What to do with my room?

[vinay]

Drawbacks

I have written so many a times on the forum about this trigger option, it is something out of the world.

I am triggering projector via dalite motorized screen, they are world leaders in screens. However for me the trigger option does have some drawback :sad:.

V.

 

[Raghav]

Re: Drawbacks

Hi Vinay,

What are the drawbacks?

Also you are triggering the PJ via the screen or other way round.

Mostly I think you put the PJ on and the screen is triggered by it.

I have written so many a times on the forum about this trigger option, it is something out of the world.

I am triggering projector via dalite motorized screen, they are world leaders in screens. However for me the trigger option does have some drawback :sad:.

V.

 

[anm]

Raghav - what was the price for this? Is anyone using grey/ low gain screen? Does it give better PQ than white screens?

 

[anm]

I tried viewing at 120" size and image largeness isn't an issue for viewing. Issue would be mounting projector low enough for comfortable view. During daytime, I changed setting for max brightness and max contrast and the picture was watchable.
Lot of light coming through curtains. Hoping I will be able to cut out light by lining the curtains with blackout cloth. Wondering where can I find it.

 

[anm]

My projector doesn't have a trigger input/ output. It has a serial input which I think can not be used for triggering the screen.
Triggering screen through any other component, like avr, would be a pain, as I might be using it with the TV.

 

[Raghav]

Price was approx. 25k but do not recall exactly.

Raghav - what was the price for this? Is anyone using grey/ low gain screen? Does it give better PQ than white screens?

 

[Raghav]

If your PJ is LCD based then it would be having vertical shift for adjusting height of image. Definitely go for black out curtains.

Its bad luck that you do not have trigger option. Some PJ have 2 triggers for screen as well as curtains. I am not sure that RF remote can be programmed on a universal remote. If not then go for screen with IR remote.

I tried viewing at 120" size and image largeness isn't an issue for viewing. Issue would be mounting projector low enough for comfortable view. During daytime, I changed setting for max brightness and max contrast and the picture was watchable.
Lot of light coming through curtains. Hoping I will be able to cut out light by lining the curtains with blackout cloth. Wondering where can I find it.

 

[anm]

it is lcd based (pana ax200u) and has image shift. Let's see how it works out.

 

[vinay]

Wiring

Anm,

During the wiring world, see to it that you have excess power points and importantly at the right locations so that the use of extension boards is eliminated as these spoil decor of room.

V.

 

[anm]

thanks vinay.my room has 4 power points close to front wall, 2 power points close to seating, mcb box right behind the l sofa corner. But all these are close to corners.
will get internal wiring very close to tv/ audio rack - right now I am using an extension board belkin but it looks quite ugly

 

[vinay]

Drawbacks

Raghav,

As the projector is on or off, the screen automatically rolls down and up.

The drawback which i face is that i often watch a movie with 4/5 breaks, these intervals last for 20/30 minutes. So each time when i off the projector, screen rolls up while i do not want this to happen, which means that the screen should not roll up. It frustrates me and to top the wound, life of screen + motor reduces for nothing at all.

Indeed when i watch movies with one or two breaks, then the trigger function is too good.

V.

Hi Vinay,

What are the drawbacks?

Also you are triggering the PJ via the screen or other way round.

Mostly I think you put the PJ on and the screen is triggered by it.

 

[Raghav]

Re: Drawbacks

Then there is no issue because all my movies are without / with one break.

Popcorn and Coke allowed in my HT so lesser breaks . Do come over one day. wanted to show you the setup and also take some advice.

Raghav

Raghav,

As the projector is on or off, the screen automatically rolls down and up.

The drawback which i face is that i often watch a movie with 4/5 breaks, these intervals last for 20/30 minutes. So each time when i off the projector, screen rolls up while i do not want this to happen, which means that the screen should not roll up. It frustrates me and to top the wound, life of screen + motor reduces for nothing at all.

Indeed when i watch movies with one or two breaks, then the trigger function is too good.

V.

 

[manoj.p]

Re: Drawbacks

Raghav,

As the projector is on or off, the screen automatically rolls down and up.

The drawback which i face is that i often watch a movie with 4/5 breaks, these intervals last for 20/30 minutes. So each time when i off the projector, screen rolls up while i do not want this to happen, which means that the screen should not roll up. It frustrates me and to top the wound, life of screen + motor reduces for nothing at all.

Indeed when i watch movies with one or two breaks, then the trigger function is too good.

V.

Vinay,
Just curious, you turn off the projector every 20/30 minutes? If you do, you do realize that each projector turn on strikes off 2 hrs of lamp life. You may be killing the lamp life unknowingly.

 

[vinay]

Trigger

Raghav,

Thanks for the writing.

Indeed if one is taking one or two breaks then trigger is the best way to shoot a projector for it's down and up.

I often need larger breaks sometimes due to work etc, while indeed i completely avoid eatables in my Mini Theatre.

I can come over on any Sunday, if this is fine, then do let me know the time of your choice and i will be there with a crate of Coke.

It will be my joy to see your home theatre, as far as the advice goes, i will be hardly able to provide any as you yourself knows so much based on the advices you offer to others.

V.

Then there is no issue because all my movies are without / with one break.

Popcorn and Coke allowed in my HT so lesser breaks . Do come over one day. wanted to show you the setup and also take some advice.

Raghav

 

[vinay]

White

I have white acoustic ceiling tiles with 4 of them in red color. I too used to get a little distracted during the early days, but now no more, as one gets used to a situation sooner then later be it for good or bad, but i was fortunate that the walls etc are not white or bright because of fair planning.

It seems now there are black color acoustic tiles, if those were available during the making of my Mini Theatre, i would have surely gone for it.

V.

One thing to keep in mind is that the projector does best when surroundings are as non-white as possible, else it gets distracting when you are trying to watch movies in darkness. I have beige walls and find even that distracting a bit, but that was the best I could for wall color as it was a living room. The idea above to have a dark cover for regular use is a good one. Compromises..

 

[vinay]

Manoj,

Thank you very much for the alert.

At times in about 10 hours cycle, there could be about 8/12 times when i need to turn off the projector for about 20/30 minutes, i never had the slightest of idea that by doing this, my lamp life is reducing at a great speed. This is a mother of a alert for me, can you consider to do me a favor, is there a link which confirms this down?

The lamp's such rapid death is not much of a issue for me especially when it comes to the data projector, because that has a beam life of over 20,000 hours but this 2 hour life down of the lamp will be a horrible slow kill for my movie projector.

I actually have a another unique situation, in the said cycle many a times my both projectors are running, like the data projector i on in every 20 minutes or so, for about half a minute to see the market data while i keep my 1080P projector on blank mode if i am in middle of a movie viewing.

Please guide.

V.

Vinay,
Just curious, you turn off the projector every 20/30 minutes? If you do, you do realize that each projector turn on strikes off 2 hrs of lamp life. You may be killing the lamp life unknowingly.

 

[manoj.p]

Vinay,

The projector lamps are spec'd to give a life of certain hrs, say 2000, based on no of strikes it can take. Every time the bulb is turned on, its considered one strike. The projector usage is considered as 2 hrs 15 mins on average for every time its turned on. Based on the no of strikes the bulb can take and usage, they arrive at this figure. But again, this is an average life, meaning almost half the bulbs can fail even before 2000 hrs time is over. That's why the lamp warranty is mostly for 90 days.

If you google about lamp life arc strike, many articles will show up. Here is one that came out in 2007 about how to extend the lamp life of projectors.

HDTV Magazine - HDTV TLC: Extending the Lamp Life of Your HDTV Microdisplay

There are lots of reports of users getting way more hours (sometimes almost twice) than the rated lamp hours at avsforum.com. Not sure whether they were on all higher side of average lamp life, but one thing was common among all of them. They ran the projectors for longer duration of 5~6 hrs + every time they started the projector. Not recommending to leave the projectors on if you are not watching it (because of energy wasting), but I usually watch the movies in one setting. Our projector gets switched on and stays for 3 to 4 hrs.

 

[anm]

folks - yesterday I remove the HK receiver from HT. JBL speakers are connected to the onkyo avr directly. Took speakers further apart - ~13 ft, and toed them in. However, contrary to most suggestions, I have pushed them back, quite close to the wall. These are front ported floorstanders.

They are sounding quite fine and surround effect is better with larger separation. Onkyo is driving them quite well and even without a sub, the bass is very good.

Now need to figure out how to increase their height by about a foot, while keeping their stability so that they don't topple over my kid.

 

[vinay]

Ear Level

Anm,

My front speakers are slightly below ear level because of raised sitting. I'll share the reason for this.

The raised foot step i created with 2 imported foot lights and a 4 feet gang way rope light so it becomes much easier to move around when the movie is beaming and importantly i am isolated from the floor further it creates a great impact on interiors and more feel of being in a actual theatre.

While the surrounds are also above ear level, but they are mounted on a swivel, so it does get pointed downward to a small extent. I think in most of the cases surround speakers are mounted above ear level due to shortage of room breadth and if they are housed at floor stands then a bad obstruction could be there while moving around.

V.

Vinay, are your speakers upto the ear level or much below?

 

[anm]

Vinay - have you considered some stands for your floorstanders to raise their level? I am thinking of the same for myself.