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Widescreen
Review's New State-Of-The-Art Reference Theatre At
New Facility
This is Part V of a series of articles on the
design, development, and execution of a new
state-of-the-art Reference Holosonic™ Home
Theatre Laboratory at WSR's new office facility in
Temecula, California (north of San Diego, southeast
of Los Angeles), that serves as Widescreen Review's
and Surround Music.net's review laboratory. Part I
appeared in Issue 48. Part VII will conclude in
Issue 53 (October 2001).
As defined in previous parts of this series, the
size of the room was determined by the requirements
for optimal audio reproduction using truly
full-range loudspeakers that were time- and
phase-correct, and measurably accurate throughout
the full 20 Hz to 20 kHz range. (See the review of
the "Dunlavy Signature Series SC-V Full Range
Loudspeaker, HRCC Center Channel Loudspeaker, TSW-V
Tower Subwoofer & SM-I Studio Monitor - A
No-Compromise Reference Holosonic Home Theatre
System" in this issue.) This set the parameters of
the "sweet spot" listening and "viewing" position
(which optimally should be one-in-the-same). Once
determined, I used a factor of "listening distance
divided by two" (or conversely "screen width times
two") to determine what the "optimal" screen width
should be for the highest picture resolution using
9-inch CRT projectors in a mirrorless rear
projection setup with a seven-foot-wide screen.
That puts our "eyes in the chair" position at
14-feet from the screen, which produces a desired
30-degree viewing angle in the WSR Reference
Holosonic Home Theatre Lab using a Stewart
Filmscreen AeroView 100® rear projection
screen. As previously stated in Part IV and other
past WSR issues, home theatre installations often
don't look really good because the real capability
of the projector was ignored. Too often, home
theatres are built with screens far wider than
seven-feet, and this presents a light output
problem for CRT-based projectors, not to mention a
dimming of performance long-term. If you want a
much wider screen size, then a high-output
DLP™ or D-ILA® projector would be a better
choice. However, I opted for CRT projectors,
because this technology still provides the best
picture quality with the richest color and blacks.
Since the magazine is "the essential home theatre
resource" for reviews of picture and sound quality
relating to DVD and HDTV formats, as well as the
equipment to deliver the video and audio of those
formats, I insisted on optimizing the parameters
necessary for the end result to be truly reference
quality.
Rear Screen vs. Front Screen
As we've indicated in past Widescreen Review
issues, the potential for picture quality in a rear
screen configuration is as good as anything we can
accomplish in front screen. Done right, it will
actually have a slight advantage in contrast ratio
over the front screen configuration, yet still have
all of the picture quality assets associated with a
front screen. After all, the only difference in
mirrorless-based rear-projection is the screen. And
that's just the image advantage. Having the
projector behind the screen has a potential
acoustic advantage. It's easier to control the
noise of the projector, keeping it out of the room.
Unlike most rear screen installations that do not
have the distance necessary between the projector
and screen to accommodate the high-quality
projectors that are used in front screens, I
designed the projection room with plenty of depth
to accommodate the largest, high-quality 9-inch CRT
projectors - 14-feet, 6-inches long x 8-feet wide
interior.
I have always felt that rear screen installations
can be superior to front-projection because of the
slightly better picture and possible improvements
in sound quality. (See Issue 35, November/December
1999, for a more in-depth treatise on rear
projection in the article "The Runco DTV-991RP -
High-Performance 66-Inch Widescreen HDTV Reference
System.")
You can find this complete article in Issue 52 of
Widescreen Review Magazine.
Click here to view issue 52 in the back issue section. |
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