that's weird,
I'm pretty sure I made a post about using baluns to run HDTV outside but it doesn't seem to be here.
The problem with component cable is that you need high quality cable once you get over 25'. When I was looking at running cable, the longest I saw was 50'
A balun will take a 3 RCA component feed and convert it to cat5 cable and back on the long end. I use this setup at home to run HDTV outside in the summer. My run is about 150'. The best part is that you can also run composite by changing the hookups or even svideo + audio with the right convertor.
I've seen some specialized baluns on ebay but you can also find them by googling.

We're doing Star Wars Ep. IV tomorrow night. Assuming the weather holds out. It seems we have had a pretty good summer, in terms of weather, except for the days I plan my movie nights.

I just remembered, we also have a book on Star Wars snacks (like Wookiee Cookies, Dagobah punch, etc.) that we'll have to drag out, and set up the Star Wars snack table. Anyone have any other ideas?

Did you serve any "Ham Solo?" or "Darth Taters" ?

While on holidays at the cottage the last two weeks we had our first (not last) outdoor nights. Not knowing what to expect, I didn't want to spend to much money. Also my wife was nervous at the thought of putting a new 3000$ projector outside and around a bunch of kids (so around 10 years old, and others in their 40's). I was going to make a screen out of a painters tarp. If the night proved worthy, I would build a frame around BO cloth. However a quick trip to home depot turned up a pleasant surprise. I bought a 4x8 sheet of white 1/4" corrugated sign board for 17$ (Canadian, that about 0.35$ for my American friends). I tacked on a couple of 2x2s and cross braced the frame with some old baseboards I recently replaced and gave it a whirl. I was amazed that the picture was not the bad......It was great. Nothing like my Screen Innovations at home, but better than the original screen I first purchased when I got into HT.
Anyhow we invited about 25 people from the area and showed "the Benchwarmers" and Transporter II. Both were a huge success. So much so that the next nigh was Nemo and Airplane. Again a great night. The second night I was playing with the Zoom and moved out to about 155". Everyone wanted it left that way and so we did. It actually worked quit well seeing that the picture was centered on my homemade screen, where typically the action is.

Well since then there were two more nights to watch "Rockstar SuperNova" . For this I did get a 5x12 painters tarp.

I plan on a couple of more nights this year and will probably pull the trigger on an inflatable screen prior to next spring

Did you serve any "Ham Solo?" or "Darth Taters" ?


Funny! Actually, we did name the snacks! We had:

Yoda Soda
Romulan Ale (yea, yea--wrong movie!)
Wookiee Cookies (with Naboo Nuts)
Cloud City Cloud Puffs (Popcorn)
Bantha Brownies
Greedo's Treatos (rice crispy treats)
Darth Vader Donuts
Pod-Racing Razberry Lemonade (in Han "Solo" plastic cups!)
Jabba Jigglers (jello jigglers)

Overall, the night was a success--we started with about 50 people, and ended with probably 20. Throughout the night, kids started either getting unruly or nodding off (movie started around 8:15 and ended at 10:15 or so). The movie holds a special place in my heart, so I don't notice the pacing, but watching it with a bunch of kids, you really get a sense for when the movie drags.

We had the special edition, so it had the extra scenes that a lot of the parents had never seen before (especially the Jabba the Hutt scene--I got a lot of "Where did THAT come from!")

Sorry--didn't take any pictures.

Yoda Soda! --- Excellent!

I may have to steal your idea and do the same!

I'm going to have my 8th showing this w/e. I did a guys only showing a couple weeks ago and watched Hostel and The Hills Have Eyes. I've seen more blood from those movies than I have in the past 5 yrs of all other movies! Great stuff to watch outdoors with woods behind the house.

I think this w/e will bring a couple kids- so I'm trying to find a happy medium movie. Maybe Harry Potter or Lord of the Rings. Or - wait a little for the kids to go to bed and then show The Island.

I found a white canvas screen with grommets every 2 feet online. It's 10x15 - I will be constructing my easy up/easy down 2" PVC frame tomm night. Hopefully I'll get the screen up/down time to < 10 mins.

Anyone ever check this material out for a screen: Think it's worth it?




That's what I use. The image quality is very good and it's very bright.



Is Gesso a problem when you fold the stuff up? Do you have to iron it out or when I fold the screen up and store it?



There's the rub. The gesso tends to hold folds, wrinkles and bulges. You can iron it flat again, but that's a pain. I keep mine rolled on a 4-inch diameter PVC pipe with a very loose strap (tight strap => wrinkles).

You can wash it off, if it gets dirty.

To assemble the screen, you have to lay the canvas out, face down, then put the frame on top and clamp it down all around. You can't really handle the canvas to hang it on an erected frame without wrinkling it like crazy.

I like it fine. There are some restrictions, but there are also offsetting advantages.

We had a great outdoor theater experience last night ... thanks to all who have posted suggestions as to how best to make a screen.

I bought 480" of Black out cloth and cut it in two. My wife sewed it together so that it was now 240" wide ... but now twice as high (BOC comes in 54" widths so is now 108" high). Those dimensions gave us a 1:2.35 screen. Have it mounted on 2 2X4's ... one on each side. Put hooks on the freeze board up high and used chains and those twist-to-tighten thing-a-ma-jiggies to pull it really tight. You could not see the seam in the middle or any sign of sags once the movie started - it looked great.

I have a Kenwood 5.1 and it sounded amazing! I downloaded a couple Dolby trailers and played them first ... really showed off the surround sound (used optical audio - what a difference that makes).

I have a Infocus 4805 projector but it at the repair shop ... so used a ASK Proxima (also made by Infocus) which looked AMAZING - even though it is a business projector. I have an Oppo DVD player with DVI.

We are in Nova Scotia so it was a little chilly overnight (colder than normal) ... but my wife brought out blankets for everyone ... just to help.

We had about 30 people and showed the favorite The Incredibles.

We will be hosting more of these events ... kids and adults in the neighborhood had a great time.

Thanks again to all who posted ideas and helped in making our showing a success!

We had a great outdoor theater experience last night ... thanks to all who have posted suggestions as to how best to make a screen.

I bought 480" of Black out cloth and cut it in two. My wife sewed it together so that it was now 240" wide ... but now twice as high (BOC comes in 54" widths so is now 108" high). Those dimensions gave us a 1:2.35 screen. Have it mounted on 2 2X4's ... one on each side. Put hooks on the freeze board up high and used chains and those twist-to-tighten thing-a-ma-jiggies to pull it really tight. You could not see the seam in the middle or any sign of sags once the movie started - it looked great.

I have a Kenwood 5.1 and it sounded amazing! I downloaded a couple Dolby trailers and played them first ... really showed off the surround sound (used optical audio - what a difference that makes).

I have a Infocus 4805 projector but it at the repair shop ... so used a ASK Proxima (also made by Infocus) which looked AMAZING - even though it is a business projector. I have an Oppo DVD player with DVI.

We are in Nova Scotia so it was a little chilly overnight (colder than normal) ... but my wife brought out blankets for everyone ... just to help.

We had about 30 people and showed the favorite The Incredibles.

We will be hosting more of these events ... kids and adults in the neighborhood had a great time.

Thanks again to all who posted ideas and helped in making our showing a success!

Awesome! Glad you guys had a great night, and welcome to the club. It's a lot of fun!

Ok, so I am ready to take the plunge.

I purchased a 15 x 12 "canvas" drop cloth from HD yesterday. My neighbor helped me hang it for a quick test run. Obviously better than the sideing on either of our houses, so I went to work putting in grommets. Last night I finished putting them in, for a 14'x8' screen. After I doubled over the edges by 2" for the grommets it should leave 14' for the useable width. After measuring about 30 times I finally cut the cloth on the end, leaving 6" extra. I then folded in 2", and folded in 2' more to leave a 3-ply for the grommet. This also meant that I didn't need to sew the material (I am hoping).

Tonight or tomorow I go about creating the frame to hang the screen. I want to create a portable screen that will only be set up when it's intended to be used. I also want it to be reasonable to transport for use. I believe I will use 2" PVC to create the screen. I am planning on anchoring the entire thing into 2 tires I will fill with QuickCrete and permanetely place a slightly larger piece of PVC into. The tires should have enough weight to hold the screen steady, and if need be, a few guy wires should secure it againts a pretty good breeze.

I will be showing the OSU/TEX game (16x9 HD) on Saturday. I plan to set up the projector, HTIB, and Cable box on a table under an awning. I have a small fan that blows alot of air, so I plan to place it beside the projector lens to keep the bugs off the projector and hepefully aid in keeping the unit cool, as well as keep the dew at bay. I guess we'll see how well this works.

I have a plan for the bathroom and securing the cables so noone trips over them.

Any last minute advice?

GL

My last min advice is 3 things:

1) Don't forget the beer.

2) Make sure there is no to very little play where the frame meets the tire stand (if I understood you right). If so, and you don't have guy-wires - it will fall b/c of momentum from a slight breeze. If it's taught - you'll be fine in even a decent breeze.

3) Don't forget the beer.

I'm going to use 2" PVC myself - are you planning on putting 2.5" into the ground with cement? Or was that the above-ground tire tihng?

My last min advice is 3 things:

1) Don't forget the beer.

Ha ha, check!


2) Make sure there is no to very little play where the frame meets the tire stand (if I understood you right). If so, and you don't have guy-wires - it will fall b/c of momentum from a slight breeze. If it's taught - you'll be fine in even a decent breeze.


Change of plans here, I'll now be using a metal pole cemented into the tire. This will double as a volleyball standard when not in use as a screen frame. Last night I hung the screen between them with decent results in the 10 minute trial time I had available. I think this will work, at least for this first showing. Good info though.

3) Don't forget the beer.

Check. As well as the pre-game spread and a few yard games until gametime.

I'm going to use 2" PVC myself - are you planning on putting 2.5" into the ground with cement? Or was that the above-ground tire tihng?

My idea was to put the sleeve into the tireful of conrete (maybe 16" or so with multiple holes in the PVC 2" apart). In this way I could slip my frame standards into the tire/sleeve and possibly secure them with a bolt making them adjustable so I can level the screen. Eyebolts on the standards would be used to mount the screen and possibly serve as guywires if needed.

Theoretically it should travel pretty well, either down the street or down the road and I could set it up at anyones house without completely destroying their yard.

At this point its just an idea and hasn't been completely engineered. I'd like to make it so the standards are multipurpose (doubling as volleyball standards), somewhat lightweight (outside of the tires), and able to fit into the bed of a small pickup truck (or minivan) as well as any supports etc.

GL

We had our first outdoor movie event last night. It sent great, about 40 people, perfect weather, and so on. I'll post pics and stuff later when I get time. The problem is that now I want a 16x9 foot screen inside!

Finally FINALLY set up projector outside. This was only the 2nd time I have tried out the projector since I bought it, (mitsubishi HC100). I also set up a yamaha 5930 receiver with infinity 5.1 speakers, (tss750??). The first snafu was the screen. It sagged horribly, (knew it would, was told it wouldn't). Instead of having it on 2 poles, went ahead and used heavy duty clamps to clamp it to the side of the shed, (worked beautifully). That black out cloth is just perfect for this. Next snafu was that the shed was just too low for the screen but, oh well, had to make due. It took some doing to get the projector set that low. Next snafu, setting up the speakers when I, thoughtfully, used a dvi to hdmi cable from projector to dvd changer to minimize cables- meaning, no on screen display from the projector. Had to use display from the face of the receiver, (ever try to read manual instructions and use a non lighted remote in the dark?)

After all was said and done, Beauty and the Beast looked fantastic! For about 15 minutes.......... then the rain started... we got everything in doors right on time for the deluge.......

Can't wait till next time!

After all was said and done, Beauty and the Beast looked fantastic! For about 15 minutes.......... then the rain started... we got everything in doors right on time for the deluge.......

Can't wait till next time!

Sorry the weather didn't cooperate. We have done 4 movies this year, and each one has been touch and go with the weather. Contrast this with last year, when we had no problems with the weather whatsoever.

We haven't had to cancel, yet. We have had rain up to 6pm on some movie nights, though.

There was an interesting letter to the editor in this month's Home Theater Magazine--a guy in Texas complaining about outdoor home theater, and the noise pollution. The editors of the magazine called him (paraphrasing) an old fuddy duddy, and basically told him to lighten up.

Any doing any ESPN HD Monday Night Football action?

Here on the east coast, the games start at 7p now -- perfect for a not-so-late equipment tear down (around 10p or so).

As TLOGAN suggested, I handed in my "guy badge" and walked into Joann Fabric's and bought some BOC. 2 5' x 15' sections. Had a friend's wife sew it together with a pocket at the top and bottom.

Next stop: 2" PVC "pipage" at the Home Depot to build to frame.

All this before next w/e's showing of Star Wars III. This time I'll take pics and post them.

As TLOGAN suggested, I handed in my "guy badge" and walked into Joann Fabric's and bought some BOC. 2 5' x 15' sections. Had a friend's wife sew it together with a pocket at the top and bottom.

But I prepped them for you the last time I was in there! They asked me what I was going to do with all that fabric and I said, whenever a guy comes in here looking for the drapery lining, he's making a movie screen!

So you can keep the guy badge, UNLESS you sewed it yourself!

Tom

Well I can tell you that if I sewed it myself, I would hand it alot more than my guy badge!!

This site has some great info on screens for outdoor theaters, including rear projection:

http://www.dazian.com/html/audio_visual_intergration.html

I have not tried it yet, but am planning to build a rear projection screen for my backyard by next summer. If anyone puts together a rear projection screen before then, let us know how it turns out.

This site has some great info on screens for outdoor theaters, including rear projection:

http://www.dazian.com/html/audio_visual_intergration.html

I have not tried it yet, but am planning to build a rear projection screen for my backyard by next summer. If anyone puts together a rear projection screen before then, let us know how it turns out.

Rear projection would be great--I doubt I would have as much worry over kids knocking my table over if they couldn't get to it!

I've been using Dazian grey rear-projection material for my outdoor screen for a couple of years now.

In my case I am limited to a 72" wide screen because of posts/columns, so I can't speak about larger rear-projection screens, but for my setup the image is incredible (several people thought it was a plasma TV).

And since the screen is not that big, I've attached it so that it rolls up like a window shade. I bought a 76" window shade, replaced its material with the Dazian material, and attached hangers to our colonnade. When we are done watching a movie it just rolls up out of the way. The projector sits inside a small gardenhouse and shoots out the door. The nice thing about using rear-projection is we can still use our fire pit without it affecting the image.

If we want a larger screen (16 ft. wide) we use a screen that we got from a movie theater that was being renovated, and we use front projection.

Showed "The Wild"--a disney movie that came out this year. Computer animated, with some pretty realistic-looking animals. I took my kids to the theater to see this movie, and I hated it! But the neighbors all met with my wife on Friday and convinced her to show it for movie night, since nobody had seen it, and she agreed, so I had to suffer through it again.

I actually didn't mind it as much the second time around. I found myself actually laughing at some scenes! The crowd seemed to enjoy it quite a bit as well. Perhaps I was in a bad mood when I went the first time, but I enjoyed it much more the second time.

Does anyone have any design suggestions for a frame for a RP outdoor screen? You obviously can't have any stabilizing cross beams on either side of the screen. How do you compensate for any sag in the top and bottom beams (I have to assume that both PVC and wood frames will sag in the middle over a 10' or wider frame)?

Does anyone have any design suggestions for a frame for a RP outdoor screen? You obviously can't have any stabilizing cross beams on either side of the screen. How do you compensate for any sag in the top and bottom beams (I have to assume that both PVC and wood frames will sag in the middle over a 10' or wider frame)?

I use two 10 foot conduit poles removably bolted through eyelets to a fence that are 16 feet apart. My screen, which is an unseamed artist's canvas, has a pocket across the top, and a rope traverses through the pocket through eyelets at the tops of the poles. The rope then travels down at 45 degree angles and are tied to the fence (actually, there is a rope ratchet on each side that allows me to tighten or loosen the rope as needed. The tighter the rope, the less the sag across the top. I can pretty much get it straight across the top with out any sag whatsoever.

These pictures show the screen as being a little wavy, but in reality, no waves are visible during the movie, even if you look for them.

http://i25.photobucket.com/albums/c90/Etienne_72772/P1000526.jpg

http://i25.photobucket.com/albums/c90/Etienne_72772/P1000522.jpg

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Hey all I will be in the back yard theater gang this weekend.

Im building a 12x20 screen frame out of 1and3/8 fence top rail.
And I will be using tarpeze material for the srceenI'm building a 10x20 or 12x20 outdoor screen this week too. I just got back from Home Depot and a Farming Supply place... no one has T-connectors for 1 3/8" fence rail. I'll probably use EMT conduit.

I was planning on getting a tarp, but I read they had too much glare, so I'm going to try a muslin backdrop from ebay.

I've got lots of questions and some potentially helpful links and sources... I'll start a thread in the new AVS Outdoor Theaters sub-forum:
http://www.avsforum.com/avs-vb/forumdisplay.php?f=159

1111111

I've posted some pics of my outdoor setup in the new part of the new outdoor forum here:

http://www.avsforum.com/avs-vb/showthread.php?t=725188

I also have a full write up of each step in building the screen and the whole thing over here:

WarrenP's Outdoor Theater Story (http://www.thehometheaterbook.com/outdoor-theater.htm)

Now I'm already looking forward to next Spring! :)

Any suggestions for materials to use outside for a REAR projection screen? If possible, I would like to find a material that could stay outside several months (weather resistant).

I would like to find something a bit cheaper than Dazian, if possible.

Thanks,
Brian

Try walmart's 70x78 clear frosted shower curtain. Retails for about $6. Use 2" wide clear tape to put two together.

Works great with minimal hotspotting

Victor

Any suggestions for materials to use outside for a REAR projection screen? If possible, I would like to find a material that could stay outside several months (weather resistant).Search ebay for "fastfold".

If you're patient, you'll be able to find a large Da-Lite rear projection screen for anywhere from $9-$100...

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Just figured I'd drop a quick line and say everything with my projector and outdoor screen has worked flawlessly this season...

after my first few movies... [I was lugging out the projector / stereo receiver / dvd player / and speakers] I learned fairly quickly, after don't tear downs a little intoxicated at like 2 AM or later sometimes, that I needed to streamline my equiptment... so I installed an outdoor electrical box to my deck below where my projector operates from. Inside the box I now have a coax conection ran to my Digital Cable splitter in the basement, and a set of RCA jacks [bought some simple rca ends and used some decent gauge shielded wire] Have male ends inside my house, plugged into my reciever [in my living room] to AUX... and female ends in the outdoor box outside. Already had outdoor speakers installed on my deck running to the "B" channel of my [living room] receiver.

So currently if I wanna watch a movie or HD cable broadcast, I just bring out the projector and video source [dvd player or cable box] Hook the DVD up via component and use the RCAs I installed for basic AUDIO. When using the cable box, same idea... just hook up to the coax feed, and component to the projector and RCA for the AUDIO.

Only issue I have now is adjusting the volume... got to go inside the house for that... will address that issue soon! [maybe an impedence matched outdoor volume control inline with the speakers]

This setup simplifies me to just two lightwieght components [projector / video source]

Also can now hookup someone's IPOD to the RCAs [or anything else for that matter] to listen to music on the deck... or just use my MP3 jukebox from inside the house.

Also, I've now had a few outdoor gaming nights [after the purchase of my Xbox 360] works great being that the Xbox's controllers are RF wireless an work up to about 40 feet ... games look AMAZING that big and in HD. Had some marathon sessions of Madden '07 ... just don't forget the beer!

Been using the projector indoors [now that winter has set in] extremely happy with it.