The Poor Man's Home Theater - Part 2

Poor Man's Home Theater - Part 2

So, I have been researching the various paths for a budget screen in my home theater and I have discovered these options:

1. Motorized retractable screens

    Small motor drives the screen up and down either via an inline switch or remote control

    Costs roughly $100 and up

2. Manual retractable / Simple stationary screens

    Spring loaded to self retract when pulled or is simply stationary

    Costs roughly $100-$200

3. Bulk screen material

    Available in 3-4 different widths, sold by the foot on eBay

    Costs roughly $10-$20 per foot (depending on width)

4. Screen paint

    Available in different shades, comes in gallon paint pale

    Costs roughly $60 / gallon (covers up to 100 sq ft)

5. Regular paint

    Available at any home hardware

    Cost varies

There are some important things to consider when choosing a screen material or colour, such as gain and contrast. Gain is basically the ability to reflect light, while contrast is the difference between your dark and light (eg. detail in dark scenes). Most white screens that you purchase have a gain of 1.0-1.3, while gray screens may be as low as 0.8 (reflecting 80% of what pure white would). If you want blacker blacks, go with a gray screen. If brightness is your goal, white is where it's at.

In my research I found that:

a. the screen paint is a lot more customize-able in the fact that you can choose the exact colour (for contrast) and exact gain (for brightness) and was a little bit out of my league

b. the regular paint really didn't give the performance of materials made specifically for this application

c. bulk screen material was similarly priced to stationary/manually retractable screens, and THEY weren't much cheaper than their motorized counterpart (less than $50)

Based on these discoveries, I began searching for the most economical motorized screen. 
I found this one on eBay for $119.95 + shipping and tax:

It is a white background, 1.3 gain, 100" 16:9 aspect ratio and might I say;
 it is very James Bond-ish, check it out. 

Now that all the components have been ordered, I must patiently wait for their arrival...

     Projector         -  $165.56
     VGA Cable      -    $21.85 
     Optical Cable  -    $20.79 
  + Screen            -  $161.35
     TOTAL            -  $369.55

Once I receive everything, I will update with pictures and set-up.

Thanks for looking, please comment!

The Poor Man's Home Theater - Part 1

Part 1

Hi Anyone,

I have always been inspired to do things I see on people's how-to blogs. I recently purchased a projector fairly cheap on eBay, and have decided to begin my blog with a home theater project on the super cheap.

So, here is my first project:

"The Poor Man's Home Theater"

I purchased an old multimedia projector on eBay, which began this endeavor, the NEC VT695... 

Check out all the specs here

 It's not the best projector, but for less than $170, boasting more than 75% lamp life and the ability to project 720p HD, it was a bargain in my book. You can find deals like this on eBay/Kijiji/Craigslist all the time, just check out www.projectorcentral.com before you buy anything.

I had an old 35' VGA cable lying around which I had paid $20 for a few years ago and I purchased a 35' Optical audio cable, also on eBay for $20 (These will be used to link the projector to my existing PC for movie watching and possibly some gaming)

The next decision is the screen. There are a few options, depending on the amount you want to spend:

1. Motorized retractable screens

2. Manual retractable screens

3. Bulk screen material

4. Screen paint

5. Regular paint

I will be researching the pros and cons to each of these and follow up in my next post.

 Projector        -  $165.56 ($132.25 + shipping)
VGA Cable     -    $21.85 (checked eBay history lol)
Optical Cable  -    $20.79 
Total (so far)   -  $208.20