With a new room in my house, the time has come. I’ve long dreamed about having a real movie theater-like experience at home, and this time I’m going to try and make that a reality. It’s not going to be a room just devoted to movies and nothing else (my house isn’t that big), but I just bought a projector yesterday, and I have a wall all picked out for the screen.
It’s good to start a project like this out with a definite goal in mind. My goal? 120 inches of 7.1 surround sound goodness. 3D movie nights with the family. And the best thing is that after looking at what I need, I don’t think I need that much. The biggest speed bump was always having a place to have this all set up. For most projectors, you want a room that doesn’t have too much light, or where the light can be controlled. You also (obviously) need a big empty wall for the screen to hang. I had curtains for windows, but no place to put the screen.
Once you’ve got that taken care of, you need the components. I already have a surround sound system, so that can be moved for free. I also already have all the things I need to be able to play the stuff I want to watch on the screen, so that’s also free. Buying a nice 3D television that is 120 inches big would cost me . . . an impossible amount. The best I can find would be a 90 inch screen, and good luck paying for that. (Best Buy has a 75 inch screen on sale for $3800. It has 4k picture, which is nicer than I need by a long shot. I have no 4k content to display.)
Buying a projector? I got a nice refurbished one for $540. It’s a BenQ HT2050, which is one of the best reviewed less-expensive models out there. The ceiling mount cost me a whopping $24. Once they arrive in a few days, I’m going to set them up and see how big I can make the screen on the opposite wall. Once I know that for sure, I’ll buy a screen. That costs around $100-$200, though I could also make one, it seems. I’ll have to investigate that option. 3D glasses (active shutter, so they work with my projector) come in at $25 each. My trusty PS3 already reads 3D blu-rays, so all I’ll need beyond that is to buy a couple 3D discs . . .
I should be able to do the whole thing for under $1000 easily. Though one thing that budget doesn’t cover? A couch to watch it on.
We can’t have everything, folks. But if I do this right, then come Groundhog Day, I’ll be watching Phil see a much bigger shadow this year than last.
Related Posts
2023 Media Review
And so we come to another look back on everything that I watched and read over the course of the last year. I reached my goal of 52 books again (21,154 pages), which made me happy. I also watched 23 television series in their entirety and 88 movies. That’s 4…
Read More »
Lord of the Rings in 4k
Hiya everybody! Did you miss me? I’ve been off on vacation for the last two weeks, but I’m back now and gearing up to get into the swing of things again. Not too much time today to post, but I wanted to report out on an experiment of sorts I…
Read More »