The Screen
Of course with a front projection system there aree 2 parts to take into
condiseration; the screen and the projector itself.
The screen is a motorised VuTech VuFlex Pro. It is a 16:9 ratio screen and is
about 96 inches when measuring diagonally from corner to corner. The screen has
a slight gain (1.1 as Arthur recalls... it was a few years ago he bought it!)
and has an excellent viewing angle. It is not tab-tensioned though,so hilst it
is held taught vertically by the heavy bar attached to the bottom edge of the
screen, there is some slight rippling horizontally.
The other downside to this screen is that the extruded aluminium case is very
heavy and the 2 rather small supporting brackets are a bit fiddly. In one heart
stopping incident Arthur dropped the screen when removing it from the ceiling
for decorating. In a split second decision, Arthur decided to catch the falling
screen rather then let it crush some expensive home electronics. There was much
bruisng of Arthur and a sligtly bent case for the screen.
The Projector
This projector was one of the first dedicated home cinema projectors. It is a 3
panel LCD and is getting on a bit now. The picture it produces isn't bad but it
can't compete with modern projectors. Whilst it has a high resoluton and good
colour reproduction the black levels and contrast are poor (a common problem
with LCD projectors although they have beome better recently). A new projector
is the next item on Arthur's audio/visual shopping list...
Like the plasma panel, the projector is connected to the Yamaha amplifier by a
component video cable. This is a custom made cable and is very good quality
(and is also very thick!) The cables are all buried in the walls and ceiling.
Arthur couldn't find any trunking to fit this cable so he had to use some
plumling waste pipe and some guttering downpipe instead! When Arthur moves
house, the next owners are going to wonder why this pipe is embedded in the
living room wall!
Arthur's Home Cinema Links