Discussion
Hi all,
Having a house built and we are considering a big screen projector (or similar) in the kids playroom/games room. Just something that will be good for cinema nights, or gaming etc.
Ive no experience with this sort of stuff though. Can anyone give me any pointers on any aspect of the above. Even if it’s to tell me it’s a rubbish outdated concept that would be fine.
I need to meet with the electrician on-site next week to finalise electric points so need to decide this weekend.
Having a house built and we are considering a big screen projector (or similar) in the kids playroom/games room. Just something that will be good for cinema nights, or gaming etc.
Ive no experience with this sort of stuff though. Can anyone give me any pointers on any aspect of the above. Even if it’s to tell me it’s a rubbish outdated concept that would be fine.
I need to meet with the electrician on-site next week to finalise electric points so need to decide this weekend.
joshleb said:
What's your budget?
Are you planning on getting the whole surround sound speaker experience too?
Erm, not given it much thought really. Kids are 1 and 3 so won’t get much use out of an expensive set up for some years yet. £1000 would seem reasonable I guess. Are you planning on getting the whole surround sound speaker experience too?
I’m more thinking of future proofing the room for the kids for when they get older and want cinema evenings with friends etc.
PM me your email and ill send you mine.
The i'll do you a whole floor plan for what could be wired for in the cinema room and the whole of the house for a bit of future proofing.
Then you can choose what is needed, desired etc and direct the electrician a little rather than letting the tail wag the dog.
V.
The i'll do you a whole floor plan for what could be wired for in the cinema room and the whole of the house for a bit of future proofing.
Then you can choose what is needed, desired etc and direct the electrician a little rather than letting the tail wag the dog.
V.
VEX said:
PM me your email and ill send you mine.
The i'll do you a whole floor plan for what could be wired for in the cinema room and the whole of the house for a bit of future proofing.
Then you can choose what is needed, desired etc and direct the electrician a little rather than letting the tail wag the dog.
V.
PM sent. Much appreciated. The i'll do you a whole floor plan for what could be wired for in the cinema room and the whole of the house for a bit of future proofing.
Then you can choose what is needed, desired etc and direct the electrician a little rather than letting the tail wag the dog.
V.
Rob
Get yourself onto https://www.homecinemachoice.com/ and have a search through their array of Projector based installs, from 'Budget' to 'How Much?!'
Did a very basic install last year for around £1600 iirc.
£999 Epson projector
Bit for the screen, bit for the mount, a bit for a fibre hdmi in case I ever need it. A Chromecast and a few hundred for labour.
Used my existing stereo amp.
Didn't want a permanent screen on the wall so it's a relatively tidy solution.
Only dislike I have is the fan noise.
£999 Epson projector
Bit for the screen, bit for the mount, a bit for a fibre hdmi in case I ever need it. A Chromecast and a few hundred for labour.
Used my existing stereo amp.
Didn't want a permanent screen on the wall so it's a relatively tidy solution.
Only dislike I have is the fan noise.
It's very easy to get carried away and start thinking £1,600 is very basic. If your kids are 1 and 3 whatever you do now will be rubbish compared with what you could buy at the point they'll really use it, so focus on the wiring.
I have an Epsom 1080p projector that I bought on Gumtree for £150, I have a Sony 7.1 surround sound amp that was £100 on Gumtree, I have a sub and some Eltax speakers that, again were maybe £150 all in via Gumtree. I project onto a white wall.
It could be better obviously, but could it be better value? The picture quality is amazing really and it works well enough even when there's quite a lot of light around. The kids love watching Frozen on it. There's also no messing around using it, in fact my 5 year old hurt his foot yesterday and took himself off to our loft room, asked Google to play something from YouTube and it all turned on and I found him snuggled under a duvet on the sofa up there.
It's in a new loft room, so all the speaker cabling is run in the floor, I ran 2 x HDMI to the ceiling and put a power socket there. There's an access hatch above the projector, which is tucked up out of the way. The amplifier is in a cupboard out of the way with a Google Chromecast TV plugged in the back, that remote control uses bluetooth to turn on the Chromecast, which uses HDMI CEC to turn on the amplifier, the remote uses IR to turn on the projector.
The only thing I don't have perfect is there's no way to change the amplifier volume as it needs IR and I've not added a IR eye thingy through the wall. But it works well enough to set that volume roughly right and use the Chromecast volume to control it when you're watching.
Edit - on the screen, I'm using a gable wall so a top-mounted screen doesn't work due to the shape of the gable, I don't want a screen mounted to the wall either and I definitely don't want something low down that lifts up.
I have an Epsom 1080p projector that I bought on Gumtree for £150, I have a Sony 7.1 surround sound amp that was £100 on Gumtree, I have a sub and some Eltax speakers that, again were maybe £150 all in via Gumtree. I project onto a white wall.
It could be better obviously, but could it be better value? The picture quality is amazing really and it works well enough even when there's quite a lot of light around. The kids love watching Frozen on it. There's also no messing around using it, in fact my 5 year old hurt his foot yesterday and took himself off to our loft room, asked Google to play something from YouTube and it all turned on and I found him snuggled under a duvet on the sofa up there.
It's in a new loft room, so all the speaker cabling is run in the floor, I ran 2 x HDMI to the ceiling and put a power socket there. There's an access hatch above the projector, which is tucked up out of the way. The amplifier is in a cupboard out of the way with a Google Chromecast TV plugged in the back, that remote control uses bluetooth to turn on the Chromecast, which uses HDMI CEC to turn on the amplifier, the remote uses IR to turn on the projector.
The only thing I don't have perfect is there's no way to change the amplifier volume as it needs IR and I've not added a IR eye thingy through the wall. But it works well enough to set that volume roughly right and use the Chromecast volume to control it when you're watching.
Edit - on the screen, I'm using a gable wall so a top-mounted screen doesn't work due to the shape of the gable, I don't want a screen mounted to the wall either and I definitely don't want something low down that lifts up.
paulrockliffe said:
It's very easy to get carried away and start thinking £1,600 is very basic. If your kids are 1 and 3 whatever you do now will be rubbish compared with what you could buy at the point they'll really use it, so focus on the wiring.
I have an Epsom 1080p projector that I bought on Gumtree for £150, I have a Sony 7.1 surround sound amp that was £100 on Gumtree, I have a sub and some Eltax speakers that, again were maybe £150 all in via Gumtree. I project onto a white wall.
It could be better obviously, but could it be better value? The picture quality is amazing really and it works well enough even when there's quite a lot of light around. The kids love watching Frozen on it. There's also no messing around using it, in fact my 5 year old hurt his foot yesterday and took himself off to our loft room, asked Google to play something from YouTube and it all turned on and I found him snuggled under a duvet on the sofa up there.
It's in a new loft room, so all the speaker cabling is run in the floor, I ran 2 x HDMI to the ceiling and put a power socket there. There's an access hatch above the projector, which is tucked up out of the way. The amplifier is in a cupboard out of the way with a Google Chromecast TV plugged in the back, that remote control uses bluetooth to turn on the Chromecast, which uses HDMI CEC to turn on the amplifier, the remote uses IR to turn on the projector.
The only thing I don't have perfect is there's no way to change the amplifier volume as it needs IR and I've not added a IR eye thingy through the wall. But it works well enough to set that volume roughly right and use the Chromecast volume to control it when you're watching.
Edit - on the screen, I'm using a gable wall so a top-mounted screen doesn't work due to the shape of the gable, I don't want a screen mounted to the wall either and I definitely don't want something low down that lifts up.
Pretty similar to my set up; I bought a micro-projector ~7 years ago that is 1080p and throws a ~180” picture onto a white wall. Hooked up to a 15 year old Sony home cinema system and then I connect any other sources to that to get everything working with decent sound through the 5.1 speakers. I have an Epsom 1080p projector that I bought on Gumtree for £150, I have a Sony 7.1 surround sound amp that was £100 on Gumtree, I have a sub and some Eltax speakers that, again were maybe £150 all in via Gumtree. I project onto a white wall.
It could be better obviously, but could it be better value? The picture quality is amazing really and it works well enough even when there's quite a lot of light around. The kids love watching Frozen on it. There's also no messing around using it, in fact my 5 year old hurt his foot yesterday and took himself off to our loft room, asked Google to play something from YouTube and it all turned on and I found him snuggled under a duvet on the sofa up there.
It's in a new loft room, so all the speaker cabling is run in the floor, I ran 2 x HDMI to the ceiling and put a power socket there. There's an access hatch above the projector, which is tucked up out of the way. The amplifier is in a cupboard out of the way with a Google Chromecast TV plugged in the back, that remote control uses bluetooth to turn on the Chromecast, which uses HDMI CEC to turn on the amplifier, the remote uses IR to turn on the projector.
The only thing I don't have perfect is there's no way to change the amplifier volume as it needs IR and I've not added a IR eye thingy through the wall. But it works well enough to set that volume roughly right and use the Chromecast volume to control it when you're watching.
Edit - on the screen, I'm using a gable wall so a top-mounted screen doesn't work due to the shape of the gable, I don't want a screen mounted to the wall either and I definitely don't want something low down that lifts up.
Super janky but it’s served me well and the picture is pretty decent, albeit washed out as it’s a pretty low-lumen projector. Perfectly fine in a blacked-out room tho.
A budget of £1k means you’d be looking a secondhand stuff, unless you already have the amp/speakers/AV stuff and just need a projector. Decent, home-cinema designed projectors start around £1k and go quickly north from there.
brickwall said:
Vex is the person to talk to - he does this for a living.
I did something similar a few years ago (albeit for my own entertainment, not for kids!)
As with all these things the sky is the limit on price, but I think £2k will get you half decent stuff. If you go second hand/eBay then clearly you can go cheaper still.
Broadly, you will need
- A projector. £500-600 gets you a decent quality 1080p machine; if you want 4k then it’ll be 4 figures but prices are coming down
- A screen. I bought a 2m-wide 16:9 electric drop-down for £200. It’s hidden behind a curtain pelmet.
- An AV amplifier/receiver. This is the “hub” of the system. There are fiercely competitive price points at sub £500, £500, £750 and £1000 (and higher!) where Denon/Onkyo/Sony etc. slug it out with new models released every 6 months. I went for the £500 price point (I think!)
- A set of 5.1 speakers. Say £500-£700 for these, but it’s easy to spend a lot more. I went for a small/inconspicuous set and traded off sound quality - that’s a personal choice
- “Source” devices: at the very least you’ll want something to do streaming - take your pick of Google Chrome, Amazon Fire Stick, Apple TV. These are almost all <£100. For live TV you can connect a Sky/Virgin box, or buy a cheap Freeview HD box
Thanks. Spoke to Vex who was very helpful. I think given our budget and the kids young ages, we are just going to future proof the room and make sure that we have electrics where we need them initially. No point spending thousands on a projector set up for a 3 yr old which will be out of date when they really want use from it. I did something similar a few years ago (albeit for my own entertainment, not for kids!)
As with all these things the sky is the limit on price, but I think £2k will get you half decent stuff. If you go second hand/eBay then clearly you can go cheaper still.
Broadly, you will need
- A projector. £500-600 gets you a decent quality 1080p machine; if you want 4k then it’ll be 4 figures but prices are coming down
- A screen. I bought a 2m-wide 16:9 electric drop-down for £200. It’s hidden behind a curtain pelmet.
- An AV amplifier/receiver. This is the “hub” of the system. There are fiercely competitive price points at sub £500, £500, £750 and £1000 (and higher!) where Denon/Onkyo/Sony etc. slug it out with new models released every 6 months. I went for the £500 price point (I think!)
- A set of 5.1 speakers. Say £500-£700 for these, but it’s easy to spend a lot more. I went for a small/inconspicuous set and traded off sound quality - that’s a personal choice
- “Source” devices: at the very least you’ll want something to do streaming - take your pick of Google Chrome, Amazon Fire Stick, Apple TV. These are almost all <£100. For live TV you can connect a Sky/Virgin box, or buy a cheap Freeview HD box
Thanks all.
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