Home theater (yes, a movie theater at your home)

Ok guys you must be wondering that I am from another planet to be talking about something which is old news to many but.... a big butttt, I am not talking about a 55 inch plasma or a 70in rear projection TV. This is all ancient history. This is the era of digital projectors. Yes, you heard it right, no more picture tube bulky ceiling mount projectors with 3 beams projecting a dull video at a screen, we are talking about high definition digital projectors which put your neighborhood movie theater to shame.
wait, before you close this thread, I assure you, its dominican republic related. I live in santiago and I have bought one unit for my pleasure and for the viewing pleasure of my dominican friends and wives. So lets carry on.
I had seen many projectors in action at various bars all over DR, but nothing impressed me as much as my own XGA high definintion DLP projector. Most folks in bars have the SVGA 800X600 resolution projectors connected to standard cable. The image seems ok but nothing to write home about. Noting to get excited about, right?
Well let me tell you folks, I bought a Benq PB6200 XGA DLP, sort of like an entry level projector but packs a big punch. I chose this projector for many reasons: it will be used only with my computer so I didn't need any special kind of fancy inputs. This alone brings the price down considerably. I have connected it to my VGA port of the computer (as monitor), pointed at a experimental bedsheet screen nailed to a wall. Put in a DVD in Pc and wow. My lower jaw dropped. The image was extremely bright and rich with contrast. Thanks to the new and improved DLP technology, it was all made possible for the first time in video projector evolution. With the DLP technology, you practically see no pixels or the screen door effect (sort of seeing the video through a screen door, grid appearance). The image comes in bright, rich in contrast and no visible pixels. Put it all together, you have your own High definition 10 foot screen movie theater at a fraction of the cost of owning a plasma TV. If you see this setup, you will never go back to watching your lame rear projection 60 in TV. There are no scanning lines or pixels to be seen anywhere. I have it setup to 1024 X 768 resulution and it looks fantastic.
Now I have to design a ceiling mount and a home made hi gain screen to complete the whole setup. Anyone interested in seeing my temporary setup is most welcome to come and see it in normal evening (light hours). It means I have lights from 9:30pm till late night.
If anyone of you folks are willing to buy a digital projector, talk to me first. I have done enough research into it to be considered a semi expert in this stuff.
AZB

If you use the economy mode, the bulb life can be exteded to 3000 hours but in my projector, it didn't look so appealing so I switched to video mode. Its best suited for watching movies.
Blackout cloth is best for making custom size screens. I can get black out cloth from galleria Dumit for about 400 and change pesos a yard. Thats a vertical yard, the horizontal width is about 9feet. So if you get 3 yards, you got 9 ft x 9ft fabric which is huge. i will make a roll up screen (made by Ochoa) from a manual roll up type mechanism (toldos section) and will use blackout fabric, the plastic side. A 7 foot width (horizontal) will cost me 7 thousand pesos plus black out fabric. I will go for a 8 foot width screen with about 7 foot height. It will be enough to make my lower jaw drop. This will be like a 9-10 foot diagonal width screen.
Now the bulbs will come down in prices but there is a place in USA which will replace the filament in the old bulb for about 200 dollars and will give you a full warranty. I know of one person who sent in his old bulb and after 3 days and 225 dollars later (including fedex shipping), he was very pleased to see that the bulb worked as good as new. each time you change the bulb, you have a new projector. If you watch movies 3 hurs / day, the bulb should last you 2 plus years.
I have it connected with inverter, when the lights went out, I saw no difference in operation. In fact I didn't even know the lights were out.
All over DR people use their DLP/LCD projectors with inverters and I have yet to hear anyone make an issue out of it.
click on to: http://www.jopprugroup.com/plamp.htm
to read about refurbishing old lamps.
PIB, a plasma TV uses up alot of power ( so I was told) and it only lasts 5-7 yrs the most, then the plamsa dies. The TV costs about 5 thousand dollars and comes in wide screen. In DR, we only have standard broadcast 4:3 square screen. Your image will be stretched or you will see black bars on side (depends on viewing mode).
My standard dimention projector displays both wide and standard. Its a complicated explaination so trust me, in DR, you will be better off with a 4:3 format. My projector cost me $1350 dollars with a 200 dollars rebate if you buy it within this month. Total cost 1150 dollars. If I change a bulb after 2 years, and even buy a few more in the future, I am still ahead of plasma TVs in cost and quality.
AZB

dms3611 said:

....providing us with this new projector. Without your efforts in purchasing this unit, Larry would never have had the opportunity of bringing it into the Dominican Republic in his suitcase (plenty of room though cuz he only has one shirt anyway)....and we would never have had the opportunity to listen to the "oracle of the projector" speak!

Word on the street in Santiago is that azb will be starting a group of seminars entitled "projector perfection" very soon. He is also fondly referred to (by numerous taxi drivers in the Cibao region) as "Doctor Projector" (when you listen to them say it in Spanish its REALLY impressive). Also heard that HB is getting azb a professorship to teach a class at the PUCMM on the "worship of projectors" (100's already lined up to take the course).

The sad part is that it is now likely that azb will never get to Golds gym in Santiago for any more of his patented 5 minute workouts! hahahaahaha.

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sadly, some people just don't appreciate the good things in life.

Robert said:

I think it was a joke AZB.

So when will it be 100% setup? When can I come visit, you got me thinking

FYI: My neck still feels good, even after those strange noises, thanks!

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I know dave is joking, and so am I.
I am still deciding on the screen. I am not sure what I want and how I want he screen to be done. Its not easy aligning screen to projector prefectly and then I have the ceiling fan in the middle, where projector should be mounted. Then the damn projector has a very steep throw angle. Its a mess. I will figure it all out soon. You can come to see a rough demonstration. I am sure you will be impressed.
AZB

DES said:

"Anyone interested in seeing my temporary setup is most welcome to come and see it in normal evening (light hours)."


I have considered this exact projector along with a couple of other XGA models for my house in Sosua; the ingeniero electrico as well as the builder felt that projectors would not provide enough brightness in daytime and recommended against them. My question is, how much ambient light can there be and still get good viewing results? Obviously its main use would be at night, but can it be used during the daytime with curtains closed, or do you need to block all light from the viewing room?

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The bigger the screen, the more light spread out light would be so the picture will become dimmer. I say if you buy Hewlett Packerd VP6121 model then you will have 2000 lumens of light and 2000:1 contrast ratio. This is a bit more light than my model Benq PB6200. If you have the curtains closed and have some what darkened room (but still be able to see around) you would be more than pleased with the image if its around 90 inch diag. Use a high reflective screed (Da-lite) and you will be extremely happy. I have just bought the black-out cloth (light blocking white cloth, vinyl on one side and fabric on the other side) and I will nail it to the wall to see how much more improvement I will get from it. It costs 300 pesos a yard (3 ft x 9 ft).
i will give you my findings tomorrow.
By the way, if you wait around a few months, they have a new LCD projector coming out (by panasonic) which will blow away the DLp competition.
AZB

Festero said:

While the projecting and viewing technology stuff is fun...

What I want to know is will the first movie shown in the new AZB home theater be.... "ATTACK OF THE UBH'S!!!" ???

Served up with rum flavored popcorn it could be a real thriller!

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Hahahaha, I am not really into horror films.
Ok guys, the Blackout cloth is wonderful. If you don't have the money to dish out for an expensive Da-lite screen, then the next best thing would be a blackout cloth (I am using the fabric side, 300 pesos / yard, calle del sol , galleria dumitt). The movies clearly have more punch to it and colors are more vibrant and contrast is more deep.
I am using cheap stereo as my sound system but even with that little sony, I got one guy jump off his seat when he heard a shot gun blast.
I have already scored a cute wife with my new toy. I am a happy chappy.
AZB