Outdoor home theater
Picture yourself and several other families
lounging out in your backyard or sitting
poolside after a bbq picnic. The sun begins to
set and to the delight of your guests a the
summer’s hottest DVD movie release is projected
on a huge 10 foot screen.
An outdoor home theater is a great way to
host an unforgettable family gathering or
neighborhood party that everyone will love. If
you think that an outdoor home theater is just
for the rich and famous you are mistaken. An
outdoor home theater is surprisingly achievable
and affordable.
So what do you need in order to have your
very own outdoor home theater?
Projector
The first thing you will need is a
projector. If you have a dedicated home theater
projector in your home then you already part
way there. A video projector is small and
portable which makes it easy to move from one
location to another.
If you don’t own a projector there are
literally thousands of projectors to choose
from, many of which can be found for under
$1000. Where a dedicated indoor home theater
room would want to have a HD projector, an
outdoor home theater is typically viewed less
critically and could get by with a lower
resolution or even a business projector.
Since there will be some natural ambient
light in your backyard, ideally you would want
your projector to have a brightness rating of
1200 lumens or greater.
Some popular projectors to consider are:
Screen
So you have the projector, but now you need
something to project the movie on. A movie can
easily be displayed at sizes of 10, 12, even 16
feet, so make sure you have a screen that is
big enough to take advantage of your
projector.
There are many acceptable options available
ranging from DIY screen options such as a bed
sheet, painter’s tarp or even the side of a
house. You could also piece boards together and
paint them a flat white. You can hang them from
a roof or build a frame out of PVC pipe or
other materials. Just make sure you secure your
screen and keep it stretched tight to avoid
wrinkles on the screen.
If you are looking for something with a more
professional quality or simply don’t trust your
handyman skills you could purchase a variety of
free standing portable screens. These
screens will generally provide a better
picture due to their reflective screen surface.
Another popular option these days is to
purchase an inflatable screen.
DVD player
Unless you have a projector with a built in
DVD player like the
Optoma DV11 480p Home Theater Projector with
Built-In Slot Load DVD
Player , you will need to hook up a
DVD player. Pretty much any DVD player
will do. If you are after the optimum in
quality and have an HD projector you could
go with a Blu-ray disc player, but again
outdoor home theater is usually viewed
less critically then dedicated indoor home
theaters so a “spare” DVD player should be
fine. The DVD player simply gets plugged
in to one of your projector’s inputs.
Outdoor Audio Speakers
Some people already have outdoor audio
speakers set up in their backyard. If this is
the case then you will need to get the audio
from the DVD player to you audio system and
play it through the speakers.
If you do not have any outdoor home speakers
then you will need to provide your own pair of
speakers, either from your home theater or an
old set that you have setting around the house
would be fine. Generally a 2 speaker stereo set
up will be sufficient, but if you are looking
to impress with an ultimate outdoor home
theater you could consider adding a subwoofer
and surround sound spekers.
Speakers are generally considered the
toughest thing, or most inconvenient thing to
set up for your backyard theater because of the
wiring that needs to be run from the speakers
to the receivers. Additionally you need to find
a place to set the speakers so that they can be
heard, but that they are not in the way of
guests.
Stereo receiver
Of course in order for the speakers to
reproduce the audio from the movie they need to
be powered by a receiver. Ideally you will have
a “retired” receiver laying around the house so
you don’t need to completely tear apart your
home theater or you can buy a basic stereo
receiver to power your speakers.
Power cord
Don’t forget that you need to supply power
to all these components so you will need a
power cord and surge suppressor strip along
with a heavy duty extension cord.
Conclusion
It is worth pointing out a few safety tips.
Keep power cords hidden or out of the way if
possible. As with all electronics components,
be sure to avoid extreme heat and water. Make
sure you are aware of the weather forecast. If
rain or lightening are in the forecast,
postpone your movie night until more suitable
weather. Also, remember to be considerate of
neighbors and let them know of your movie night
plans or even better invite them over to enjoy
it as well.
Set up, while requiring a bit of innovation
and patience is pretty straight forward and
easily attainable for most. An outdoor home
theater is a fun activity for the entire
family. So what are you waiting for? Go outside
and begin planning to be the envy of friends
and neighbors with your very own outdoor home
theater.
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