In today's How-To we get to play with other people's toys. We upgraded a home theater to a high definition front projection system. We lay it out, set it up, drill holes, nearly die in a Texas attic, and bring home the popcorn.
Our project home theater already has the essentials for taking advantage of a high definition display: a progressive scan DVD player with component video output and a hi-def DISH Network satellite receiver provide a HD video source for the projector.
It may seem counter intuitive, but it's helpful to consider (but not purchase) the screen before choosing a projector. Knowing the size of screen you want in your room will determine where the projector needs to be mounted, and how bright it needs to be. If you're not sure, marking out the dimensions of the screen with some blue masking tape and checking out the view from your seating area can be helpful. Click on to read the rest of this week's How-To!
It's wise to consider the content you intend to view when choosing your screen. 16:9 (the ratio of width to height) is standard for HDTV content as you well know. The widest movies are presented in 2.35:1 format; standard definition television is 4:3. We've drawn these as constant height, just to give a rough idea of the differences. Check out the
Letterbox and Widescreen Advocacy page for a great explanation.
After a few days of debating, the owner of our project theater determined that he wanted a 100 inch diagonal (49 x 87-inch) 16:9 screen.
The projector is the heart of any projection system. We selected the
Panasonic's PT-AE900U high contrast LCD projector. It displays 1280 x 720 resolution and has plenty of inputs (2 component, HDMI, VGA, S-video, etc.) and a great user reputation. The $400 rebate from Panasonic makes it even more attractive to the bargain hunting AV geek.
The screen size you want will determine how far away the projector needs to be mounted. This information is usually found in a table in the projector manual. Calling the manufacturer or downloading the manual is a good way to get this information. According to this table from the manual, the zoom range of the lens allows for a flexible 10 feet 2 inches, to 20 feet 4 inch distance from a 100 inch screen.
Before ordering your screen, we suggest getting your hands on the projector first to test out the size you're considering with a temporary screen (aka bed sheet or wall), and the lighting conditions you intend to use it under. If you can't put up curtains, a brighter room may call for a less reflective (lower gain) screen to get the best picture.
We finally settled on a
Da-Lite Cinema Contour 16:9 100-inch diagonal wall mount screen. This screen has a gain of 1.3 (it will reflect 1.3 times more light than a standard white surface) and comes with a 3-inch wide matte black frame with permanent wall mount brackets.
It's important to keep eye height in mind when mounting a screen. Have a seat and measure how high your eyes are as you look straight ahead.
Subtract 1/3 of the screen height from your eye height. That should be the height of the bottom of your screen. (Add the screen height to that to get the top of screen measurement.) [Update: Quick fix on the math photo. Thanks Dignan17]
Mounting the Da-Lite screen is simple. We used 2 inch drywall screws to mount the upper and lower brackets. Once the first screw is in, use a bubble level to level the screen mount. Thanks to our stud finder, we managed to secure the brackets to three separate studs.
The screen fits over the top bracket, is centered, then the bottom of the frame just pops over the lower bracket for a nice clean installation.
Since the room is about seventeen feet deep, we decided to mount the projector on a shelf. A ceiling mount was an option, but the shelf was easier and cheaper to install for this project. The shelf was leveled and centered on the back wall four inches lower than the top of the screen. The Panasonic can be located off center, but keeping the image centered in the lens will produce the best image. It's important to place the projector as parallel and level to the screen as possible.
Having attic or basement access to run your cables is a must if you want to hide you cables. Just remember that attic space in Texas gets seriously hot later in the day (as we found out). We pulled our cables from an access box near the equipment rack, through the attic, down to our freshly cut hole for the projector.
Once you have access into the wall and through the top or bottom of the stud wall, a wire snake is great for fishing access through the wall. For ease, we pulled a light nylon line through the wall and tied that to our bundle of cables to pull them through the wall down to the plate.
For the DVD player, we made a set of components; for the Satellite receiver, we purchased a 35 foot DVI to HDMI cable. Because the HDMI cable is so thick and lacks any method of securing the cable (dear HDMI designers: what the hell were you thinking?), we cut a new box hole directly behind the future location of the projectors HDMI port. We also pulled the power cable through the wall to the projector -- it's connected to a dedicated outlet installed in the attic.
We had problems getting a component cable in time for the install, so we tried making our own from shielded cat-5 and a set of RCA ends. It can be a challenge getting good solder type connectors, so we sacrificed a prebuilt cable to get a set of color coded, machine terminated connectors.
We used three pairs of the cat-5 for our component cables and left the shielding disconnected. Heat shrink tubing was used to insulate each connection as it was built, and the entire assembly was covered in heat shrink tubing to finish off each cable end. For ease, we finished the other end of the cable after we pulled it through the walls. The final cable performed just as well as our shorter cable, but we suspect a high end cable would provide slightly better video quality.
The adjustment joystick on the Panasonic could be smoother, but with the right touch, you can align the image pretty decently with it. The ring behind the lens zooms the image and rotating the lens itself focuses the image. We wish these controls were electronic, but once it's set, you can forget about it.
Once the projector is connected, powered and aimed, take the time to calibrate it a bit. The
AVIA Guide to Home Theater on DVD is an excellent tool for calibrating the video your projector displays. It's a bit on the Mr. Rogers cheesy side, but it's loaded with test patterns and tones for tuning your setup. Some of it is specific to the older CRT systems, but with it you can calibrate your video to meet NTSC standards. The colored filters (Gels) are used for blocking out the other colors so the levels of red, green and blue can be adjusted individually. Even with the great ratings of the Panasonic AE900U we used, it was very helpful for calibrating contrast and just a bit of color level tweaking.
Finished up, and tweaked with AVIA, we're getting the popcorn and kickin back. It was a hit with everyone, even a uh, friendly scorpion (with claws and stinger) came by to check it out. We kid you not. Texas, man, Texas.
posted May 23rd 2006 at 10:08PM
Reader Comments (Page 1 of 1)
James Brady @ Apr 11th 2008 5:46PM
I like the set up but its missing the home theater seating which is a key attribute to the theater.
This site has some good examples Home Theater Seating
Remember you need to start your first row at least 1.5 times screen width.
James Brady @ Apr 11th 2008 5:48PM
sorry my link did not show up, its here.
http://www.htmarket.com/home-theater-furniture-home-theater-seating.html
Felly @ Aug 12th 2008 3:24AM
This is great news!
http://www.chasetheglow.com
Nishanth @ May 23rd 2006 10:44PM
Nice... very imformative... i could use some of this info because i was planning on building one... thanks...
shirizaki @ May 23rd 2006 10:56PM
I can also account that a projo set up is awesome. Not just for the who theater vibe, but for the portability.
Projector + Halo 2 + break time @ school = awesome.
Everyone is astounded, wants to get in, and folds up in no easy time.
Light interference is a major downside. Also finding a decent wall to use (or finding a decent wall to mount a screen).
Also make sure about what you want to do exactly. I was going to assume that they would go more in depth about adding in a sound system for the total package, but this is good for the beginner. I would totally get one, if I had the space myself.
Brad Sagowitz @ May 23rd 2006 10:58PM
I have the AE500 ( I love it) and have been eyeing the AE900. I wouldn't waste my money on the DA-Lite though as a great alternative exists (apart from building one.) I have a Carada screen and payed 1/2 of what a comparable DA-Lite or Stewart screen would cost. The guy I spoke with when ordering was great and I love the way it looks (felt border instead of flat black). The thing took longer to pack then to put together. www.carada.com if interested.
ron guancione @ May 23rd 2006 11:02PM
I have 2 projectors, one 720p lcd like the one here and one 9" crt, engadget seems like some smart people they should know about crt's amazing picture, but i guess they wanted ease of setup...
Nacho @ May 23rd 2006 11:44PM
It's very noticeable the differenc before and after AVIA?
Good post
Ben Hobbs @ May 23rd 2006 11:53PM
Not sure about the whole making component cables out of Cat-5, Shouldnt really have place on a how to about home cinema.
Just go out and buy some cables, dont bodge up some cables and rush it.
The PTAE-900 is a nice projector though.
Special_K @ May 24th 2006 12:03AM
Sorry if I might have skipped over it in the FA, but what was the total cost with tax and the total time taken?
Todd Trowbridge @ May 24th 2006 12:10AM
How is MAKING your own cables rushing? Last time I checked it's faster to buy some cables then it is to make them.
Todd
pat @ May 24th 2006 12:26AM
That's pretty cool.
I'm contemplating a home theater myself, personally I'd rather wait for 1080p projectors to become a bit more mainstream and cheaper though.
I'll probably wait a few years until I move to do this, because I currently live in central texas, and I rather use a basement... and basements are pretty sparse due to the limestone.
That's not a bad setup though
Ben Hobbs @ May 24th 2006 1:07AM
Todd,
Have you read the article?
"We had problems getting a component cable in time for the install, so we tried making our own from shielded cat-5 and a set of RCA ends"
Sorry, but using Cat-5 in this way is a bodge, why couldnt they go down to the shops and buy some proper 15m Components. If you're going to be setting up a permanent cable run, through the attic etc... then why do a bad job, why not use the proper cables. And get a HDMI cable up there at the same time.
Fire Hazard @ May 24th 2006 2:09AM
i live in texas and trust me the scorpions are not friendly. I did the front projection thing but i did mine getto style, I just nailed a white sheat to the wall for use as a screen and my toshiba project has to sit upside down on the shelf. other then that it is great. I play xbox 360 mostly project gotham racing 3, i got a 6 min 30 second at nurburg (the original pgr2 version) with a manual trans enzo, woot! Halo 2 is also fun on the big screen.
David Oster @ May 24th 2006 2:52AM
I did a similar system, except that I used short copper HDMI cable for the DVD player: I just put it on a shelf near the projector, and ran a single long fiber optic cable from it to the front of the room where the audio amp was already installed.
Many Pixar and Lucasfilm DVDs have a calibration section under the "Setup" item on the disk's menu, so you don't need to buy anything additional if you have one of those around.
Tips: DVDs have 5.1 sound, and having 5.1 audio makes a huge difference in the perceived quality of the image. Also, movies are balanced to be watched by dark-adapted eyes, so make sure that you can darken your home theater room.
oZpublic @ Jun 17th 2007 9:27PM
hey
are you that ghost guy?
CB @ May 24th 2006 4:08AM
Got the 900 myself just mounted it on a wall TV mount and painted the whole opposite wall with screen paint, running a picture at around 14ft across, looks frekin amazin running WMV-HD clips (can't play the full DVD's cos Microsh1te block them outside the states) every person who comes to watch it says I they go home and their 42 inch plasma looks like a 14inch portable...:)
Dov @ May 24th 2006 5:57AM
11 - those setup menus on Pixar (and I think also on Lucasfilm) movies are meant to tune your equipment for the particular audio and video of that movie. I don't think they're intended as an all-encompassing tweaking solution.
- Dov
El Froggo @ May 24th 2006 6:53AM
Cool - I like this setup a lot.
But practically can anyone offer me advice on a decent A/V setup in a 2 bedroom shoebox in central London?
Barley @ May 24th 2006 8:33AM
El Froggo -
I have a front projection setup in my apartment. I mounted the projector to the ceiling and have a screen hanging from the ceiling that rolls down. I built the screen using two small-diameter pipes and blackout cloth so that when it is rolled up it is only about 2 inches in diameter. It is easy to remove from the ceiling and put behind a bookcase or such, but I don't usually bother.
I used the shielded CAT5 cable because I can't run cable through the walls and the narrow CAT5 is much easier to run along the corners of the walls than component cable.
Dignan17 @ May 24th 2006 8:39AM
Nice guide, Will. If I had a dark basement room to put a front projection system in I'd probably use your guide.
One mistake, though: when you talk about how high to place the screen, you show a white board equation, and then say "Subtract 1/3 of the screen height from your eye height." Sorry to point this out, but the image shows it the other way around. If you followed the equation in the image, it would most likely result in a negative number...unless you had a reeeeeally big screen.
Besides, I think screen hight is more of a personal preference. I like my screens a little lower. What I can't understand for the life of me is those damn home improvement shows that talk about these great "home theaters" they're building in a new house, and they put a plasma TV over a fireplace, five feet from the floor. What's that all about? Do people actually like straining their necks like that?
Jason Billings @ May 24th 2006 8:49AM
Came across this site...some great customer pics of project home theater setups...
http://www.projectorbundles.com/index.asp?PageAction=Custom&ID=1
Racekarl @ May 24th 2006 9:03AM
Running the power cable for the projector through the wall like that is a violation of the National Electical Code. When the homeowner goes to sell that house, any decent home inspector will jump on that.
Storm9 @ May 24th 2006 9:58AM
You know instead of spending 1,000 on a screen why not just paint the wall matte white? for like 1% of the cost of a screen?
Or if you are a videophile u can use screen goo for $200.
andy @ May 24th 2006 10:11AM
brad (#3): how do you figure carada screens are 1/2 the price? it loooks like a high contrast grey screen in 110" inch is shipped for about $840, da-lite perm-wall high contrast cinema vision 110" is around $640 if purchased from the right dealer. just wondering if you have a better source on pricing?
storm9 and others talking about screen materials: what is deceiving to most people now is that you can get a high-lumen, high-contrast projector for dirt cheap. you can throw that image on a wall or crappy screen (or bed sheet i guess) and it looks ok. but after setting up 20-25 theaters, the screen material chosen is one of the most important things. i wish you all could do a side-by-side of a crappy screen/wall/bed sheet and a good screen. the good screen will take your theater to a whole new level!
Jason Billings @ May 24th 2006 10:37AM
A Great screen makes a huge difference which is not realized until you set it up side-by-side with Goo or a plain while flat paint. Even signficant differences with screens such as Steward, Da-Lite or Carada. In my quest for the right screen, I went with a Severtson ultra-contrast Screen which cost me a bit less than the competition, but no less qualtiy.
Max @ May 24th 2006 10:55AM
I second spending good money on a screen. There's a huge difference between the $200-$500 Da-Lites and say a Stewart Firehawk. A good screen will increase contrast and perceived lumens. And you'll be much more likely to upgrade your projector before you need to upgrade a screen.
PiNPOiNT @ May 24th 2006 11:04AM
http://www.projectorcentral.com/
best projector info website ever.
they also have a wicked calulator for setting up your screen and projector options.
http://www.projectorcentral.com/projection-calculator-pro.cfm
tim @ May 24th 2006 12:28PM
Looks pretty sweet except...
Bad idea on using cat 5 for component. Component is a 75 ohm controled impedance system. That mean that the impedance of the cable to high frequency video signals needs to be constant. Since component is analog, youg et reflections on the cable and more than minor picture degradation. It makes absolutely no sense to buy an 720p projetor, buy a screen, and then make video cable this way. If you are going to splice in something, at least use proper 75 ohm cable. Then you only have the discontinuity where you make the splice. Not connecting the shield also is bad, as the shield around a conductor at a fixed distance is what controls the impedance.
Might be OK as a temporary soluttion to get you upa nd running, but if you are running cables through the attic and wall, it isn't the way to go.
Adam @ May 24th 2006 2:30PM
Also, if you don't want to worry about ambient light, check out the Visage.
http://www.screeninnovations.com/
These things are amazing. I've got on of their Reference Models, and blows away "goo" or paint based setups. When you spend over $7K on your setup, you don't cheese out at the last bit, #20.
Bill @ May 24th 2006 2:49PM
Had this exact setup, tho spent the extra money on the cables instead of spending 300 dollars on a screen. I went down to home depot and bought a 6x4 ft sheet of white vinyl flooring for 7 bux. They had glossy or matt finish. I hung it with a few finishing nails. Beautiful.
macona @ May 24th 2006 3:38PM
Another cheape alternative to the Panasonic projector is the InFocus sp-5000. It does not have the high contrast ratio of the panasonic but for $600 less including a 76" screen its a heck of a deal. Still 1280*720 at 1100lumens 1:1200 CR it makes a great picture. I have hanging from a aluminum shelf permanently connected to my old MacMini with DVI and connected to my Onkyo 7.1 reciever via component. Beleieve me, no one has ever complained about the picture.
jose @ May 24th 2006 3:54PM
This was incredibly informative, and really well written! Thanks to Will and engadget!
XioPod @ May 24th 2006 4:33PM
go DIY! http://www.lumenlab.com/
I built my own projector and love it! 1024x768 130" image
Robert @ May 24th 2006 5:20PM
I must strongly agree with #19's post. If there is a fire the insurance company may not cover your losses, also it will violate any rental agreement you might have. It would be much safer to have an outlet made on the cieling or wall next to the projector (or behinf your flat panel monitor/TV).
Bill Alvini @ May 24th 2006 5:28PM
I install theaters like this professionaly. If you have the skills to do it yourself then you are in for a great home theater experience. I highly recommend building a media center PC to anchor the whole thing and good speakers are a must. Small sound and a big screen don't go together well. If you live in southeast PA look me up. www.alvinihometech.com
kakarot @ May 24th 2006 9:54PM
hmm, probably after this and next project, I will build a projector
kirkintexas @ May 25th 2006 9:52AM
uhh....where did you plug in the power??? In the attic? Or did you put an outlet near the roof?
Bob @ May 25th 2006 12:58PM
I have done something similar. For 1/3 the cost of a plasma, I have a 100" screen and a Sanyo Z2 projector.
Here are some photos:
http://www.flickr.com/photos/31983619@N00/134393991/
If you have the space, a projector is the way to go. I went to see a movie in the movie theater last weekend after not going for 8 months and after building the HT. My picture and sound were highly superior and for the cost of one movie ticket, I can get a month's worth of DVDs from Netflix.
David Farmer @ May 28th 2006 9:52AM
Yes, the cat 5 job is bad. You should use RG6 Coax cable, with readily available RCA screw on converters. It is cheap, easy to pull, and does an awesome job on long runs.
Will O'Brien @ May 30th 2006 11:13AM
Before everyone gets touchy about wiring...
For temporary use, the flexable wire running through the wall is acceptable. As soon as the electrician visits, the projector will have a dedicated outlet on the wall at the shelf. - Interestingly, to the fire inspector I spoke with, it's the same as running through a drop ceiling, and LOTS of places do that.
Peter Kingma @ Jun 11th 2006 7:02PM
I tried to find 1080p projectors, but they seem very rare. The max. resolution seems to be 720p or xga. Why are there plenty lcd-monitors in (w)sxga and (w)uxga and no such projectors? Am I right, and if so, is there an upcoming trend to change the situation?
White @ Jun 28th 2009 7:22PM
This is a very good artical. For your information, you can find excellent home theater projection screen deal at the following website: www.professionalav.com
White @ Jun 28th 2009 7:24PM
here are the websites again, you can find some excellent deals on their home theater screens and mounts.
http://www.professionalav.com,
http://www.av-products.com
Jon @ Sep 5th 2006 3:37PM
My (on the cheap) home theater has consisted of an old LCD projector, a Costco surround sound system and a blank wall in the living room for about a year. I got the projector free when a local business closed up.
I have just taken some pictures off of the wall and shown movies on the wall. It worked pretty well.
Last week I found an old movie screen at a garage sale. It is the kind that rolls down. I just screwed a couple of hooks into the attic joists.
Wow! Big difference! The picture is great and looks much brighter. Instead of messing around I would suggest just look for an old movie screen. If you wanted to you could even cut the screen material to size and mount it in your own frame.
Tech @ Aug 1st 2009 1:10PM
Build Complete custom HD BluRay Home Theater for Cheap. Serious 1080p Entertainment, Featureful
http://www.taranfx.com/blog/?p=1519
e-gafly @ Apr 24th 2007 12:17PM
Forgive my beginner's comment, but I'm curious about whether I should pick a video projection system or a flat screen. I imagine it has a lot to do with the size of the room. But doesn't video projection lose a lot of its color if I have it in a room with a lot of window light available?
The other valuable article I've read -- Shelly’s ”Building a Great Home Theater System” -- goes into this from several sides, but dismisses video projection as inferior.
Lemme know.
egadfly @ Apr 26th 2007 2:08PM
sorry everyone.
I got email asking where that "Building a Great Home Theater System" was located:
http://www.dvrplayground.com/article/14907/Building-a-Great-Home-Theater-System/
and thanks in advance for answers to my questions!