Am I big enough (1 Viewer)

[michael pearce]

Hope I am following protocol. This is my first post ever on any kind of forum,room site or what not. I want to build a home theater. I have a unfinished basement that will allow me a 12 feet wide by 14 feet long room with 8 ft cielings. Is this room big enough to do a Theater right. I want two rows of seating with one riser for the back seats. So how high can my riser be? How far back should the seating be? I want to view DVD's and NFL HDTV Football or sports on a front projector home theater system. Thanks to this site I am pretty certain that I want a 16.9 aspect ratio as opposed to the 4/3 but I am willing to listen to different opinions. Based on my dimensions how big of a stewart screen or da lite screen should I get? The bigger for me the better. What would be my typical throw ratio? So many questions but I am just getting started. I understand that I have to pay around $2000 for a good quality screen and I am O.K with that, but what confuses me is do I pay $5000 for a Nec HT1000 or Optima H56 or equivelant 16.9 in the do I go for a 1,000 or 2,000 Projector? I have a pretty good surround system as it is right now that I would probably hook into and upgrade as time goes on. Is there anything I am missing?
Any and all help is nice. my email address is [email protected] if someone wants to be my mentor..ha ha

 

[RickBlacker]

As far as room size, sure you should be fine. My room is about 20' by 10' I wish I had your extra 2 feet in width.

 

[Jack Briggs]

Michael, welcome to HTF — and to the Internet.

Since your post involves a personal DIY project instead of anything specific you may have read in Home Theater Builder magazine, I am moving it to the area best suited to your needs.

Good luck on your project!

 

[DavidVT]

Michael,

First things first, you need to decide on a FP and its throw limits. Once this is completed, you'll have a good idea of how big your screen can be.

You'll want to build your riser 9-12 inches in height.

Seating placement again depends on the screen size and FP.

There are a few FP out there between 1200-2500 that you'll be very impressed with: Sanyo PLV-Z1, Infocus X1, Sony HS10, and Panasonic AE-300 to name a few.

Also, there is no need to spend all that money on a screen, there are places on the net where you can buy just the screen material (most manufactures) and mount/frame it your self and save a ton!

What is your current sound system comprised of? The extra money you save on FP and screen can be, and sould be re-directed into your sound system. As having a nice looking theater, with crappy sound is IMHO a waste of resources.

 

[BrandonR]

Micheal, believe or not I built a great looking screen for less than $50.00 I bought $20.00 worth of 2x4's and $20.00 of black-out fabric from Jo-Annes fabric store and with the help of my brother stretched it taught across the frame I built. I still need to construct a black felt border but the image looks great on the screen.

Brandon

 

[John Clancy]

I build a screen for less than £5!

Amazing what can be achieved with a flat painted white wall, masking tape and a tin of matt black paint. You can also purchase screen paint for an even whiter finish. That then leaves you with a further $2,000 to spend on the picture which is the most important factor of any cinema. After all, if you have a crap picture what is the point in having outstanding sound?

 

[Keith M.]

In my opinion, I would have to disagree w/ most of the comments regarding screens. Seeing is believing...

I personally use a Stewart screen. And think the quality/service was well worth the price...

The screens that are manufactured by Stewart, Dalite and others are made of special materials that increase the brightness without sacrificing black level and enhance color depth and focus. They also dont bleed as much light into the viewing room. I would contact them for samples and do yourself a favor and compare each of them with the ideas presented here. Stewart has specific screens for each projector technology, such as grayhawk for lcd. So determine which you will be using before researching screens...


The screen is as important, if not more, than the projector...
Put it this way, would you buy a big rear projector tv with a fabric sheet or painted plaster for a screen...I wouldnt...