Widescreen Gaming Forum

Im really new to the projector scene, I have never owned one before, Im hoping you guys can help me out with a odd setup.

The primary use of this setup will be for Desktop and Gaming.
So my current setup is 3 Dell 3008 30" monitors at 7680x1600. running on 3 GTX480s.

Im thinking about trying a similar setup with 3 1080p projectors to get 5760x1080. My biggest fear is that the images wont look as bright or as sharp as Im use to, by that I mean the transition from LCD monitor to LCD projector. I would also like to keep the projection size small, around 30" or so each.

I would really want to try the Panasonic PT-AE4000, I just don't know if its bright enough. Although I can have the distance of the projectors relatively close to the screens, shouldn't that keep it bright?

That brings me to another question about rear or front projection, Which is best for my setup?
And what type of screen should I use for the best picture? I can keep the lights low and sunlight out. I may eventually go curved, but there are so many different types of materials its mind blowing, and I would rather not spend $3000 for some of that fancy Black Diamond stuff, that's just too much for me.

I posted this over at AVSforums as well to see what they thought.

Im really new to the projector scene, I have never owned one before, Im hoping you guys can help me out with a odd setup.

The primary use of this setup will be for Desktop and Gaming.
So my current setup is 3 Dell 3008 30" monitors at 7680x1600. running on 3 GTX480s.

Im thinking about trying a similar setup with 3 1080p projectors to get 5760x1080. My biggest fear is that the images wont look as bright or as sharp as Im use to, by that I mean the transition from LCD monitor to LCD projector. I would also like to keep the projection size small, around 30" or so each.

I would really want to try the Panasonic PT-AE4000, I just don't know if its bright enough. Although I can have the distance of the projectors relatively close to the screens, shouldn't that keep it bright?

That brings me to another question about rear or front projection, Which is best for my setup?
And what type of screen should I use for the best picture? I can keep the lights low and sunlight out. I may eventually go curved, but there are so many different types of materials its mind blowing, and I would rather not spend $3000 for some of that fancy Black Diamond stuff, that's just too much for me.

I posted this over at AVSforums as well to see what they thought.

The ultimate trade-off with surround projection is it'll never be as crisp, sharp or bright as what you are used to. IN my particular setup the contrast is lower than I'd like but that has a lot to do with the screen material I'm using which is just raw canvas paint drop cloth from Home Depot.

The distance you mount the projectors from the screen rally is only dictated by the lens throw of the projectors you use. Give serious though to 0.5:1 or 0.6:1 short-throw lens when looking at specs else you're going to be really disappointed with the projection size you end up with.

My suggestion is short-throw lens front projection. Do you have room to burn by doing rear projection? IE: 5-10 foot of dead area behind the screen?

For your best results always black out the room. That ensures that no matter what quality of projector you use you are getting the best contrast you can with your particular hardware.

Agreed, home theater enthusiasts often lose track of the larger picture when it comes to building a screen. The answer is not always to blindly throw money at the issue and hope the marketing techno babble isn't just big word to make the product seem important for you to buy. I'd seriously just go onto ebay and buy in bulk a roll of 4-ply fiberglass screen material. You're going to need to buy in bulk if you for multi-projector anyways because most places don't sell odd sized screen required by your needs.

_________________
Brad Hawthorne
Product Manager
Nthusim Pty. Ltd. | www.nthusim.com

The ultimate trade-off with surround projection is it'll never be as crisp, sharp or bright as what you are used to. IN my particular setup the contrast is lower than I'd like but that has a lot to do with the screen material I'm using which is just raw canvas paint drop cloth from Home Depot.

The distance you mount the projectors from the screen rally is only dictated by the lens throw of the projectors you use. Give serious though to 0.5:1 or 0.6:1 short-throw lens when looking at specs else you're going to be really disappointed with the projection size you end up with.

My suggestion is short-throw lens front projection. Do you have room to burn by doing rear projection? IE: 5-10 foot of dead area behind the screen?

For your best results always black out the room. That ensures that no matter what quality of projector you use you are getting the best contrast you can with your particular hardware.

Agreed, home theater enthusiasts often lose track of the larger picture when it comes to building a screen. The answer is not always to blindly throw money at the issue and hope the marketing techno babble isn't just big word to make the product seem important for you to buy. I'd seriously just go onto ebay and buy in bulk a roll of 4-ply fiberglass screen material. You're going to need to buy in bulk if you for multi-projector anyways because most places don't sell odd sized screen required by your needs.

I might be able to pull off 5 feet in the back of the screen to try rear projection, but if Im not looking for a massive size at the moment, could the projector be moved closer to the screen? to make maybe 40" per screen.
I have up to 13 feet to play with for front projection. But I dont know which of the two is going to give me the best image quality. Does moving the projector closer to the screen and making the image smaller increase the image quality? Im assuming the lamp brightness would have to be adjusted to compensate for the closer distance?
I guess to simplify the question, What would happen if I only gave the projector 3 feet from the back of the screen to try and create a nice 30" to 40" image?
I know in order to get 60-100" the projector will have to be further back.

I might be able to pull off 5 feet in the back of the screen to try rear projection, but if Im not looking for a massive size at the moment, could the projector be moved closer to the screen? to make maybe 40" per screen.
I have up to 13 feet to play with for front projection. But I dont know which of the two is going to give me the best image quality. Does moving the projector closer to the screen and making the image smaller increase the image quality? Im assuming the lamp brightness would have to be adjusted to compensate for the closer distance?
I guess to simplify the question, What would happen if I only gave the projector 3 feet from the back of the screen to try and create a nice 30" to 40" image?
I know in order to get 60-100" the projector will have to be further back.

Yes, the dpi of the projected image would increase as would the lumens per square inch also. Projecting a 30-40" image makes the piont of projector use prety much moot. Might as well go with 40" 1080p HDTV panels or 40" video wall panels then. The easiest way to really figure out how a projector will behave is to go to Projector Centeral website and use their Projector Calculator Pro. It takes the mystery out of most all projectors on the market and shows exactl what they're capable of.

_________________
Brad Hawthorne
Product Manager
Nthusim Pty. Ltd. | www.nthusim.com

Yes, the dpi of the projected image would increase as would the lumens per square inch also. Projecting a 30-40" image makes the piont of projector use prety much moot. Might as well go with 40" 1080p HDTV panels or 40" video wall panels then. The easiest way to really figure out how a projector will behave is to go to Projector Centeral website and use their Projector Calculator Pro. It takes the mystery out of most all projectors on the market and shows exactl what they're capable of.

That calculator thing is pretty cool. i guess im going to have to try this setup out and see if it works or not. The tricky part is picking a screen. What is the "gain" of a screen? I would like to try both rear and front projection, and recommendations on type, brand, and stuff to try?

[quote]

Yes, the dpi of the projected image would increase as would the lumens per square inch also. Projecting a 30-40" image makes the piont of projector use prety much moot. Might as well go with 40" 1080p HDTV panels or 40" video wall panels then. The easiest way to really figure out how a projector will behave is to go to Projector Centeral website and use their Projector Calculator Pro. It takes the mystery out of most all projectors on the market and shows exactl what they're capable of.

That calculator thing is pretty cool. i guess im going to have to try this setup out and see if it works or not. The tricky part is picking a screen. What is the "gain" of a screen? I would like to try both rear and front projection, and recommendations on type, brand, and stuff to try?

Home Theater entheusiasts tend to be the ones that focus on that type of thing. The technical aspect side of screen material has never been something I bother with. My plan is just to use standard 1.0 gain on my setup when I swap out screen materials on my current setup. The way I see it, it's jsut material stretched to a frame that needs to be uniform and do decent with blacks and not have hot spots. Entheusiasts go nuts about all of that and will argue for years at a time their own little special theories about all that stuff in circular arguements. I'd just go onto ebay and pick up 4-ply fiberglass screen material by the roll.

_________________
Brad Hawthorne
Product Manager
Nthusim Pty. Ltd. | www.nthusim.com