Projector: Lumens and DIY Screens

Ok, Looking at buying the Optoma HD65.. .

It says 1600 Lumens on the box but more along the lines of 1150 Lumens apparently. I’ve read this is still quite good for a home cinema projector at this price.
The room it would be in would be either quite dark but preferably would have a bit of ambient light.. Fairy lights mainly (live with girls). I would like to be able to use it without everyone having to give up what their doing because I need to switch the lights off.. Just how much will this affect the picture at this many Lumens?

Second question is regarding a screen or lack off. It’s a light cream coloured wall.. Quite like a skin tone so I’d be hoping this would be ok for movies?
If this wasn’t good, does anyone know how good "black out cloth" is for a screen? I’ve read about it briefly and in my head, I’d like to have a big sheet, maybe 7 feet across with a strip of wood along the top and bottom. If I could hang this, I’m thinking the weight of the wood along the bottom would give a flat surface while allowing the screen to be rolled up like carpet. Is this realistic and where could I get this cloth in Galway? Should I go for black, dark grey or even some sort of white material?

I’m supposed to be making an offer on this pretty soon so I’d like any advice before I buy the projector. Thanks.

kuro_man

you don't need fabric or timber, paint a 16:9 square on the wall "black widow uk" - the mix can be found on avforums. Add a black border to help with perceived contrast/overscan.

Having lights on will wash out black and colours, so you'll want to turn the lights off when using the PJ.

Painting isn't an option as it's rented accomodation.. It would really have to be a fabric roll that I could hang when needed.

Does anyone have any experience with this?

kuro_man

Why get a screen? Try http://exdemo.beamax.eu/ - you'll get a decent one for < €100 inc. delivery and they are easy to mount (make sure you get the "new" case, which has sliding mounting brackets).

Unless the fabric is mounted or stretched, it will move and crease will will distort the image. Won't be a good as a screen either.

To be honest, this is a living room first and projector room second.. A projector screen would look very out of place to the other people I love with. I've only just moved into the house aswell and I didn't know them before. I will consider it after I get the projector but until then, I don't know. That site looks good though!

Wouldn't fabric with horizontal strips of wood along the top and bottom leave it uncreased? Sorry for awkwardness but I really think it's either a fabric that can be rolled up or nothing..

How much quality do I lose on a cream wall?

The Ritz

Hi,

I'd advise you to try it without a screen to begin with, if your happy with the image on a neutral coloured wall then your problem is solved. If you want a "temporary" screen solution, Blackout material is absolutely fine as screen material, I used one made of this material for about a year before buying "proper" screen material from Harkness Hall for a fixed screen - the difference was noticeable but not huge. You'd be fine setting it up with a batten at the top and a batten at the bottom, you can hang it like a picture and roll it up when its not in use.

As for the light issue - ambient light has an effect on the contrast of the image, but the image will be watchable with a certain amount of light, provided the room doesn't have lots of lights full on, for instance.

Not everyone can have a dedicated room or competely adapt their living room to accomodate a projector, it doesn't mean you cant have a big image for movies or gaming/whatever.

Ritz.

Great post, thanks! I guess your right, I'll see how it works out first and if I have issues, look for some material or projector then..

This is supposed to be my year for saving money but 2 weeks in, I'm impulse buying a projector

Skitz

Have a Panasonic (pt-ae500e) projector about 5+ years now and absoutely love it. When the 'big screen' Tvs started becoming more affordable and people would show them off, you're always left thinking (privately of course)...that aint nothing baby! I think a projector is the closest you'll get to cinema feel for watching a movie or playing games (especially co-op with a buddy where split screen happens). Projectors are fantastic, good call on getting one!

So emmm sorry.. on to your question, I used to have a sheet pinned to the wall for a while when i first got mine and that was fine for a bit. I then made a screen myself using curtain black out material and that was a nice step up, I think it helped contrast a little. The real noticable difference I think actually came when I framed it with black matt painted strips of wood, it really makes it feel like a huge TV. I think it'll be something you'll miss, but by no means is it the end of the world.

A proper screen will have better reflective properties and probably make the image more vibrant, especially if you have some lights on. Lighting, especially any that falls directly on the screen area, as mentioned above will wash out some of the darker colours in particular. Having said that, when I watch a movie I usually have the lights dimmed but not off and I'd imagine with today's brighter projectors it's be possible to get away with more than I do. Don't forget the image projected on the wall will in itself give some light. I'm not sure if it'll be enough for someone to read a book in, probably could if you can keep the light from shining directly on the screen (and reader has decent vision) but wouldn't be ideal reading conditions.

I think as suggested above the best thing to do is probably to get the projector first, see how it is on the wall (it may well be totally adaquate for your needs) because a lot of this stuff is very subjective.

On the projector itself I'm not sure what the best ones are these days, but if you can, check out how notisy it is. Fan noise is the one thing that bugs me about mine a little, in a quiet scene you hear the fans and it is a little distracting, but I am a bit of a 'fussy about noise' guy I guess.

Hope that helps a little.

StopWatch

Just got the HD65 myself about 3 weeks ago, and for the price, i'm lovin it. especially from a HD source.
I'm projecting it straight onto a wall, it's painted in a beige kinda colour, I spent a while tinkering with the colour settings, and i'm pretty happy with the colour reproduction.
It's can be used with a wee bit of ambient light, but it's not great. if you put a projector in a room, it automatically becomes a projector room, because when you start it up, no-one's going to be doing anything but stare at the screen. So if your housemates/family aren't happy with that then you're done for!
I'm very happy with it right now, perhaps i'll purchase a screen sometime down the road, but for now it's not an issue. Hope it goes well for you.
Here's a picture of what i'm getting out of the HD65.

ktc1

I just ordered a fold up / pop out screen (see attached link). This would be ideal for a rented accomodation, you can put the screen up and down at will and shove it under a sofa when you're not using it. This is the only place to buy it as they are no longer made. The large black border will also help to improve your perceived contrast. Projecting on a light coloured wall is fine for bright scenes but not so good for dark scenes. They do not have the extra large size, but I did get the large one for Stg£119 delivered and they did this by credit card over the 'phone.
All they have is the screen, not the hanging system. Thats fine for me as I'm putting it on the TV stand in front of the TV screen. Alternatively you could put up picture hooks and cable on the ceiling or wall.


http://www.audioimages-hifi.com/page91/page86/page86.html

Happyman42

I'm using banner material from a sign shop. Goes by the name of Banana Banner. I adapted a roller blind mechanism by slitting a length of white waste pipe and inserting one end of the material. Allows me to easily roll it down. Has a much better quality than a painted wall. Massive screen, neat and cheap as chips. Plasma, LCD TV's me a***!

Calibos

Ye can't beat it alright. I've had PJ's since 2002. My current PJ is a Panasonic AE900 but has been mothballed for two years due to house move, renovation, rented accomodation while renovating etc. Biggest screen we've had for those two years are the 42" Plasma's.

After we got the plans from the architect that included the new dedicated cinema room I now had the measurements. Because of a sloping roof in the loft conversion which compromised the screen wall, I did some calculations and marked out the shape of the screen wall downstairs on a big wall so that I could get a feel for how big a screen I could fit in the cinema room. This was the first time I set up the AE900 in 2 years.

Kepping in mind the lumens on this PJ was not great and that the bulb was at 3000 hours so dimmer than new, I quickly got over the dimness compared to the plasma. Also keep in mind I was just demoing a DVD. I'll be fitting a cinemascope ratio screen with an AE4000/5000. The scale of the 2.35:1 image was amazing and DVD held up suprisingly well zoomed up that much.

As a result of the test I am well and truely psyched to be getting back into the PJ club. If the above test blew me away, I can't wait for the new higher res PJ with inherently brighter and brand new bulb on a dalite HCCV 1.1 gain screen.

I input figures for an AE4000 into the projector central PJ calculator and will be getting 25 foot lamberts for 16:9 and 17fl for 2.35:1. Which works out perfect. 16fl is what the typical cinema brightness is. Where you want a punchy image for the big match or TV shows maybe with some ambient lights, 25 FL is great. In contrast the AE900 figures where 12fl for 2.35:1 and 18fl for 16:9 and under the demo conditions were probably half that. I reckon the AE4000/5000 brightness will burn my eyeballs and be like plasma bright to my eyes seeing as I was impressed with my venerable Ae900 for the demo.