Projector screen setup

[Moviela]

I too had considered making my living room as a theater but i realized various problems and dropped the idea.

• There is too much of sunlight and very large sliding windows. I hate curtains in a projector set up.
  
• If one has to go in kitchen then has to cross the living room. There will be too much of food odour from kitchen.
  
• There are maintenance issues of gadgets in living room.
  
• The shape of the living room is very odd (L shape).
  
• If someone is at the main door, he has access to the movie and has to be paused.
  
• The neighbor's flat owner talks sometime too loudly when someone is at their door, so their conversation sweeps into the living room.
  
• In living room there are over 51% of the contents which have got nothing to do with the private theatre.
  
• It is near to impossible in having a carpet in common area such as living room.
  
• 2 A/C's would be required in a living room and the worst is i could not do away with the 3 fan's.
  
• It is impossible to set a 5.1 in living room and i did not want to abuse a movie by using 2.1
  
• It is also impossible to get the acoustics done in a living room.
  
• Many more reasons

The most important is that a living room can never beat a higher end dedicated room for movies or projector related activities.

On the other hand i truly understand and appreciate the reasons to why many of them have a theater set up in their living room due to lack of space etc.

V

I don't agree with some of your objections. Blackout curtins are common in theaters. There is drapery used on walls and in front of the screen for decorative and sound control purposes.

I have never thought food as having an odour, rather an aroma. Perhaps a bit of instruction and enlightenment of kitchen staff can help. Some theaters actually vent the popcorn cooker aroma into the auditorium to get people in the mood to buy some.

If a person is at the door and the movie must be stopped, what kind of movie are you screening?

It is not impossible to have carpet in a living room. I insist on it. A good polyester or wool blend plush pile carpet is wonderful under the feet and marvelous to cut down undesired sound reflections.

Air Con is just flat needed. Fans will not do. Might as well take them out now and install a decent 2 piece A/C system. The temperature must be 21~22C at 45~55% RH. Keep in mind this comfort is not for you, it is for the equipment and furnishings. If you happen to enjoy it, thats nice, but it is really for the equipment to enjoy a long trouble free life.

I like 7.1 systems too, and it is not at all difficult to install in a living room. There are ways to hide the requisite wiring with mouldings, carpet (see why carpet is good?), drapery, sound control foam, or in hollow walls.

A dedicated space for a home theater is not without problems. It causes a territorial reaction in women, and they begin to store items only a woman would keep in line of sight of your screen. If a cricket test should be displayed on the screen they will start vacuuming back and forth, dusting, mopping, and talking. There will be water filled flower vases on top of your amplifier, and should you be enjoying a proper action movie, every ten minutes the door will swing wide, the lights will come on full, then she will inquire in a tone that could mean trouble; "Does it have to be that loud?
"Turn it down!"

Please don't take offense, I am just mixing a little advice with some fun.

 

[rshri]

A dedicated space for a home theater is not without problems. It causes a territorial reaction in women, and they begin to store items only a woman would keep in line of sight of your screen. If a cricket test should be displayed on the screen they will start vacuuming back and forth, dusting, mopping, and talking. There will be water filled flower vases on top of your amplifier, and should you be enjoying a proper action movie, every ten minutes the door will swing wide, the lights will come on full, then she will inquire in a tone that could mean trouble; "Does it have to be that loud?
"Turn it down!" .

LOL! I thought this was happening only to me
I guess we all are in same boat:lol:

 

[canchi]

Here is a simple set-up that I did in my dedicated HT room:
The Digicomp Screen ( Local make) is a manual pull down 10x8 ft (Cost me 9k with free installation). You could pull it down as little or as much as you want the image to fit, For ex:, the PS3 puts up an image that has more height as compared to say an english movie on the same BD drive.



More pics in this old thread


The PJ is an LG LED HS201-JE model, works well in the dark. Initially it was table mounted, recently have wall mounted it at a ht of 7 ft with a stand purchased from ebay for approx 1k, local carpenter charged Rs 200 to mount it !



Cheers

 

[vinay]

Neo,

It is a proven fact that acoustics treatment does make a good difference to the room of which now you too are clearly aware.

To be more clearer you can carry your set up to some one's place who has a treated room and you can instantly come to know how much better is the difference between your room and the treated room.

V

I've been listening to quite a number of demos at number of showrooms and I'm kind of frustrated that I dont get to hear the same sound at my home ...so I'm know thinking of investing in some acoustic treatment and hoping it will make a difference..will if it fits the budget

so Vinay, you're right in that way, to make one time investment in these matters...if you know 100% for sure it does make a difference..

 

[vinay]

Moviela,

Thank you very much for the writing.

In my case i was completely against of having any window or curtains in my theatre area therefore i dropped the idea of living room. About the food odour you are right.

The kind of acoustic treatment i was suggested and which i did in my Mini theatre would have not been viable at all in my living room and the cost would have doubled. About drapery being used on the walls etc, i never knew of such a thing, thanks for the idea.

As and when someone is at the door, the movie will have to be stopped because at time's it will take a few minutes to finish up with him and un-necessary it invites attention of a high end theatre room to them and at those times the room cooling gets effected with the door being open. Furthermore the persons in kitchen or room have to come out every now and then for some work, so each time they have to open and close these doors, etc so these things cause a lot of distraction.

Furthermore if i had the theatre in my living room then the people who are working with me would often want to watch the movie in parts etc and it would be difficult for me to keep them away and my work would suffer etc.

I did not want to have carpet in a living room because it would increase the cost much more and the maintenance would be a much higher hassle compared to the carpet in a dedicated theatre room.

Further as my living room is a bigger area and that would mean more cooling and more expensive gadget to fill the sound etc. I would not like to do away with the fans i am having in my living room and go only for A/C, because i feel it is not good to always be in a closed room for nothing at all.

I have seen you earlier interesting writing too about the A/c being not mainly for us but for the equipments and we can too enjoy the comfort of a cool room. I had a question to ask you that in the recent months i have started keeping my Mini Theatre's A/c on 24 X 7 with a set temperature of 26C, is there any sort of risk in terms of fire and related and also do guide me with the precautions i need to take. Further i am much more worried if i am going out of the house for a few hours and yet the A/c is running with no one at home.

Looking forward to hear from you.

V

I don't agree with some of your objections. Blackout curtins are common in theaters. There is drapery used on walls and in front of the screen for decorative and sound control purposes.

I have never thought food as having an odour, rather an aroma. Perhaps a bit of instruction and enlightenment of kitchen staff can help. Some theaters actually vent the popcorn cooker aroma into the auditorium to get people in the mood to buy some.

If a person is at the door and the movie must be stopped, what kind of movie are you screening?

It is not impossible to have carpet in a living room. I insist on it. A good polyester or wool blend plush pile carpet is wonderful under the feet and marvelous to cut down undesired sound reflections.

Air Con is just flat needed. Fans will not do. Might as well take them out now and install a decent 2 piece A/C system. The temperature must be 21~22C at 45~55% RH. Keep in mind this comfort is not for you, it is for the equipment and furnishings. If you happen to enjoy it, thats nice, but it is really for the equipment to enjoy a long trouble free life.

I like 7.1 systems too, and it is not at all difficult to install in a living room. There are ways to hide the requisite wiring with mouldings, carpet (see why carpet is good?), drapery, sound control foam, or in hollow walls.

A dedicated space for a home theater is not without problems. It causes a territorial reaction in women, and they begin to store items only a woman would keep in line of sight of your screen. If a cricket test should be displayed on the screen they will start vacuuming back and forth, dusting, mopping, and talking. There will be water filled flower vases on top of your amplifier, and should you be enjoying a proper action movie, every ten minutes the door will swing wide, the lights will come on full, then she will inquire in a tone that could mean trouble; "Does it have to be that loud?
"Turn it down!"

Please don't take offense, I am just mixing a little advice with some fun.

 

[neo9999]

Vinay and Moviela - Are you implying that the theatre room A/C needs to be On throughout? irrespective of not using the devices......if its a dedicated theatre room, meaning only to be used for watching movies or listening to music, wouldnt the usage of a/c during those times be sufficient?..just wanted to know, since the overall cost of electricity usage would be substantial over period of time...just my two cents..

 

[Kevian]

I had a question to ask you that in the recent months i have started keeping my Mini Theatre's A/c on 24 X 7 with a set temperature of 26C, is there any sort of risk in terms of fire and related and also do guide me with the precautions i need to take. Further i am much more worried if i am going out of the house for a few hours and yet the A/c is running with no one at home.

I am very sorry Vinay Sir. But this is sheer waste of energy . Please don't get me wrong, I am sure that you are a responsible citizen of earth. Use a timer or a 5 mins window time before you use your theater.

Kevian

 

[aloklala]

I do not agree that the AC should be kept on throughout the day (and night). I turn it on in my HT room when I enter it and the room cools down in a few minutes. The HT room is usually so insulated that it retains all the cool and th eAC is on Autocut most of the time! Also I am afraid of Short Curcuit etc. if it is on when I am not in the room to control the situation.

 

[manoj.p]

I have no AC in my theater. Have owned the equipment for 6 year. Sometimes the projector, player, receiver, amp + subs is running for 7 hrs continuous. No equipment has failed so far.

I think most of the equipment is designed to have certain operating temperature. Most are upto 45 deg c or something. Check it out for your equipment and then decide. all the locations have different temps. Just judge how much cooling power is needed and go with it.

Equipment is not live things. They don't need cooling when its all switched off. No heat generated, no cooling needed.

 

[neo9999]

Manoj,

If you;re in the US, which I'm presuming from your location, the temperature issue won't come up in most cases since -

1) temperatures are usually never above 30-35 degrees C most of the time, unless you;re in Florida or bayarea side.
2) you have less issues with dust collecting unlike india.

I have also used equipments in the Us and i used to find myself spending less time in maintaining/cleaning.

Whereas in India, when i have used equipments for short period of time, I do remember spending time quite frequently in cleaning, making sure temperature is not so hot etc..I'm presuming this experience is faced by people in most parts.

So keeping the room cool would def help in my opinion but for how long is question.

 

[neo9999]

Generic question - wall mounting (at the top) or ceiling mounting? is there any difference or advantage in doing either option? Or its just personal preference?

 

[manoj.p]

Manoj,

If you;re in the US, which I'm presuming from your location, the temperature issue won't come up in most cases since -

1) temperatures are usually never above 30-35 degrees C most of the time, unless you;re in Florida or bayarea side.
2) you have less issues with dust collecting unlike india.

I have also used equipments in the Us and i used to find myself spending less time in maintaining/cleaning.

Whereas in India, when i have used equipments for short period of time, I do remember spending time quite frequently in cleaning, making sure temperature is not so hot etc..I'm presuming this experience is faced by people in most parts.

So keeping the room cool would def help in my opinion but for how long is question.

neo,

I live in southern california, where temps can go high in Summer. Although, not as high as India. Agree on the dust part too. What I wanted to stress that AC is not a requirement. Proper ventilation and cleanliness is needed. That means, dusting more often and doing proper ventilation. I have seen countless cinema halls in outside metros in India which do not have any AC but run fine, for 12 hrs a day, 7 days a week. The AC cooling always is better and takes care of both cooling and dust issues but one can get by without having it.

There is a quite a bit of gap between "Required" and "Desired". All we have to see is that "Desired" is not to be confused with "Required"

 

[vinay]

Neo,

I have been using the A/C for nearly 24 X 7 in recent times because i double up my Mini Theatre for movies and doing my trading activities in stock and other markets.

The purpose to use my A/C so extensively is for following reasons.

I do not have a fan or near about a no window in the room.

The market starts at 9.15 but i activate by 7 and trading/study goes on right up till midnight and often the data projector runs for over 10 hours a day with small breaks if the need be. While my movie projector also runs for about 2 or 3 hours a day or more while my computer is on 24 X 7.

On the other hand there are heat issues when it comes to extensive projector & AV receiver's running and then i have these several halogen lights and they to get hot quite a lot though i use them less and preferably in dimmer mode.

With A/C running so much it helps in maintaining the gadgets etc better while the main benefit is that it is a great comfort backed with better concentration by working in a cool room. I often maintain the temperature of only 25/26.

V

Vinay and Moviela - Are you implying that the theatre room A/C needs to be On throughout? irrespective of not using the devices......if its a dedicated theatre room, meaning only to be used for watching movies or listening to music, wouldnt the usage of a/c during those times be sufficient?..just wanted to know, since the overall cost of electricity usage would be substantial over period of time...just my two cents..

 

[vinay]

I am hoping that nothing will go wrong with the A/C often being used 24 X 7 because of the following.

• I am using a good brand Hitachi.
• The room requires a 1.5T while i am using a 2T.
• The servicing is done regularly by a very reputed technician.
• The temperature being used most of the times is mere 25/27.
• The Wiring is of high quality.
• There is a good quality circuit breaker in case of short circuit etc.
• The A/C is in adjoining room. (In some bunglows the A/C is on upper floor and the bedroom is on ground floor so they could be having more risk, if any).

In view to above if there are more precautions to be taken then i will request members to guide me.

V

I do not agree that the AC should be kept on throughout the day (and night). I am afraid of Short Curcuit etc. if it is on when I am not in the room to control the situation.