My living space HT - Making best of a bad room

[Beatlemaniac]

Hi all,

After looking (and drooling) over some of the dedicated HT rooms and set ups on here, I thought I'd add some pics of my own.

I really only started getting in to Blu rays last year, and was using a 42'' tv to watch them on. However, in March this year I decided to buy my first projector. I had recently moved into a new apartment and this brought its own set of problems for me to overcome. My set up is incorporated into my living space, and although I'd love a dedicated room, its just not possible. So I hope any others in my situation will see that it is possible to create a fun set up, and making the best of what you've got can still work! .

Firstly, my apartment has a lot of natural light filtering through a large bay window, I've considered buying some black out blinds, but seeing as though I never watch movies through the day, I have decided against this.....although these light summer nights are now making me reconsider.....roll on the winter haha . The projector I bought was the £699, Acer H6510BD, and although its an entry level model, I love it! Its a 1080p, DLP 3D projector, with a 3,000 ANSI lumens lamp. I have tried to watch movies during daylight hours, and it is possible, but due to the windows, its not really worth it, but gaming on my PS3 is fine anytime of day. I would definitely recommend it to anyone looking for an entry level model.

In addition to the light problems, my flooring is finished in high gloss cream tiles!! So to help rectify this problem and avoid as much glare as possible, I have placed a large black rug underneath the projector. Ok, this is not the ideal solution and won't eliminate everything, but it has significantly reduced it beneath the display. I haven't fitted a screen yet, and I'm currently projecting off a plain white painted wall. As you can see from my pics, I am projecting over a radiator, and my TV shares the same wall, once again, not ideal...but being the only wall I can project on, I make do! And once the projector is running at night, this definitely becomes the focal point, and works great for me.

As you can see from my pics, the projector is placed right next to my sofa on its stand, as I am unable to ceiling mount it. The adjustable stand I bought has castors fitted, and I intended to use this to roll my projector in and out of the room when I wanted to use it, so it would be great for those with space restrictions. As it turns out, I just leave it in position now, and run any power cables under my sofa, out of view to keep everything neat and tidy. Believe it or not, under my sofa are a whole host of cables for connecting, my PS3, ipad, laptop and PS eye, so it acts as a good cover.

Speaking of cables, you may ask where my kicking surround sound system is?????? Well once again, this is where apartment living causes another problem. I currently have a Panasonic 5.1 surround system that I love, but its just not feasible to connect it up, as my whole apartment block will shake haha. And being a nightowl who likes to watch movies late, I'd be kicked outta my home, by the weary eyed neighbours in no time. So this also highlighted another problem for late night viewing, I was forever adjusting the volume up and down during movies to hear conversations, and then quickly reaching for the remote during any 'booming' moments....this doesn't make for an enjoyable experience. So how did I rectify the problem? Easy, I bought myself a pair of Sony MDR-RF810R wireless headphones. Now I can watch movies with far superior sound, and as loud as I like, whenever I want.


The projector is currently set 9ft from the wall, which is also my viewing distance of course, and the image is 100 inches. The great thing about having my projector situated here, is that it allows me to position my PS eye camera on the top of it, and myself & my friends can then play PS move games in the space behind the projector, plenty of room to be jumping around like lunatics, playing games like; Sports championship table tennis on a lifesize full table, or two player time crisis, using the sofa as cover haha

So I hope my little set up, will show any others who might have limitations that with a little imagination, something can be achieved. Movies/gaming are both fun hobbies, so as long as your getting fun out of your set up, then mission accomplished I reckon! Since moving in to my place, I have no end of visitors who always want to 'get the projector on', be it watching movies, or having our regular - Monday Night Gaming Club.

So now, I guess its time for a few pics....there's a couple of daytime shots to show some of the issues with lighting etc.......and I'll add a few more in the evening when the set up really comes in to its own. I hope you like how I've managed to do things.....any suggestions from anyone are greatly appreciated. And if I can pass on any info, just let me know

Charlie
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