Category: Home Theater

Last night, the neighborhood got together for the first ever Skinner Road Outdoor Movie Night. My across-the-street neighbors had been helping their boys build an elevated fort, so we already had a 10-foot tall platform to hang a screen from. Another neighbor’s dad works in a fabric facility and was able to rig us up a 16-foot wide screen for cheap. We mounted my projector on a raised tractor bucket and set 2 of my old huge “college days” speakers up in front, and another neighbor’s speakers behind us for surround sound (no subwoofer, no center channel). I still hadn’t installed my old Denon A/V receiver downstairs, so it was available for amplification duties. A small DVD player completed the setup.

We had a real good turnout, though some might not have thought too highly of our movie choices: Dumb & Dumber, and The Waterboy. Unfortunately, I didn’t think of getting photos of the setup until after it was already dark, and what I did get all turned out terrible.

The crowd had a great time, and we agreed that we’ll do it again when the weather cools off.

Our new A/V receiver: The Denon AVR-887. It has HDMI switching for future use, but more importantly for now, it has high-def component switching and lots of digital audio inputs. This allowed me to get rid of 2 manual switches that my setup previously required.

After 2878 hours of use, I have finally replaced my projector bulb. I had been dreading the ~$300 cost, but also looking forward to the improvement in brightness. And what an improvement it is! I knew that the picture was dimmer, but it was impossible to guess just how much dimmer it was. I’m happy to report that the “Wow” factor is back. The image is so bright now that I’m reminded that I need to paint the walls and ceilings a darker color.

A bonus is that since I had the projector down to install the new bulb, I took the opportunity to get a good photo of the ceiling mount. In this picture, you can get a better idea of how the thing works. You can clearly see how the flange attaches to the plexiglass, and you can see the 3 holes where the projector gets bolted to the plexiglass.

Michelle insisted I get the projector off of the shelf it was on before we had dozens of people going in and out of the home theater room for my birthday party, so on the night before the party, with the help of my neighbor Leigh, I got the ceiling mount done.

There is a plexiglass plate I cut out in the shape of the projector, and it has three holes drilled in it to match the three mounting holes on the projector. The connecting 5mm bolts are long enough that a wingnut fits above the plexiglass (but below the bolt head) and can be used to raise and lower the projector at that point (See closeup here). With these three adjustment points, I can raise and lower the front, and either side, meaning I can perfectly align the projected image to the screen.

The plexiglass plate is connected to a sheet of plywood using plumbing fixtures: floor flanges and a pipe. The plywood is bolted securely to the ceiling.

You can see that there are still a few finishing touches needed, like routing the cabling through the ceiling, painting the plywood, and maybe painting the metal plumbing, but as of now, the mount is perfectly functional, and the projector is out of danger of being tipped over by a kid bumping into a shelf.

I had read that a black frame with light-absorbing material would increase the apparent contrast of the projector’s picture. It also makes it easier to get the picture to appear perfectly aligned because any part of the picture that is slightly over onto the black frame will be absorbed and disappear.

This frame is made of 1x4s and wrapped in black velvet. The velvet frame is attached to the original frame using homemade 1/4″ plywood braces and brass wood screws.

	Building the black velvet masking frame. It is sized to fit around the existing 96″x54″ screen. I had to measure each board, then carry it downstairs so I could cut it using a miter box.
	The frame is built and ready for the velvet to be applied. The frame pieces aren’t yet connected in any way. I’m just verifying the sizes and angles.
	About to wrap one of the frame pieces with black velvet. Spray adhesive was used. This was a bit of a messy job, but it turned out great. Again, an extra set of hands made things much easier.
	Backside view of the completed screen. Black velvet was wrapped around all frame pieces. 1/4 inch plywood was used for corner and edge braces for connecting this frame to the existing screen frame with brass wood screws.
	Completed screen back up on the wall. With the black frame, the overall screen is larger and I was able to completely cover the window instead of having to use blackout cloth. I have also rewired and evened up the front speakers. I still need to get some proper component shelving. Yes, that is a set of “rabbit ears”. I use them for reception of over-the-air HDTV.

Until now, the rear speakers had been sitting on the floor. Now that they’ve been mounted near the ceiling, the sound is improved tremendously. The wires are still just hanging from the wall and running along the ground. I bought a “snake” for fishing wires through tough-to-reach places, but I haven’t used it yet.

The drapery over the door has been replaced with something to match the planned future decor.

We bought a set of Palliser black leather recliners. I had tried these out at a large furniture store several weeks ago and had been impressed with how comfortable they were and how well-made they appeared to be. We came across them again at a Billiards and Barstools store. This “Melrose” series might not have been my first choice, but they happened to be on sale at an irresistible price so we took the plunge and ordered them.

When they arrived a few days later, the delivery guys were so impressed with the theater room that they wanted a demo. Being young guys, they were most impressed with “MX Unleashed” running at 1080i on the Xbox.

Previously, the projector was sitting on a cardboard box at just the right height to line up with the bottom of the screen. With these seats in the room, I had to raise the projector up onto a shelf. The height is not correct now, so I have to use the projector’s “keystone correction” to get the picture aligned correctly, otherwise it has a trapezoidal shape (wider at the bottom). This situation is temporary until I can mount the projector on the ceiling. Then it will be upside-down and again aligned properly with the screen and keystone correction can be turned off. I’d like to do this soon, because digital keystone correction degrades the picture. I can’t tell so much for movies or TV, but on the computer screen, it is evident that the fonts aren’t as sharp as they should be.

Phase 1 of the screen was building the wooden frame and stretching the blackout cloth over it. I used 1×3 lumber to keep the frame light. I got the “premium” lumber at Home Depot, but even still I had to pick and choose to get boards that weren’t warped or bowed. I used a miter box to cut the 45 degree angles, then screwed the pieces together with brass wood screws and angle braces. I bought an electric staple gun for stapling the screen material to the frame. Since the cloth was 54″ wide and frame itself was 54″ tall, a bit of stretching was required. An extra set of hands was definitely needed here (Thanks, Michelle!).

	Screen frame under construction. 1×3 lumber was used for the frame.
	Close up of screen frame corner braces. These were fastened on with brass wood screws.
	Completed screen frame, ready for the cloth to be stretched and stapled on. Sorry there are no photos of the stapling job in progress. We were concentrating too hard to remember to take photos.
	Projector’s eye view of the mounted screen. Speakers weren’t spaced properly because I didn’t have long enough speaker wire yet. The wire-frame equipment rack is very temporary. The extra white cloth you see is to black out the window behind the screen.

Dying to try out the new projector, I quickly threw together this makeshift screen: blackout cloth thumb-tacked to a 10-foot 1×6 which was balanced on top of an upturned bed frame. Components (A/V receiver, satellite receiver, etc.) are just scattered on the floor. Boy was I was impatient! The projector picture had ripples because of the loose screen material, but it was still the best picture I had ever seen. Gotta build my real screen soon.