Rnamdo

From www.nataliedee.com

Nearing the end

You are probably all sick of seeing stuff about the projector.

The screen came in and it is now installed.  I installed some Lutron dimmers so the main lights can be controlled with the main remote.

300 lb crate.  No fewer than 31 screws held the front on.

Dad making sure things are level and secure.

Navigating the doorway from the garage.

This is where I started to get a feel for it's size.

Nearly done.

This is the last picture taken.  The room is still a mess so I'll clean it and take some final pictures.  Lori won't get home until after 9:00 tonight, but we are still going to stay up and watch something.  I am having a hard time picking the first movie.

Projector

I installed the projector today, assembled the equipment cabinet, unboxed and installed the center speaker and hooked most everything up.

The receiver, screen and Lutron switches will not be in until next week, so movies are still a no-go now that it is on the ceiling.

Lori and I caved yesterday.  She wanted to watch a movie, so I set the projector on the coffee table and ran some temporary wires.  The image was small because the projector was so close to the wall, but it was still great.  We watched Kung-Fu Panda.  Great movie.

Temporary setup

Mess from assembling furniture.

Paradigm CC-590 center channel.

LCR's- no grills.

Hooking it all up.

Projector hanging.

After a little cleanup.

We'll be ready before Thanksgiving!  Come on over and watch a movie.  Bring root beer.

Hattie post #8492

There we were wandering through a furniture store when we happened upon this: Possibly the coolest bed ever.  If it came in a king size, I would have one.

Always moving (therefore blurry) Hattie

Now with the flash, Hattie shows off her nuclear powered blue eyes.

I had seen one of these fans before, but never so many.  If you need a lot of air moved, contact these folks. (I'm serious; that's really the name of the company)

Meanwhile, Hattie is motoring around in the plastic wheeled child captivator and getting into things. (She's only 7 months old!) I always knew she would like bacon.

Projector

The time has come.  We are TV-less no more.  The projector arrived today.  I set it up so I could get an idea of the actual screen size, placement and projector location.  I will be using the automatic zoom/focus feature of the projector to view movies of different aspect ratios.  The projector is a native 1.78:1 projector (16x9) so when you watch a normal widescreen movie, the whole screen is used.  When you view a movie in cinemascope format (2.35:1 or 21x9) you get black bars on the top and bottom.  I am going to use a 2.35:1 screen and use the zoom memories to fill the whole screen when watching movies shot in 2.35:1, and zoom in to show movies shot in 1.78:1.  Follow?  Didn't think so.  Here are some pictures in the meantime.  

Box

Panasonic PT-AE3000U

Temporary setup.  Expensive equipment on lousy wood ladder.

Lousy shot of the room.

First projected image.

The first movie is "Master and Commander". It is shown in a 4:3 ratio (normal square TV shape)

Now with the flash so you can see picture size in relation to the room. The picture is about 95" diagonal.

Star Wars.  Shown in 1.78:1 ratio (normal widescreen).

110" diagonal.

I have been waiting so long to experience the next few shots.  Shown is Lord of the Rings in glorious 2.35:1- the same as you saw in the theater.

138" diagonal of goodness.

Lori stands next to Frodo to give you an idea of how big the picture really is:

For fun, here is the newly released "Sleeping Beauty" that retains its original aspect ratio, an even wider 2.55:1.  I think all of the versions you have seen have all been in 4:3, so there is quite a bit more picture than ever seen before.

As I said before, I set the projector up so I could test screen size.  I was projecting onto the dark gray wall.  The image was still pretty bright, but nothing like having a real screen.  The screen will show up some time next week.  Because of the screen material, it has to be shipped fully assembled.  It will come freight via a semi truck.  The crate is large enough to fit a 57" x 130" screen.  I might need help moving it around.

EDIT:  I didn't have an HDMI cable, so the projector was only shooting 480p.  Not exactly high def.

Halloween

The Monday before Halloween we carved our pumpkins for Family Home Evening.

Finished Products

Kevin Carved his first while Hattie sat on the ground being cute and watching us.  Oh, she did help pull out seeds.  Well, not really, but we stuck her hand in the pumpkin and she thought that was interesting.  Then I carved mine.

For Halloween we went to my parents.  We do a Party every year instead of trick or treating.  This year the theme was Ghosts and Ghost-catchers.  Our dinner was all white, we ate in a graveyard (the front lawn that was decorated to look like one), the kids played carnival games, and they ended with a Ghost Hunt!  We didn't stay for the Ghost Hunt because Kevin's coworker was having a party and invited us.  So we went to both.  Kevin and I dressed up as ....

Hattie was Slimer, and a cute one at that.

I'll have Kevin do those pictures later because I'm trying to do too many things at once right now, and I don't have the patience to wait for the pictures to upload.  Anyway, we had a fun Halloween visiting with others and dodging kids on the road!

Edit: here are the pictures of Hattie dressed as Slimer.