Just moved into a new apt with a buddy and he has a projector w/ a screen. We mounted the projector last night and turned it on to where the screen is right above the fireplace, which is about... 4 feet off the ground. (Do you think this is too high?) Also the picture wasn't HD so it was kinda not great, but the projector is HD ready, we just need an HD cable (preferably... 40 ft or so) anyone know which would be a good bet and where to get it cheapest?

 

an HDMI cable? try http://www.monoprice.com/home/index.asp

 

I have a projector.

Four feet is a bit high, but it's not horrible. It is tiring to be bending 'up' to watch a movie. But it depends on how large your projected image is too.

I suggest just trying it, and see how it goes. Having an image that is too big/high will make you a bit tired/uncomfortable after watching a movie.

- Frank

 

Well we finished creating the screen and mounting it. The only thing that sucks is that we have a fireplace in our apartment that is kinda in the way in the way and in front of the fireplace we have all our entertainment stuff set up (xbox, cable box, stereo, etc...). We got these L brackets and basically have the screen hanging down from the wall and a little in front of the fireplace, so it starts about 3 feet up and goes up to about 9 feet up. But the projector screen is about 4 feet up, and the screen size is 70 inches lol. We watched a couple shows last night and gotta admit it looks pretty good. I will just have to get used to watching the screen a little higher up that I normally watch tv at. All we need now is an HDMI cable for HD picture and we should be ready to go.
I'll post some pics whenever I find my camera so you can gimme your input

 

what size screen would u guys suggest if I wanna go 1080p with a projector and am sitting about 8-9 feet from wall? What gives u the best theater feel without it becoming too big?

 

How you define 'theater feel' depends a lot on where you like to sit in the theater. I like to sit on the closer side, some of my friends like to sit further back.

I sit 2x the screen width back, sitting ~ 12 feet back from a 6 foot horizontal ( ~ 82" 16:9 diagonal ) screen. Sometimes I sit a couple of feet closer, if I am eating above the coffee table, but it's really intense (and not necessarily in a pleasant way.)
You usually focus on horizontal width, because horizontal is 'longer' than vertical, and the 'tiredness' comes from looking back and forth, like sitting too close to a tennis match.

so say, 8.5 feet, you are looking at: 51" horizontal, or 64" diagonal 4:3, or 59" diagonal on 16:9.

3x is where the tv starts looking too small. Any closer than 2x takes practice to watch, imho.
Also imho projector resolution (720 vs 1080, anyway) is not that relevant because if you are sitting close enough to see a notable difference, your eyes are going to pop out of your skull.

- Frank

 

well i have a 61" inch right now at that distance and its not bad but it doesnt feel like ur in the movie lol, at the theaters i sit sit pretty center to the screen a lil bit to the front i would say, i was thinking goin 100" or 92"

 

we are watching the cowboys game :/ right now at 70 inches. The screen is 4 ft off the ground and couches 9 ft away. I think it's pretty good

 

The fire place thing kind of sucks, you gotta get a retracting screen. My buddy has a nice 42" mounted on the wall and then a 103" i believe that drops from the ceiling with the push of a button covering the 42 which is perfect for when you dont want that huge screen. I am looking into getting one now because I never realized how good the picture was and the retracting screens really aren't that expensive

 

Depends on the quality of the screen. Good screens are very pricey. To really go for a cool factor, you should either get an IR controlled screen, or use the DC trigger from either your receiver or projector. Also trade out your light switches for something that allows you to control them via a remote, such as the Lutron Radio RA. Once setup and programmed properly, you will sit down, grab your Universal Remote (note, I said Universal and not Harmony, you want it to work afterall), press On or whatever button you program to turn the system on, and your screen will drop, you projector will turn on as well as the rest of your equipment, and you lights will dim or turn off completely. The systems I have done with this type of setup always have the biggest wow factor. Have another one coming up in a week or so as a matter of fact.

 

i bought some homedics dimmer switches, they only work with incandescent tho right? And is there a way to program a fan that I purchased that already has an RF remote? How easy is it to install those switches? When would I need a 2-way vs a 3-way? Bought the motorized screen the other day, and I'm looking to program my harmony 890 exactly the way u said lol

 

Regarding the fan, if it is RF you can only use the remote it came with. RF is proprietary with the exception of z-wave (which your 890 will work with). Only certain devices are compatible with z-wave. Not sure about the homedic dimmer switches, never worked with them. Are they IR controlled? I believe X10 has z-wave compatible light controls that you could use that would work with your 890 without the need of other devices.

 

Pics?

 

Will have this on tuesday:

http://www.visualapex.com/Panasonic/...The=PT-AE3000U

Setting it up will not be until after December 13th though. We're [meaning hubby and friend] going to build a screen out of white laminate counter top material. 120 inches i believe?

 

I have x10 switches for the lights. It's nice to turn the lights on/off with the remote.

- Frank

 

bump. ^^ ditto.

 

Just installed my 100" screen in the basement and am shopping for a projector.

Any advice/input appreciated, I have no clue what brand to get.

 

My roommate is gonna sell his in within the next week. Doesn't wanna install it again since we are both moving separate places and would rather just have a TV.

 

Have been doing some research on projectors, never knew Epson was da bomb diggety.

http://www.projectorreviews.com/epson/

 

I have an infocus DLP mounted inverted on my ceiling in my basement, ordering my motorized drop down screen for xmas, I have a hospital bedsheet hanging over my curtains for now, works great, it's about an 85" screen, ordering an 80" dropdown that comes with the wireless IR remote, wanted to go bigger but can't due to size limitations of the room, but 80" screen should be more than enough, even 82" is pushing the max width that I can have. Should have pics up soon

 

Got the motorized screen mounted to the ceiling and have an 80" hd screen in the center of my man cave, just got it mounted today and already watched a pens game and 2 movies on it. Pics up in the next day or 2

 

get the pics

 

Sorry, forgot to take pics, I will snap some this weekend

 

Finally took some pics the other night, this is not the finished product as I still plan to paint the 2x4 braces to match the ceiling and rerun the wires to where I want them permanently, but here's my home theatre and 80" motorized TV.



Mounted to ceiling


Pic of screen in motion retracting


The screen, ignore the wall switch and messy wiring, it's only temporarily mounted


Projector mounted to the studs with a cut 2x4 (will be painted to match ceiling, wiring will also be cleaned up more


Inverted








The rest of the man cave, took down pics on this wall to rearrange and run wires


Didn't realize the screen was glaring off the poster frames, but that's how reflective this damn thing is


Let me know what you think

 

Nice. How much effort was it to mount and aim the projector? Did you calibrate it yourself?

Still shopping for mine...

 

It was fine until my friend who sold me the projector started messing with my settings after I had them right where I wanted, then it took me forever to get it back how I wanted, but since I was already familiar with the projector and had it aimed, there wasn't much adjustment that needed done from the hospital sheet that I was using. I used a balljoint mout which pivots 360 and can be adjusted any direction so it makes aiming super easy

 

I was hoping to see more pictures of some more theaters in here. I wasn't going to post since this is just one I installed and not my own. But since the thread has stalled I'll post it.




















this one was just for a size comparison of the screen









The equipment is a Pioneer 6020 60" Plasma, JVC Projector, Stuart motorized drop down screen, Marantz SR7002, LG BDP-370, Velodyne 12" subwoofer in front, Speakercraft in wall subwoofer in the rear with the box mounted in the wall during construction, Triad in-wall speakers all around (these are amazing, top of the line in wall speakers. Cost is over a grand each). Also running Radio Ra switches by Lutron which are RF switches. Everything including the lights are being controlled via RF with the URC MX900. One button press and the whole system turns on, screen drops, lights dim until off, and the floor lights come on. The subwoofer is even controllable by the remote. I have actually become friends with this customer and talked to him about watching Avatar over there when it comes out on Bluray.

Edit: Forgot the chairs are by Salamander which is a great company to deal with. These chairs in total are over 10 grand.

 

 

I wish I had money for a setup like that, my whole setup ran about $500 total.

I really need some of those seats though

 

I still have a JVC HD ILA which I took out of my home in NJ. I can't wait to move into our new house in Cali so I can start my man cave again.

 

JVC gets overlooked by many when it comes to projectors. They are EXCELLENT projectors. I don't know that I have seen a home projector with better image quality yet. they can get quite pricey thought. One drawback to them is they do not have a DC trigger which can be a problem if you are running a powered drop down screen. Most decent receivers will have a DC trigger setting though. The URC remote has discreet codes for DC trigger on and DC trigger off as well as Monitor 1 and Monitor 2. Made implementing the Plasma and Projector in the same system a whole lot easier.

 

Yeah they are nice. They are all manual recliners with the exception of the middle front row seat. Salamander accidentily sent 1 powered chair which is about a grand more I believe. Since they erred they let him just keep the powered chair at no extra cost. Like I said, good company to deal with and some excellent products.

 

Definitely post pics once you do, everyone's gotta have a man cave