Now that I'm moving to a house with a basement and a dedicated home theater area, I'm wanting to move to a larger screen. I'm currently running a 106" DIY black-out-cloth screen with my Sony VPL-AW15. I'm wanting to go to a bigger screen, something between 120 and 133 inches, but that's probably going to be pushing it since the AW15 is not exceptionally bright.

My question is, how should I place the projector to maximize brightness? The Sony has a large zoom range, and I know there is a relationship between the zoom and the brightness, but I'm not sure how it works.

If I'm going with a 120" screen, will I have a brighter picture when I have the projector as close to the screen as possible, or as far away as possible? Intuitively, I would think that it should be as close as possible, but I would like to know for sure.

I'll probably be getting a Dalite High Power screen eventually, but in the meantime I may just use a painted screen.

Thanks!

The closer to the screen the brighter your image will be but the less sharp it will appear. Stick to somewhere right around halfway and get one of the paint formulas on AVSForum in the DIY screen section like S-I-L-V-E-R or the formulas that have since taken it's place.

A sheet of WilsonArt Designer White laminate runs about $100 or less and will look good too.

Check out this site...
Sony BRAVIA VPL-AW15 Projection Calculator - Throw Distance and Screen Size
Scroll down & you'll find an interactive calculator that lets you play with things like screen size, zoom length, distance, screen gain, etc.
Might be helpful.

In general the farther away the PJ from the screen the higher the contrast ratio, but the dimmer the picture. It is a trade off.

Wow, thanks for all the quick responses. That's the exact information I was looking for!

Also there is a trade off between cost brightness and contrast. Usually your best home theater projecters in terms of resolution and contrast will have a lower brightness level. You really need a dark room for home theater. Compare this unit to yours.

Amazon.com: Sony BRAVIA VPL-VW70 Full HD 1080p 3 SXRD VW Series Home Theater Projector: Electronics

Same brand 5 times the contrast resolution, more than twice the resolution, price just lowered to around 5 times your set's cost and the rated ansi lumen is 25% less.

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Yes, I'm deaf.

Brightness is a realative term too... Some quote their brightness based on the maximum possible settings and others base it on an average calibrated picture. So, one projector could be rated brighter than another and still be dimmer by the time you dial in the proper colors.