Brand New. Need Help! (1 Viewer)

[BTTF 88]

Hi Everyone,


Im brand new to this site. I love movies and everything about the film industry. I am in the military stationed overseas in Japan so I can;t just run out to my local Best Buy and pick up some home theater equipment. I have a second bedroom that I would love to turn into a home theater. My questions to you guys are:


Where should I start?

What's the best and affordable equipment out there?

Any tips and tricks on how to set up a theater room?

What's the correct sound stuff to get?

Go projector or lcd tv?


I need all the help I can get. Im pretty knowledgable with the equipment aspect but I want help from the pros like you. I want to start off by painting the room like a black or a dark blue. Does that help at all with the picture or does it just make the room look nicer? Also, any good websites to buy equipment since the lack of electronics stores over here will be very much appreciated. Thanks is advance.


Cheers,

Jay

 

[Robert_J]

• Read, read and read some more.
• You will have to check locally. There are very few members located in Japan. But most of the receivers we use are from Japanese companies so that will help with your selection.
• Check out the Dolby Labs site for speaker placement suggestions. Otherwise the sky is the limit. There are people here with 27" TV's all the way to 200" projection systems and everywhere in between.
• Receiver, 5 or 7 speakers and a sub to start with. Add a DVD or Blu-Ray player as a source and you are ready to go.
• Projectors are great (I have used one on a 103" screen for 5 years) if you have total light control.

We aren't pros. Well, most of us aren't. We are enthusiasts. We love the hobby and want to spread the fun.


I painted my room a navy blue. It really helps with reflected light on the projector. Black would be perfect for a room but I didn't want it to look like a dungeon.


You need to be careful about buying electronics from different countries. There are probably differences in broadcast TV. There are definitely issues with region encoded discs.

 

[Bobofbone]

My experience in obtaining electronic components overseas is from long ago, but I have a couple suggestions. My son has more recent experience-he was stationed in Zama for about 2 years-left about 1 1/2 years ago.


Japan, from what he said was a great place to buy equipment. From his description, the stuff on the local market (Tokyo) was about 6 months ahead of what's available in CONUS. The exchange rate may make a difference, however, and I'd be sure about any encoding issues with Blue Rayand DVD players. I'm not sure what the local power is-all the stuff I bought could switch between 50 and 60 hrz line currrent-if it isn't US standard (110V 60 hrz) make sure it can be converted.


In the military, you've also got the PX available. Check to see what can be ordered-the equipment my son bought while he was in Japan was special order through th PX. His system was modest, but he didn't see what he wanted on the shelves.

A couple of other considerations. The size of the room may make a projector unnecessary. The distance available to project will determine the size of the image. If the room is small, you might not be able to project an image any larger than is available from and LCD screen. Viewing distance will also be a consideration, partially determined by room size. If the image is too large, individual pixels start to become visible. In general, this can be avoided if the viewing distance is no less than 1.5 times the screen size. That being said, I like a large screen, and the area I'm building will be a bit closer. www.projectorcentral.com has good information about screen size, viewing distance and information pages.

Thank you for your service to our country.

 

[mkiaaina]

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