Media Room

[TDMVPDPOY]

fck that , get a sex swing........timvp wants one NAO!!!!

[Slomo]

Projector
+ bigger picture
- Lower light output
- Lower contrast
Which means you have to buy a really good projection screen (that's not a problem if you are thinking about a fixed screen - it becomes expensive if you want an electric screen). And you have to think a lot more about the room's lighting.
Be careful about the min. and max viewing distance (if you watch a large pic too close they will look worse than they really are).

LCD Screen
+ better contrast
+ better sharpness (although in reality that's often just a side effect of the screen being smaller)
- screen size is limited
- price when you start getting in the large sizes

Plasma
+ best picture above a 60" diag
- $$$

If listening to music is not a big deal then save some money on the sound system and put the savings into a better TV/projector. A good movie sound for home is not that difficult/expensive to achieve.
If you want to listen to music a lot then we need to talk, because there's a few pitfall that can end up costing a lot.

That's a quick answer. If you need more info feel free to ask.

I just came back from the latest installation we did. You could say it was the ultimate media room for 36000 people



Psssst LJ: The screen at the end is 60m x 18m I bet the games would look good on it

[Slomo]

If the room is not too big I would go for something like a 60" LCD with a nice high refresh rate and a middle of the road home theater sound system. Be careful that your TV and Amplifier have enough HDMI inputs (I would say min. 3).

Give us the dimensions of the room (and your budget ) and I'm sure between us on the forum we can figure something out.

[PM5K]

I think for an 18X12 room I'd lean more towards a flat panel, rather than a projector, but you could get a projector if you really wanted one, it's just not a terribly big room.

I don't know much about your kids but little kids can sit through movies, if they are interested. Think anything Pixar. I have three boys so I have a bit of experience in that regard.

I think between the kids, yourselves, and friends you could get good use out of a room like that.

[Slomo]

A quick and nasty calc for an 80" screen.

The drawing is to scale, but I obviously chose chairs that are too big for this setup. It should give you a first idea of what you can fit in your room.

[Slomo]

Oh yes. Thing is, people probably don't know how to mess with the projector's crazy settings or they bought a crappy projector. A high quality projector blows any type of TV out of the water. My friend is a complete projector nerd, they're like his favorite thing in the world and has spent so much time researching and ing around with them over the years. The image quality is unbelievable, honestly more enjoyable watching movies on his current projector than if I could at a theater with no people in it being loud.

It's one of those things that you need to know about though, which probably makes a plasma a better option for most people. I have no idea what it costs to have some projector dude with your and make it awesome.

It is very difficult to design and setup a home theater with a projector to achieve a better picture than a good quality modern flat screen. Even if you do, you shouldn't underestimate the necessary regular maintenance in order to keep it at that level. Even most of the biggest nerds I know got fed up with it. If you want a setup that sits there and is ready for you whenever you feel like it, then I would probably stay away from a projector setup.

[ChumpDumper]

If the room is not too big I would go for something like a 60" LCD with a nice high refresh rate and a middle of the road home theater sound system. Be careful that your TV and Amplifier have enough HDMI inputs (I would say min. 3).

I might lean towards plasma for a pure media room, but Slomo knows of what he speaks.

[leemajors]

the new samsung LED LCD's are looking pretty damn sweet. Little to no bezel, and very thin

[MannyIsGod]

The newer LED LCDs have looked almost as good as Plasma's but I always think that Plasma inevitably looks better. Thats why I still laugh that people have been saying for years that Plasma will be going away.

[ALVAREZ6]

It is very difficult to design and setup a home theater with a projector to achieve a better picture than a good quality modern flat screen. Even if you do, you shouldn't underestimate the necessary regular maintenance in order to keep it at that level. Even most of the biggest nerds I know got fed up with it. If you want a setup that sits there and is ready for you whenever you feel like it, then I would probably stay away from a projector setup.

I agree with all of the above. I'm not professional, but it definitely seems from a practical standpoint considering Kori isn't a tech nerd and I'd imagine the room being used almost daily or relatively regularly, I'd also go with the TV.

I guess I'm just being influenced by my one friend's projector..I've seen things on the newest of TVs and tons of movies on his projector and in my opinion that thing blows anything out of the water. It's especially good for particular movies where the image style and lighting are a selling point, he knows how to tamper with the settings and everything and doesn't mind the upkeep because projectors are his passion and I can never see him getting fed up with it.

[sandman]

We have a 12x20 media room that was designed into the center of the house. One door, no windows. We ended up with the 60" Mitsubishi LCD HDTV instead of the projector and a Harman Kardon surround sound system with built in speakers. For that size room, it is all more that adequate. Besides, I have airflow problems in the room along with the heat from all the equipment, required the install of a ceiling fan. Can't have the ceiling fan and projector.

One riser built in for the back row, set of four theater chairs that I found at The Dump for $1100, matching two in the front row.

[robino2001]

We recently just built a house and I've finished the main electronic stuff for the media room... have a 50" panasonic plasma on the wall - about the same size room as you mentioned (I think ours is 12'+ x 16'+). We haven't done any of the seating or anything yet (very last priority w/ a new house) but the screen seems to be appropriate for the room.

Main reason I'm responding - if you're going to be doing the install/setup yourself, I love monoprice.com for everything electronic related. We bought the mount there (~$15) and all of the wires/components... including stuff to make our own wall plates to run hdmi/component/etc through the walls... even the usb for the kinect and wii connections. Dirt cheap stuff and great quality @ 1/10 the price of best buy, etc.