Greetings All - (newbie) (1 Viewer)

[mike_bianchi]

Hello to all. I'm about to embark on my home theater project and was glad to find this forum. I'll be going through it thoroughly and then asking some questions.

I'll introduce myself. I'm in Kentucky, just outside Cincinnati. My background is in the motion picture industry. I've managed hard-top and drive-in theatres and worked in projection booths from fully automatied multi-plexes to fully manual, carbon-arc systems. Currently, I'm a part owner of an independent, historic theatre and serve as the technical director there.

My experience with audio translates well to home theatre since most of the home theater stuff is technology transferred from the big screen. Once you've selected a system, installed it, and balanced the channels over a 400+ seat house, the family room is easy.

My weakness is probably on the image side. 35mm motion picture format, obviously, is not what has transferred into the home. I may be ahead of the curve in that I understand the basics of projection, ambient light, and how light reacts.

Still, I find myself "in the dark" on the home theater stuff. Hopefully this will be the place for your humble newbie to find information without being tainted by sales pitch from some salesman wanting to push junk he gets a big bonus for.

My theater will be based on a rear-mount DLP projector. My basement has the perfect unfinished area behind the wall. It's an area with no windows whatsoever. I plan to cut out the wall and frame in a screen.

Right now I'm leaning towards a Sharp DLP projector. The DT-200 seems to be the one for me.

Any initial thoughts or reactions are appreciated; but I'll read through the forum to see if my questions have already been answered before I start asking specific things.

Thanks in advance to any and all...

Mike

 

[Jack Briggs]

Glad to have another projectionist aboard, Mike. Welcome.

Since you're asking a theoretical question here — or, rather, are telling us your overall concept for your project — then this thread can remain here (though the project you describe is hardly a "basic," rudimentary setup).

Many successful home theaters are built around a rear-mounted front projector; this is an excellent way to circumvent stray lighting effects.

FYI, when you have questions regarding which projector to go with, please post them in the Display Devices section.

Keep us updated.

 

[Bob McElfresh]

Yes Mike, welcome to HTF!

You will find a lot of good equipment discussion here and your background will be a welcome addition to some of the more theory-heavy discussions (you can tell which ones by the large page-count).

I'm sure you have opinions on THX vs non-THX equipment, equalization curves, seating distances, etc. Feel free to join in any of these discussions in the Speakers/Tweeking/Display fourms.

Please note that HTF is based on respect for each other. It's fine to disagree or even argue issues, but it has to stay about the issues and not get personal. When it does the moderator staff steps in and closes threads/bans members. The up-side is that both newbies and professionals can participate in the same thread. So post your questions in any fourm, be patient & help out the newbies when you get a chance and you will find a nice home on the internet.

Enjoy your stay.

 

[mike_bianchi]

Thanks for the warm welcome. I'm sure I'll find a lot of good stuff here - and hopefully I can contribute some useful stuff as well. I just re-read my first post and I hope it didn't sound over-inflated. I don't love myself as much as it may have sounded - I was just trying to introduce myself in order to get better feedback.

I should confess that I am mostly a self-taught hack. My only formal training was National Amusements' P.O.C. program. Other than that, I just spent a whole lot of time helping and observing the old union projectionists and other folks I admire.

Anyway, thanks again and I'm sure we'll all enjoy some lively debate. And don't hesitate to let me know if I post in the wrong area or whatever. I won't get my feelings hurt

 

[Chu Gai]

Allow me to also extend warm greetings. Anyone from a state where my close friend Jack Daniels lives can't be all bad!

 

[ChrisWiggles]

As a technically proficient person, in approximating the resolution and natural film-like quality for cheap, you should also consider CRT projectors (refurbed).