How to Put a Movie Theater in Your Home on the Cheap

Movie tickets are becoming more and more expensive, and with quick home releases there are fewer reasons to make a trip to the theater. You may get an enormous screen and high quality sound, but you can also have that in your home for a lot less than you'd think. With a little extra work and know-how, you can put a movie theater in your home on the cheap.

About six years ago I had a terrible day at work—on my birthday. When I finally left the office full of stress and frustration, I only had one purpose: I was going to make an irresponsible impulse purchase to try and make my day suck just a little less. I took the subway to Best Buy, found an inexpensive 720p DLP projector (~$1000), and put it on my credit card. While I can't recommend this method to anyone else, it was the start of a great new project: putting together a movie theater in my home.

This was back in 2006 when prices on HD projectors were just starting to decline. Nowadays you can pick up one that's as good as mine for a lot less money. It's not the only thing you'll need—a good screen and sound system are important, too—but you can easily assemble a pretty killer home movie theater for as little as $1,000. In this post, we're going to take a look at how.

Step One: Choose Your Hardware

Buying a projector, a screen, and a good pair of speakers isn't cheap, but the total cost isn't much higher than a similar setup with a good flatscreen television. You can always spend more for better quality, but it's not necessary. We're only going to talk about awesome projectors (and other necessary components). Mine projector is six years old and is worth about $400-500 today, but it's been so good I've had no need to upgrade. If you've got some freedom to spend, we'll talk about options that are worth the extra cash. If not, don't worry—it'll be great nonetheless.

The Projector

At the time of this writing, the Optoma HD66 is one of the best deals you can get on an HD projector. It's currently priced at about $535, is extremely bright (it offers 2,500 lumens, which is good enough for viewing in daylight), has a very long lamp life (up to 4,000 hours), and uses inexpensive replacement lamps (only about $130 at the moment). The downside is that it's 720p, but I'd argue that's not as important as you might think. While you'll probably be able to tell the difference between a 720p and 1080p picture projected at a size of somewhere between 80 and 120 inches no matter where you're sitting (unless it's across the street), 720p still looks very good. It can be tempting to pay more for that extra detail, but I think you'd be surprised by how satisfying it looks. If you do want 1080p, however, the Optoma HD20 will give it to you. Its projection isn't as bright (1700 lumens) and it costs about $300 more, but that'll get you nearly the same projector with 1080p.

If you're willing to spend a little more money, the Epson PowerLite Home Cinema 8350 ($1,278 at the time of this writing) is a great option. It offers 1080p, a fair amount of brightness (2,000 lumens), and is widely considered to be one of the best budget home theater projects you can buy (see Projector Central, PC Magazine, and Projector Reviews for evidence). Aside from the stellar image quality, the Epson 8530 offers a few distinct advantages over the Optoma options: it uses 3LCD instead of DLP projection (DLP can cause a rainbow effect for a small subset of viewers) and offers lens shift features. This may not seem like much, but when you're setting up your projector you'll find that aligning its image with the screen is one of the most frustrating parts. Lens shift does what the name implies—it allows you to shift the lens so your projector doesn't have to be mounted in a single, specifically perfect location. This added flexibility is often worth the extra money, especially if you're mounting the projector from an unusual angle or far distance.

Again, any of these projectors will provide a great image. I still use a 1,000 lumen, 720p DLP projector and I'm very happy with it six years later. Whether you're aiming for cheap or have a little extra to spend, you'll be pleased with what you get.

The Screen

Picking out a screen is a bit easier than picking out a projector, as you really only have a couple of choices: a pull-down screen (that you can roll up like a window shade) or a fixed frame screen that's always visible. Either is fine. I chose a pull-down screen because it was cheaper at the time, but a fixed frame screen tends to look a lot nicer. You should expect to spend around $200-300 and have room for a screen that's at least 90 inches (while many will be 100 inches or larger). Yes, all these screens are pretty enormous—but that's the point! You're making a home movie theater. You'll need to choose one that fits your home best, but here are a few examples to get you started:

• FAVI 120" Manual Pull-Down Projector Screen ($110)
• Elite Screens 100" Manual Pull-Down Projector Screen ($192)
• Elitech 100" Fixed Frame Projector Screen ($220)

One last thing to note is that some screens will claim to offer enhanced contrast. This is generally accurate, but the effectiveness of the claim varies. As with anything, be sure to read reviews and see how others have responded to the screen's quality before purchasing.

The Speakers

Sound is an important element of the home theater, and the speakers you choose can make or break the experience. That said, we could put together an entire post on home theater audio but it's just not the focus here. Instead, we're going to address the issues projectors pose when sound comes into the mix and leave the speaker buying guide to Gizmodo.

Unlike a TV, the primary speakers aren't going to be next to the projector. Instead, they're going to be across the room. That means you're going to have to run a wire from the projector (or sound source) to the location of your speakers. If you don't have a good way of stealthily running an audio cable across the room, one surprisingly effective solution is the Audioengine W1 wireless audio transmitter. Using it means you're foregoing the option of surround sound, which may be important to you, but the W1 is exceptionally easy to set up and actually sounds really good. You just plug them both into power—and they're powered by USB—and connect the output to the transmitter and the input to the receiver. This is a very simple solution to an annoying cable problem and it only costs $100. Audioengine also offers a variety of great stereo speakers (like these), so if you're not looking for a surround sound system they're a good place to start.

The other problem with sound is that you'll likely have multiple sources connected to the projector but the projector won't handle switching sound between them. That means you need to swap sound inputs separately. You can get an expensive system, or you can just pick up a simple AV input switcher like this one and call it a day. You could spend more money, but you don't have to.

The Media Center

Everything we've looked at so far doesn't do you a lot of good if you don't have something capable of playing a movie. That may just involve as little as buying a Blu-ray player or as much as building a home theater PC (and installing XBMC or Plex). If you just want a Blu-ray player you should have no problem finding one of those on your own, but if you want to put together a home theater PC you have plenty of options. Jailbreaking the Apple TV 2 and installing XBMC is a great, simple, $99 solution. If you want to spend a bit more and get additional features, you can do what I did: build a hackintosh mini. You don't actually have to make it a Hackintosh—you can always run Windows or Linux on the same hardware. Since my build is a little out-of-date, here's a more recent option that'll work with the operating system of your choice:

• SIlverstone SG06BB-450 Black Aluminum Case with 450W Power Supply ($143)
• Gigabyte GA-H67N-USB3-B3 LGA1155 Mini-ITX Motherboard ($200)
• Intel Core i5 2500K 3.3 GHz Quad-Core Processor ($215)
• G.SKILL 8GB (2 x 4GB) DDR3 RAM ($55)
• Geforce GTX550 Ti Amp 1GB DDR5 Graphics Card ($140) - This is optional, as you can use the integrated graphics if you want
• Western Digital 2TB Hard Drive ($100)

If you want to save some money, you can buy less RAM, swap in a slower (compatible) processor, purchase a smaller hard drive, and so on. If you're planning to make this build a hackintosh, be sure to check out the tonymacx86 forum post from which it originated.

Mounting the Projector and Screen

One of the hardest parts of owning a projector is the setup. I'm not going to downplay it: the process sucks. It's time consuming, difficult, and frustrating. That said, the results are worth it and you get better at hooking it every time (if you even have to do it more than once). I've moved my projector an unfortunate total of five times since I bought it and what took me several hours initially now takes about 20 minutes.

What You'll Need

Before we jump into the setup, let's talk about what you're going to need:

• An electric screwdriver or drill with a Phillips screwdriver head (trust me, you don't want to do this manually)
• A level
• A stud finder
• A ceiling mount for your projector or just a shelf you can mount to the wall. (Ceiling mounts are much harder to install, so I highly recommend the shelf route.)
• Any materials needed to hang your projector screen. What you'll need will vary from screen to screen (and sometimes be included with the one you purchase), but may be as simple as a couple of metal wall hooks that are rated to hold a good 60 lbs. or so.
• Optional (but highly recommended): a friend to help.

Make Your Calculations

With all of that together, you're just about ready to get started. Before you dive in, you're going to want to make a few calculations to figure out where your projector's image is going to land, how big it will be, if there will be any distortion, and so on. If this sounds like an absolutely miserable task, don't worry—Epson offers an online distance calculator that can handle all the math for you. It even shows you an image of what everything will look like. Make use of this tool before you do anything else. It'll help you mount in the right spot and prevent you from placing the projector too close or too far away.

Put it All Together

Once you've got your calculations figured out, just follow these steps to get the job done:

1. (Hopefully) with a friend, hold the screen up on the wall in the location where you want it. Use the level to make sure it isn't crooked, then use a pencil to mark on the wall where the corners of the screen rest. (If you're mounting your screen with hooks, just mark where the hooks will go.)
2. Use the stud finder to find the nearest studs in the wall. If your proposed location overlaps the necessary studs, you're good to go. If not, adjust the screen's positioning based on the location of the studs in the wall.
3. Go ahead and mount the screen on the wall. If you're mounting with hooks, just install the hooks and hang the screen. If you're using a specialized mount, follow the instructions it came with. For pull-down screens, pull them down so they're visible. This will help you align the projector in the next steps.
4. Plug in the projector and turn it on. Lift it up towards the ceiling—approximately where you expect it to live—and aim it at the screen. Get a basic idea of where the projector needs to be to hit the screen and mark that area with a pencil on the wall. (If your calculations were right, this shouldn't take much work.)
5. If you're using a shelf, install the shelf on the wall around the X you marked in the previous step. When finished, set the projector on top of it and see how well it aligns. You'll be able to make adjustments—especially if you purchased a model with lens shifting—so don't worry if it isn't perfect. If you're using a ceiling mount to attach the projector to the ceiling, use the X as a guide mark to horizontally align the mounting device. Once you know your position, follow the included instructions to attach it to the ceiling. (Note: this is only if you're mounting in the back of the room and not in the middle. Mounting in the middle means you'll have cables hanging down from the projector in a bad place unless you route them through the ceiling. That's a tough job, and a little bit beyond this guide.)
6. Place the projector on the shelf or attach it to the ceiling mount. Turn it on and line it up as best you can. If you're using a shelf, you may want to consider using double-sided tape or sticky mounting squares to help hold the projector in place. Although you may not notice it initially, it will move over time and so it helps to encourage it not to. Also, don't forget to zoom the lens and focus it so you get the image size and clarity you want.
7. Once you're physically aligned, adjust the picture settings so the image will fit your screen better. If you have lens shift on your projector, this will be pretty simple. If not, you should have keystone settings that will let you warp the picture a little bit to correct any distortion caused by the angle of projection.

Now you're good to go! Sure, it isn't the easiest process, but once you get the hang of it you won't spend a bunch of time figuring out the perfect alignment—you'll just know. Also, expect to make mistakes. Having a little spackle around for a few holes you drilled in the wrong place can't hurt. Despite the frustrations and mistakes, the important thing to remember is that when you are finished, you will essentially have a movie theater in your house. It turned out to be one of the best accidental decisions I've made. Chances are you'll love it, too.