by Andrew Munchbach on September 3rd, 2010
Plex, for those not familiar, is a software company whose former creed was to: “bridge the gap between your Mac and your home theater, doing so with a visually appealing user interface that provides instant access to your media.” Today, the company has announced that it will be partnering with electronics maker LG to “integrate the Plex platform into their 2011 lineup of Netcast connected TVs and Blu-ray devices.” In the company’s announcement, they quip that when it comes to connecting devices to your television, a Mac Mini is “too large,” a Boxee box is “too pointy,” and the new Apple TV is “too tiny.” The company is betting on this free, integrated software model to be the future of connected televisions. The announcement continues: “Early next year, when you buy an LG Netcast TV or Blu-ray player, you will have Plex functionality built-in. Specifically, it will connect to a cloud version of the Plex platform for online content, and, if you happen to have a Plex Media Server running anywhere in your house (after all, who doesn’t have a computer in their house?), you can access your local and online content, in a rich interface, with full metadata.” The concept of integrating mature, intuitive media software into a TV really does sound like a great idea; especially for LG, as TV manufacturers are always trying to differentiate themselves from the competition.
Turning this three-car garage into a 850-square-foot home theater involved leveling out the concrete floor, adding insulation to the walls and replacing the garage door with Anderson sliders. New electrical wiring, outlets and lighting were also added, and soundproof walls were built around an existing central vacuum receptacle to hide the beast and prevent noise from interfering with the movie presentation.
You could never tell this theater was once a three-car garage. It features a 119-inch Screen Innovations screen, seven Boston Acoustics speakers and four Boston Acoustics subwoofers. A portable Control4 touchpanel gives the owners the freedom to control their A/V equipment — including a Sony 1080p video projector and Denon 7.4 surround-sound system - from anywhere in the room.
The entertainment in this basement once included playing table tennis and listening to tunes out of big ol’ cabinet loudspeakers. This room required some wall removal and wall construction to be reborn as a theater and entertainment space.
Big-screen viewing in the space now consists of an 8.75-foot-wide Stewart Filmscreen CinemaScope 2.35:1 screen, with images fed by a Runco RS900 projector. A panel hides the front channels and subwoofer in the Triad surround system, while rear and side speakers are concealed by acoustical fabric. Toward the rear of the room, the theater’s left side was existing, but a rear wall and right wall were constructed. A door in the rear provides access to the back of the equipment rack. An RTI T4 universal controller commands all the fancy new A/V.
Before Ruben Ortiz transformed his 2-car garage into a home theater, the 15-by-20-foot room housed a lot of old junk. Ruben needed a way to keep the sound from escaping into the neighborhood or into his house. The solution was to create a “room within a room,” using double-layered Sheetrock, staggered studs and insulation. Adding those extra layers led to one of the most challenging parts of the entire project: installing in the ceiling. At first, Ruben wanted 8-foot ceilings, so he made the walls eight feet tall and ran the ceiling joists.
About 110 sheets of drywall, some Green Glue, and a DIY screen later, Ruben Ortiz has one of the best garage theaters (DIY or otherwise) we’ve ever seen. One of Ruben Ortiz’s most challenging parts of his project was installing the ceiling. Once the size was right, he added a homemade starfield.
The owners of this Wisconsin home converted their indoor swimming pool into an all-season home theater. Many of the pool’s existing elements, like the sloped bottom, the ladder and the steps, were retained to give the home theater a unique look and feel.
Wiring for the audio and video components was pulled through the pool’s existing plumbing systems, and the slope of the pool floor was maintained to create a stadium-style seating arrangement. A 106-inch Draper screen is suspended from the room’s rafters using aircraft cabling. Video is handled by a Marantz projector mounted to the ceiling, and A/V components are stowed inside an equipment rack at the back of the room.
The basement was flooded due to heavy rain and a faulty sump pump. The original goal was to repair the damage in the basement, but they discovered the family’s love of the theater. They gutted the entire room, finishing the transformation in one month.
You could never tell that this theater was once a flooded basement. All the equipment is run by a Control4 system, controlling the lighting and the alert for the doorbell; the lights at the front of the theater flash when the doorbell is rung.
The owners of this 22-by-18-foot space had no intention of updating their 1970s-style basement rec room. They were going to leave it as is, and focus their remodeling efforts on main living areas of the house. But their remodeling plan turned into adding a basement, win cellar, a bar, and billiards area. And because playing video games calls for a completely different room environment than movie watching, they created a special gaming button. The command activates the Nintendo Wii console, lowers the temperature, leaves most of the lights on and pulls motorized masking material across portions of the screen to change it from a CinemaScope size (2.35:1) to a 16:9 size.
The 22-by-18-foot theater features a 122-inch Stewart Filmscreen CinemaScope screen, Planar video projector, Marantz receiver and a Control4 system to control the lights and thermostats and to spread audio and video to speakers and TVs throughout the house. The control system includes a “gaming” button that turns on the Nintendo Wii, lower the temperature and pulls motorized masking material to change the screen from 2.35:1 to 16:9.
A small TV and sparse decor, combined with big viewing appetites and enthusiasm for the latest video technology, made this room an easy target for home theater upgrade. Because it wasn’t a dedicated room closed off to the rest of the house, they had to control the lighting from both the interior spaces and the exterior window. The room opened up into others in the house, so that was another reason it didn’t make for the ideal dedicated theater.
That old TV turned into a 110-inch SmX acoustically transparent screen, with LCR speakers placed behind it and a Da-Lite masking system so the screen can be set to match whatever aspect ratio movie is being shown. The installers included a Marantz projector with a Panamorph lens system, and built a projector housing to conceal the large projector and screen apparatus. Berkline seats filled the bill in this case, with a request of seating for eight fulfilled.
Before it was converted into a home theater, this playroom had all the signs that a kids’ hurricane constantly swept through it.
What kid wouldn’t want to watch Harry Potter on a 106-inch projection screen? This one’s a Dragonfly model, housed in a bulkhead so it doesn’t get hit by any flying objects when not in use. Lighting zones highlight the framed movie posters that dot the walls of the theater, including the two that are revealed when the screen is retracted. To the left of the screen is a ticket booth, and on the ceiling a fiber-optic starfield for added decor.
This looks like a fun little setup. That mess on the floor? Not so much. There are wires just about everywhere, including going up the corner wall and out to the middle of the ceiling. Aside from a cleaner installation, it would have been nice if the speakers weren’t so squished into this small space. We know people need to make do. This one just could have used a little help on how to make the best of that space. Also, is that an OPPO DVD player laying right on the floor? Was a cardboard box not available?
Source: AVS Forum
Remember the old saying that too much is never enough? That does not apply to home theater. This homeowner had a few too many tchotchkes to work into his space. The end result found his speakers cutting off the screen - his 4:3 screen. Perhaps a pro would have told him to take some of those trinkets to another room, or at least organize the clutter slightly better.
The owner of this gorgeous room wanted to funk things up by adding a home theater. However, there were many problems with that scenario. For one, he wanted to put the plasma above the fireplace, which is super high up. Then there were some other little issues, like where to put the center channel and how the end result might echo in that giant open space. Apparently, time was not an issue. At last look, the homeowner was looking for second opinions on how and where to make this happen in the home.
Source: AVS Forum
Even Spider-Man couldn’t get his way out of this web. Maybe that’s because he would be stuffed inside a crowded cabinet. This area looks like a spot where old components go to die. It sounds like a nice setup. It just looks like a fire waiting to happen. Also, is that duct tape on the DirecTV receiver? No wonder it’s behind closed doors.
Source: Flickr
This guy went with his wife’s opinion when it came to installing the speakers. Unless his wife is a professional installer, that was a bad move. If she is a pro, well… she’s not a very good one. The TV and the speakers seem to be in a race to get to the ceiling. The center channel is the worst though. If he installed it any higher, it would be in the room above.
Source: AVS Forum
