DIY Network

Screen Placement and Calibrating the Projector Find out how important screen placement is for your new home theater. From "Home Theater" episode DHTW-105

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After hanging the screen (figure C) it's time to move on to the projector. When the DIY home theater was first designed, it was determined that the front projector should be placed 12' away from the screen. And since this home theater was built from "scratch," the room was pre-wired in the early stages of construction. RG-6 coaxial cables were run for the projector to that area.

Now all Corey and Mark have to do is to mount the projector to the ceiling, using a special mount that was purchased from the manufacturer. Once the projector is in place the cables can be hooked up (figure D).

Figure C

Figure D

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	Figure E
	Figure F
	Figure G
	Figure H
	Figure I

Calibrating the Projector

The next step is to calibrate the settings for the projector. Each type of projector requires its own adjustments to get the picture looking as good as possible.

Note: For Peter's home theater an LCD projector is being used.

• New projectors such as an LCD or DLP make life much easier for the home theater enthusiast. The older big CRT projectors with the red, green and blue guns had to aim those things at installation, and then come back every couple of weeks to make sure they were converged. Not so with an LCD projector.

• LCD is a single-lens projector, which makes it practically maintenance-free. You simply hang the projector on the ceiling, aim it at the screen and adjust for the screen size and focus (figure E).

• You also need to adjust the color balance--as well as the contrast, brightness and sharpness. And you'll do this with a test DVD, and it's something that any do-it-yourselfer can do. In fact, Mark said the test DVD (figure F) he used has all the patterns necessary to do these calibrations, but it also has a great primer that can teach anyone at home how to properly adjust their television set or their front projector.

  With a set-up DVD and the owner's manual, tweaking the projector to make it look its best will be a breeze.

• For Peter's home theater, the components and other electronics were installed outside the home theater room, so the fan noise and blinking lights won't be a distraction while watching a movie, but this type of layout "can" cause problems for the signals from your remote control.

  To remedy this Mark has decided to install an infrared repeater system (figure G), which consists of an infrared receiver that's mounted in the front of the room (figure H). It takes the remote-control commands and signals down a wire that was run in the back of the room before the walls were drywalled. The wire connects to some infrared flashers that talk to each of the components.

  Infrared systems use light waves to send signals from the remote control to the components. They work "line of site," so any objects blocking the beam, such as a wall or door, will prevent the remote from working.

• There's another option for transmitting commands to components. Radio frequency (figure I)--or RF--uses ultrasonic sound waves and has a longer reach. It's capable of passing through walls to control the electronics. In addition to operating home theater components, radio frequency is commonly used for whole-house lighting and security systems.

In the next segment Corey and Mark program the remote control.

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RESOURCES :

Don Fillers & Assoc.
Website: www.dfasolutions.com

McDougall Bros. Construction, Inc.
Website: www.mcdougallbros.com

Belden CDT Electronics Division
Website: www.belden.com

Kinetics Noise Control
Website: www.kineticsnoise.com

Middle Atlantic Products, Inc.
Website: www.middleatlantic.com

Terratex Fabrics
Website: www.terratex.com

Lutron Table Lamp Dimmer with Remote
Lutron Electronics, Inc.
Website: www.lutron.com
Website: www.crutchfield.com

GUESTS :

Mark Midyett
Engineer/Designer
Don Fillers & Assoc.
1003 North Broadway St.
Knoxville, TN 37917
Phone: 865-523-4470
Website: www.dfasolutions.com