I always consider it a home theater if it must have a high-definition projector and a decent screen. For such a definition, I have waited for many years, for either excuses or other reasons. Until this year, I decided waiting no more! With about two months research and preparation, I have locked a Panasonic 3-LCD 1080p 3D projector (PT-AE8000U) and a 120-inch Elite screen (R120WH1) to replace my 7-year old SONY 60-inch SXRD 1080p projection TV (KDS-R60XBR2). I have got this project to its perfect completion, finally!

To me, the project has been quite eventful but also fun. So I decided to capture those major steps while the project was proceeded. I hope this will be inspiring to new ideas and your similar project.

Before:

After:

Equipment list:

Projector	Panasonic PT-AE8000U
Ceiling Mount	Mustang MV-PROJSP-FLAT-B
HDMI Cable	Monoprice 30ft Slim Series High Speed w/ RedMere Technology
Screen	Elite ezFrame 120-inch 16:9 white projection screen (R120WH1)
Throw Distance	13 feet
Wall Paint	Olympic Gray Flannel (D45-5 Flat), 2 Gallons for 760sf total area
Stand	Sonax FB-2600

1. Projector

I bought the projector Panasonic PT-AE8000U at B&H. My media room has a pre-built wiring pipe from ceiling to the front wall. The installation is of course as ceiling frontal projection. I have the range of screen size in mind at least 110 inches (diagonal), ideally 120 inches. So the throw distance, according to projectorcentral.com, would be around 11-23 feet for a screen gain of 1.0. My choice of the throw distance was then 13 feet.

2. Wall Painting

Considering a fairly high ceiling of my nedia room, I decided to paint whole room including ceiling to dark gray color. I chose flat Olympic D45-5 Gray Lannel to minimize reflection of ambient light. My room measures about total 760 sqquare feet. For 1 coat, one gallon paint can cover about 300 sf. So I've got 3 gallons of paint from Home Depot.

3. Screen

Having researched several screens, I've finally chosen Elite ezFrame 120-inch 16:9 white projection screen (R120WH1), for reasons mostly based on very positive online reviews and well as the realtively low ambient light requirement of my media roon can achieve.

This screen is tension based design and is considered a fairly easy assembling task, though wall mount slide plates were tough to be made absolutely leveled.

4. AV Stand and Room Setting

The pair of 20-year old Canadian VisionAcoustics speakers are still perform as a rock. I installed the 120-inch screen low enough, right above my speakers, so that I can maintain the right eye level for watching as I sit (well, most time lying down) on my coach sofa. For that reason, an AV stand should be in the middle and lower than the two speakers. I found Sonax FB-2600 TV stan a good fit, though not a solid wood product but looking very comtenporary.