Post your Gaming Setups

[Matt]

With a bit of luck, I'll be gaming online on Saturday night! Family moving back in Sunday, so everything has to be completed by then (well, there are bits that will be done in October, but you know what I mean).

Looks pretty nice so far, can't wait to watch a movie.

Planning some L4D2 on Saturday night

[Matt]

Things aren't final yet, but everyone is back home now and I'm able to enjoy movies and games once again. There's still some painting to do, and I need to sort the cabling out and get in trunking - therefore the projector isn't setup correctly, the geometry is out until I've finished moving it.

I made the AV shelvesm 146cm wide 40cm deep, from 25mm plywood and some table legs I picked up at B&Q and Homebase (emptied the small amount of stock at Homebase, hence a trip to B&Q for the remainder). I'm using D-link trunking throughout, and will eventually hide almost all the cables. The D-link also acts as edging around the floor, between the skirting and laminate flooring, making it easy to hide the speaker cables.

Gaming wise, there's a 360 and PS3, and some games on a shelf. A tiny amount compared to most of you, but I don't collect games and will actually be having a sort out and selling some real soon. My aim is to get to a single shelf of games.

A few BluRays, but have just joined Love Film as that seems the best option to me to satisfy most of my game and film requirements. I'll still buy long-term multiplayer games and favourite films of course

TV is a 37" 6000 series Samsung LED. All cabling is in trunking, plastered into the wall. The Samsung was the only viable model that has side inputs for HDMI and bottom VGA, so it's really close to the wall. Great picture, but it's only going to be used for the kid's TV to be honest.

Main gaming and films will be on the projector Panasonic, "only" 720p but TBH it's ****ing amazing. Blacks could be better, but other than that and a slight fan noise, no complaints from me. Will improve when I set it up, and the bulb dims (it's the brightest in it's class by a long way). LCD with decent lens shift, so it's not mounted dead straight (it's actually quite a bit to the left of the screen). Very happy with it

Everything goes through a 4:2 HDMI Matrix box, so I can watch two sources at once via TV and PJ, and have the same images on both if wanted as well. Nice piece of kit, expensive but was a gift which was very handy

That's going to a 106" 2.35 scope screen. I decided on a fixed height screen to get the most out of movies. Basically, when gaming at 1.85 I drop down to the equivalent of a 84.66" screen, so no loss at all. No anamorphic lens, I zoom out for scope so lose some resolution, but still awesome! Where it's mounted, I'm nearly at the max of the zoom. It took a bit of planning to get it all there. I'm sitting about 3, maybe 3.5m away.

Screen is hidden in the false ceiling we built. Downlights are mounted in the ceiling, 3 a side (6 total), and there's a main light at the back of the room as well. All on a 3 gang remote controllable Varilight which was a bargain at £33.

Amp is a Sony 820, which doesn't get the most out of the speakers at all. It's OK I'm sure, but would be a key area to consider upgrading. As I'm in a flat, though, and can never go very loud, I'm not sure what I'd gain.

Speakers are the Vibe Monolith "plasma" set - basically the front 3 are all "Monolith 2's" which are usually the center speakers. I couldn't have floorstanders with the kids around. It's a full 5.1 setup. The sub sits in the corner and packs a huge punch

PC on top of the AV unit isn't setup yet, hence carrier bags of leads piled up. Probably get that going this weekend, but no rush as it's on the now time-limited W7 trial.

I think that covers everything! Now for some pics, including needless "me standing by screen" used only as a reference of scale (I'm 6"2' by the way):

[concretesnail]

looking good. how does it feel to be done, good?

[Matt]

Honestly, it's strange. Was so used to just getting up and working until I needed to sleep, I now find myself with time to sit down! Making sure I watch a film every night and still winding down. I need to do some more painting and bits and pieces, but will get to that in a week or 4

What is surprising is how quickly you get used to a screen this size. First full film I watched was The Thing, and while it was striking throughout, the screen soon seemed quite normal. Though every time it drops down (it's electric) I do smile at it's awesomeness

Very happy. Burnout is a different experience. Only negative is I'm seeing more pop-up in current gen games than ever

[capcom_suicide]

Nice one Matt.

Projector gaming is something everyone should try at least once. I don't use it for every game, but certain titles are just magic on the big screen!

[Matt]

Thanks man. Yeah I'm sure I'll use the LED for some gaming, but right now, EVERYTHING is on the big screen

[Shozuki]

Wow thats awesome man, you got me considering a Projector as part of my future upgrade!

[wakka]

Awesome setup man, but surely every other screen IN THE WORLD will now seem inadequate once you get used to it? >_<

[speedlolita]

Sick.

[dataDave]

I'm selling my kick-ass projector soon. Keep a lookout in the sales thread.

And no, there is no going back to regular TV after projection.

[Matt]

Thanks guys. A lot of work went into getting everything setup. It needed to integrate into the lounge, rather than having a dedicated cinema room, but the lounge was pretty much designed around it - two tiered false ceiling, brown paper and curtains, etc.

Yeah, no going back to regular TV for movies now As it happened, I got a couple of bargains on the PJ and screen so it cost considerably less than the 37" LED TV. The Panny is top of the range 720p, usually around &#163;950 or so, I got it brand new at PC World for &#163;349; and the 106" electric, tab-tensioned scope screen was a bargain &#163;180. Together it was &#163;320 less than the TV, lol.

What PJ are you selling Dave?

[PeteJ]

Tremendous selection of books!

Great work though, amazed it cost so little for that kind of setup tbh!

[spagmasterswift]

Damn son! Whens the NTSC-UK meet round yours then?

[dataDave]

Yeah, no going back to regular TV for movies now As it happened, I got a couple of bargains on the PJ and screen so it cost considerably less than the 37" LED TV. The Panny is top of the range 720p, usually around &#163;950 or so, I got it brand new at PC World for &#163;349; and the 106" electric, tab-tensioned scope screen was a bargain &#163;180. Together it was &#163;320 less than the TV, lol.

What PJ are you selling Dave?

I remember when I was buying my projector, it was either that or a 40" Sony Bravia, both at the same price tag of &#163;1650 at the time (Spring 2006). Glad I went for the PJ.

It's an Optoma Themescene HD-72, 720p DLP.

I miss my flat.

[Rossco]

Wow guys, I'd love a projector. Is it really worth it over a normal size TV?