What's the biggest screen a 2000 lumen projector can be effective?
 

I'm looking at 1800-2000 lumen projectors like the sony 885 and 675.

The 675 can do a 300" screen in its specs but we all know that's a lie. With that said what's the optimum screen size for something ~2000 lumens?

I'm looking at 1.2 gain slate screen innovations.

What's the biggest screen a 2000 lumen projector can be effective?
 

I think the degree of light control you have may affect your need. I have a projector rated at 1500 lumens that is probably putting out 1300 in actuality, but in my light controlled room it looks great. Add sunlight and ... I dunno. (My screen is 92 inches, projector rated to 300, and I bet I could comfortably go to 200 and be as bright).

P.S. duh, just realized I have the projector type you were asking about - a Sony VPL-VW285ES. I am not sure why my estimate of lumens differs.

There are (other) sites/forums that specialize in Home Theater. One of them has a thread called "Official Sony VW885ES/VW760ES Owner's Thread".
I am not that sure if I am allowed to post the name of that forum here...but if you do a google search using the name of that thread you will find it. I am certain that someone there can answer any questions about that projector.

I have owned many projectors and realize that lumens specifications can be misleading due to many real life factors. Light control in the room is one of those factors. Also to consider: the screen fabric, screen gain, throw distance, age of bulb, etc.

Good luck!!

The 675 is 1800 lumens, the 885 is the new laser model at 2000 lumens.

You can also check out the site below for more info on those projectors.

Projectorcentral dot com

You are paying Sony the premium to do 4k, HDR, Dolby Vision, e.t.c, properly. These technologies require tremendous brightness. My opinion no more than 2.5m width for proper HDR.

If you want to go for a bigger screen just pay less and get one of the Epson 4k bright models or pay much more for the top JVC or Sony.

All I have seen and demo I would say 100" would be perfect, above 110 you may loose a tab of clarity IMOP.

To the OP:

To find your answer go here:

http://www.projectorcentral.com/Sony...ulator-pro.htm

The projection calculator is interactive. You will have to input the throw distance, screen gain, aspect ratio, size of image that you want.

The calculator is based on obtaining a luminance of 18 foot-lambert on the projection screen. (The foot-lambert is used in the motion picture industry for measuring the luminance of images on a projection screen.)

PS. You can select the other projectors you are considering as well and see the results.

I kind of disagree. The Sonys will have an amazing picture for huge screen sizes, the resolution is not affected as the size increases, especially at 4k.

The big problem with 4k is HDR - which is great - but requires tremendous amount of brightness. Even the mighty big Sony (5000) with 5000 lumens can not do HDR well on a really big screen.

Maybe the only projector that can do this very well for home use is the Barco Thor and there are a few installed in homes. But being realistic the Thor is not really a home projector, just have a look at the size and price. It can though easily light up a huge screen even using HDR.

This is a math problem with a little windage thrown in for good measure.

SMPTE specs between 14 and 22 ft-lamberts as the desired luminance for movie theaters that are light controlled. There are a bunch of different SMPTE specs that don't agree, this the range.
Let's say 20 ft-lamberts because that makes the math easier.

To get ft-lamberts, take the lumen output of the projector and divide it by the screen area in square feet.

For example my 106" diagonal 16:9 screen is 92" x 52" .

Divide each by 12 to get feet, then multiply to get square feet.

7.66 ft x 4.33 ft = 33.2 square feet.



So a 1000 lumen projector would get me 1000/33.2=30 ft-lamberts on my screen.

Conversely, to get 20 ft-lamberts on my screen I would need a projector with an output of 664 lumens.

Now comes the windage. You need to find out what isf calibrators are getting out of the projector you are interested in buying. A lot of these guys hang out @ AVS. Or check with a local isf person. This is a must. Why?

Because the lumen output of most projectors is spec'd uncalibrated.

So you have to fully calibrate the projector. Gamut, greyscale, etc.

Most but not all HID lamp-based projector's light output will drop 50% when you do this.

So your 2000 lumen projector is now a 1000 lumen projector.

Also the bulbs deteriorate 25% over a about 1000 hours, so you have to take that into account.

Need 3D? - roughly double the ft-lamberts needed to account for the loss in the glasses.

So you can work the problem backwards to see how much screen you can handle knowing the calibrated lumen output of the projector you are interested in.

Hope this helps.

Tom