# First Ever Projector in First Ever HT Room



## Sonicmojo (Feb 8, 2013)

Morning,

Just joined HTS and I am now looking for some recommendations on a projector/screen combo for our new HT room - which will start construction on/about Feb 19. Let me describe the project first and then the intended new HT room itself. 

Current: Since we moved into this house back in 97 - we have constantly struggled in the "TV" area with odd angles, strange wall placement (former owners) and other oddities. I estimate I have moved our gear around to every available wall and configuration possible over the last ten years. Finally my wife had enough (with my surrounds up on speaker stands - threatening to tip over anytime anyone walks by them).

So we decided to gut the two main areas of the basement and completely re-purpose them into a dedicated "media" room (not specifically just theater) and a new office/studio for me with pro grade soundproofing etc. This reno will include tearing out ALL the existing drywall, flooring, baseboards including the ceiling - to get us right down to studs so we can re-purpose the entire area. 

We are also tearing out the old furnace and water heater as well and re-rerouting the heating vents etc to ensure we have a nice warm room to enjoy. The current layout with a Home Depot laminate floor and underlay - coupled with poorly placed HVAC makes this area more like a meat locker in the winter. 

The "media" room MUST be multipurpose in nature. We need to have a comfortable, WARM (this is one of the main reasons we are redoing everything) inviting environment for a variety of leisure activities. Movies, 2 channel music listening, gaming (My 8 year now has a WII for the first time , reading, entertaining and yes - just watching TV.

First: Main room stats

Room size: 14' wide (Screen wall) x 16' deep
Windows: 1 - along the right wall (exterior)
Seating: New sectional - will be approx 10-11' feet away from screen

Second: Oddities

Between 8' and 11' out from screen wall is a "boxed out" plumbing HVAC conduit running from L to R across the ceiling that results in a one foot drop in ceiling height. Dependent on your recommendations - it may be somewhere in this zone that a projector would be mounted - possibly leading to issue with projector height, projected image hitting this "boxed" area etc. Consider this an "unknown" until we tear everything away and see if we can reduce the overall "sprawl" of this thing.

Usage

The projector would be intended for HD video (Movies) from our HTPC, BluRay movies from our Oppo BDP-83 and possibly for occasional HD sports (Hockey)

Integration with TV Screen

The plan is to wall mount our Samsung 42 LCD on the feature wall and then have a motorized screen come down just in front of it when projection is required. For run of the mill TV viewing - watching the news, PVR'd shows etc - we will be go to the Samsung for anything like this in addition to game play with the WII etc.

So - given the size of the room and the possibility of oddball PJ mounting - what should I be looking at? Given my budget - I am leaning toward something like the Epson 8350 and screen size of 100 inches.

I do have more questions on a "16x9" vs a 2:35 screen etc etc and want to make sure I choose a combo that can handle all situations within reason. Especially HD video files coming from the computer and of course BluRays.

I appreciate any tips or info you can share.

Cheers!

Sonicmojo


----------



## Tonto (Jun 30, 2007)

Welcome to the Shack Sonicmojo, sounds like you are going about things the right way. I did not see you budget in the post or what equipment you still need to buy. Do you already own the Oppo? How far from the screen do you plan on placeing the sectional? 42" migh be a bit small unless you already have this. Are you planning on DIY or using a contractor? And show us pictures, we love pics.


----------



## JQueen (Jan 11, 2012)

Welcome to the Shack! Can't wait to see pics


----------



## ALMFamily (Oct 19, 2011)

You can play with the calculator at Projector Central to get a feel each projector and the possible screen size. The good news is that most projectors have a fairly wide range they can be used in. Just try to make sure to stick around 16 FL for your intended setup.


----------



## Sonicmojo (Feb 8, 2013)

Tonto said:


> Welcome to the Shack Sonicmojo, sounds like you are going about things the right way. I did not see you budget in the post or what equipment you still need to buy. Do you already own the Oppo? How far from the screen do you plan on placeing the sectional? 42" migh be a bit small unless you already have this. Are you planning on DIY or using a contractor? And show us pictures, we love pics.


Tonto,

Some answers for ya....

1. Budget for projector/screen - let's say 2K for now
2. The Oppo is all mine 
3. Sectional - I estimate the edge of the main seating end of it (L shape) will be approx 10 feet from the feature wall edge (not screen edge). Current plans are to dress exactly 8 feet of our feature wall (4 feet on either side of center) with the TV dead center (wall mount) and then the Ikea "Besta" modular series components (storage cabs, a floating table top, BR/DVD storage, WII games etc) surrounding it in some sort of pleasing pattern. We are going to work with the IKEA folks on designing the best possible use of space.

4. Will be doing the demo myself to get the site ready for Feb 19. Contractors fare involved for everything else to new construction to HVAC to HT wiring etc. I have decided to get a pro involved on the wiring/routing/racking front simply because this is getting a bit overwhelming from a planning standpoint. I really do not want to make any mistakes or have to "live" with some rushed decision simply because I tried to do everything myself 

So we have a well known and respected A/V company scheduled for Feb 20 (when the rooms are down to the studs) to do a complete assessment on what needs to be done.

5. Pics to come - I am starting the equipment repack today as these two rooms are existing and need to be emptied prior to tear down next weekend.

Cheers!

Sonicmojo


----------



## Sonicmojo (Feb 8, 2013)

ALMFamily said:


> You can play with the calculator at Projector Central to get a feel each projector and the possible screen size. The good news is that most projectors have a fairly wide range they can be used in. Just try to make sure to stick around 16 FL for your intended setup.


Yes - have seen this. Fabulous stuff. Can you explain the "16FL" a bit more?

Sonicmojo


----------



## ALMFamily (Oct 19, 2011)

FL is foot lamberts - as I understand it, it is a measure of the amount of light you have hitting the screen. By sticking around 16, it allows for a bit of lamp degradation (think I saw something like a 25% loss inside the first 1000 hours) so that you still have a good picture well into your lamp life.


----------



## KelvinS1965 (Feb 6, 2011)

You will probably find nearer 20% drop in the first 100 hours in many cases since they usually have a steep initial drop off in those first few hours, then stabilise to a slower steady decay rate thereafter. However, my X35 has barely dropped in the first 120 hours, so it does vary projector to projector.

The 16fL figure is a typically recommended figure, but not cast in stone: When I first bought myself a lux meter (which I can calculate fL from) I found I'd been watching at 5fL and though it was plenty bright enough. I aim for 14-16fL thesedays since I prefer the punchier image this gives at the slight expense of a higher black level.

Some projectors allow you to adjust a manual iris so that you can maintain the same fL as the lamp ages, which is what I do. This only works if you have plenty of light to spare with a smaller screen or a screen with gain.


----------

