For about the past 7 years I have been heavily into films and in particular, home cinema. From the day I got my first laserdisc I have been addicted to the home cinema phenomenon. Over the years I have gradually been upgrading all my equipment but I could never really upgrade the image to what I really wanted due to space and cost. What I really wanted was a projector and I have finally been able to get one so that the following image will be but a faint memory (not that I can complain - that Sony TV has done me proud over the years!):
This page details how I went about installing a projector into my home cinema that will hopefully be of benefit to those thinking of taking the plunge!!
Projectors are not a new concept and have been around for some time. But they have always been very expensive and often rather large in size. Other options included a rear-projection TV but these are way too big unless you have a huge room. And as plasma screens, well IMHO, they are way over priced for what they are and I cannot say that I have ever been impressed with the image (ok so I might not have seen one setup right but there you go).
So I knew I wanted a projector but which one and how much should I spend? Well my first port of call was good old Home Cinema Choice and their trusty top 5 projectors. I had planned to spend about £2000 on a projector and hoped that I would find something suitable. So number 1 on the top 5 cost £9000 and number 3 cost £6000. I don't think so. But wait what's this at number 2 costing a mere £2000 (RRP). The Panasonic PT-AE300 16:9 Home Cinema Projector (AE300 for short in this article). Well the review looked good and HCC seem to like it (which is usually a good start!!).
But before jumping in I would try and get a demo of one to see what they are really like. This "SmoothScreen" technology sounds interesting. So I tried to arrange for a demo. But do you think I could get one. Not on your life. This projector is so new that stores are having trouble getting enough to satisfy demand. So I turned to the net and searched on AV Forums for help.
It turns out that a lot of people have been praising this projector for it's superb image and features. So after a couple of days (I know, I am very impatient!!!). I decided that this was a projector for me. So it was just a case of finding a store that had one in stock. Now this was a challenge!!! I don't know how many places I tried (including the Internet) and nobody had any in stock. I had been reading a lot of praise about a company called nexnix (Careful how you use that URL because the .com version is a "female appreciation" web site if you know what I mean!!!!)
Another very important service that nexnix offered that was vital is what's called a "Dead Pixel Check". There is an issue with the manufacturing process on the LCD displays in these type of projectors in that a certain tolerance of "dead and faulty" pixels is considered "acceptable". Well not in my book. Why should 1 person have a perfect projector and someone else have a less than 100% perfect one for the same money. Well I wanted to ensure I was one of those people who got a 100% perfect one. So for a very modest amount Nexnix would carry out a check to ensure that the projector you buy has no issues.
So Nexnix eventually got some AE300s in stock so I ordered one and received it next day. Thanks Nexnix. But this was only once I had gone through the planning stage to see whether the projector would be suitable for my room...
So before I ordered the projector, I need to make sure that it would be suitable for my room, which is by no means, huge. Luckily another deciding factor on the AE300 is it's "Short Throw" distance in that it can generate a large image for a relatively short distance away from the screen. So on top of buying the projector I was going to need the following items:
Screen
Obviously the projector will have to display the image on some sort of suitable screen. But these screens can cost quite a lot depending on the size and quality. As screen was going to be in front of a window which already had a roller blind, I decided to find out how probable it was to use a white roller blind as a screen substitute so that it would perform 2 purposes.
The sort of roller blind that would be suitable was made with "black out" material that would prevent light coming through. So I measured the required width and height of the blind and purchased one that actually was spot on. What a bit of luck. Below is an image which shows the blind being fitted into position. Note: The image below gives the impression that the colour of the material is grey - it is actually pure white.
Ceiling Mount
The projector would have to be mounted on the ceiling as this was about the only possible place it could be placed. I hunted around on the net and found that the most commonly featured ceiling mount were those manufactured by Unicol and they had just what I was looking for. It's utilises a chrome plated pole with a mounting plate at either end. But I didn't want this horrible bracket attached to the end and as I didn't have a solid ceiling (it's just a false ceiling using plaster board), it would need to be mounted on something more substantial in the roof. Thankfully the room has a roof where I can get access to in order to fit the ceiling mount. The only thing I would have to do is to cut a hole in the ceiling to pass the pole through in order to mount it on the other side. The following image illustrate how the ceiling mount would be mounted to the ceiling.
So I designed a frame mount that the ceiling mount could be attached to that would fit to the ceiling rafters as they are the only strong support that could be used. Below is a diagram of how the ceiling mount support would work.
S-VHS cable (10m)
I would need a way of connecting the Yamaha DSP-A1 amplifier to the projector as it would route all the picture signals to the projector. I couldn't have a cable running up the wall as it would be rather unsightly so I needed enough cable to go from the amp, through the roof and back down through the ceiling (via the ceiling mount which wires can be passed through - thankfully!!) to the projector.
I didn't want to use a standard composite/scart connector as the quality isn't considered good enough and the amp doesn't have a component output (they are also very expensive). So I spoke to the good people at Custom Cable Services and enquired about a suitable S-VHS within a certain budget. So I bought a Supra 10m S-VHS to S-VHS cable.
So then this was as much planning as I could do before actually receiving the projector and working out where it should go based on how far away it needed to be from the screen. So when the projector arrived, I started the installation...
Well I ordered the AE300 projector from Nexnix and received it the next day. So the first thing to do was to work out how far away the projector needed to be from the screen. Thankfully the screen/roller blind had been installed earlier in the week. I stacked loads of carefully placed boxes on top of each other and placed the projector at the rough height it would eventually be mounted at. I moved the projector back and forth until I got the picture just right. I decided to set the projector onto max zoom so that I would be able to make the image smaller if need be later. Once I had worked out where to place the ceiling mount, I cut a suitable sized hole in the ceiling (first making sure that there were no electrical cables in the ceiling - wouldn't want to cut into those!!!). The hole can be seen below:
It was time to build the ceiling mount frame as designed previously. This consisted of a piece of wood (non-chipboard as this may become brittle if it gets damp) 200mm wide that would be cut into the appropriate lengths to build the frame. Once it had been constructed, it was varnished to give it some protection against moisture. It was placed into position so that the ceiling mount could be lined up against the frame to work out where the mounting holes for the bolts should go. This was done by carefully making sure the ceiling mount was perfectly straight in all planes and then marking the holes on the frame. The frame can be seen being constructed and painted in the following image. The second image shows the frame in place with the ceiling mount fixed to it using the M10 bolts:
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So once the ceiling mount have been attached to the frame and the cables passed through the centre pole, the projector could be attached to the ceiling mount using the 4 M4 bolts provided with the ceiling mount. The projector can be seen mounted below:
Well here we are then after only a few days worth of work and it's all gone surprising well. So then this is the real test. What does it look like? Well the film that people always recommend for testing is Monsters Inc. So I popped the DVD in and fired up the projector to see what would happen. All I can say is:
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Well that's it folks. I must say how impressed I am with this projector compared with a few others that I have seen. It really makes for a theatrical experience that a TV just can't deliver. The first film I watched on it was The Matrix which was amazing especially the lobby shoot out!!!
| Link | Description |
| www.nexnix.co.uk | Sells projectors including the Panasonic PT-AE300 |
| www.avforums.com | Great forums for Home Cinema and anything relating to audio/visual |
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Custom Cable Service (0208) 942 9124 |
Great place for any av cables you need |
| www.unicol.co.uk | Manufacturer of various mounts for Projectors, plasma TVs etc. |
| www.projected.co.uk | Retailer of Unicol ceiling mounts and anything related to projectors. |
If you have any comments or would like to know more about the projector/installation then please drop me an e-mail at Chris Nightingale
Page Construction Date: 26/05/03