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[Kristian Stevenson]

We are looking to buy a projector and electric screen to install in our gym. I am looking at the Panasonic PT-DW6300US. It is a 16:10 projector. My problem now is finding a 16:10 screen large enough for what we want. We currently have a 9'x16' portable screen we use with a Panasonic PT-DW5100u and really like that screen size in the gym.

I found a 16:9 screen big enough but that wouldn't jive with the 16:10 projector. Would the 16:10 projector throw a 16:9 image? Panasonic doesn't list 1280x768 as one of the supported resolutions so I wasn't sure. What would you guys recommend? I would need a long throw lense capable of ~105ft for whichever projector I go with.

Thanks,
Kristian

[Kristian Stevenson]

I might have just answered my own question or at least done away with it. We decided to just use the projector we have (Panasonic PT-DW5100u) and buy a long throw lense for it and use it in the gym. Then we will buy another projector for our youth room (where the 5100u currently is). It would be a lot smaller projector as the youth room doesn't require the brightness the 5100u puts out. This route is more cost saving for us because we would be buying a 2000 dollar projector vs. a 6500 dollar one. My screen issue is also solved because the 5100u is a 16:9 projector.

With the factory lense, the 5100u is bright enough for the gym but when we add the long throw lense, would the brightness decrease any? The projection calculator on projectorcentral.com says it will be fine but I was just wondering if anyone had any real world experience. I have never used these long throw lenses.

[Brad Weber]

Kristian Stevenson wrote on Mon, 22 November 2010 16:01

With the factory lense, the 5100u is bright enough for the gym but when we add the long throw lense, would the brightness decrease any? The projection calculator on projectorcentral.com says it will be fine but I was just wondering if anyone had any real world experience. I have never used these long throw lenses.

Long throw lenses typically do reduce the image brightness just because of the optics of the lens and the additional elements necessary in the lens.  From what I can find, the standard lens for the PT-DW5100U has an F that ranges from 1.7 to 2.0 over the zoom range of the lens.  The original long throw lens option for that projector, the ET-DLE410, has an F range of 2.24 to 3.11.  The larger F values mean more light loss.

I would verify it with Panasonic, but the newer ET-DLE450 lens might also work with your projector and with an F of 1.88 to 2.35, would probably have minimal loss.

[Kristian Stevenson]

Thanks for the reply Brad. I was actually going to go with the ET-DLE450 lense as I had read on various websites that it would work with the 5100u. I had tried to find the DLE410 but I couldn't find it at any online retailer.

To compensate for the loss of light in the lense I am considering a Da-lite Pearlescent screen to mount on the gym wall. Da-lite says that screen material is designed to compensate for a lower brightness projector. http://www.fullcompass.com/product/345763.html

[Brad Weber]

Kristian Stevenson wrote on Wed, 24 November 2010 15:42

To compensate for the loss of light in the lense I am considering a Da-lite Pearlescent screen to mount on the gym wall. Da-lite says that screen material is designed to compensate for a lower brightness projector.

This is a generalization but compared to matte white screens, pearlescent screens tend to have a narrower viewing angle and be a a little more susceptible to hot spotting.  They sometimes also exhibit a bit of a color shift and a 'softer' image.  But they do tend to be affected less by ambient light than some other screen surfaces with gain values over 1, which is also what leads to the narrower viewing angle.

[Kristian Stevenson]

So is the pearlescent screen worth it or should I just stick with a matte white?

[Kristian Stevenson]

So we've got a few people concerned about hanging a stationary screen in a gym. They want to go with an electric screen just for the sake of being able to keep it safe, which would cost us a lot more money and install work. Would the stationary screen be "safe" in the gym? It would be mounted about 10 feet up on one end of the court. I could only foresee a stray dodge ball or kick ball hitting it.

[Kristian Stevenson]

To cut costs we have decided to make our on fixed screen. We will buy screen fabric like what we already have for out portable screen and build a border around it to make it more permanent. I was also thinking since the wall is already a dull (non glossy" white, what would it hurt to just shine on the wall??

[Arnold B. Krueger]

Kristian Stevenson wrote on Thu, 16 December 2010 05:38

To cut costs we have decided to make our on fixed screen. We will buy screen fabric like what we already have for out portable screen and build a border around it to make it more permanent. I was also thinking since the wall is already a dull (non glossy" white, what would it hurt to just shine on the wall??

Simply projecting on a painted wall can work pretty well if the wall is a light, neutral color and doesn't have a lot of room light falling on it.

Out back-wall display for cuing the people on the platform is just a section of a cinder block wall that was painted a light brown many years before. We put a maybe 20 foot diagonal picture on it with a 1500 lumen ceiling-mounted  Canon XGA projector. It's in an area that is shaded from window light sources and is very acceptable. The texture of the wall is not noticeable given that it can't be seen from the main floor from less than about 60 feet away.

Screens made of specially-formulated regular interior house paint on smooth surfaces such as finished drywall are favored by many videophiles. If you search google you can find recommendations for formulating specific brands of paint at your local home improvement store, along with photographs of actual installations in use.

There are also paints that are specially formulated for the specific purpose. There is a controversy over whether they are worth the extra money.

[Brad Weber]

Just remember that home theatres are typically quite different situations than most churches in terms of viewing area and ambient light.  Viewing area has to be one of the most overlooked aspects with screens and what works well for a deep but narrow space may not work as well for a much wider space where some viewers are further off axis from the screen(s).

How important color rendition is to you can also be a factor.  From experience, Coca-Cola doesn't want to see just a red logo, they want to see Coca-Cola red, so accurate color rendition factors into their projector and screen choices.  I've also had corporate clients that wanted a typical consumer TV with default settings in addition to color matched displays so they could preview ads both as the production company wants them to see them and as typical consumers might see them.  For many churches, this is not a big issue but if you're doing i-mag or if someone may be upset if the church logo color seems a bit off then it could be.