Projector Screen Blog

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Does a projector screen make a home theater complete?

Home theaters are starting to become more mainstream as technology is improving how we are able to watch movies and television in our homes. Its somewhat similar to when big screen televisions started to become more mainstream within the last 10 years. You usually can tell this because big mainstream department stores start to carry these products. These stores are known for being discount superstores so when they start to carry something new, it usually means that product is starting to take off. Another sign is that there are businesses dedicated to setting up home theaters in your home or business. They will guide you through the whole process.

Now what exactly defines a home theater? Many people will think that a big screen television hooked up to a media center or DVD player and a surround sound system is a home theater. That’s completely fine and I hope that their home theater makes them happy but to me, that is simply a home entertainment center and they have been around for decades. For the most part everyone has a home entertainment center while a lower percentage of the population have a home theater or at least a dedicated home theater.

My definition of a home theater is a room dedicated to watching your movies and other home entertainment. It has a projector screen, an amazing sound system and very comfortable seating. For the most part, It isn’t used for everyday television watching or for the nightly sports game. You use it when you want to watch a movie and for special events like the Super Bowl or parties or whatever. There’s a projector screen in it that is bigger than any big screen TV you can buy. The screen could be motorized or be a fixed frame screen. The room is sound proofed so you can have the volume as loud as you want without disturbing the neighbors or other people in the house. The room could have a theme, be it a sports theme, music theme or something from a favorite movie. It would have a couple rows of seating and basically be a small movie theater in your home, thus the term Home Theater.

A projector screen is one of the primary components of a home theater as it completes the home theater experience. Its where the image is projected and where everyone’s eyes are. A screen can make a huge difference in getting the most out of your home theater. Yes, you can use a white sheet or a wall as your screen but that’s like watching blu-ray movies on a standard definition television. Also, a screen is a going to last a long time so its not something you have to worry about becoming obsolete.

What defines a home theater for you? Does it have to have a projector screen?

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Sure, the LG Expo is the first 1GHz phone in the US, but what really matters is that it has an optional pico projector you can slap onto the back with an 8-foot projection distance.

The projector adds another 1.8 ounces, and as you can see, a bit of an ass to it. Besides the 1GHz goodness, the slider’s running Windows Mobile 6.5, has a 3.2-inch touchscreen and a 5MP camera for $200 on contract. Specifically a “minimum $69.99 plan.” The projector add-on’s $180, though it’ll follow the phone’s Dec. 7 drop date by a few weeks.

AT&T AND LG MOBILE PHONES ANNOUNCE THE FIRST 1GHZ SMARTPHONE IN THE UNITED STATES, THE LG EXPO

7.2 HSPA-capable Smartphone from AT&T and LG Mobile Phones Packs a Powerful Punch, Features Optional Mobile Projector

DALLAS, November 30, 2009 – AT&T* and LG Electronics MobileComm U.S.A., Inc., today announced the LG eXpo will be available online beginning December 7. Featuring the first 1 GHz processor in the United States, the LG eXpo allows business professionals to meet their demanding data sharing needs while on the go. Available exclusively for AT&T customers, the handset will be compatible with AT&T’s High Speed Packet Access (HSPA) 7.2 Mbps technology, which provides a considerable speed boost to the nation’s fastest 3G network.

The LG eXpo is the first device in North America to support an optional integrated pico projector. The LG Mobile Projector snaps onto the back of the device and allows users to share presentations, slideshows and even online videos straight from their mobile phone. Weighing only 1.8 ounces and small enough to fit into the palm of your hand, the LG mobile projector provides users with powerful new technology in a compact design, featuring a projection distance as far as eight feet

“LG eXpo adds to our growing portfolio of smartphones that operate on the latest upgrade to our 3G network and offer customers a great choice,” said Michael Woodward, vice president, Mobile Phone Portfolio, AT&T Mobility and Consumer Markets. “As we move to HSPA 7.2 technology, it is crucial to provide our customers innovative and future-proof smartphones.”

With the upgrade to HSPA 7.2 technology, AT&T continues its investments to deliver the nation’s fastest 3G network. AT&T plans to deploy HSPA 7.2 initially in Charlotte, Chicago, Dallas, Houston, Los Angeles and Miami by the end of the year. The company plans to deploy HSPA 7.2 in 25 of the nation’s 30 largest markets by the end of 2010, and to reach about 90 percent of its existing 3G network footprint with HSPA 7.2 by the end of 2011.

LG eXpo also eliminates the need for pin codes and passwords with the exclusive “Smart Sensor” fingerprint recognition from AuthenTec, which delivers a new level of added smart and personal security unlike any other mobile phone in the market. AT&T is the first to offer U.S. subscribers a smartphone that leverages the features and functions of a smart sensor. The Smart Sensor complements the touchscreen user interface of the eXpo by also providing precise cursor control for text editing, 4-way menu navigation, and AuthenTec’s unique turbo-scroll feature for rapid browsing of long emails, contact lists or websites.

The LG eXpo is loaded with Windows Mobile® 6.5 Professional to help power users stay more connected with email, calendar and Microsoft® Office Mobile. The phone’s projection feature allows users to display Web pages, documents, photos and videos on the go.

“LG eXpo is the perfect balance of mobile innovation and design” said Ehtisham Rabbani, vice president of product strategy and marketing for LG Mobile Phones. “Enabling users to meet their professional and personal computing needs from the palm of their hands, LG eXpo makes on-the-go communication an effortless luxury.”

Boasting a 3.2-inch external touchscreen with 16M color, LG eXpo features a sophisticated slider design with a full size QWERTY keypad. For the dynamic multi-tasker, LG eXpo provides users with powerful functionality that supports an RSS Viewer, Podcast and aGPS. In addition to a crystal clear 5.0 megapixel camera with built-in auto flash, LG eXpo can support up to a 16GB removable microSD memory card for premium music and photo storage.

Beginning December 7, LG eXpo will be available to enterprise customers and for purchase online at www.att.com/lgexpo for $199.99 after mail-in rebate. Pay $299.99 and after mail-in rebate receive a $100 AT&T Promotion Card. Two year agreement on a minimum $69.99 plan required. The LG Mobile Projector will be available in the coming weeks for $179.99.

For the complete array of AT&T offerings, visit www.att.com.

For more information and detailed disclaimer information, please review this announcement in the AT&T newsroom at http://www.att.com/newsroom.

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Here’s a whole bunch of firsts for the U.S.: LG today announced the Expo, a Windows Mobile 6.5-based smartphone with a built-in fingerprint sensor and optional pico-projector powered by a Qualcomm 1-GHz processor that apparently is a Snapdragon.
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Small and light even for a pico projector, the Optoma PK102 Pico Pocket Projector fits in a shirt pocket with room to spare.
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Sanyo has added yet another massively bright projector to its line of offerings called the PLC-XF1000. This projector is one of the brightest that the company offers with 12,000 lumens. That should be plenty of light for large venues and bright rooms. T…
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If the typical screen (movie screen or home projector screen) is bright white then how do you shine a light to make the white screen black (say when the credits are rolling and during fades)? For those that think the black projection is projected without light, I did not find this to be true.

It is the contrast between the bright places on the screen and the dark that makes your eyes see it as black. There are illusions that you can find online that show how your eyes can see a shade as either light or dark depending on what it is contrated with.

http://www.michaelbach.de/ot/lum_adelsonCheckShadow/index.html

What is the first step in installing a home theater? I plan on including:

Seat risers
Projector
motorized projection screen
theater lighting
surround sound
media closet
Acoustics for sound (not sound proofing).

Put them in order if you can. Thanks
Wow, you 2 guys gave me a lot of information and even more things to think about (not be sarcastic). Thank you so much.

Based on just your list, assuming you’ve already wired, the order doesn’t make a lot of different. Here’s a couple things to consider first, that aren’t on your list:

Since you have a dedicated room to work with, you have some considerations before fixing your final design. The difference between a good theater and an amazing theater is 50% room and 50% equipment.

Decisions to make:

1. Sound proofing. If the room is big enough you can build a room within your room by staggering new studwalls, floor and ceiling and placing special material between the walls. Floors are suspended much like motor mounts in a car.

2. Splaying the side walls. If you build an inner-room you should make the side walls unparallel. A 20 foot deep room should be two feet wider at the back as a minimum.

3. Breaking up the ceiling. Whether you build an inner room or not, you should change the shape of the ceiling from flat to? I like to build a lattice framework that looks like the swells of a wave from below, and then have it drywalled, but there are endless possibilities here. My curved ceiling hangs from the actual ceiling and doesn’t extend to the walls in any direction. This allows for stunning lighting designs.

4. Raised seating. If you are planning rows, you will want to pick your seat now so the proper wires can be installed for hardwire control from Crestron, AMX, etc… Best choice is to have your eyes even with the center of the screen vertically and horizontally. If you’re married, you might want to split the difference and share the best seating position.

5. Before any construction begins, equipment should be chosen so the correct wiring cna be installed in the walls. I would not use 16/2 or 16/4 in a dedicated theater. That’s surround family room wire. I would recommend 12 or 14 gauge non oxydizing high strand count speaker wire.

6. The most important components in any system are the speakers, the display and the remote control. Those are the items that we interface with and hence will show the best return for dollar spent. The rack full of boxes is far more forgiving than mediocre interface devices!

7. Projectors and screens are available now that will adjust to the full width of a 2.35:1 motion picture and the films can be displayed at 24 fps, just like at the theater. This is a substantial improvement over standard 16:9 fixed with 30 fps limitation. Several companies are making projectors like this now. I like Runco, Vidicron and JVC with anamorphic lenses.

8. Speakers can be hidden behind a faux front wall, even if you don’t build an inner room. Side and rear speakers can be hidden in architectural detail walls. Picking speakers is far more complex than I can write about here.

9. Controlling a theater can be a nightmare or a breeze. It all depends on the control system and the programmer. Today, I would choose between Crestron, AMX or LifeWare. There are less costly, lower performance options such as RTI, Pronto, Nevo which work pretty well.

10. Separate processors and amplifiers are great but I’ve had good luck with high end receivers from Yamaha, Marantz and PioneerElite also, and they cost less money. Depending on the rest of your theater, you might even be able to use Marantz’s lower end line, Denon.

11. Cables don’t have to be the very best, but don’t buy the bargain basement stuff either. I use Ethereal for lower cost installations and Tributaries in nicer rooms.

12. Regardless of the theater you design, hire a professional for room accoustics, sound calibration and display calibration to SMPTE standards. An ISF certified tech is adequate for display, HAA certifed tech is okay and afforable for accoustics and a THX level 2 tech will be qualified to calibrate the audio. NOTE: Room accoustics costs the most, and is the most valuable!

Hope this is some help. Good luck and have fun with your project!

I want the screen on the small (10′ ) wall. Projector on the ceiling. 2 rows of chairs.

Consider a 50" or 60" (Pioneer or Panasonic) plasma instead of the projecter. You’ll like the picture much better.

ie… not using the display on the unit itself to set all the functions. but displaying the controls on the LCD or Projection Screen to set all the functions.

They most certainly do. Sony,Denon,Yamaha, Marantz, and Onkyo ( to name a few ) are capable of this. Make sure the receiver has a monitor out option and you should be good to go!