The width of my screen is 82" which makes it a 94" 16:9 screen.
My front row will be just a touch over 11 feet from the screen, with the rear row will be about 14 feet from the screen.

You know, I went and looked at the calculator at projector central and they added a "recommended seating area". And guess what? For my size screen it says the recommended seating area for film/video is 10 to 15 feet. Looks like I will fall in that for both rows! As you can see from my photos, I was mainly going by screen size for what would fit between the two doors.

http://www.projectorcentral.com/InFo...ulator-pro.htm

They also added a max light recommendation and it shows 3 fc (I assume foot candles). Will have to dig out my light meter and see what I got.

i'm pretty sure you won't complain about the screen size being too big. my 4 month old setup has me watching a 112" diagonal screen (well actually picture as it looks so good on the wall i haven't gotten around to buying a screen) from a viewing distance of just about 12'. HD material looks amazing. SD and DVD not so much, but SD doesn't look too good at even half the size screen, and my DVD player is a 5 year old non-upconverting model. i'm planning on building a new HTPC to do double duty as DVD player and gaming rig. funny thing is i pretty much only watch HD now anyway...i don't even find myself scrolling through any other part of the channel guide. if only i could cancel everything else but the HD channels!

I think you are exactly right. I put our dining room chairs where my front row would go. On DVD it was very good, SD just ok.

Which PJ do you have? I'm still debating about add HD in my media room. In fact I was going to ask,

I have a couple of Dave Matthews DVD's that appear to be HD. Also I have a clip of an Eric Clapton concert that is absolutly the best image I have ever seen on my system. Is this what I can expect on getting from HD or would it be even better? I realize that HD is better then any DVD, however keep in mind my X-1 is not a HD PJ. So are these high quality DVD's about as good as it gets on the X-1 or is it even better with a true HD Source (it would be OTA)?

In the pictures, the trim looks pretty much like a natural wood tone, which I think looks fine. :)


It just so happens that I brought home one of the US Digital HD boxes yesterday. After playing with it some, I think it's going back... not because it wasn't good mind you, but because it's got me wanting even more. OTA I could get about eight channels and the difference between them and the same channels on cable was amazing. Now I'm thinking I may either go with the cable company's HD package or pick up an LG box that does both OTA and QAM. Either way I expect to get more channels than the US Digital box could provide.

Football season is going to be sweet! :D

So how did the HD image look compared to your DVD player? No doubt in my system that my DVD player is a ton better then SD TV (Dishnetwork), but I was wondering how HD would look on the X-1 compared to DVD.

To me it looked *almost* as good as DVD, but not quite. I didn't put any time into trying to optimize the image once I got it on either. So, there's the possibility that it could have actually looked the same or better than DVD after some adjustments.

OK, thanks. Think I will see what I can get. I really don't want to pay $300 for one of those receivers, but I believe I can do better going through Dishnetwork's retention department, maybe. I suppose I could just get a 3rd party receiver since I really only want OTA. hummmm.....

Check for Voom receivers on Ebay. Supposedly they can receive OTA still and people were selling them for not much. Don't know if there are still any out there, though.

I'd wait a bit if you are on the fence and are using a sat provider. They are both in a major transition period and the boxes, sats, and channels will all be fiddled with quite a bit in the coming year.

So, what would be the dead cheapest I could do something like this w/ just a decent projector (that displays HDTV) and a screen?

In my new house, I have this media wall area that's a bit recessed from the main wall. I was thinking of doing a screen above my HDTV now, so I could watch movies on a bit bigger screen and occasionally watch TV. Most of my TV watching would still be on the tube, though.

That is why I don't want to spend a lot and why I hope I can get a deal. You know me, I know enough to be dangerous, but it is my understanding the dish providers are switching to MPEG4 or something? So that you can get local HD channels thru the dish? But dang, I'd really like to get OTA HD at least for football this fall.

My budget for my media room for everything EXCEPT furniture was $2,000. And I fell right into that. I have still not ordered a new HT receiver, and that will likely push me over budget. But still pretty good. I think I listed mine aprox costs somewhere, but if it helps you,

Infocus X-1 projector $750
Screen (DIY) $125
Riser (DIY) incl carpet $200
Toshiba Tivo/DVD player $175
Celeston Speakers system $250
Curtains (Bed bath beyond) $200
Ceiling mount (DIY) $15
Cables/speaker wire $100
Wireless light system $60
Misc. (mud rings, faces plates, etc) $50.00
Paint, brushes, tape $50
Total: $1975

Very pleased with my PJ and Speakers. They no longer make the X-1, but you can pick it up refurbished for about $550 or so. Or you can step up to the 4805 for not much more then what I paid for my X1 (around $850-$900).

Still using my POS older Sony receiver, but it works. I do need to upgrade, but got to find a deal!!!!

Hey, your right, those are pretty cheap. What do I need to know, or do you have a web site about them? For example, several listings are "new in box never activated". Will these work? Or am I just better off getting one that is used? Some are listed with "no card". Do you need a card for OTA? Thanks Spiky!

Edit: Ok, one answer down, you do need a card. It will not work without a card.

Edit 2: Ok, another question down, yes it must be and "activated card".

See, I have everything else. A decent Yamaha DD/DTS receiver, HD DirecTV receiver, speakers, surround wiring in my new house, etc. I'll I'd really need is the projector, the screen, the celiing mount and the wiring.

This may be something I do down the line a bit. I'm still debating it, if I really need it. :lol:

YES you REALLY need it. And once you go big, you won't go back!

Well, I have been spoiled by my dad's rig. Of course, his cost as much as I make in a year.

Marantz VP12S4 Projector
Marantz SR8400 Receiver
Marantz DV7600 DVD Player
Firehawk screen

I don't remember the brand of speakers, or the other goodies, but it's :drool: worthy. Having fully reclining leather theater seats doesn't hurt, either. ;)

Sdallnct,
You already know more than me about the Voom stuff. :) I just remember reading about them as an option somewhere. AVS or HTS, most likely. DBSForums might be a spot they would discuss that, but AVS will assuredly have a discussion.

D* is moving to MPEG4. They have launched one of the 4 sats that will carry 1500 local and 150 other HD channels using MPEG4. The 2nd sat was supposed to be up already, but there were outside issues that delayed its launch. 12 cities will get some of this running before the end of 2005. This will require different hardware, although I think the latest D* receiver (non-DVR, H10 or something) is MPEG4 capable and will only require firmware upgrades to turn it on.

I'm not sure about Dish, they haven't announced anything, as usual.

So far, all sat HD receivers have been able to get local HD channels from an antenna. Assuming you have local HD channels and can receive them at your house. That's what I am doing. I picked up the HDTivo and am getting my locals in HD OTA.

Deftones,
YES you REALLY need it! Note there are PJs that are HD resolution, and there are PJs that are HD-compatible. The X1 is only compatible since it is an 800x600 PJ. I'm not knocking them, esp for the price, but there is a difference.

If you have a Costco near you, check out the IF 4805+screen for $1100 or whatever it is today. This is not HD res, but is compatible. It has gotten VERY good reviews from all sorts of people and the Costco price will get you in the door pretty easily. If you want to get into real HD res, you might look for a deal on a used Sanyo Z2 or Panasonic AE500. Otherwise you are looking at over $1500, most likely.

I found this forum and they even have a FAQ or "sticky" on using the Voom receiver for OTA only

http://www.highdefforum.com/index.php

I GOT to call disnetwork tomorrow and see what they will do. If I add a seperate HD receiver then I will have to upgrade my HT receiver right now so I can use it as a switch box. I really don't want to run any more wires to my x1. Plus if I can get a deal on the dish HD receiver then it will make the overall system a lot easier for the family to use. Well, think I will put a couple of low bids on some of those on ebays and see if I get lucky and get a really inexpensive one.

Hmm, just saw this:

http://www.remotecentral.com/cgi-bin...hread.cgi?2540

Wow, had not heard/seen that. I did put in some low bids on some closing austions, but I was out bid quickly. Most of the Vooms are going for $50 to $60. While cheap, I also saw a true Dishnetwork HD receiver on "buy it now" for less then a $100. While I'm cheap, I also like easy. It would be easier to have a single receiver for both sat and OTA HD. If I can pick one up for only $40-$50 difference, then will probably just go Dish.

Looks very clean and nice.

I see the plumber parts attached to the ceiling, but what did you use to attach those parts to your projectors 3 mounting holes?

svadas - i just ran an extension cord for my PJ through the drop ceiling.

I drilled holes in a piece of plexiglass and mounted that to the PJ with machine screws and bolts (the bolts allow me to level the PJ). Then I attached the plumbing parts to the plexiglass. Hummm, I think I got a photo somewhere...will get back to you....

ok - i know what you mean - i saw the same DIY setup at AVS forum. is that where you got the idea?

Well I actually got it from a guy on FW, when I read a thread about an X-1 deal, but yea, I'd bet it originated on AVS. It works really well since I have low ceilings, but if I had higher ceilings (and thus need longer pipe), I might not have liked it as much (see the photo showing my CC speaker).

OK after reading folks having problems with Vooms over at AVS, think I will go the Dishnetwork way. I just got off the phone with them and here is their current deal:

$5.00 monthly rental for HD receiver
$10.00 monthly programing charge
$99 for a tech to come out and install.

I figured if I could get the receiver for $100 I'd pull the trigger. I hate paying for rental of equipment, but since the dish stuff is in such flux right now, might be smart. I ask for self install and he said not available. However, the $10.00 programing fee sucks! I ask if I could just drop that and he said no it was a package deal. I whinned a little about how I just added SBC HSI (true), and already have cell phones, local/long distance land line phone service all with them (true) and I have been getting deal offers from cable (not true and would not go back to cable anyway). He said there was a cross promotion with cell phones and them and I should call them back on monday and might get 6 months free programming thru them. So will call on Monday.

I may be making to big of a deal of it. Tho they SAY I have to have programing, but I could wait a month or two and cancel and just use OTA, but maybe not.