Tech Bedroom Theater

Bedroom Theater

Hey guys, I just wanted to post some pictures of a home project I have been working on. I moved my 42" plasma screen from my bedroom upstairs to the loft to create a little video game area for when my friends come over and decided to go with a DLP projector in the bedrooom since that is where my wife and I like to watch movies. It wasn't that hard of a project and the results were amazing, I will never buy another TV again... Only projectors from here on out!

Masking the wall preparing to prep the 112" screen


Test firing the projector to make sure it is calibrated to the masked area


Here is what it looks like with some ambiant light.


Scraping the Barnacles off the wall (orange peel) so I can smooth the screen


Painted the screen with a bright white matte coat of paint


Painted half the screen with a silverscreen/white paint mixture to give it a gray hue


This is what it looks like with half the screen painted


Here is a picture of the projector mounted on the ceiling


Watching comedy central


Media Center finished playing screen with all lights in the room on


Watching South Park


Projector mounted and turned off, better then other blury pic


This is after I installed the cable conduiet down the wall


The nightstand that holds all the comonents (stereo, xbox 360, receivers, etc)


Project Cost
Optoma H30 Projector -> $150
Paint -> $20
Tools -> $20
Projector Bracket -> $50
Time -> approx ~2 days (sucks waiting for paint to dry!)
Total -> ~$240 (NOT BAD!)

The trick to this project is to get a hold of a last generation DLP projector dirt heap However just to be safe I got a new bulb for mine and its sitting in the closet and that was about $300 so you could technically include that in the cost since I will need it after a month or so.

PROS
* 120" Screen
* Very bright in a dark room with a crazy contrast level of 2000:1
* No ghosting or motion artifacts
* XBOX 360 rules now
* Can watch with all lights on without issue
* All components and game systems are in a cabinet right next to the bed (This is my fav!)

CONS
* Can't watch in sun light, close the curtains!
* Can watch fine with lights on but you loose a lot of your contrast
* You have to buy a bulb that costs about $300 every 3000hrs of use (this is about once every 2 - 3 years under normal TV/Movie viewing conditions)
* Generates a lot of heat, the projector blows flames But that depends on what model you get and bulb type.
* You can see nose hairs!

I'm completely sold on projectors! In december I am going to get a Panasonic AE100 which has 6000:1 contrast ratio and 2000 lumins and it is native 720p. I can't wait! I'll post pictures when I have that up and running!

tight....

And when was the last time you got some?

Yesterday

holdon, video projectors only cost $150?

Used ones with almost dead bulbs can be found for that price on occasion I got lucky

Not to shabby my friend.

ahh IC, one just ended on ebay right now for $152 w/o bulb.. nice setup but I'm goina stick to my crappy 19" widescreen LCD

Hehehehe

I never realized how cheap projectors can be...

hey you stole my phone i have the same dam phone in my house

I second that... I got a nice 120+" space on my room...

hmm....

nice pay for building that lol... it's still worth a few more times more rofl

Hahaha Totally. I'm enjoying the hell out of it. I could never go back to normal TV again. XBOX 360 is awesome in 480p with wireless controllers, when I get he new 720p projector it will even look better.

Damn! We were actually in the market for a new tv around thanksgiving time to get it cheap. Ill have to show this to my dad and he might have to change his mind lol.

It's funny, everyone thinks projectors are completely rich people toys and cannot be had by the average joe. But the truth is they make 2000 lumin 6000:1 contrast ratio projectors that compete with high end HDTV's (sometimes every brighter) for under $2k. Or you can just settle for a few year old DLP projector that does native 480p for like $150 - $600. Then you just spackle your wall smooth, paint it and put a border around it and WALA!

Gah I seriously need to convince my dad lol. Only thing is that we know nothing about projectors. A new bulb every two - three years that costs like $200-$300 isnt cheap lol. Ill need to find some good reasons lol.

One question for ya barnacules...

What is the point of tapingoff a boundary? I mean I understand the initial need, so you know where to aim theprojector at and what area to sand down and paint and such, but what is the need above and beyond that?

...I could ask my room mate that works w. home theaters at best buy but i'll just get some uneducated BS response about how he doesn't know anything but says he does....sorry for rant...proceed w. answer...lol

In these pictures the tape was not removed because I still needed to add one more coat of paint. The tape comes off when I'm done and gets replaced with rolled black felt strips 3" wide.

Please explain the need for the felt strips.

Having a black border around the screen that absorbs light makes the contrast ratio appear much better for objects close to the border of the screen. if you don't have it things that are close to the edge tend to not have as good of a black level.

Ah, it all makes sense now, thanks bro.

No prob, actually the best thing that you can do for a home theater screen is to cover the remaining wall with black materal so the entire surrounding wall is black. But that doesn't always look good and wifes don't go for it

next upgrade, Polk audio HT 7.1 powered with a additional subwoofer under the bed lol

I already have a powered sub right next to the bed

Yanno, I had a normal tv in my room but to hide some of the surround wires (I live in an apt so running wires through the wall isn't the best idea) I just put up a black curtain on the wall and it actually looked really good...maybe you could get your wife on the curtain bandwagon...it looks nice and isn't as permanent as black paint....I don't know how well it would work for your purposes, but it seems like it would work effectively.

That sounds like a great idea. I might have to give that a shot.

great setup! good job

I got a very similar setup - but mine is on a screen (if I painted the wall like that - my kid would end up scribbling all over it ).

Get some AURA transducers (bass-shakers) and bolt them up to the floor joists, bottom of your bed, chairs, etc.

They're pretty cheap and can really give it a good tactile feedback - kind of like the feedback motors in the XBOX controllers and others. You could get a similar feeling if you point the sub into the floor or against the wall - but then neighbors in a 1/4 mile radius would hear it as well. These bass shakers don't transmit much audible sound - they just vibrate in response to the bass levels.

That sounds cool!

What wires? They are all hidden in conduet?