Home cinema room build - pro with some am
Discussion
Looking good!
FYI - regarding screen size, "neck ache" etc - you will surely be fine.
My setup is a 135" electric drop down screen, so the same width as yours give or take, and we are sat 3.4m back. Centre of image is around 1.6m from the floor. We are neither strained, overwhelmed or uncomfortable. You don't have to look left and right, nor "up" ! You just sit back and enjoy. It is basically just like being at the cinema, and guests agree. We also have a 65" OLED and whilst its stunning, it is not the same experience in any way as the projector (which is a mere 1080p - its so good (Optoma) that I just can't justify even the modest cost of upgrading to 4k). 65" just isn't anywhere near big enough for the real movie experience.
As an aside, we choose our movie watching format based on the films. Light entertainment, etc on the TV, and "big" movies on the projector. So Avatar 2 tonight on the projector, and recently, everything everywhere all at once was on the TV. Dungeons and Dragons will be on the projector.
p.s. the screen size was forced by the projector throw distance. It had to absolutely be at the back of the room for installation neatness and also so we can't hear it. I was worried that it would be too big, but it just isn't.
FYI - regarding screen size, "neck ache" etc - you will surely be fine.
My setup is a 135" electric drop down screen, so the same width as yours give or take, and we are sat 3.4m back. Centre of image is around 1.6m from the floor. We are neither strained, overwhelmed or uncomfortable. You don't have to look left and right, nor "up" ! You just sit back and enjoy. It is basically just like being at the cinema, and guests agree. We also have a 65" OLED and whilst its stunning, it is not the same experience in any way as the projector (which is a mere 1080p - its so good (Optoma) that I just can't justify even the modest cost of upgrading to 4k). 65" just isn't anywhere near big enough for the real movie experience.
As an aside, we choose our movie watching format based on the films. Light entertainment, etc on the TV, and "big" movies on the projector. So Avatar 2 tonight on the projector, and recently, everything everywhere all at once was on the TV. Dungeons and Dragons will be on the projector.
p.s. the screen size was forced by the projector throw distance. It had to absolutely be at the back of the room for installation neatness and also so we can't hear it. I was worried that it would be too big, but it just isn't.
Edited by Griffith4ever on Saturday 6th May 10:00
Griffith4ever said:
Looking good!
Thanks. The screen size and location were all calculated professionally so I trust them! Both rows are within the recommeded viewing angles, the front at the upper end and the rear at the lower end.We are going with a Sony VPL-XW5000ES 4K laser projector. They've already tweaked the screen size (upwards) based on the throw - to get more distance, the projector housing actually protudes into to the bedroom behind, but will be covered with units so won't be visible.
ETA: Correct the projector model
Edited by CharlesElliott on Sunday 14th May 12:22
Now onto building out the wall structures, primarily for mass and damping. The spec is 15mm acoustic plasterboard (for those walls that aren't already plasterboarded), Tecsound SY70 acoustic mat - which is *really* heavy - and then 18mm OSB on top. The screen wall will also be covered in OSB at the rear and filled with acoustic insulation.
I have blocked up the skylight with acoustic plasterboard.
Screen wall in progress, filling up with acoustic insulation. The ducting / outlet on the left is from the AC unit that will heat / cool the room and the doorway underneath it will be a removable planel behind which the rack will sit.The three yellow rectangles are showing the front speaker positions, with the sub going in the bottom right of the wall. The screen will stretch from the right side of the left speaker to the left side of the right speaker.
The rear wall covered in Tecsound, with the speaker cutouts and the projector box.
I have blocked up the skylight with acoustic plasterboard.
Screen wall in progress, filling up with acoustic insulation. The ducting / outlet on the left is from the AC unit that will heat / cool the room and the doorway underneath it will be a removable planel behind which the rack will sit.The three yellow rectangles are showing the front speaker positions, with the sub going in the bottom right of the wall. The screen will stretch from the right side of the left speaker to the left side of the right speaker.
The rear wall covered in Tecsound, with the speaker cutouts and the projector box.
At this point I started to run out of time and motivation to continue doing the work myself, and also ran short of skill when sticking Tecsound to the ceiling neatly! So I called in some more pros to finish off the building work.
This picture shows the buildup well, the front wall (where the screen is going) has just acoustic plasterboard on it, then you can see the sloped ceiling which has plasterboard and Tecsound, then the ceiling itself which has plasterboard, Tecsound and OSB. One of the other challenges was that the transitions from walls to slope to ceiling were all curved and this really needed to be squared off to allow the fabric track system to be fitted. That was acheived with battens to straight line over the curves.
This picture shows the buildup well, the front wall (where the screen is going) has just acoustic plasterboard on it, then you can see the sloped ceiling which has plasterboard and Tecsound, then the ceiling itself which has plasterboard, Tecsound and OSB. One of the other challenges was that the transitions from walls to slope to ceiling were all curved and this really needed to be squared off to allow the fabric track system to be fitted. That was acheived with battens to straight line over the curves.
Panamax said:
CharlesElliott said:
And we may tweak the screen size yet.
I'd tweak the projector into the bin and go for a TV of suitable size, but that's just personal opinion. In one of our rooms we watch a modest 65" from 4.5 metres and it's absolutely fine, so you have massive scope to flex your set-up.IMO if you go too big on sound you'll overwhelm that room - there's not a lot of ceiling height. Make sure it sounds good at low level and not just when it's shaking the foundations.
Griffith4ever said:
CharlesElliott said:
The final screen size is 2820 visible (2900 incl frame) x 1586. That's around 127 inches diagonal.
That's going to be great , particularly at 2.35:1 . I'm 135" 16:9 and its epic. btw: I dont' think the comment above was aimed at you.
In the end we went with 16:9, partly because the projector doesn't have switchable ratios and it is already expensive enough!
CharlesElliott said:
I did have to read it twice, but I got that. Anyway, I'm thick skinned!
In the end we went with 16:9, partly because the projector doesn't have switchable ratios and it is already expensive enough!
:-)In the end we went with 16:9, partly because the projector doesn't have switchable ratios and it is already expensive enough!
When you watch 16:9 material, which to be fair, is rare, except all animation stuff, it's daftly huge. Widescreen/2.35 is amazing and I never notice the bars top and bottom. I thought I would, but I don't. There is just so much to look at elsewhere!
Good work Sir, I’m sure it will be epic when finished.
I hope in years to come you don’t regret you didn’t sacrifice some of the bedroom/games room space to make the cinema a few m2 larger.
I must admit I am out of touch with projectors, so I had to google yours, wow, you will be able to charge guests with that set up
I hope in years to come you don’t regret you didn’t sacrifice some of the bedroom/games room space to make the cinema a few m2 larger.
I must admit I am out of touch with projectors, so I had to google yours, wow, you will be able to charge guests with that set up
Crackedwinscreen said:
Good work Sir, I’m sure it will be epic when finished.
I hope in years to come you don’t regret you didn’t sacrifice some of the bedroom/games room space to make the cinema a few m2 larger.
I must admit I am out of touch with projectors, so I had to google yours, wow, you will be able to charge guests with that set up
We are fortunate that this is all 'bonus' area in the loft space so there isn't too much compromise. I also got the projector model slightly wrong, but it does mean that the one we have is about 10x cheaper than the one I named originally, albeit still a fair chunk of money!I hope in years to come you don’t regret you didn’t sacrifice some of the bedroom/games room space to make the cinema a few m2 larger.
I must admit I am out of touch with projectors, so I had to google yours, wow, you will be able to charge guests with that set up
CharlesElliott said:
Crackedwinscreen said:
Good work Sir, I’m sure it will be epic when finished.
I hope in years to come you don’t regret you didn’t sacrifice some of the bedroom/games room space to make the cinema a few m2 larger.
I must admit I am out of touch with projectors, so I had to google yours, wow, you will be able to charge guests with that set up
We are fortunate that this is all 'bonus' area in the loft space so there isn't too much compromise. I also got the projector model slightly wrong, but it does mean that the one we have is about 10x cheaper than the one I named originally, albeit still a fair chunk of money!I hope in years to come you don’t regret you didn’t sacrifice some of the bedroom/games room space to make the cinema a few m2 larger.
I must admit I am out of touch with projectors, so I had to google yours, wow, you will be able to charge guests with that set up
OK, so we are finished with the shell now. Reminder that we have 15mm acoustic plasterboard, Tecsound SY70 and 18mm OSB. This is the screen wall with the three front speakers - the screen stretches from the right of the left speaker to the left of the right speaker. You can also see the cut out for the sub on the right, and the front set of the height speakers in the ceiling. The 'door' on the left has the AC/heating outlet and will have the equipment rack below it.
And the rear wall with projector box and two rear speakers - plus the raised level for the rear seat row (and one side speaker).
And the rear wall with projector box and two rear speakers - plus the raised level for the rear seat row (and one side speaker).
Edited by CharlesElliott on Friday 19th May 20:55
Room is looking great so far. A friend bought the same Sony as you and he popped round with it on his way home (lives a long way from the dealer and we were a handy coffee stop off). We quickly set it up and had it projecting on my screen (3 metre wide AT 2.40:1 aspect) and it did a great job, though was a little too close to fill my screen with it on my coffee table. I'm sure you'll be very happy with it once set up.
I agree with the earlier posts too; you need big sound to go with a big screen. Although I don't tend to use my setup much these days I can't imagine trying to use a sound bar or similar compared to something capable of reference level (even if I don't push it, or my ears, that hard).
Looking forward to the finished room.
I agree with the earlier posts too; you need big sound to go with a big screen. Although I don't tend to use my setup much these days I can't imagine trying to use a sound bar or similar compared to something capable of reference level (even if I don't push it, or my ears, that hard).
Looking forward to the finished room.
More progress - we had a 'bar area' fitted in the recess, a small cupboard and an under counter fridge in black wenge cabinets. My wife and I then spent the weekend fitting acoustic underlay to the main area - it's a 12mm thick matting consisting of a foam layer and a high density rubber layer; this is surrounded by edging to raise the level for the gripper rods. The speakers have also been installed - the covers are just there to protect them during the build, as they will be behind fabric when finished.
Edited by CharlesElliott on Monday 5th June 19:13
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