Getting started (with planning!) some noob questions here

Hi

That should be a nice sized room.

1. Fabric may be easier to get flat because it's being stretched on the frame, if your wall has imperfections you may notice them if you just paint.

2. The different size is due to the aspect ratio. You can do a 16:9 screen (like an HDTV) which is 60X92 or a 2.35:1 screen (like most movies). The 16:9 is more common because all projectors produce this shape automatically. To do a 2.35:1 screen you will need to either zoom in your projector or use an anamorphic lens. If you are mostly watching movies as opposed to games and TV you may want to consider 2.35:1 as the wider movie get a bigger screen (as it should be).

3. If you do a search there should be several threads on sealing off windows. Some drywall over them, some make removable plugs, some remove them completely, some buy automatic blackout shades from Lutron so they can open and close when needed. It mostly depends on personal preference and on budget.

4. Many people here have been using google sketch up to draw (which is free from google).

Greg

The short answer is with a lens you use all of the projectors image capacity. With zoom you don't. Of course the long answer explains why, but instead of rehashing everything here, just read the FAQ.

http://www.avsforum.com/avs-vb/showthread.php?t=554901

I started with 1/3 of screen height as my base and adjusted the first row down and the second row up slightly to account for the riser and our preferred seating position from the cineplex. First row 10" from bottom of screen, second row 22", screen height 48". So, first row is about 1/5 of screen height and second is nearly 1/2.

Here is the link to the show me thread for small HT's. Good stuff in there:
http://www.avsforum.com/avs-vb/showt...t=996973ttp://

Good luck.

I would move the door ahead if you can, if only because you will have a riser in the back. This would complicate entering the theater. Opening out should also be fine, my doors do this as well.

On wall speakers are not a problem, many people (including me) like bipolar surrounds almost all of which are wall mounted. Also the surround speakers should probably be about 6 feet off the ground which helps get them out of the way.

The screen height 1/3 guideline is just a guideline. I wouldn't mount your screen 18" off the ground. Mine is mounted 32 inches high and I like it. The other thing that affects screen height is how tall a riser you want to build. The higher the screen, the lower the riser is required to be.

I don't know that having the screen on one wall vs the other makes much difference, but I would make sure the entrance comes in front of the riser (or future riser, if you don't do it right away).

Greg

I forgot to mention my screen height from the floor up. Its 30".

For wiring;

Obviously speaker wire to the location of all the speakers. For my rear speakers (and my fronts, because they are wall mounted) I put up 3/4" plywood to have something to screw the speaker mounts to and just drilled a hole in the plywood and pulled the speaker wire through. I did not bother with low voltage boxes. Some people run conduit instead and pull the wire later, I'm not sure this is worth the effort. Use in-wall (CL or CL3) rated wire. Monoprice 12 AWG seems like a good deal.

To the projector run 1 HDMI cable, 2 cat5e or cat6 cables (for HDMI via a balun if needed). This would be the absolute minimum. Extras would include another cat5e cable that can be used for a control wire (RS-232 or IR), 3 RG6 cables for component video and a 2" conduit for any surprises (like pulling a new HDMI cable). These cables obviously run to your equipment rack.

To your equipment rack you will want an Ethernet drop, cable or sat drop and power. Many people go for 2 circuits, 20 amps each. It probably overkill for most, but they're pretty cheap to do. I ended up with 4 20 amp circuits in my equipment closet so I guess I'm ready for anything!

One other thing to consider with wiring is home theater lighting. With dark paint or fabrics, these rooms really soak up light. It's nice to have several zones of lighting, all on dimmers, so you can have it bright enough when needed for cleaning and the ability to turn off the lights on the screen end of the room and still have some light over the seats during non-critical viewing. My room ended up with 6 zones of lighting, but you might find that even 3 or 4 zones of lighting adds something special to the room. And changing the lighting by remote control is cool! A Grafik eye can do this or the Infrared Lutron remote control dimmers could work on a tighter budget. If you got 3 or 4 of them you could have them all off, all on or all dimmed (different levels for each switch).

Greg

Something to consider about the door placement. The benefit of the door in the rear of the room is that people can come and go without as much distraction. Many people have put the step up to the riser just outside of the door. This eliminates the concerns that Greg brings up while putting the distractions behind the viewers.

I have my door on the side wall but towards the front of the room. I thought it would be a distraction but in practice if someone is leaving the room for a drink or pit stop, we end up pausing the movie/show for them. So in the end it doesn't matter for us.

You can certainly add a lens to the above mentioned projectors. The Epson needs an image processor to vertically stretch the image (which can also be handled by some receivers, some Blu Ray players or a HTPC), but the Panasonic has vertical stretch built in. Vertical stretch will eliminate the black bars on 2:35-2:40 movies and then the lens will restore the geometry width wise, expanding the image by 33%.

Another thing to consider here is room width vs. aisle/steps width to the riser that you'll have available after seating is in. If the room is 11' (132") wide, the "space saving" Berkline model 45088 has overall width of 86" for three straight seats, while the full size model 45090 is 105". Both assuming one arm between and on either end.

That leaves you 46" total (24" per aisle/side) with the smaller model, and only 27" total (13.4" per aisle/side) for the full size. Just using Berkline as an example.

I personally think that 26-30" is plenty of room for an aisle/step myself, but just wanted to point that out if you haven't considered it as part of your overall plan with the new door location.