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Home Cinema Projector Screens
Projector screens such as Grandview
Cyber and Screenline
are available in a number of different types such as Manual
Pull Down Projection Screens, Electric
Projector Screens, ,Tab
Tensioned Projection Screens, In-ceiling
Projector Screens and fixed
frame Projector Screens. Most dedicated cinema rooms use
a fixed
frame screen Projection Screen as these offer a very flat
projection surface and look similar to the screens used in
commercial cinemas. When installing a system in a used room
such as the lounge electric projection screens are better
suited as they roll up into a discrete ceiling mounted case.
For an even more discrete system, a recessed
in ceiling screen can be used, which hides the case completely.
Cinema projector screens should have a low gain (low reflection)
in order to keep the contrast high and an even amount of brightness
across the screen. A good screen will have thick material,
often consisting of two or more layers.
The biggest mistake that people make is buying a screen that
is smiply to large, this results in motion blur and neck strain.
The width of the Projection screen should be approximately
half the size of the distance from the screen to the audiance.
ie If the audiance is 14ft away, the screen should be 7ft
wide. For more information on Projector screens and what to
look for click
here
Sound Systems, Speakers,
DVD Players and AV Amps
Surround sound typically
consists of five or more wall mounted or floor standing speakers
and a subwoofer. The most common setup being "5.1"
uses a centre, left front, right front, left rear and right
rear speaker and a subwoofer for the lower frequencies. The
Speakers are powered be an AV surround amplifier that also
decodes the digital sound signal from the DVD or other source.
Award winning AV Amps Onkyo
give very high specifications for the money, and are now becoming
very popular in the UK AV Industry.
Speakers that can aim the sound
to the listener such as the Speakercraft
Aim series are a good way of keeping the speakers as discrete
as possible while retaining sound quality. In-wall
speakers are another way of producing quality audio
with the minimum of intrusion to the décor of the room.
Small wall mounted satellite speakers such as the models produced
by specialist speaker manufacturers Monitor
Audio, Canton
are all very effective.
Dedicated cinema rooms often make more of a feature of the
speakers and cinema sound quality is the priority. Speaker
systems that are THX
certified (Jamo) are becoming increasing popular due to
their high specification and no compromise sound quality.
THX was developed by Director George Lucas and his colleges
and his renowned Sky Walker Studios. For a system to achieve
the THX mark the speakers have to meet strict specifications
and design parameters. This means the sound produced will
be as close as possible to what the film makers intended for
you to hear.
Home Cinema Projectors - Sim2
- Infocus - Planar and Themescene
When it comes to getting as close
as possible to a real cinema in your own home you cant beat
a quality projection system. Digital Projector technology has
improved so much in the last few years that the quality of home
cinema projectors is now getting very close to the ones used
in commercial cinemas.
The range of projectors available is staggering and very confusing.
To narrow down your choice it is advisable to stick with a specialist
brand due to their expertise in the field and often superior
customer service.
Three such manufactures are Sim2
Projectors, Infocus
Projectors, Planar
Proectors and Themescene
Proectors. All use the latest in DLP (Digital Light
Processor) chips and offer superior overall picture quality
to most other brands.
Home cinema projectors have specific specifications that
make them more suitable for showing high quality video images.
The contrast is high, typically 2500:1 and above, while the
brightness is low at around 1000 lumens.
All home cinema projectors are now 16:9 (widescreen) as most
DVD`s and produced in this format and feature high quality
inputs such as component and HDMI.
The projector is installed on the ceiling towards the back
of the room at a distance from the screen determined by the
lens of the projector and the screen size.
Video cables are run from the projector to the connecting
equipment such as a DVD player, SKY or surround amplifier.
Intelligent Lighting
Lighting control is becoming a
popular addition to the home automation market.
There are some major advantages to using electronic lighting
control ,including being able to save and recall settings
as well as using less energy when the lights are dimmed.
Rako Lighting
is one manufacturer that leading
the way in lighting control with its unique wireless control
system. Normal light switches are replaced with radio control
key pads and a wireless dimmer module is fitted to each lighting
circuit.
A single keypad stores 4 lighting settings as well as total
dimming and all off.
Fifteen dimmers can be used in each room and over 250 rooms
can be catered for.
A typical application would include controlling the lights
in a home cinema.
Bellow is an example of a normal setup.
Circuit 1: 6 x Ceiling 12v halogen
down-lights
Circuit 2: 2 x Ceiling 12v halogen down-lights above projection
screen
Circuit 3: 4 x Wall mounted up-lighters
Circuit 4: 8 x Floor LED`s
Rako
Equipment
4 x RDL-500C 500w dimmer modules
1 x RCPO7 seven button key pad
The Rako system can also be controlled by any LCD learning
remote.
Multi Room Sound Systems
Multi-room is a term used to describe
an Audio Visual system that controls music or video in two
or more rooms. Each room is classed as a zone and typically
features a pair of ceiling speakers and a wall mounted control
pad.
Each zone is wired to a main controller that intern is linked
to a music server. Using the control pad the user can search
and select music stored on the server and listen to other
devices such as DAB radio. More sophisticated systems also
control TV and DVD pictures to your plasma, projector or LCD
screen.
Living Control
for example is one of the better multi-room systems on the
market.
Its clever design, ease of use and sound quality has made
it an increasingly popular and respected system.
Example of a music based
6 zone Living Control
system
Zones
Zone 1: Living room
Zone 2: Dining room
Zone 3: Kitchen
Zone 4: Master bedroom
Zone 5: Master ensuite
Zone 6: Guest bedroom
Equipment
1 x Living Control Room box 6
(powers and controls the six zones)
1 x Living Control Music box 6 (stores your music collection)
1 x Pure DAB Radio (to provide digital radio)
6 x Living Control SL Control pads
6 x Pairs of Speakercraft ceiling speakers
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