Well, I have a room in my basement thats about 25x12 feet. Not great for a bedroom as there is no closet in it and only one window. I decided I would make a theatre in it. Im not a rich man, and Im stuck renting this house all by myself, so I have had to do it all myself and order stuff for as cheap as I can find it. Im a bargain hunter to the core anyways.

Pics will be edited in later.

First purchase : 1080p Projector. These suckers are no less than 1000 bucks at the electronics shops... BUT... On Ebay one was had for 235 bucks straight from the manufacturer in China, plus I had to pay $12 duty to the delivery man when it arrived. Its not the best projector for a living room with lots of windows and natural light (its only 1900 lumens), but in a darkroom like mine its amazing. This one came with a free HDMI cord 6ft, and a spare bulb! The spare bulb is a bonus for sure!

Second purchase : Real screen material. Ordered this from a seller (diyscreens) on Ebay as well, was $38 for a peice about 52x90 inches. Enough to wrap a 100 inch diagonal board. This material is very nice, and has a very high thread count, its good quality stuff. You have to put the smooth side facing out, but seller says it doesnt matter, I used the smooth side just cause I figured it would be better that way.

Third purchase : One sheet of good quality 3/8 chipboard/plywood/whatever you call it - $9, the cheap stuff is not smooth on one side, so get the good stuff. Three 2x4 beams - $3. Various fasteners including 8 J-Hooks - $8, 8 feet of small chain - $6, scrap MDF piece 12"x12" from the cut offs bin (FREE)

Fourth purchase : One can of Elmers spray on adhesive $6,

Fifth purchase : VGA to HDMI cord (for PC connection) in 15ft - $8 shipped. HDMI to HDMI cord (for xbox360) also in 15ft - $8.

Borrowed : Iron from the woman next door to smooth the screen material since its shipped folded up in an envelope. Help from a buddy to lay down the material nicely. You could do it yourself, but get some help just so you have a second opinion and another pair of hands. It also makes moving the finished product without getting it dirty alot easier, and you got someone to talk to.

First step, mark off approx where your screen is going to be, a 100 inch screen is 48 inch high, and 86 inch wide, so make a tape mark on the wall where its going to be. Now you turn on your projector, set it to 16x9 and walk backward to make it fit the marks, make note of where its gotta hang to fill the screen.

Now I used the 12x12 MDF board, and installed 4 hooks into the sides of it to hang from, then I installed the other 4 hooks in the roof on a 3 foot square pattern to allow for up/down and front/back adjustment by tightening or loosening the chains that the platform hangs from.

Now you trim 10 inches off the full sheet of chipboard that the screen is going to be applied to. I attached one 2x4 along the top, and one along the bottom edge to hang the screen by. They are screwed in on end, so the screen will be 4 inches off the wall when its hanging. You end up with 48x86 for a perfect 16x9 ratio sheet. FYI, its about 98.5 inches corner to corner, but 100 inch just sounds cooler. Lay down a bed sheet on top, then lay out your screen material on it and start ironing. This is no easy chore, this stuff doesnt iron like your pants and it took me an hour to get all the creases out of it with alot of steam cause the texture is almost like canvas. It wont burn easy, so dont worry about that, use high heat and lots of water. Once the screen is smoothed, then put another bed sheet over your car (did mine in the garage), and lay it down on that sheet (the bedsheets keep you from laying it on anywhere dirty since this is bright white screen material it will get dirt on it easy). Spray the spray glue on the center 3rd of the wood sheeting, now you and your buddy each grab a side, pull it tight, and lay it down with the rough side touching the glue, smooth it out. Then fold one of the remaining 3rd back over the spot that just got glued down, spray it, and smooth it out, repeat on the other side. Use something clean to get all the air bubbles out and you will have a gorgeous smooth screen. 2 guys flip it over, and then wrap the edges over and glue on the back, or staple them down, I used glue cause it worked just great and I only have long staples that will go through a 3/8 sheet and ruin my screen. The 3rd 2x4 is attached to the wall level, and the screen just hangs off this board and friction holds it in place. You may want to screw them together if there is children that might tug on it, but in my house there is no kids so nobody will be playing with it to fall on them.


And here it is with the image showing, the camera flash buggered it.


And with lights off

 

sounds like a cool deal for a really dark room. Thats has always been my problem with projectors... Too bad they cant make them work great in rooms with light.

 

Oh you can get ones for lighted rooms, but they are thousands of dollars and over 4000 ansi lumens brightness... Besides, who wants to watch a theatre in the light anyways?

Ive centered the picture and adjusted the height perfect now. Fits the screen perfectly now. I played a little COD Black Ops on it earlier and Im impressed, its easy to see and lots of fun.

Now on to the audio system cause it just aint the same without digital sound. Ive got a Pioneer 5.1 digital receiver 600watts. The speakers are Soundstage series aftermarket speakers I got a while ago to replace the ones that came with the setup. And Im going to try and figure out how to run the 12s for my truck in here too for the rumble.

 

Care to let us in on this ebay seller lol? I'd love to get a projector, just don't love the idea of parting with $1000