Dom's Home Theater

Dom · 03-12-2002, 04:57 PM

Here are some pics of our current HT room.
I'm currently in the process of re-building some things for the new 16:9 projector, but it will basically look the same. Only the projector will change, and there's gonna be a bigger, 16:9, screen.

This is the entrance to the HT room...

Dom · 03-12-2002, 05:00 PM

This is the front side of the room with the screen...

Dom · 03-12-2002, 05:03 PM

This is the rear side of the room with the LCD projector (old 4:3 Sanyo, soon to be replaced)...

Dom · 03-12-2002, 05:04 PM

This pic shows a close-up of the projector (have I mentioned that it soon will be replaced?

)
The box on the right hand side of the projector is a caption decoder...

***Wirehed*** · 03-12-2002, 05:05 PM

Neat.

It's great to have a dedicated room for you theater. cool.

Dom · 03-12-2002, 05:06 PM

This pic shows the rack with all the equipment...

Dom · 03-12-2002, 05:11 PM

And finally some of our LD and dvd Special Editions.

For additional info on the equipment and some close-ups of speakers, click the "My HT" link in my signature.

BTW,
this is what the old projector will be replaced with.

tomdkat · 03-12-2002, 05:39 PM

You got a great setup!

Peace.....

tomdkat · 03-12-2002, 05:50 PM

Quote:

Originally posted by Seamonkey
Neat.

It's great to have a dedicated room for you theater. cool.

Yeah, my living room is practically dedicated to Home Theater use...

Peace....

***chlngr1970*** · 03-12-2002, 06:49 PM

Hey, that dvd player looks awfully familiar

anywho....grats on the new display. Now I just need to get mine, and a home to put it all in.

j

tomdkat · 03-12-2002, 06:54 PM

Quote:

Originally posted by chlngr1970
Now I just need to get mine

Which display did you decide on? The 50" Toshiba 50H[X]81 or something else?

Peace....

MARVEL · 03-12-2002, 11:26 PM

Tres cool Dom. A question or two for ya. Since it is a dedicated HT did you do any thing to reduce the amount of sunlight into the room during the day? Is there a lot of glare or reflected light created by th projector when it his the screen. I painted my room Burgundy to reduce the amount of light from my TV and have been pleased with the results. I'll have pics of mine up tommorrow hopefully.

tomdkat · 03-12-2002, 11:52 PM

Quote:

Originally posted by MARVEL
I painted my room Burgundy to reduce the amount of light from my TV and have been pleased with the results.

Whoa.... I bought Burgundy Wine colored carpet in preparation for my 57HX81.....

Peace....

Dom · 03-13-2002, 02:25 PM

Thanx for all the nice comments, guys!

Marvel,

We have blinds that let almost no light into the room, plus a set of curtains, so you can say it's almost completely dark, even during daytime. (I guess it's even darker than in most theaters where always emergency exit signs are glowing).

There's a fair amount of light reflecting from the projected image, but we've tried to reduce it as far as possible without painting the room. On the right hand side we have mounted a darts board (you can see it on the pics above) with a big patch of surrounding carpet, and on the left wall we have put up three full-sized movie one-sheets in a frame with non-reflexive glass.

All in all the room could be a tad darker as far as wall reflexions are concerned, but it isn't distractingly bright either.

We'll have to see how everything looks with the new display (bigger screen, brighter bulb et all), but I'd rather not paint the room.

Dom · 03-13-2002, 02:34 PM

Quote:

Originally posted by chlngr1970
Hey, that dvd player looks awfully familiar

Ha! In fact, I just noticed that these pics are pre-Seattle and therefore don't show the new Panasonic.
We've also replaced the old and broken Sony VCR with some Toshiba model. (
But who cares about VHS, really

)

Prancer · 03-14-2002, 05:41 PM

Dom,

Cool setup and the new projector, all I have to say is

Question: How noisey is the projector? Is it a distraction?

Dom · 03-15-2002, 08:57 AM

The new projector is whispering quiet (approx. 32 dB, one of the quietest on the market right now). I take it you won't hear it once it's up mounted on the cieling.
The old one, however, is kinda noisy, which can be a bit distracting in quiet scenes, and to make things worse, it's installed right behind the couch just slightly over ear level (it's not possible to ceiling-mount that old fart). But to be honest, I actually never notice the fan noise. I guess you just get used to it, like to the ticking of a clock or something (now there are no ticking clocks in the HT room, mind you. They're banned from that room

).

Anyway, I'm so looking forward to the new stuff. I'll post some pics of it when it's set up.

Chazz33 · 03-15-2002, 04:40 PM

Great room

Im dying to turn my basement into a dedicated HT.

Prancer · 03-15-2002, 07:38 PM

Quote:

Originally posted by Dom
........Anyway, I'm so looking forward to the new stuff. I'll post some pics of it when it's set up.

AWESOME can't wait to see it.

Dom · 03-27-2002, 01:06 PM

Just a small update to let you know that this little puppy is on its way to me:

I was actually looking for the Toshiba MT-7, but opted for the Sanyo PLV-60 in the last minute since I found a place where they were on sale, so I got the Sanyo even for less than the Toshiba.
The Sanyo has some additional bells and whisles (motorized zoom, focus and lens shift, a better contrast ratio, more flexible inputs), but it's considerably bigger and heavier (and usually more expensive). But since it's gonna be ceiling mounted anyway, size is not a big deal.

http://www.sanyo.com/business/presen...etheat_218.cfm

The unit is shipped and should be here early next week (of course now are the easter holidays, otherwise it would be here by saturday or so).
The new screen (100" wide ProScreen) is already here, waiting to be mounted

Can you tell I'm excited?

Dom · 04-09-2002, 06:56 AM

Update!! Our new projector finally came in yesterday, and although she's not yet mounted at her final destination up under the ceiling, I put her through her paces with different dvd's and LD's and what can I say - the picture blew me away!
With anamorphic dvd's and the integrated line-doubler, it's almost as good as the theater. The opening sequence of Contact had my jaw dropping, literally.

When I popped in the LD of "Empire strikes back", the limitations of the source material clearly showed, but it still looked awesome.
I had to use the S-Video connection for LD, though, the composite connection looked very horrible.

The picture is very bright and the huge contrast ratio does show. There's no pixel structure visible, either (unless you go close up to the screen, of course).

I wonder what a progressive scan dvd player would do to improve the picture.

I'm one happy camper!

***Wirehed*** · 04-09-2002, 04:32 PM

You lucky bastard!

I want one.

So how did you do your cables? You say you are using S-video for your LD player and I'm assuming Component Cables for your DVD? What kind of cables are you using and at what length?

Does the projector automatically select the correct aspect ratio?

Can I come over?

tomdkat · 04-09-2002, 05:08 PM

Do you connect your DVD and LD player directly to the projector?

Peace.....

George McFly · 04-09-2002, 11:44 PM

hey Dom, need a roommate?I'll pay the rent/ or house payment and even the utilities

***Wirehed*** · 04-10-2002, 04:44 AM

I'm looking into the idea of a projector myself, that's why I asked so many questions.

I guess you pretty much have to run the component cables directly into the projector. I haven't heard of an amp or receiver that has component in and out. Most would handle S-video though.

How far away is the projector to the wall? I only have around 18ft and wonder if this is a problem.

Dom · 04-10-2002, 08:45 AM

First of all, no, I don't need a roommate, and I don't think my GF would allow one, either

But if you happen to be in Switzerland for whatever reason, drop me a note and we're gonna arrange a meeting

Now, as for cables and connection. I'm the self made kinda guy and solder all of my cables by myself. For the video connections in this case I'm using a multicore cable that runs 6 75 Ohms lines.

3 Of these are used for the component connection: 3 BNC connectors soldered to the projector end of the lines, and 3 Neutrik profi RCA jacks soldered to the dvd player end of the line. And yes, this connection runs straight from the dvd to the projector since my amp only supports composite and S-Video. The dvd player is also the only source with component output, so this doesn't matter.

2 cables of the multicore are used for the S-Video connection, with a S-Video jack on either end. The S-Video is used for Laserdisc and the Region 2 dvd player, which has no component output. This one is connected via the HT amplifier.

The last cable is for the composite video, with Neutrik profi RCA connectors on either end and is as well connected via the HT amp.

The multicore cable is approx. 10m (30FT?) long.
The projector doesn't seem to automatically select the correct aspect ratio, you have to select this via the on-screen menu. It has 4 different settings (Full, Zoom, Normal, Panorama), but I think these are the same as with every WS HDTV set.

The projector, once it's up on the ceiling, will be approx. 4 m (12FT?) from the screen for a 2.5m (100") wide (width, not diagonal) picture.

If you want to take a closer peek to the projector, you can
download a pdf version of the manual (for the Eiki LC-VC1, which is absolutely identical to the Sanyo PLV-60 I have.
There's a page with a distance/width table.

If you have further questions, fire away!

***Wirehed*** · 04-10-2002, 04:31 PM

Thanks for the info Dom!

so 4m away gives you a 100" picture. Neat-0. I was worried because I thought I would have to have the projector further back.

...and if I'm in Switzerland again I'll look you up.

03-12-2002, 05:05 PM	#5 (permalink)
*Wirehed* Producer/Admin NSFW Off 'the list' Join Date: Jul 2001 Location: Sacto, Ca --Near Galt, home of LeVar Burton	Neat. It's great to have a dedicated room for you theater. cool. __________________ The Order of the Zombie. The world's greatest zombie culture website. "Ph'nglui mglw'nafh Cthulhu R'lyeh wagn'nagl dominos" In his house in R'lyeh, dead Cthulhu waits for the pizza delivery guy.

03-12-2002, 05:39 PM	#8 (permalink)
tomdkat Official Forum Warmonger "Dial Tone" Join Date: Sep 2000 Location: Hayward, CA, USA	You got a great setup! Peace..... __________________ My DVD Aficionado List "At last we shall reveal ourselves to the Jedi, at last we shall have revenge!"

03-12-2002, 06:49 PM	#10 (permalink)
*chlngr1970* Producer/Admin Tenacious "OB" Join Date: Jun 2000 Location: Spanaway Washington	Hey, that dvd player looks awfully familiar anywho....grats on the new display. Now I just need to get mine, and a home to put it all in. j __________________ "The greatest thing you'll ever learn is just to love, and be loved in return" Christian, Moulin Rouge

03-12-2002, 11:26 PM	#12 (permalink)
MARVEL Actor Join Date: Jun 2001 Location: 30 miles north of Cinderella's castle, FL	Tres cool Dom. A question or two for ya. Since it is a dedicated HT did you do any thing to reduce the amount of sunlight into the room during the day? Is there a lot of glare or reflected light created by th projector when it his the screen. I painted my room Burgundy to reduce the amount of light from my TV and have been pleased with the results. I'll have pics of mine up tommorrow hopefully. __________________ F-L-O-R-I-D-A S-T-A-T-E Florida State, Florida State, Florida State, WHOOOOO!!!! You've got to Fight Fight Fight ........

03-13-2002, 02:25 PM	#14 (permalink)
Dom Administrator Emeritus "I'm having a life now." Join Date: Jun 1998 Location: Elm Street 123	Thanx for all the nice comments, guys! Marvel, We have blinds that let almost no light into the room, plus a set of curtains, so you can say it's almost completely dark, even during daytime. (I guess it's even darker than in most theaters where always emergency exit signs are glowing). There's a fair amount of light reflecting from the projected image, but we've tried to reduce it as far as possible without painting the room. On the right hand side we have mounted a darts board (you can see it on the pics above) with a big patch of surrounding carpet, and on the left wall we have put up three full-sized movie one-sheets in a frame with non-reflexive glass. All in all the room could be a tad darker as far as wall reflexions are concerned, but it isn't distractingly bright either. We'll have to see how everything looks with the new display (bigger screen, brighter bulb et all), but I'd rather not paint the room. __________________ Unca Dom Insanity grows All them silver discs Yesterday starts tomorrow - tomorrow starts today

03-14-2002, 05:41 PM	#16 (permalink)
Prancer Actor Join Date: Nov 2001 Location: Baltimore, MD-USA	Dom, Cool setup and the new projector, all I have to say is Question: How noisey is the projector? Is it a distraction? __________________ "I hope that when the world ends, I can breathe a sigh of relief because there will be so much to look forward to…”

03-15-2002, 08:57 AM	#17 (permalink)
Dom Administrator Emeritus "I'm having a life now." Join Date: Jun 1998 Location: Elm Street 123	The new projector is whispering quiet (approx. 32 dB, one of the quietest on the market right now). I take it you won't hear it once it's up mounted on the cieling. The old one, however, is kinda noisy, which can be a bit distracting in quiet scenes, and to make things worse, it's installed right behind the couch just slightly over ear level (it's not possible to ceiling-mount that old fart). But to be honest, I actually never notice the fan noise. I guess you just get used to it, like to the ticking of a clock or something (now there are no ticking clocks in the HT room, mind you. They're banned from that room ). Anyway, I'm so looking forward to the new stuff. I'll post some pics of it when it's set up. __________________ Unca Dom Insanity grows All them silver discs Yesterday starts tomorrow - tomorrow starts today

03-15-2002, 04:40 PM	#18 (permalink)
Chazz33 Actor Join Date: Feb 2002 Location: Long Island	Great room Im dying to turn my basement into a dedicated HT. __________________ "To alcohol! The cause of, and solution to, all of life's problems." -Homer J.

03-27-2002, 01:06 PM	#20 (permalink)
Dom Administrator Emeritus "I'm having a life now." Join Date: Jun 1998 Location: Elm Street 123	Projector Update Just a small update to let you know that this little puppy is on its way to me: I was actually looking for the Toshiba MT-7, but opted for the Sanyo PLV-60 in the last minute since I found a place where they were on sale, so I got the Sanyo even for less than the Toshiba. The Sanyo has some additional bells and whisles (motorized zoom, focus and lens shift, a better contrast ratio, more flexible inputs), but it's considerably bigger and heavier (and usually more expensive). But since it's gonna be ceiling mounted anyway, size is not a big deal. http://www.sanyo.com/business/presen...etheat_218.cfm The unit is shipped and should be here early next week (of course now are the easter holidays, otherwise it would be here by saturday or so). The new screen (100" wide ProScreen) is already here, waiting to be mounted Can you tell I'm excited? __________________ Unca Dom Insanity grows All them silver discs Yesterday starts tomorrow - tomorrow starts today

04-09-2002, 06:56 AM	#21 (permalink)
Dom Administrator Emeritus "I'm having a life now." Join Date: Jun 1998 Location: Elm Street 123	Update!! Our new projector finally came in yesterday, and although she's not yet mounted at her final destination up under the ceiling, I put her through her paces with different dvd's and LD's and what can I say - the picture blew me away! With anamorphic dvd's and the integrated line-doubler, it's almost as good as the theater. The opening sequence of Contact had my jaw dropping, literally. When I popped in the LD of "Empire strikes back", the limitations of the source material clearly showed, but it still looked awesome. I had to use the S-Video connection for LD, though, the composite connection looked very horrible. The picture is very bright and the huge contrast ratio does show. There's no pixel structure visible, either (unless you go close up to the screen, of course). I wonder what a progressive scan dvd player would do to improve the picture. I'm one happy camper! __________________ Unca Dom Insanity grows All them silver discs Yesterday starts tomorrow - tomorrow starts today

04-09-2002, 04:32 PM	#22 (permalink)
*Wirehed* Producer/Admin NSFW Off 'the list' Join Date: Jul 2001 Location: Sacto, Ca --Near Galt, home of LeVar Burton	You lucky bastard! I want one. So how did you do your cables? You say you are using S-video for your LD player and I'm assuming Component Cables for your DVD? What kind of cables are you using and at what length? Does the projector automatically select the correct aspect ratio? Can I come over? __________________ The Order of the Zombie. The world's greatest zombie culture website. "Ph'nglui mglw'nafh Cthulhu R'lyeh wagn'nagl dominos" In his house in R'lyeh, dead Cthulhu waits for the pizza delivery guy.

04-09-2002, 05:08 PM	#23 (permalink)
tomdkat Official Forum Warmonger "Dial Tone" Join Date: Sep 2000 Location: Hayward, CA, USA	Do you connect your DVD and LD player directly to the projector? Peace..... __________________ My DVD Aficionado List "At last we shall reveal ourselves to the Jedi, at last we shall have revenge!"

04-09-2002, 11:44 PM	#24 (permalink)
George McFly Kinda likes the Razorbacks Join Date: Jan 2001 Location: watching HD	hey Dom, need a roommate?I'll pay the rent/ or house payment and even the utilities __________________ DVDs gallery

04-10-2002, 04:44 AM	#25 (permalink)
*Wirehed* Producer/Admin NSFW Off 'the list' Join Date: Jul 2001 Location: Sacto, Ca --Near Galt, home of LeVar Burton	I'm looking into the idea of a projector myself, that's why I asked so many questions. I guess you pretty much have to run the component cables directly into the projector. I haven't heard of an amp or receiver that has component in and out. Most would handle S-video though. How far away is the projector to the wall? I only have around 18ft and wonder if this is a problem. __________________ The Order of the Zombie. The world's greatest zombie culture website. "Ph'nglui mglw'nafh Cthulhu R'lyeh wagn'nagl dominos" In his house in R'lyeh, dead Cthulhu waits for the pizza delivery guy.

04-10-2002, 08:45 AM	#26 (permalink)
Dom Administrator Emeritus "I'm having a life now." Join Date: Jun 1998 Location: Elm Street 123	First of all, no, I don't need a roommate, and I don't think my GF would allow one, either But if you happen to be in Switzerland for whatever reason, drop me a note and we're gonna arrange a meeting Now, as for cables and connection. I'm the self made kinda guy and solder all of my cables by myself. For the video connections in this case I'm using a multicore cable that runs 6 75 Ohms lines. 3 Of these are used for the component connection: 3 BNC connectors soldered to the projector end of the lines, and 3 Neutrik profi RCA jacks soldered to the dvd player end of the line. And yes, this connection runs straight from the dvd to the projector since my amp only supports composite and S-Video. The dvd player is also the only source with component output, so this doesn't matter. 2 cables of the multicore are used for the S-Video connection, with a S-Video jack on either end. The S-Video is used for Laserdisc and the Region 2 dvd player, which has no component output. This one is connected via the HT amplifier. The last cable is for the composite video, with Neutrik profi RCA connectors on either end and is as well connected via the HT amp. The multicore cable is approx. 10m (30FT?) long. The projector doesn't seem to automatically select the correct aspect ratio, you have to select this via the on-screen menu. It has 4 different settings (Full, Zoom, Normal, Panorama), but I think these are the same as with every WS HDTV set. The projector, once it's up on the ceiling, will be approx. 4 m (12FT?) from the screen for a 2.5m (100") wide (width, not diagonal) picture. If you want to take a closer peek to the projector, you can download a pdf version of the manual (for the Eiki LC-VC1, which is absolutely identical to the Sanyo PLV-60 I have. There's a page with a distance/width table. If you have further questions, fire away! __________________ Unca Dom Insanity grows All them silver discs Yesterday starts tomorrow - tomorrow starts today

04-10-2002, 04:31 PM	#27 (permalink)
*Wirehed* Producer/Admin NSFW Off 'the list' Join Date: Jul 2001 Location: Sacto, Ca --Near Galt, home of LeVar Burton	Thanks for the info Dom! so 4m away gives you a 100" picture. Neat-0. I was worried because I thought I would have to have the projector further back. ...and if I'm in Switzerland again I'll look you up. __________________ The Order of the Zombie. The world's greatest zombie culture website. "Ph'nglui mglw'nafh Cthulhu R'lyeh wagn'nagl dominos" In his house in R'lyeh, dead Cthulhu waits for the pizza delivery guy.

04-10-2002, 05:21 PM	#28 (permalink)
*1138* Producer/Admin Careful, or I'll ban myself... Join Date: Jun 2000