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A PERSONAL EXPERIENCE...
I've sat and briefly watched a few things on that new big telly in the Market Square and have to say it is fairly impressive. But, it has long been a dream of mine to own a huge monster screen of my own. I've waited years to do it, finding various excuses to put it off a bit longer, saving up, waiting for prices to drop, waiting for the tech to get better, and so on. Well, I finally did it. I have got my big screen. It's not as big as the Dover telly (obviously - that is some 8m wide!) but it is over 100 inches on the diagonal (over 2.3m wide) so I am happy with it.
I wanted to share the moment it came to life because in today's consumer-led world, life can be full of hype and let-downs and disappointments. Having paid a lot of money for my new HD projector, I received a large box with a big lump of black Sony plastic in it, scant set-up instructions, and a ceiling mount. Oh, and no screen. Apparently the screen takes an extra week. Ah well, while I wait for the screen I can set up the projector, I thought.
The ceiling mount was useless. My ceiling joists are set at 320mm apart meaning I could only get two of the three fixing screws into the joists. Not a comfortable feeling considering it has to suspend a huge lump of very expensive 15kg kit. Luckily, I got a few of my sign fixings from work and made my own suspension bracket which is solid enough to swing on!
Then I had to trace cables all around the room. Sure, we've all done this job but have you ever done it with HDMI cable? That HD-ready stuff? Bloody hell - it is thick like a Cumberland sausage, heavy as hell, and about as bendy as a lamp-post! It felt more like a fight than a DIY job. But, after much struggling and straining, the cable was set and connected at both ends.
So, after hours of hard work the projector was all set up but, alas, no screen to watch anything on. So, back to my workshop where I cut up a large chunk of billboard paper to the same size as the screen will be. It was dutifully pinned to the ceiling with basic drawing pins, taped at the sides with masking tape, and was a bit of a pain in the ass but it went up.
By this time I was tired, a bit fed-up, and starting to wonder if it was all worth it. I chucked a Blu-Ray into the player, pulled the curtains, and waited. And then magic happened. The kit threw a beautiful massive, high-def image onto the makeshift screen and it looked..... awesome! All that work and mucking around had been utterly worth it. There it was, in my own living room, a proper cinema screen which fills a whole wall, and looks breath-taking.
Now, I know that I am totally nerdy about my films and gadgets but if any of you have ever contemplated dipping a toe into the world of big screen projectors then I can really recommend it. Watching movies at home will never be the same again.