Projector & Screen buying tips

[RQKevin]

Hello

I'm going to buy a projector and a screen and I was wondering what specs will I need, 100% dark room when lights are off. I'm currently using a blu ray player and 32" full hd tv and I want to finally upgrade to something like 70" or above.

Two main questions I have

1. How good projector do I need (720/1080 or above?)
2. How big screen size sitting roughly 3 meters away from my wall which I will mount the screen to.

I'm looking at this: http/www.netonnet.se/art/tv-och-bild/projektor-och-duk/projektor-med-duk/hemmabio/benq-w750prs12-90/204245.4849/ (may want to translate to english)

It says 3d and HD Ready, I know that HD ready means 720 but on the included 90" screen won't it look bad (able to see alot of pixels since it's so large?)

Love if someone could help me out

 

[Wolfshadw]

BenQ W750 Specifications
BenQ W750 Projection Calculator

If you're sitting closer than three meters from the screen, you might notice the "screen door" effect from running a 720p display. With my old BenQ MP610 sitting about four meters away, it wasn't bad, but still noticeable. I'd recommend a 1080p projector anyway, if it's within your budget.

-Wolf sends

 

[RQKevin]

I was thinking about getting this BenQ W1070, it's 1920 1080 3d. And a 90" screen. I'm wondering if I need a roof mount or if a shelf above me where I sit (3m away from wall screen will be on). Am I good to go?

Thank you for helping me out!

EDIT: Going back and forth between 90 and 120" screen, 90" seems small, but compared to my old TV it's huge, I don't know what screen size to get. Any tips I should considere before buying one?

 

[Wolfshadw]

"Throw Distance" - The distance between the lens of the projector and the screen the image is being displayed upon.

You can go with either projector, but you need to understand that the most important factor in image size is going to be the throw distance. Go back to the Projector Calculator I linked and use the slider towards the bottom of the page. You can change the measurement from ft to m by ticking the circle next to meters. As you move the throw distance slider, the image diagonal slider moves as well. So if you have a 90" or 120" screen, you can see just how much throw distance you need in order to achieve the desired screen size.

BenQ W1070 Projection Calculator

Now as far as the screens are concerned, are these screens with a 4:3 aspect ratio or a 16:9 aspect ratio (how is the diagonal measured)? I ask because a 90" 16:9 image is not going to fit on a 90" 4:3 screen.

-Wolf sends

 

[RQKevin]

Ah yes I'm doing my best to do my own research but it's overhelming. I somewhat understand throw distance now, and using the calculator you linked 3 m = 90". Aspect ratio is 16:9 and it's a fixed frame (using translate). There are 2 differnet types of 90" screens I can choose from a Kingpin 90" and a Media Mount (less expensive, fixed frame as well) 90". I'm guessing it comes down to quality of each screen, but seeing how people project movies on the wall will this really be an issue?

Correction: It's either the diagonal 104" or width 90".
EDIT: Judging by the price difference, buying a fixed screen (even though I can get it in the room), would a pull down be a bad choice compared to it (wrinkles)?

I've done some research these past 2 days and I came across a youtube video of a guy who made a video showing off his home theater. Long story short he mentioned how his projector's native resolution is very low, but is able to project 1080p blu ray to the screen, did I understand this wrong, or is it possible?

 

[Wolfshadw]

With some older projectors, they had a native resolution that was relatively low and a maximum resolution that was much higher, but to display at that higher resolution was usually at the cost of brightness and lamp life. With today's projectors, the native resolution is almost always the maximum resolution.

One common mistake people make when purchasing projectors is that they read it will accept a 1080p signal and expect it to display a 1080p signal. This is a common misconception. Many 720p (or lower) projectors will accept a 1080i/p signal and downscale it to the projector's native resolution; usually at the cost of sharpness and color. This is likely what was happening in the video you saw.

As far as screens go, I started my projection history displaying on a pull down window shade. When I moved to my small apartment, I used to have cardboard covering my windows and an old white bed sheet for a screen and that worked well enough. I now have a Elite Screens pull-down and it works perfectly (no wrinkles). What you want to do for a screen is entirely up to you, but I do recommend an actual screen. There are plenty of DIY screen designs on the web.

-Wolf sends

 

[RQKevin]

Okay then well you answered all my questions and more. I appreciate you helping alot now I like all your posts and I'm not sure what to pick as solution, so it'll be the last one. Again, thank you so much for helping me out, I feel alot smarter now and certainly won't buy something I'll regret.

Kev