Sam's Underground Aerie (1 Viewer)

[Jason Charlton]

Looks great! Can't wait to check it out in person.

 

[Charles Smith]

When's the par-tay?

 

[Sam Posten]

Ha, we had a partay (for a vacuum cleaner, no less!) last weekend! Stop by any time! Jason I might take you up on your offer sometime and have ya come over and help me calibrate if you are still willing. Double color blindness and calibration aren't a good mix! =)

 

[DaveF]

A neighbor has the epson 8360 (a less expensive model), and I got a quick look at that last night. Fantastic! I hope to set up the basement next year with a projector. My wife is on board. Same do you use an anamorphic lens or other advanced features? I need to learn more about the options and opportunites.

 

[Sam Posten]

Just the regular one, i think 16:9 is the perfect screen vompromise and think the 2.35 fans are nuts!

 

[Bobofbone]

Nice. I like it, and the way things have come together. I might be nuts, though. 2.40 has its advantages for movies that are 2.35 or 2.40. My panasonic adjusts the elevation and focus automatically-it fills the screen in either perspective (height wise) , but leaves the ends unfilled with 1.78:1.

I don't get any complaints about it being to high from the local Master and Commander

I've thought about a masking system, but have not got around to it yet. With the lights low, having the ends of the screen blank isn't that noticible. When the lights were on for the Super Bowl party, curtains for masking would have looked nice though.

If you make the 2.4:1 screen high enough, it still has a pretty good image either way. Mine is 125"x53" that's a diagonal of 135" for 2.4:1, and 108" for 1.78:1. Viewing distance is about 10'.

 

[Sam Posten]

That's cool Bob.

What percentage of your viewing would you say is actually wider than 16x9? I'm not a big TV watcher and I'd still say that between games, TV, TV on disk and movies that wider than 16x9 accounts for less than 10% of my viewing. If all you are going to watch is movies in a dedicated theater then yeah, I can see going with a super wide screen but for me (and I'd bet most people!) it wouldn't make sense based on the usage....

That's what I mean by nuts, when someone sets up their theater to make UWS look best but actually uses it for that purpose a small percentage of the time. That doesn't make sense to me but I get that some folks are so passionate about it that it's the way they choose to go.

 

[DaveF]

I like the idea. Even though most material is 16:9, I always feel cheated when a great big spectacle movie, like LOTR, gets smaller instead of bigger on my TV.

 

[Bobofbone]

Sam;
We tend to watch movies more than anything else, probably about 80% of the viewing between my wife and myself in the theater. When my kids come home, they tend to do the same. Most of our viewing in the theater tends to be off recorded media-blu rays and DVD's that get upcoded on the blu ray player. When I have a choice, I get widescreen formated media.. Overall, I'd say well over half of what we view is in 2.35:1 format. I haven't tried a game system yet, but you're right, that's not something I need a wide screen for.

I've got a flatscreen in the greatroom that's hardwired to the router, and tends to work better for stuff like netlix. Selectively, we tend to watch more widescreen media in the theater.

I'd though about using a set of dark curtains on either side as a masking system to get the best of both worlds, sooner or later. But, that will probably be later, between unexpected work, home projects I get asked to do and new Blu Rays of things like "The Great Escape" that beckon.

 

[DaveF]

Bobofbone, you got pic of your system? Or a movie showing lens shift in action?

 

[Bobofbone]

Dave;
The best wide angle lense I have for pictures is actually on my I phone-that's what I used to take these, so the resolution may not be all that great. I also took them with the lights on, but slightly dimmed to show the screen.
View attachment IMG_0189.MOV

The view is slightly to the side to get the entire screen in, and starts with a 1.78:1 aspect image of the menu page. When the image goes to the selected scene, it starts with a 2.35:1 image the width of the previous view-the image is processed and enlarges to fit the screen at around 28 seconds into the video.

The screen is actually 2.40:1, to fit everything up to that size, There are a few movies that are wider, but not many. WIth the lights off, once the you start watching, I find I don't notice with a narrower image on the screen. I'm still thinking about a set of curtains that can be partially pulled for a masking system, but since I don't sew (at least not very well) I have to sell my wife on the idea.

The automatic switching usually just occurs once in the begining, within 30 seconds, if the previous image isn't the same aspect ratio, except on broadcast TV. I found with things like watching the Superbowl, commercials and other stuff they insert cause frequent switching. This is most easy to avoid by going into the projector menu and deactivating the auto swtching, and setting the image to 1.78:1.

Concerning the cost of one size over another, if you build or paint you screen, the difference in cost and effort between widescreen and cinamascope of the same height is negligible.

 

[DaveF]

Neat! My wife could get on board with that too. I'll have to learn more for a possible purchase next year.

 

[Sam Posten]

Bump! Starting to think of getting real theater seats down there to replace my 20 year old couches. Anyone have any recommendations? Thinking of going 2 rows of 3 and 3, with a riser being installed for second row. See the pics on page 1 to get an idea of size and consideration for getting to the bathroom:
http://www.hometheaterforum.com/topic/319456-sams-underground-aerie/#entry3899267

Think I can safely get 3 good size seats in there with enough room on the right hand side for the bathroom? (roughly 15 feet width) without making the left hand seat jam against the wall?

 

[Sam Posten]

First thought is considering 3 freestanding recliners in the Fusion Escape collection:
http://www.rtheaters.com/FusionCollection/FC-Escape-1019.html

They say 37" wide but lets call that 40 for a little room between em, 40x 3 = 120 inches so I'd have 60 inches to play with total on both sides. 20 inches off one wall and 40 on the main right hand side, that's 3 and a half feet, is that enough?

 

[Sam Posten]

Hah, we've had the Theater seats in for over a year, and I never put in an update!
6 Devonshire's from HT Seating:

Devonshires by Sam Posten III, on Flickr


HT Seating Devonshire by Sam Posten III, on Flickr

TODAY tho I finally got it all together to get the Aerie wired for 7.1.4!!!! 4 Paradigm 65Pros incoming plus 2 more Paradigm Atoms for the sides.


Atmos prewire by Sam Posten III, on Flickr

And a Denon 6300 to power it, just in time for the Denon 6400 to be announced!

 

[Sam Posten]

4 ceiling speakers in plus the 2 sides. Only based one little bit of drywall. If I can do it anyone can!

 

[Sam Posten]

Atmos 7.1.4 install by Sam Posten III, on Flickr


Atmos 7.1.4 install by Sam Posten III, on Flickr



Atmos 7.1.4 install by Sam Posten III, on Flickr


Atmos 7.1.4 install by Sam Posten III, on Flickr


Atmos 7.1.4 install by Sam Posten III, on Flickr


Atmos 7.1.4 install by Sam Posten III, on Flickr



Atmos 7.1.4 install by Sam Posten III, on Flickr


Atmos 7.1.4 install by Sam Posten III, on Flickr

Every line labelled. 100% perfect install first time in =)

Atmos 7.1.4 install by Sam Posten III, on Flickr

And devices labelled too!

Atmos 7.1.4 install by Sam Posten III, on Flickr

 

[Robert_Zohn]

Look great! Nice job designing and custom installing!

 

[Sam Posten]

Hah! My architectural style can best be described as "Make it work" =)

Thanks Robert, you guys rule!

 

[Mike Frezon]

Awesome, Sam! Thanks for the update! Are those your folks?

AND....are those laptop trays on those theater seats? Those are cool! Handy for laptops, remotes...food... And where do they store when not in use?

The things people ask about, huh?!?