Hoser59's living room HT

[Hoser59]

Originally Posted by DougMac

Glad to hear you're pleased so far. I have an Optoma (only 720p) and have been very pleased.

There's a hidden cost to HT, though. We had to buy and elliptical machine to help counter the hours we sit stupified in our HT!

We're having a movie party tonight to watch "Up!" After our first movie party with friends, I overheard them conspiring to make this a regular occurance! They decided if they would feed us, maybe we'd continue. It's worked so far.

We have a simlar arrangement with our friends. We will provide the entertainment (sports, movies, video games) but they have to provide the refreshments. We are planning on having a Wii party soon. It's funny because we hadn't played our Wii in months and now my wife and I are having nightly sports battles. The big screen took things to a whole different level (I even let her win sometimes)

[Fors*]

Originally Posted by Hoser59

I'm getting tired of rushing home after work and expecting there to be a package. I've just ordered another one from somewhere else and wrote the first one off. Atleast I can still enjoy the projector where it is now. It's breaking in nicely and the picture is getting better every day

I was actually going to suggest this, so you could at least move on in some way.....I hope this works out much quicker and that you get your $$ back somehow on the first one.

[Hoser59]

Originally Posted by forsberg21

I was actually going to suggest this, so you could at least move on in some way.....I hope this works out much quicker and that you get your $$ back somehow on the first one.

I'm making sure I get tracking info this time!

[seigneur_rayden]

What did U use to mount your Black out curtains? I don't see any rods. I like the way they are very close to the wall.

[Hoser59]

Originally Posted by seigneur_rayden

What did U use to mount your Black out curtains? I don't see any rods. I like the way they are very close to the wall.

The window and sliding door originally had vertical blinds, the track for which is hidden behind the built out vallance. I used a basic I beam curtain rod with the nylon rollers modified the mounting brackets so I could fit them in the approx 1" space between the blind track and the front of the vallance and screw them into the ceiling.

[Hoser59]

The long lost projector mount has finally arrived. I was able to call and cancel the replacement I had ordered as it had not been shipped out yet. My wife is out at appointments this evening so I will be free to finish up my install. I will be taking a trip to home depot this afternoon to get the rest of the supplies I need. Stay tuned, I should have more pictures soon.

Ps. Any tips for ceiling mounting (besides measure twice drill holes in the ceiling once)?

[Fors*]

Originally Posted by Hoser59

The long lost projector mount has finally arrived. I was able to call and cancel the replacement I had ordered as it had not been shipped out yet. My wife is out at appointments this evening so I will be free to finish up my install. I will be taking a trip to home depot this afternoon to get the rest of the supplies I need. Stay tuned, I should have more pictures soon.

Ps. Any tips for ceiling mounting (besides measure twice drill holes in the ceiling once)?

I think Home Depot sells raceways, they can cover up the HDMI cable for better aesthetics.....that is about all I can think of off the top of my head....have fun and congrats on not losing any $$$ on a new mount and for finally getting the previously ordered mount!

[Hoser59]

Originally Posted by forsberg21

I think Home Depot sells raceways, they can cover up the HDMI cable for better aesthetics.....that is about all I can think of off the top of my head....have fun and congrats on not losing any $$$ on a new mount and for finally getting the previously ordered mount!

Thanks! From the postage stamp on the box it was mailed 9 days after he said it was. I'm going to take a look at the raceways when I'm up there. I will have to decide if I can make it work properly with the popcorn ceiling. If you'll notice from my pictures I have some odd ceiling things happening in the corner where the projector will go (valance, weird rectangular box??) so I will have to figure out a good way to route the cables where aren't too noticeable. I also have to run an extension cord up the wall somewhere which might be tricky. I was thinking of doing in the corner between the two rear speakers and then using a corner raceway to cover it up.

[Hoser59]

Finally some more progress!

Here is all the bits and peices laid out before I started:


To hide the cables for the projector I put a screw through the center of the zelcro cable ties then fastened them to the ceiling inside my valance

In Action (worked perfect)

I got the projector up and it turned out being just a tad to far from the screen, I had to use a little bit of overscan to bring it down to size. I used a wide flat cable raceway meant for a wall mounted TV and attached it to the ceiling


I still need to do some more tidying of the cables (pull all the slack through behind the TV) and fix some corners here and there but overall I'm happy with the way it turned out. I also bought some raceway for my rear speakers which I plan to install and paint red to match the walls. Should have everything done this weekend

[Fors*]

Nice job Houser! I can really see it coming together. I understand the need for proper cable management, it is one area I am lacking in and need to address some day.......but it's looking really good so far!

[bhampton]

I like this HT.

-Brian

[vega2K]

Very nice work!

[Hoser59]

Thanks guys! It is a learning experience for me, but it is a fun one! I am thinking now I will get a longer extension cord so I can run it up the side of the window and then above the air conditioner, rather then just having it go up the corner of the room. I have done some other rearranging with furniture, so I will get some finished shots up when everything is cleaned up. I was a little hesitant when I unpacked the cheap little projector mount, it looks pretty spindly. When I got everything up and tightened it was very solid. Good thing my projector only weighs 7 pounds!

[phansson]

Good job on getting everything up. What was the projector mount rated for? Did you hit any studs when you put it in the ceiling?

I hate cable management. I spent 8 hours running cable one sunday trying to get everything nice and clean in my store room (that is where my HDMI/side and rear speaker cables are).

[Hoser59]

Originally Posted by phansson

Good job on getting everything up. What was the projector mount rated for? Did you hit any studs when you put it in the ceiling?

The mount didn't have a weight specified (I think some guy on ebay makes them in his garage). It is all steel, so I am sure It can more then handle my projector. I hit a stud on one side of the mount and the other side is a 3/8" anchor.

As for the cable managment, it's not fun, but the better I hide things the happier the wife is and the less apt my dogs are to chew them up

[phansson]

Originally Posted by Hoser59

The mount didn't have a weight specified (I think some guy on ebay makes them in his garage). It is all steel, so I am sure It can more then handle my projector. I hit a stud on one side of the mount and the other side is a 3/8" anchor.

As for the cable managment, it's not fun, but the better I hide things the happier the wife is and the less apt my dogs are to chew them up

Stud = you are good

The WAF factor all ways rules the world. I have two spots in my room where speaker cable is visible. Both are about 1' long and I ended up painting it the same color as the wall behind it and it blends in pretty well. Of course while in the middle of the re model, my wife came in one day and within 2 seconds said "what are you gonna do about those wires?". Women amaze me at times.....

[Hoser59]

It's always the little things that they notice. It's not the 100's of hours you spend researching and purchasing and building and painting and fine tuning, etc, etc. I can only imagine the amount of effort you expended on your room.

[Hoser59]

Got the cables all cleaned up

I installed the raceways for the rear speakers too, I just need to get the paint out of the storage room and finish them off. You can see my new table and lamp as well. Replaced the old floor lamp and is much nicer now that the projector is on the ceiling

Since I had an extra raceway I used it for the front left speaker, you can barely make it out in this picture (it's at the bottom of the baseboard)


I guess that about does it. Except for the paint and some banana plugs that are still on order things are pretty much done. I'm going to go watch a movie now!

[Hoser59]

Everything is up and running great, except for one small problem. I seem to be having an issue with my projector momentarily dropping the PS3 signal (the screen will suddenly flash black and the projector will read 'HDMI 1 - No Signal'). It will only last a second before it comes back on and it does it very rarely (we watched We were Soldiers last night which is nearly 2 1/2 hrs long and it happened once) but's it's quite irritating. It doesn't do it on my PC feed even though it is in the same input on the projector.

Here is how I have things running:

1) PS3 --> Sony Receiver --> 3x1 HDMI Switch --> 1x2 HDMI Splitter --> HD200
2) HTPC --> Video to 3x1 HDMI Switch; Audio to Sony Receiver --> 1x2 HDMI Splitter --> HD200
3) Wii --> Sony Receiver --> HD200

The reason the 3x1 switch is there is because my HTPC does not pass audio over the DVI to HDMI cable and my receiver will not let me use an HDMI video source with another audio source. I needed to be able to run both the PS3 and PC signals into the splitter so they could be displayed on my TV and the Projector. I didn't notice the signal drop issue before installing the switch, so maybe that is the culprit but I can't see why. Any ideas guys?

[phansson]

Originally Posted by Hoser59

The reason the 3x1 switch is there is because my HTPC does not pass audio over the DVI to HDMI cable and my receiver will not let me use an HDMI video source with another audio source. I needed to be able to run both the PS3 and PC signals into the splitter so they could be displayed on my TV and the Projector. I didn't notice the signal drop issue before installing the switch, so maybe that is the culprit but I can't see why. Any ideas guys?

How long is your HDMI cable? So your HTPC only has a DVI output? Is that why you need the switcher or is it because your projector only has a DVI input?