Future Proofing for Home Theater

[esobaki]

Hi Folks. I always wanted to enjoy my movies with good sound and screen. reading this forum make me crave more.
We have purchased one under construction apartment and electrical conduit laying stuff is on the way; I want to future proof for 5.1 surround, projector and screen.

Learning from this forum I already asked electrician to make arrangement for CAT6 Cabeling from each room to one center panel in Computer room, seperate conduit for rear speakers, one 2" conduit for projector HDMI cable and CAT6 cable. 5 number of 5amp sockets near TV unit.

Attached is the plan of my living room where i want to install HT.

Do you feel Living room is ok for this setup considering it's size and shape (13' X 19' / L Shape) ? or it is advisable that i should consider shifting this; in one of my other (12' X 10') room?

Please help. your suggestion will help me in great way in future when i install HT in the new house.

 

[GeorgeO]

What is the distance from the projector to the screen? From the drawing I can't make out.

 

[esobaki]

It's 13 feet wall to wall after seating arrangement it may reduce to 12 feet.

 

[ajsethi]

Surely a dedicated room will be advisable, all depends on how easily you can spare a room for the purpose. If you do take the room, then your TV and HT setup can move into the dedicated room and you could continue with a Stereo setup in the living room for music etc. The dedicated room will allow you to work on the acoustics of the room as well, maybe soundproof the door to some extent also and really blast your movies when required without waking up the kids (an assumption here, or parents maybe, or wife...).

 

[giddavr]

Hi Folks. I always wanted to enjoy my movies with good sound and screen. reading this forum make me crave more.
We have purchased one under construction apartment and electrical conduit laying stuff is on the way; I want to future proof for 5.1 surround, projector and screen.

Learning from this forum I already asked electrician to make arrangement for CAT6 Cabeling from each room to one center panel in Computer room, seperate conduit for rear speakers, one 2" conduit for projector HDMI cable and CAT6 cable. 5 number of 5amp sockets near TV unit.

Attached is the plan of my living room where i want to install HT.

Do you feel Living room is ok for this setup considering it's size and shape (13' X 19' / L Shape) ? or it is advisable that i should consider shifting this; in one of my other (12' X 10') room?

Please help. your suggestion will help me in great way in future when i install HT in the new house.

if u love watching movies u can make a hometheater in any room irrespective of the dimensions of the room.

so decide whether u want the best ht setup possible and if so what r ur options for location of ht. if u can really spare a seperate room for ht , thet would be great. but if u have to have the ht in the living room u can too , first decide on the location for ur ht and then u can go about planning.

 

[esobaki]

Surely a dedicated room will be advisable, all depends on how easily you can spare a room for the purpose. If you do take the room, then your TV and HT setup can move into the dedicated room and you could continue with a Stereo setup in the living room for music etc. The dedicated room will allow you to work on the acoustics of the room as well, maybe soundproof the door to some extent also and really blast your movies when required without waking up the kids (an assumption here, or parents maybe, or wife...).

Point well taken. surely dedicated room is always great; i can spare my computer room (11.6' X 10') but i have to have one computer table and one 3' X 6' wardrobe in this room. will it affect HT in any way acoustic wise? also do you think this room size is enough if i get let's say 100" screen?

if u love watching movies u can make a hometheater in any room irrespective of the dimensions of the room.

so decide whether u want the best ht setup possible and if so what r ur options for location of ht. if u can really spare a seperate room for ht , thet would be great. but if u have to have the ht in the living room u can too , first decide on the location for ur ht and then u can go about planning.

It will be great if i can manage the HT in the living room but my main concern is; will the "L" shape of my living room affect the HT?

 

[ajsethi]

Refer this link regarding screen size and viewing distance-
What is Your Viewing Distance? | Home Theater
It shows an optimum ration of 1.6 (viewing distance to diagonal screen size). The chances are you will be a little closer than that once you plug in all your equipment racks/shelves, computer table, sofas etc. so going just a little smaller on the screen size may be OK too. You can always cross check the 1.6 ratio.

Overall I feel you will still be in control of a room with a wardrobe + computer table as opposed to the L shaped Living room. But best would be to draw out both layouts accurately and to scale and see for yourself.

 

[esobaki]

Refer this link regarding screen size and viewing distance-
What is Your Viewing Distance? | Home Theater
It shows an optimum ration of 1.6 (viewing distance to diagonal screen size). The chances are you will be a little closer than that once you plug in all your equipment racks/shelves, computer table, sofas etc. so going just a little smaller on the screen size may be OK too. You can always cross check the 1.6 ratio.

Overall I feel you will still be in control of a room with a wardrobe + computer table as opposed to the L shaped Living room. But best would be to draw out both layouts accurately and to scale and see for yourself.

Thanks for the link... really appreciate it.

If I use say computer room for HT then after setup my approx viewing distance will be 11 feet. if the 1.6 ratio method is used then at this distance screen size comes around 82 inches. which made me think what if i buy 65" Panny VT30 instead of PJ for which ratio comes around 2.0. Just a thought.

 

[Rupam]

Just a suggestion, you should consider using the computer room as HT room. Because the noises from open kitchen and dining will interfere with your AV experience. You can put a stereo system in dinning space so that even guests can enjoy light music and have dinner. Keep the computer with Stereo system so that in case your can add DAC and network you music server with system.

 

[esobaki]

Just a suggestion, you should consider using the computer room as HT room. Because the noises from open kitchen and dining will interfere with your AV experience. You can put a stereo system in dinning space so that even guests can enjoy light music and have dinner. Keep the computer with Stereo system so that in case your can add DAC and network you music server with system.

Thanks Rupam.

I am going to discuss this with my wife today. hope atleast this time we have an agreement.. :lol:

what's your thought on using Wharfedale DX-1 in 11.6 X 10 room and 13 X 19 room?

 

[just4kix]

Even though the room size is 13' x 18'10", your main viewing area is more like 13' x 9' from looking at the apartment plan. The projection are will be 9'. Out of the 9', 3' will be taken by the main entrance door. So even if you plan to have a screen that goes behind the door, you will have to leave a 6" to 1' gap from the door for satellite speakers. You will have to use satellite cube speakers for HT and bookshelf and floorstanders can be ruled out due to the design. Screens come in fixed width sizes such as 6x4, 8x6, 7x5, etc. I think 8x6 may be effectively ruled out. Projector needs near dark ambience to yield the performance. I am not sure whether you will be able to achieve this. Finally, a projector is not suited for casual TV watching - it is too cumbersome and you cannot dim the lights all the time.

The whole setup is (in my opinion) is not suited for projector. I suggest that you go for a 50" to 55" TV instead. You can couple this with a decent HTS of your choice.

 

[esobaki]

Even though the room size is 13' x 18'10", your main viewing area is more like 13' x 9' from looking at the apartment plan. The projection are will be 9'. Out of the 9', 3' will be taken by the main entrance door. So even if you plan to have a screen that goes behind the door, you will have to leave a 6" to 1' gap from the door for satellite speakers. You will have to use satellite cube speakers for HT and bookshelf and floorstanders can be ruled out due to the design. Screens come in fixed width sizes such as 6x4, 8x6, 7x5, etc. I think 8x6 may be effectively ruled out. Projector needs near dark ambience to yield the performance. I am not sure whether you will be able to achieve this. Finally, a projector is not suited for casual TV watching - it is too cumbersome and you cannot dim the lights all the time.

The whole setup is (in my opinion) is not suited for projector. I suggest that you go for a 50" to 55" TV instead. You can couple this with a decent HTS of your choice.

Thanks @just4Kix your observation's are very true; that's why i am thinking of changing plans and shifting HT in other 11.6' X 10' room (Computer Room) and keep the TV in the Living room.

 

[Rupam]

You can definitely use Wharfedale DX-1 in 11.6 X 10 room. Otherwise you can use Tannoy HTS 101 speaker package.
But I also think, you should get a 50" to 55" TV instead of PJ as Monsieur just4kix suggested. Get a plasma not LED.
PS51E550D1R 51 inch Plasma Television - OVERVIEW

 

[esobaki]

After discussion with my wife. we decided to shift plans and shift HT in the computer room. this is the first time we agreed in one go :lol:. Thanks to all of you for your valuable comments; i love this forum :clapping:.

below is the plan and 3D view of the wall where i intent to install screen of the room.





Some questions i have right now are,

1. Is the room size (11.6' X 10') suitable for PJ setup?
2. what is the approximate height of the manual screen if i want to achive at least 100" picture?
3. will there be any issue if i place AC above the screen?

 

[esobaki]

Get a plasma not LED.
PS51E550D1R 51 inch Plasma Television - OVERVIEW

Thanks Rupam. any specific reason apart from cost for not going for LED? just curious.

 

[bobby0909]

The picture projected from a projector is best enjoyed when the projected image is 80 inch to 120 inch diagonally across. Then everything becomes gigantic and the true feeling of a movie theatre can be experienced at home. However the down side is that the viewing distance to perfectly enjoy such an image also increases.Hence the idea of having a projector in a room of 11'*10.5' should be ruled out and as a few forum friends have suggested go for a tv of max 55".

 

[just4kix]

As stayed by Bobby above, your room is too small for the following reasons:

- to get a 100" diagonal image the screen will have to be at least 8' wide
- your seating will have to be right at the back wall and even then the image will be to wide for the field of view
- a 7' wide screen will produce a 96" image maximum but even this may be too big
- the recommended comfortable viewing distance is 1.7 times the screen width; you do the math
- screen size any smaller and you are nearing the TV sizes

As I suggested, go for a large screen TV. The Samsung 64E8000 plasma is top class, 64" diagonal, pristine PQ, and all for less than 2 lakhs.

Sent from my GT-I9100G using Tapatalk 2

 

[esobaki]

The picture projected from a projector is best enjoyed when the projected image is 80 inch to 120 inch diagonally across. Then everything becomes gigantic and the true feeling of a movie theatre can be experienced at home. However the down side is that the viewing distance to perfectly enjoy such an image also increases.Hence the idea of having a projector in a room of 11'*10.5' should be ruled out and as a few forum friends have suggested go for a tv of max 55".

are you suggesting that 80 to 90 inch not achievable from 11 feet throw distance from PJ? Correct me if i am wrong but i think it is possible to get 80 inch size easily.

 

[manoj.p]

I think its do-able. You can easily fit a 9 ft wide screen in there. You have couple of options. If your apartment is still under construction, then get in-wall speakers and install them. Even if your in-wall speakers are 1 ft wide, you get 9.5 ft left. That would easily leave space for 9 ft screen. You can get an acoustic transparent screen which will cover the speakers but can also allow you to go more wide screen, may be 9.5 to 10. Although your viewing distance is 10 ft, so I would suggest sticking about 9 ft wide max.

If you can't get in-wall speaker, then get a 9 ft wide screen in the center of wall. Then install two columns, 1.25 wide each on both corners. Depth can be same as your speaker or little more and as tall as room. On the front part, make the face little at angle. Then install bookshelf speakers with no port or port on front in those columns. Fill rest of the column with rockwool or any other sound treatment material. Cover with black cloth. You have nice room treatment and place for speakers without compromising acoustically.

To put things in perspective, I have a 13 ft wide room and I did had a 12 ft wide screen in there. Its perfectly possible to do things, just need to work it out.

 

[Rupam]

A PJ is good for movies but if your wife wants to watch cable TV or DTH the most convenient is having a TV.

Please read and watch the video.

Plasma vs. LCD: which is right for you? - TVs

Plasma produce more cinema like picture quality and better black depth than LCD.