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Cinema Room Advice

Ads Nems

Ads Nems

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Joined
Feb 6, 2012
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389
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Radlett
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Adam
We're shortly about to move into our new home and as with most pinheads, I'm most excited about the possibility of having a larger space for more pins! I'm planning to have a pinshack built in the garden as phase 2 and I'm sure I'll be tapping into the numerous excellent logs on here and asking plenty of questions.

But first things first, inside the house I plan to setup a cinema room in one of the rooms which is about 6m x 5m which i think is a decent size for it. I would be grateful for any advice from fellow members. I would just put it out there from the outset, I'm not handy myself so am not able to do any of the work/install myself.

First of all, should I should a company to provide a turn key solution or source the various components and materials and get some good contractors in?

With regards to the components, i'd be grateful for all recommendations: projector, sound system, lighting, seating , must have's and nots etc.

Thanks Adam
 
make sure its family proof and works when you aren't there!

if you get a specialist in you'll pay alot but its probably worth it in my view. (see point above)

with that size of room projector choice is very important don't discount short throw and consider sound proofing. Audition everything you buy. If I was you I'd be tempted to at least get a specialist to do the project/screen combo and do the rest yourself.

Had a cinema room in previous house but didn't get as much use as I thought it would.
 
I had a cinema room that I built and set up in the early 2000’s, Barco 808s crt projector with upscaler that was very good and bomb proof, Sony 6.1 amp, B&W front and rear floor standers, 2 x Paridigm Servo 15 subs that made the floor jump up and down😂 I had 3 rows of 4 original cinema seats you know the red velour looking ones so if you fancy those just ask as I dismantled it this year as not being used. I draped film set black out curtains all over the room and ceiling that gave no light reflection and absorbed sound nicely 😉
It was also air conditioned which was essential with the Barco. Kids had great times in that room but grown up now.
If you don’t know what you are doing and have the cash get someone in who knows what they are doing, will be worth it in the long run👍
 
A specialist will charge you one hell of a premium. Maybe get some around for quotes and ideas.

Patient option is to buy a complete used set up on ebay for a fraction of the new cost. Rich folk just dump complete cinema rooms when they upgrade. But you then you would need a friendly neighbourhood spiderman to help you install it.

Consider whether you want a projector v a big tv.
Projectors need very dark rooms to work properly. Is a pitch black room practical for you ? Whatever the theoretical performance of a projector, ambient light is the fundamental driver of how black the image you get is on screen.

I have a 4.1m by 4.7m TV room with 2x sliding windows 1m by 1.4m with blackout roller blinds. These let a lot of light in around the edges. To do it properly you need cassette blackout blinds with side channels and a bottom channel too. Cassette blackout blinds can be bought online and are simple enough to fit. I didn't actually want a pitch black tv room though.

I tried a projector but went for a 75" 4k TV instead.
I bought this 18m ago and prices skyrocketed when you went to 85" . This is much easier to use than a projector and is far better with light ingress from the windows

Stressless does fantastic home cinema seating arrangements, particularly if you are after a 4 seater. Crescent shaped set ups for example.
Leather recliners, made in Scandinavia. Clever in-arm storage. Maybe 4 grand or so. If you are patient you can buy the stuff on ebay for about 25 per cent of new cost. I spent about three months searching ebay and gumtree before getting the perfect set for my room.
 
Richer Sounds do a reasonably priced install service. Sony 4k projectors are amazing, but don't skip on the sound element. Running 7.2.4 in our lounge...
 
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Reactions: DRD
DRD said:
A specialist will charge you one hell of a premium. Maybe get some around for quotes and ideas.

Patient option is to buy a complete used set up on ebay for a fraction of the new cost. Rich folk just dump complete cinema rooms when they upgrade. But you then you would need a friendly neighbourhood spiderman to help you install it.

Consider whether you want a projector v a big tv.
Projectors need very dark rooms to work properly. Is a pitch black room practical for you ? Whatever the theoretical performance of a projector, ambient light is the fundamental driver of how black the image you get is on screen.

I have a 4.1m by 4.7m TV room with 2x sliding windows 1m by 1.4m with blackout roller blinds. These let a lot of light in around the edges. To do it properly you need cassette blackout blinds with side channels and a bottom channel too. Cassette blackout blinds can be bought online and are simple enough to fit. I didn't actually want a pitch black tv room though.

I tried a projector but went for a 75" 4k TV instead.
I bought this 18m ago and prices skyrocketed when you went to 85" . This is much easier to use than a projector and is far better with light ingress from the windows

Stressless does fantastic home cinema seating arrangements, particularly if you are after a 4 seater. Crescent shaped set ups for example.
Leather recliners, made in Scandinavia. Clever in-arm storage. Maybe 4 grand or so. If you are patient you can buy the stuff on ebay for about 25 per cent of new cost. I spent about three months searching ebay and gumtree before getting the perfect set for my room.
Click to expand...
Some great points, thanks DRD!
 
I think it depends what you want. The full cinema experience or a day-to-day room. I have a 55" 4k TV in our lounge and a 104" projector in the family room which we watch every day, not just as a cinema experience. As @ianw said, sound makes a big difference. I'm using an old kef thx reference setup which is only 5.1 but sounds great.

Speakers behind the screen require an audio specific (invisible) screen (which I have) to let the sound through. It's very neat when looking at the screen.

I have a short throw 110" projector in the arcade which is great, with 5.2 surround wired. Use this again mostly for playing music videos whilst in there. I've also got the PS4 hooked up to it as I'm using a BenQ low input lag gaming projector.

You can go cheap or expensive. Some of the best screens are made in the US. Projectors are a damn size cheaper too (or at least used to be). My top of the range Epson was half the price (but exchange rates have changed since then).

If you game, then seriously think about input lag. They aren't at gaming monitor standards but can compete with fast TVs with good brightness.

Different screens can help with ambient light, but you definitely need light control.
 
Cosco had some 65 inch screens when I popped in last week. Much better picture than a projector in my opinion, but there is something about a projector (a bit like playing asteroids on a vector monitor instead of mame)....
 
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MartinY said:
I think it depends what you want. The full cinema experience or a day-to-day room. I have a 55" 4k TV in our lounge and a 104" projector in the family room which we watch every day, not just as a cinema experience. As @ianw said, sound makes a big difference. I'm using an old kef thx reference setup which is only 5.1 but sounds great.

Speakers behind the screen require an audio specific (invisible) screen (which I have) to let the sound through. It's very neat when looking at the screen.

I have a short throw 110" projector in the arcade which is great, with 5.2 surround wired. Use this again mostly for playing music videos whilst in there. I've also got the PS4 hooked up to it as I'm using a BenQ low input lag gaming projector.

You can go cheap or expensive. Some of the best screens are made in the US. Projectors are a damn size cheaper too (or at least used to be). My top of the range Epson was half the price (but exchange rates have changed since then).

If you game, then seriously think about input lag. They aren't at gaming monitor standards but can compete with fast TVs with good brightness.

Different screens can help with ambient light, but you definitely need light control.
Click to expand...

Bloody Hell....How big is your house.......:)

I have some cinema seats coming from this company: https://www.deluxdeco.co.uk/paramount-plus-home-cinema-seating-2-seat-p5855435.html

They are good quality and reasonably priced (compared to others). I am going to have a small TV / lounge / relaxing area in my small games room, as I am not spending anough time out there. Was looking at projectors, but give me the size and price of TVs, I went down the TV Route.
 
No size TV whatsoever beats the true cinema experiance of a projector and screen! I use a panasonic 65 OLED in the bedroom and another 65 in the lounge and yes they are nice but it can’t compare in any way for watching movies.
Just bear in mind you get what you pay for. I’ve upgraded every 4-5yr for the past 20+ years and the kit has halved in price and doubled in quality each time.
FYI I am currently running a JVC projector with a 120in screen, B&W 5.1 with Yamaha amp and I smile from ear to ear each time we have a cinema night which includes popcorn and half time refreshments too.
 
Colywobbles said:
No size TV whatsoever beats the true cinema experiance of a projector and screen! I use a panasonic 65 OLED in the bedroom and another 65 in the lounge and yes they are nice but it can’t compare in any way for watching movies.
Just bear in mind you get what you pay for. I’ve upgraded every 4-5yr for the past 20+ years and the kit has halved in price and doubled in quality each time.
FYI I am currently running a JVC projector with a 120in screen, B&W 5.1 with Yamaha amp and I smile from ear to ear each time we have a cinema night which includes popcorn and half time refreshments too.
Click to expand...

Oh really.

My last house had a Panasonic 103” plasma TV (in fact I think it’s still there (well it was when I sold it as it was pretty much built into the room!)) for the cinema room. Well it was more of a gaming room as I used it for playing video games more than watching movies but it ****ed all over any projector setup, most folks thought it was a projector! Halo on it was epic.

Cheers,
Neil


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk Pro
 
We will agree to disagree on this point Neil, each to their own.
My 1st screen in my cinema was a pioneer 50in plasma which cost me 7.5k and its replacement was twice the size Stewart Firehawk screen with a Sim 720 projector that cost about the same but even though the Pioneer was the best in class it couldn’t compare in any way.
As for a 100in+ plasma fk me you would have needed a mortgage to buy such a thing back in the day, an impossible task for us mere mortals that could probably buy a house for less.
My mums 3 bed semi was less than 10k when I bought it around the same time as
My sim

Food for thought
 
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Hell yes it wasn’t cheap but was absolutely better than the best projector setups! No lag at all on it. No need to manage the fan on the projector, no need to worry about light.

Downside was for sure the cost and the fact they needed to winch it in.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk Pro
 
Neil McRae said:
Hell yes it wasn’t cheap but was absolutely better than the best projector setups! No lag at all on it. No need to manage the fan on the projector, no need to worry about light.

Downside was for sure the cost and the fact they needed to winch it in.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk Pro
Click to expand...

“Winch it in” I can just imagine the neighbours thinking WTF pmsl.
Reminds me of a mate who had similar experience not that size but had to remove his window.
Boy those things were heavy back then my wall mount was £700 alone and it weighed more than today’s average TVs haha
 
I am not that fussy about sound and picture quality, so am happy with my relatively cheap set up.

Just a £200 Sony home cinema system, using a Benq projector ( was £600). Projected directly onto a painted wall. Haven’t chosen the wall colour specifically.

I project it from the side of the room, as this projector has 3D keystone.

It’s aimed over the pins.

This picture taken in bright daylight and no issues seeing picture.

7f5d9cbc8bad643d28ae8b235216bdee.jpg
 
In all honesty, that setup would leave nothing wanting if you painted the wall for it.

...well, except wanting to not have an off-coloured single wall when you're not using the projector.
 
I could google it, but what’s the best colour / finish / product for a painted cinema wall?
 
pinballmania said:
I could google it, but what’s the best colour / finish / product for a painted cinema wall?
Click to expand...
What works best is actually a matte grey especially in a mostly-white room as it helps cut down reflection and it improves the look of black in the image.
There's also the specific projection paints that are essentially a silver.

Just going for a neutral grey - even just a white if your wall is cream/not a neutral white is great for colour clarity, but those kinds of grey/silver paints do help to give it an edge without costing much at all.
That being said there's a lot of snake-oil over-expensive paint sold as 'digital projection' paint - very much not worth it. Just a bog-standard Dulux (light) matte grey will already improve.
 
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Btw I was never suggesting anyone does a 103 plasma or the 150 they did but the picture from it was unbeatable.

Neil.


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In the Domino Arcade I’m using a Acer Predator Z660 projector which is superb and I’d recommend - short throw and good in all light and has a module to take a google chrome cast internally so you can project wirelessly. Optimised for lag.


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Really need more info.

Usage split: TV/Films/Gaming
How important are picture quality (4kHDR?) and sound quality (any old 7.2 system from cheapo place or IMAX level 11.4 Dolby Atmos)

Oh, and budget ;)
 
ianw said:
Atmos is a must!
Click to expand...

Yes but only if done right, and you're adding 4x speakers and 4x channels of amplification and have to get all that into the roof, so it isn't cheap. Not everyone really cares that much about the sound quality which is why I asked...
 
I'm lucky, live in a barn, vaulted ceilings, so was easy to add them to the beams.

Did I also say my room is octagonal, so 3 up front 2 sides and 2 rears is easy!
 
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