Projection based home theaters

[Chris Solo]

How's it going folks? I was just wondering who else here uses a projection based home theater as their primary movie viewing location?

[DoomBot]

I use a projector for movies, the only way to watch movies IMO. I have a 120" screen using a Panasonic AE4000 for projection. Though i will never buy an LCD based projector ever again, tired of having to clean out dust blobs. At least i can do it myself but it's a whole damn procedure!

[Chris Solo]

I used a 3 chip DLP from DPI for the longest but it needed service so I picked up an Epson UB6030 as a temp solution.  It impressed me to the point that I ended up keeping it.  (Plus the Epson was 1080p and the DPI was 720p.  Not to mention the Epson purchase price was $1000 less than the repair price of the DPI.)  It's coupled with an ISCO III anamorphic lens and a 16 foot wide Harkness 1.5 gain microperfed 2.37:1 aspect ratio screen.  All the speakers are commercial cinema speakers from JBL that I picked up from a closing theater 12 years ago. No better way to watch movies.  I haven't encountered dust issues with the Epson but I'm pretty sure they have a sealed light path.

[DoomBot]

I'm not sure how they can fully seal the light path with LCD projectors though, DLP yes. My first projector was DLP and never had this issue of course.
I went with a 16:9 screen because i was tired or changing the aspect ratio for every film or trailer. I would love a microperfed screen though.

Your system sounds pretty awesome, and having JBL from a theater, icing on the cake.

[Chris Solo]

I'm probably completely wrong on the sealed light path but -knocks on wood desk- I have not had any issues with this one. I have with LCD projectors in the past though and I owned four in my early HT days.

I usually leave my anamorphic lens in place and just resize for content that isnt scope because honestly most of what I watch is scope ratio. I have a motorized lens sled but it is not working at the moment. I just can't get over how cinematic it is to watch a movie that was shot scope and have it completely fill the screen. I only limited myself to 16 foot wide because my room was only 19 foot wide lol. I've been to a commercial cinema exactly twice in the last year - The Force Awakens & Age of Ultron. Everything else, I wait for blu-ray. Mind you this was all done when I owned a home theater business so I got better than great pricing and could justify the expense. I had to close up due to the housing market bottoming out but hey, I got a sweet room in the end.

[captainsolo]

That's a personal dream of mine. I've worked with a bunch of different projectors in different jobs but never have been able to afford one myself. Currently, though I must say I get pretty close with the Sony XBR960, despite the small screen size and slight motion trailing it's the best picture outside of a good PJ I've seen.

[Chris Solo]

Are we related Captain I went into the home theater business JUST to justify building a dedicated room.

[Behodar]

This is fairly timely; I set up a home theatre just last weekend and had a "grand opening" (ie. a few friends around) last night. It's nothing particularly fancy (cheap DLP onto a 2.6 metre 2.39:1 screen) but I'm happy with what I've accomplished especially since I was doing it "on the cheap" - I spent around US$1350 all up so it's come out pretty well for that price

[jonno]

Even the lower-end kit can be surprisingly effective, so long as you have the space (and patience) to set up for projection.

I was running a 720p DLP for a few years, then recently upgraded to an Optoma HD141X - once calibrated and bedded in, the image is quite astonishing for the price I paid (around 400UKP). It's just projected on a 2m electric screen, which in itself cost less than 100.

I'm sure there's a lot more to be spent in this area one day, but for now I'm perfectly content (as are the folks who visit for movie nights; my nephews particularly enjoy a trip to uncle Jonno!)

[Behodar]

Even the lower-end kit can be surprisingly effective, so long as you have the space (and patience) to set up for projection.

Somewhat conveniently, the largest wall in the house happened to be in an unused room. Patience is certainly a virtue though; I can't believe how much time it took to get the projector and screen in alignment.