Off Topic - Home Theater

Post by **vickyg2003** » Tue Oct 11, 2016 11:57 am

Hi guys, I need some help with the planning of my next upgrade.

I have a "media room" in my basement. Its called the media room because it has theater lighting and heavy sound proofing. It currently houses a treadmill and a 13" tube tv.

I want to make this into a proper media room. I was planning on replacing my 13" tube TV with a big screen TV, but now I'm thinking that a projector might be the best thing for the room.

I want to do this on a BUDGET with an eye towards staging my house for resale at sometime in the future.

In the recessed area, I have 3 coax cables from my distribution center and 3 ethernet cables running to my patch panel .

I'm thinking of hanging projection screen cloth on the wall of the nook. And then use my old tube TV's in the corners so that I can also use this for big sports days too, but can easily remove when staging the house.

But what wiring do I need on the opposite wall to use a projector?

A coax and three ethernets?

I'm looking at projectors with 2 HDMI and one set of Yellow/Red/White inputs.

What about sound?

How do you handle a remote with the equipment behind you?

I want to do this attractively but on a budget.

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Post by **The Robman** » Tue Oct 11, 2016 2:49 pm

For equipment behind you, you could either use an RF remote like the URC-9910 or you could use an IR repeater.
http://www.ebay.com/itm/391460287737

floyd1977 · Post by **floyd1977** » Mon Oct 24, 2016 8:05 am

In my basement media room, the projector is behind me, over my head. Pointing the remote straight ahead works for me, as the IR will bounce off the front wall. I guess it depends where the IR receivers are on your projector, but mine has them on both the front and rear.

Post by **vickyg2003** » Thu May 25, 2017 4:33 am

I finally did it. Floyd was totally right, just aim the remote at the screen and the projector reacts. Thank goodness for JP1. Remote macro turns on space heater and adjusts time for an hour, IR light switch is also handled by JP1.

After pricing out the 65" TV with a wall mount I decided to go the projector route. I bought a factory refurbished BenQ W1070 with 36 hours on the bulb, full one year guarantee, and cables and a mount and I'm still $250 less than the 65"TV with the wallmount, and I would have needed some new cables there too, just cheaper shorter models.

I ran 2 HDMI cables, composite cables, video cables, and RCA audio cables and a male to female 3.5mm cable to my projector ceiling location.

I ordered sample screen materials and after looking at all of them, I wasn't really sure any of them was that much better than the projected image on the plain old wall. The wall wasn't in the best shape or color, so I prepped the wall within an inch of its life and painted the "projection screen" with a quart of the Sherwin Williams Pro Classic Satin Enamel, that was recommended in an article I read.

Hubby helped mount the projector to the ceiling.

The projector speakers sounded kind of tinny so I plugged a good set of logitech computer speakers, and the sound is theater like, although the male voices are a bit deeper than I'm used to, and no remote control.

With a 104" screen the difference between HD and SD becomes very noticeable. I have SD cable, and 600 DVDs which are also SD. I have $250 left in my budget before the projector costs as much as a TV. That was supposed to go towards making the area below the screen look presentable, but now I'm thinking I would get more enjoyment out of the money by getting more HD content, perhaps another Roku. I see that most Blu-Ray players have smart features, but some also come with speakers, home theater in a box. Are those home theater in a box speakers dedicated to the blu-ray player? Is there a way to get the sound from the 3.5mm projector jack?

Post by **The Robman** » Thu May 25, 2017 8:59 am

vickyg2003 wrote:With a 104" screen the difference between HD and SD becomes very noticeable. I have SD cable, and 600 DVDs which are also SD

Do you have an up-converting DVD player of Bluray player? If so, does that not make the DVDs pretty much HD-like?

Post by **vickyg2003** » Thu May 25, 2017 4:35 pm

The best level of output on my DVD players is RBG component output. The projector handles the upconversion. There is just a lot more data in the 1080p picture. Tm

I've never understood why anyone would pay extra for HD service until the screen got so big. Now I am in love with the HD picture.

Post by **The Robman** » Thu May 25, 2017 5:52 pm

Do you have a Bluray player with HDMI output? If not, get one so you can start renting Bluray HD discs, but also, it might make your DVDs look HD too. If you get a "smart" Bluray player, it will also give you Netflix, Youtube, etc.

Post by **vickyg2003** » Sun May 28, 2017 10:55 am

Looks like I need a blu-ray player, and an HDMI switch. I hunted far and wide to find a projector with 2 HDMI ports in my price range, but now I need one for the TV tuner, 1 for a Blu-Ray and another one for the Roku. Seems the Blu-Ray players have a very limited number of apps, I can just move the Roku around I am the only one that uses it anyway.

I am surprised that SD TV using the cheapy viewTV at-163 is looking better than DVDs. It seems a shame to buy a blu-ray for the horrible movies that have been coming out lately but I'm hoping that a Blu-Ray might get more out of my older DVDs.

Post by **The Robman** » Sun May 28, 2017 11:23 am

Here's a Bluray for $35 and it's in Florida:
http://www.ebay.com/itm/271997130100

Note that that unit requires a LAN cable, it's not wifi. Do you have a LAN cable where you'll locate this box?

If you need it, here's one with wifi for about $40:
http://www.ebay.com/itm/351829475706

Here's a 5-port remote controlled switcher for under $7:
http://www.ebay.com/itm/111613105331

Barf · Post by **Barf** » Sun May 28, 2017 11:26 am

Vicky,

consider getting an "AV-Receiver" with HDMI switching. It will also, after you connect suitable loudspeakers, give you a much, much better movie sound...

Getting a cheap Bluray and a streaming box, e.g.Amazon's Fire (you can install Kodi on it!) is probably cheaper and better that a BD-player with steaming capacities.

I am surprised that SD TV using the cheapy viewTV at-163 is looking better than DVDs.

There is probably something wrong. Connected using HDMI?

I'm hoping that a Blu-Ray might get more out of my older DVDs.

High-scaling simply cannot create information that is not there. Do not expect miracles. The only true way of achieving HD is to replace your DVDs by true HD media, e.g. BDs.

Post by **vickyg2003** » Sun May 28, 2017 7:11 pm

Barf wrote:Vicky,

consider getting an "AV-Receiver" with HDMI switching. It will also, after you connect suitable loudspeakers, give you a much, much better movie sound...

One thing I hate to do is under-buy, it always ends up costing more in the long run, but AV receivers seem to be so expensive. More than my projector and screen combined, and although I'm running through computer speakers, the sound of all the explosions in the movie I watched tonight "Deepwater Horizons" seemed to be just about right. This isn't the main TV viewing area. If it was where we watch tv most of the time, then an AV receiver would be just the thing, but this is my personal TV in the basement.

Getting a cheap Bluray and a streaming box, e.g.Amazon's Fire (you can install Kodi on it!) is probably cheaper and better that a BD-player with steaming capacities.

Not sure what I would get out of Kodi. I do like the apps on my Roku. I'm the only one that watches that, so perhaps I should just get an extra power supply so I don't have such a hassle moving it. If I could just reach in and unplug it and bring it to the basement, when I want to use it.

I am surprised that SD TV using the cheapy viewTV at-163 is looking better than DVDs.

There is probably something wrong. Connected using HDMI?

No RGB component cables. I think perhaps the problem lies in the DVD's. One might have been intentionally blurry by the producer, and the other one said "digitally enhanced" which seems to mean heavily pixelated.

As long as I don't look at anything high-def first, most stuff looks okay. Even my homemade DVDs which account for about half of my collection.

I'm glad I have you guys. Nobody I know is into AV equipment.

greeno · Post by **greeno** » Wed May 31, 2017 8:52 am

for about $500 you can get a nice AVR, look at yamaha, denon or onkyo. shop the close outs.
barf is right, with hdmi switching you really just need one cable (hdmi) run to the display (in your case projector).

i just bought a roku2 (version 2) for $30 refurb'd on amazon. it's not the latest and greatest, but is just as fast as the latest gen roku's in terms of chipset, has ethernet (wire all devices you can rather than use wifi). i got tired of having streaming apps spread between 2 devices (tv and bluray player).

my $0.02,
best,
jeff

Post by **vickyg2003** » Thu Jun 01, 2017 6:19 am

greeno wrote:for about $500 you can get a nice AVR, look at yamaha, denon or onkyo. shop the close outs.
barf is right, with hdmi switching you really just need one cable (hdmi) run to the display (in your case projector).

i just bought a roku2 (version 2) for $30 refurb'd on amazon. it's not the latest and greatest, but is just as fast as the latest gen roku's in terms of chipset, has ethernet (wire all devices you can rather than use wifi). i got tired of having streaming apps spread between 2 devices (tv and bluray player).

my $0.02,
best,
jeff

Hi Jeff, long time no see. Do you need help recovering your old ID? I almost didn't recognize you with the mere 17 posts it lists for the new profile.

There is no way this stand alone Home Theater would ever justify a $500 expenditure for an AV receiver. Even a remote controlled switch ($50) seems to be overkill. I could just get a hdmi coupler $2, I could reach behind the cabinet and change which item is connected.

Sound through the PC speakers is very good. Great separation of right left and big booming deep notes through the subwoofer not sure what more I could ask for other than remote control. The projector has limited remote control of the volume, but it is governed by the volume and bass that I preset on the PC speakers volume control.

Post by **The Robman** » Thu Jun 01, 2017 8:34 am

Hey Vicky,
Did you see these suggestions that I posted earlier for you?

The Robman wrote:Here's a Bluray for $35 and it's in Florida:
http://www.ebay.com/itm/271997130100

Note that that unit requires a LAN cable, it's not wifi. Do you have a LAN cable where you'll locate this box?

If you need it, here's one with wifi for about $40:
http://www.ebay.com/itm/351829475706

Here's a 5-port remote controlled switcher for under $7:
http://www.ebay.com/itm/111613105331

Post by **vickyg2003** » Thu Jun 01, 2017 3:29 pm

I did not ignore you, I am just doing research.

I did run a lot of CAT5E here in MI. I just need an 8 port switch, and I should get a new wireless router, the old one has recently started to have to be rebooted every few days. The old one is 9 years old, I think it is ready for an upgrade.