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Anyone have experience with projector based home theater?


tbone_

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Bought a new house and looks like the basement was set up with a projector at some point in the past. Has the connection box with cabling and electrical in the ceiling and great spot for a screen.

 

Thinking about setting one up but zero idea where to start. I suppose the easiest thing would be to just buy a giant 86’ tv but a projector seems cooler.

 

Any suggestions?

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Can you “black out” the basement?  I put a 100” screen and an Eason HD projector into our game room upstairs but the room doesn’t get dark enough until the sun goes down (wife objected to black out curtains...) The biggest pain in the butt I had was needing to run a long HDMI cable with a splitter from the A/V system.  For the amount I spent on the screen and the projector, you could probably buy an LCD screen almost as large as the projector screen for the same price (or less)... We have a large LCD in the same place and tend to use it more than the projector...  

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Team projector here

I have a 200" screen and a sony VPL-HW40ES that works great. Have a receiver hooked to the projector and a computer, playstation and tivo mini hooked to the reciever.

Other than one of my dogs going apeshit when a dog, horse, wolf, cow, squirel or pretty much any animal is on it I love it. I mounted speakers above it so they wouldn't be in the way. 

 

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go to projector central and poke around. They have recommendations based on your price range. You should be able to get something decent for $1-3k

For screen I bought this:

https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B00OZLZ9BU/ref=ppx_yo_dt_b_search_asin_title?ie=UTF8&psc=1

then screwed it to a frame I made out of 1x2's. total cost around $100. I fooled around with sanding the wall down and using special paint but I could always see lines/bumps in the wall, especially in white scenes.

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21 hours ago, Grimas said:

Can you “black out” the basement?  I put a 100” screen and an Eason HD projector into our game room upstairs but the room doesn’t get dark enough until the sun goes down (wife objected to black out curtains...) The biggest pain in the butt I had was needing to run a long HDMI cable with a splitter from the A/V system.  For the amount I spent on the screen and the projector, you could probably buy an LCD screen almost as large as the projector screen for the same price (or less)... We have a large LCD in the same place and tend to use it more than the projector...  

yeap - controlling ambient light is the #1 step to a high performing projector system.  if you need some pointers, a good place to start is at www.blacked.com

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Thanks. Defiantly have that covered with it being a basement, black out curtains, and the fact that the walkout sliding door faces east and is shaded with a big overhang so only gets direct sunlight for about an hour early in the morning.

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I set mine up 7 years ago and looked at the prices if I were to do it again.  My screen was set for 1080p and it looks like you can get something similar for under $1000 for a ceiling mounted, roll down screen but if you get into 4K screens, you are looking in the 2-3k range... Thanks for the post, it “forced” me to reconnect my projector and screen after not having used it for at least 2 years...

 

Edited by Grimas
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Screens can make a major difference if you go projector…especially with the 4K projectors out there now.

I was lucky and my bro in law was a rep for Screen Innovations (got a great deal). Their black diamond screens are the best I’ve seen. With their zero edge, I’ve had many people walk into my media room and think they are watching a TV and not a projector. They are a bit pricey…but sports, gaming and movies are incredibly immersive.
 

 

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56 minutes ago, Tailgate said:

Screens can make a major difference if you go projector…especially with the 4K projectors out there now.

I was lucky and my bro in law was a rep for Screen Innovations (got a great deal). Their black diamond screens are the best I’ve seen. With their zero edge, I’ve had many people walk into my media room and think they are watching a TV and not a projector. They are a bit pricey…but sports, gaming and movies are incredibly immersive.
 

 

The in person demos are insane. Would never consider a projector (serious dedicated one) without. 

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  • 2 months later...

Pulled the trigger on an Epson 4010 4K 3LCD projector and an Elite 100” screen, plus a receiver with L/R/C speakers plus a sub from best buy today, and a harmony remote.

They have a service where they’ll send a guy out for free, consult, all the stuff is regular Best Buy price and the geek squad dudes will come install it all for $200.

Should be pretty cool. Going in a walk out basement with windows only facing East. Pretty easy to total black it out if needed.

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On 8/22/2021 at 2:23 PM, rage-a-holic said:
you'll want to spend a lot of time here
 
https://www.avsforum.com/forums/#display-devices.9


This. Most importing thing is to control the ambient light.

Zero extraneous light (and flat wall paint sheen) will make an ok screen and projector look great, but leaky light will make a really high-end projector and screen look crummier.



03607c17b08e4012c3d454347c86852f.jpg


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

Edited by TeeDubya
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  • 2 weeks later...
Pulled the trigger on an Epson 4010 4K 3LCD projector and an Elite 100” screen, plus a receiver with L/R/C speakers plus a sub from best buy today, and a harmony remote.

They have a service where they’ll send a guy out for free, consult, all the stuff is regular Best Buy price and the geek squad dudes will come install it all for $200.

Should be pretty cool. Going in a walk out basement with windows only facing East. Pretty easy to total black it out if needed.

How’d it turn out? We’ve got a 90” setup in an upstairs bonus room but it gets a lot of light so it’s mostly used by the kids.
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