type you suggested, what exactly does it mean? What am I getting this type of screen for? Is this to compensate for ambient lite, projector limitations, sorry I just don't get all the choices there are and why you suggested that particular screen. Can you help me understand how you came up with that type of screen?

Thanks again lots! :D

[Ogeez]

Sorry one more thing - I was going to get the PowerLite 10 but it had only 1000 ANSI luminants and the S1 has 1200 so I thought this was the better one for Movie viewing, let me know what you think?

[AVMASTER]

i got my info about your projector on the web and so i could possibly be mistaken about its capabilities but it would seem that your projector is better suited for Powerpoint presentations-SVGA and high lumens; Anyway----
i suggested the Da-Lite video format to match the NATIVE 4:3 aspect of the projector
i suggested the pearlescent material and pro-trim to enchance the projectors' low contrast, eliminated distorted edges, and absorb excess light
i suggested 100" diaganol screen to match the projectors' resolution--800x600 without having any loss at the given viewing distance
the projector has a digital zoom but this only shrinks the image to fit the screen at resolution loss
i asked about the s-video run because, from i've found out, you will not gain any better picture from a component video connection. so why not connect the dvd player to your receiver with s-video also and let the receiver switch sources; quiet frankly I get paid to do this so i'm also basing my suggestions on your budget constraints

[Ogeez]

i got my info about your projector on the web and so i could possibly be mistaken about its capabilities but it would seem that your projector is better suited for Powerpoint presentations-SVGA and high lumens; Anyway----
i suggested the Da-Lite video format to match the NATIVE 4:3 aspect of the projector
i suggested the pearlescent material and pro-trim to enchance the projectors' low contrast, eliminated distorted edges, and absorb excess light
i suggested 100" diaganol screen to match the projectors' resolution--800x600 without having any loss at the given viewing distance
the projector has a digital zoom but this only shrinks the image to fit the screen at resolution loss
i asked about the s-video run because, from i've found out, you will not gain any better picture from a component video connection. so why not connect the dvd player to your receiver with s-video also and let the receiver switch sources; quiet frankly I get paid to do this so i'm also basing my suggestions on your budget constraints

Thanks for the feedback, again. So if I was to ditch the present Epson, and knowing my price range, what would you recommend I should have bought? I'll have to say as far as cost is concern, no more than $1500 if possible. Can you suggest a best and better to help me chose from?
Thanks

[jxnew]

Check the Infocus 4805 (goes for around 1500 now i think, just hit the market).. or BenQ (not sure of model number). They are made for home theaters. Native 16:9 (which means, the default image is proportioned to be used for HDTV or DVD sources. If you want to watch regular TV/VCR material, it will cut the sides off the widescreen image to make it look like 4:3. In the projectors with 4:3 as native (default) output, the top and bottom will be cropped (no loss of picture) to make it widescreen. So.. IMHO, if ur gonna watch mainly DVD/HDTV programming, a native 16:9 projector such as Infocus 4805 might be better (if you see my post here earlier, I am also looking for a projector and right now 4805 is in my mind.. but open to suggestions).