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  1. #1
    Ridill
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    Building Out A Media Room

    Now that wife and I are all settled into the new house, it is about time I started to think about setting up my media room in our finished basement.

    The room is somewhere around 650 sq feet, almost square, with excellent potential to eliminate any ambient light if needed. I have a 50in Hisense LED to mount but have also been looking into projectors since the back wall is flat - perfect for either quality paint or a legit 120in screen. Probably going to paint the room a dark grey or light navy if that matters. The flooring is dark brown hardwood laminate.

    I feel like my main problem is now decided what to do with the screens. I can mount them side by side, with the TV dedicated to gaming and the projector for watching movies/tv. This could also allow me to have 2 games going at once for SEC/Big 10 Saturdays. This option would cost me a lot of wall space though.

    Alternatively, I could have the TV mount in the middle and have a motorized screen extend downwards. That option means I would have to find an alternative screen to watch TV if I am gaming and want some background noise. Also, I am a little fearful that the installation of a motorized screen could be difficult and that they seem to be slightly lesser quality than the framed screens I am seeing.

    Suggestions on where to start for projectors and screens? 4k isn't a priority but would be nice to get if the price is right. Also, I would expect all of this to run through a receiver of some sort and are absolutely clueless on who makes good ones. Would the old standby's of Sony, Samsung, Benq, etc be a good start?

    Is ~800 for a projector and ~200 for a quality screen in the right price range?

  2. #2
    The Real Cookiemonster
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    I really don't know the US market very well and when we do this for the company we have a bunch of advisors, and they're geared more towards the presentation settings, but from experience:

    - Projectors are very convenient, and it just mentally gives more of a home cinema feeling (subjectively).
    - Have more than one HDMI port on the projector.
    - If you don't have one, consider building a HTPC (just a fancy word for a PC with a fancy form factor in my "humble" opinion, but...)
    - Make sure you get enough brightness (ANSI Lumen), you say you can control the ambience, but in experience it's easy to overestimate that control. You don't want to sit in pitch black because you -have- to.
    - You need to make sure whatever projector you get will work with the physical dimensions of the room (distance to surface, surface dimensions etc.)
    - what kind of receiver you would use would depend a little on the setup in general. Personally I have an Onkyo that was recommended to me, but I'm pretty green on this stuff.
    - Downside to static always exposed surfaces on screens, they get dirty over time, and can start fading a little.
    - One experience from building a "Cinema" room at work. Whatever solution you rind up with, you need to make sure there's enough bass. whether they be integrated into speakers, or standalone serious subwoofer. Sometimes you need that feeling of your chest being threatened with a little fracture, without your ears shredding at the same time.

    at work we use motorized screens, the ones we have build out a little, so it doesn't grind against the walls etc. very practical since when they go back up, all the space is freed up.
    My parents just push it straight onto a wall, they don't even have a TV.
    Personally, I think my next set up will be a projector with wall mounted (but not elextric?)

    Not sure if this helps at all, but my thoughts at least as a "buyer, not a knower".

  3. #3
    Ridill
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    No, it helps a lot knowing what non-tech heads are accomplishing. Allows me to hone expectations vs cost a lot more easily.

    The issue with static screens collecting dust and dirt is real. Think I am leadning toward a retractable screen but not an electric one.

    Price ranged for projectors seem all over the place, honestly. Even when looking at non 3D ones, I can see one projector cost 2k and one with only slightly lesser specs be like 700. Is there just a premium on "newer" model projectors where it has not caught up to TV pricing yet?

  4. #4
    The Real Cookiemonster
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    hehe, I probably qualify as tech-head, just not in the AV department

    If I were you, I would enjoy going on a review binge, can look here for example: https://www.projectorcentral.com/
    and probably a lot of other good resources.
    Do you need 4k? depends, probably not, how long do you intend on keeping that one projector?
    It's worth noting, there are different technologies in projectors, a lot of them, but the primary categories to my knowledge are traditional lamps vs. lasers.
    This is generalizing, but lamps usually have a durability of 2500-4000 hours in my limited uynderstanding while lasers are supposed to be able to hit the 20k hour range. Laser is newer tech and more expensive, but quicker, stronger and more durable. Those lamps can be expensive, especially if you stick to brand versions (at least here in Norway).

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