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I love my home theater. My neighbors probably don't, but I try to only play really loud movies during socially acceptable hours, and so far no one has banged on my door/floor/ceiling telling me to turn it down. My favorite home theater films are the ones that have stellar surround sound experiences. A couple of great examples are Master and Commander and Lone Survivor. M&C is a great choice because it's so unique; there are tons of films like Lone Survivor (bullets and explosions galore) but M&C's shipboard setting means that there are few cinematic experiences like it. And with a good sound system, you can hear the creaking of the ship's timbers and the flapping of the sails all around you. And that's just during the non-battle scenes. Lone Survivor, on the other hand, doesn't bring anything new to the table, but it does the typical surround sound affair just so drat well. The sound mixing is some of the best I've ever heard. Anyway, here are some topics I think we can discuss in this thread: 1. What are your favorite films to show off your home theater? 2. Which films have the best surround sound experience? 3. When, if ever, do you think you'll upgrade to a 4K TV and player? 4. Do you have any experience with home 3D and how do you like it? 5. What questions do you have about setting up your own home theater? There are endless guides out there on the internet, but feel free to ask here, too. 6. Share pictures of your setup and movie collection. 7. And anything else you want to discuss related to watching great movies at home. blue squares fucked around with this message at 05:04 on Jan 4, 2017 |
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Jan 4, 2017 04:50
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blue squares posted:1. What are your favorite films to show off your home theater? I like using A Hard Day's Night because it has the original mono, a stereo mix, and full 5.1 mix, all fully restored. As for more modern films, Moulin Rouge! and Deadpool are fun to listen to. quote:2. Which films have the best surround sound experience? I think it has more to do with the mixes, but The Lord of the Rings is simply amazing on a surround system. quote:3. When, if ever, do you think you'll upgrade to a 4K TV and player? No hurry on the player, though, I do have a 4K display (60" LED). As of right now, there's only two UHD releases that are must-haves (Deadpool and Goodfellas) for me. The truth is that a well-encoded Blu-Ray will upscale beautifully to 4K depending on your player and monitor. quote:4. Do you have any experience with home 3D and how do you like it? It's a novelty, but I love the 3-D Rarities compilation. It has all these experimental, special venue, and golden age 50s shorts. Even has a Casper cartoon in 3-D. They even included original stereo surround mixes! quote:5. What questions do you have about setting up your own home theater? There are endless guides out there on the internet, but feel free to ask here, too. I can answer some if needed. quote:6. Share pictures of your setup and movie collection. No pictures (my apartment is a mess), but I currently use... Samsung 60" 4K LED (also supports 240Hz and 3-D) Vizio 5.1 soundbar (used to have dedicated 5.1, but no room for it here) Sony all-region Blu-Ray 3-D player quote:7. And anything else you want to discuss related to watching great movies at home. Most importantly, a home theater should exist to present films as in high quality as possible. Calibrate your display. Balance your sound. Don't put on lovely movies because they have a Dolby Atmos track.
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Jan 4, 2017 05:41
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Egbert, I'm jealous of your 4K TV. I very recently purchased entirely new everything (TV, bluray, AV receiver, speakers) because my old system died and my sister wanted a TV. I bought a 50" Sony for a good price at Fry's, but only a month later started seeing 4K TVs at almost the same price! I really want to upgrade to a 4K TV but I would feel like an idiot having just bought one a few months ago.Egbert Souse posted:Most importantly, a home theater should exist to present films as in high quality as possible. Calibrate your display. Balance your sound. Don't put on lovely movies because they have a Dolby Atmos track. Where should I look for guides to calibrating and balancing? My receiver comes with an automatic calibration system that so far has worked well enough (though I have made minor adjustments like boosting the left rear a couple decibels). But I don't use any equalizers that my receiver has. I wonder if I'm not getting as much out of it as I could. Finally, I am going to have to plead guilty to putting on lovely movies just because I can crank the sound: this weekend's plan, aside from finally seeing Silence in theaters, is to watch Jupiter Ascending. I know it's lovely, but I'm gonna give it a chance because I'm a sucker for sci-fi, especially at home in my comfy chair.
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Jan 4, 2017 05:58
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The combination of blu ray and a nice big screen t.v. is the entire reason I'm now a movie fanatic. I really wasn't before, I'd catch movies here and there on television or maybe rent a few new releases each year if they were one of those big budget blockbusters. Once I had a t.v. and a cheap blu ray player though, holy poo poo. My first two purchases were Lawrence of Arabia and Blade Runner, and wow my face basically melted off and I was in love. I had seen Lawrence of Arabia on a 15 inch laptop before, which I now realize is completely insane, but at the time I was just curious about it because of how famous and iconic it is. But when those first shots hit of Lawrence and his guide riding camels through the desert, I almost couldn't believe what I was seeing. There are a bunch of older films that have been restored on blu ray and I think those are really where the format shines. John Ford's The Searchers looks absolutely fantastic, the opening shot is another one that put my jaw on the floor, I couldn't believe how great it looked. Kurosawa's widescreen stuff like Yojimbo and Hidden Fortress are also great with blu ray and a big-screen t.v. As far as modern stuff goes, Sicario, Prometheus, and anything by P.T. Anderson are probably the best looking blu ray releases out there.
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Jan 4, 2017 16:06
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I'm in the process of renovating my movie room, so I'll post photos here once it's all done. For movies I like to show off my surround sound with, U-571 is still my go-to. It's just a DTS track (on the DVD anyway), but it sounds spectacular. The opening scene is especially detailed and rich. The depth charges create clear, chest-crushing bass. My current setup: TV - Panasonic 65ST60 65" plasma Receiver - Yamaha HTR-5540 (greatly in need of an upgrade) Player - Sony BDP-S5200 region free Speakers: Center, mains and rears are Polk Audio from around 2003, all purchased separately. They still sound great, but I'm considering upgrading my mains. Sadly my subwoofer has died and I'm in the market for a new one. I have my eye on this one. For 4K, I'll likely upgrade in a couple years when 4K OLED sets are more reasonably priced. For now I'm more than happy with my plasma. For 3D, although my player and TV are 3D, I have yet to actually sit through an entire 3D movie at home. It's just so uncomfortable for me. I've never been a fan. One question I have for everyone: how big is your screen and how far away from it do you sit? I often see people sitting 9+ feet away from a <55" set, and to me that's way too far away. I think lots of people are still in the mindset created by CRTs, where getting too close to the TV is bad. HDTVs are MUCH more forgiving when viewed up close. I sit about 7 feet from my 65" and it's perfect. This is an interesting article about screen size/viewing distance.
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Jan 4, 2017 17:13
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I live in a smallish apartment, so my seat distance is determined by the room rather than perfect placement. I sit about 9 feet away from my 50" and would like to be closer, but it just won't work that way due to the layout of the room.
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Jan 4, 2017 20:36
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blue squares posted:Egbert, I'm jealous of your 4K TV. I very recently purchased entirely new everything (TV, bluray, AV receiver, speakers) because my old system died and my sister wanted a TV. I bought a 50" Sony for a good price at Fry's, but only a month later started seeing 4K TVs at almost the same price! I really want to upgrade to a 4K TV but I would feel like an idiot having just bought one a few months ago. I had a Samsung 46" LCD from 2008 until April 2016, which was my first HD monitor. Basically, the job I used to have offered bonus points instead of money for bonuses. Ended up saving up enough for a great deal. The 4K display ended up costing only a little more than a similar 1080p screen, so why not go all-out? The fact it was also 3-D and 240Hz made it better. Otherwise, I would have been happy with a 60-65" 1080p LED monitor without 3-D. As for calibrating, you're probably wanting to use the Spears & Muncil disc, which you can rent from Netflix. Otherwise it's $40. Personally, I think extensive calibrations are a waste of time unless you have a high-end projector or monitor. The newer screens have built-in color filters that let you properly adjust brightness and contrast. In fact, my Samsung 4K has some test patterns built in. I ended up downloading the THX Optimizer app for my iPhone, which uses the AppleTV for Airplay and the camera in the phone. As for sound, newer receivers (like mine before I moved) actually include a calibration mic, so you're not really having to adjust it. Anything more advanced than 5.1 is outside my expertise, though, so you're probably needing some help with 7.1 or Atmos/X unless it's a receiver with an included calibrator. Really, the best things you can do to avoid garbage quality: - Go ahead and turn off the "ClearMotion/TruView" whatever mode. It turns everything into a soap opera. Just make it so that you're watching native frame rates. My monitor actually has both "Off" and "Standard" as options (then Low, Medium, and High). Standard actually preserves the source frame rate, so you're seeing 24p stuff properly. - Turn sharpness down to zero. Anything above zero is just adding artificial sharpening filters over the image. - Brightness and contrast should be set so that black levels are rich, but you still have decent shadow detail. - Make sure stuff like judder reduction, noise reduction, and smoothing are turned off. I was racking my brains trying to find out why all 3-D discs looked sped up (lol 1.5x speed) and it turned out the monitor was trying to play back images converted to 120Hz (240Hz total - 120Hz per "eye") - I fixed the motion settings and everything came out in perfect 24Hz. Bad movies are really all I'm poking fun about. I frequent other video forums and I thought it was hilarious people were buying garbage like the remake of The Haunting or Armageddon because their 5.1 tracks were impressive. Spatulater bro! posted:I'm in the process of renovating my movie room, so I'll post photos here once it's all done. Nice setup. I think the general idea is to have your seating 1.5x the diagonal screen width (for monitors, the listed size). So, if you have a 65" monitor, you want the seating 97.5" away (approx. eight feet). Obviously, this isn't always feasible depending on your space.
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Jan 4, 2017 22:39
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It bugs me that TV manufacturers usually have motion smoothing turned on be default. I've encountered multiple people who say they don't like high definition because it "looks weird." When I ask if it looks like a soap opera it usually clicks, and I inform them that's a feature of the TV and has nothing to do with the resolution. Why are company's pushing this dumb feature? Who actually likes it?
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Jan 4, 2017 22:47
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Spatulater bro! posted:It bugs me that TV manufacturers usually have motion smoothing turned on be default. I've encountered multiple people who say they don't like high definition because it "looks weird." When I ask if it looks like a soap opera it usually clicks, and I inform them that's a feature of the TV and has nothing to do with the resolution. Why are company's pushing this dumb feature? Who actually likes it? I think the dumbest thing is sharpness. That hasn't mattered since the CRT days. Why would you ever need to artificially sharpen a digital image? The motion thing looks alright on sports broadcasts, but they're generally 60Hz instead of 24Hz like most Blu-Rays.
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Jan 4, 2017 23:09
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For calibration, Disney has a great bluray called WOW: World of Wonder. It tends to go on sale on Amazon a good amount of the time.
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Jan 4, 2017 23:27
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Some examples of obsolete sound formats with great-sounding Blu-Rays: Silent (exceptional music tracks): Wings (Paramount - DTS-HD MA 5.1 - Ben Burtt supervised a re-creation of the 1927 premiere, which combined a live orchestral score with sound-on-disc effects) Napoleon (BFI [Region B] - DTS-HD MA 7.1) The Gold Rush (Criterion - DTS-HD MA 5.1 - the 1925 cut has Chaplin's 1942 version score re-arranged and re-recorded to fit the silent version) Monaural: The Jazz Singer (Warner - DTS-HD MA 1.0 - excellent restoration from original Vitaphone discs. Sounds way better than you'd expect) Modern Times (Criterion - LPCM 1.0 - restored from optical sound negative, one of the best mono tracks out there) A Hard Day's Night (Criterion - LPCM 1.0 - restored from original print, 4/3-track music masters, and music/effects track) Cinerama 7-track (Front: Left, Left-Center, Center, Right-Center, Right; stereo surrounds): The Best of Cinerama (Flicker Alley - DTS-HD MA 5.1 - slight remix for front channels, restored from original 7-track magnetic reels) How the West Was Won (Warner - Dolby TrueHD 5.1 - slight remix for front channels) Early Stereophonic (often 3-D): It Came from Outer Space (Universal - DTS-HD MA 3.0) House of Wax (Warner - DTS-HD MA 2.0 Surround - Original 3-track mix lost, but stereo front re-mixed from stems and original surround track used) Perspecta (faux stereo created using control tones on a mono track): The Hidden Fortress (Criterion - DTS-HD MA 3.0) Yojimbo (Criterion - DTS-HD MA 3.0) Sanjuro (Criterion - DTS-HD MA 3.0) [A lot of Paramount and MGM films were released with Perspecta tracks, but the films tend to hit home video with 5.1 remixes or plain mono] 4-Track Stereo (Left, Center, Right plus mono surround): The Robe (Fox - DTS-HD MA 5.1 remix) High and Low (Criterion - DTS-HD MA 4.0) A Man for All Seasons (Twilight Time - DTS-HD MA 5.1 - slight remix) Mary Poppins (Disney - DTS-HD MA 7.1 - slight remix) 70mm 6-track (Same as Cinerama 7-track, but with mono surround): Ben-Hur (Warner - DTS-HD MA 5.1 slight remix) Spartacus (Universal - DTS-HD MA 7.1 complete remix from stems) King of Kings (Warner - DTS-HD MA 5.1 slight remix) Lawrence of Arabia (Sony - DTS-HD MA 5.1 - slight remix. Originally mixed in 4-track) It's a Mad, Mad, Mad, Mad World (Criterion - DTS-HD MA 5.1 - slight remix) The Sound of Music (Fox - DTS-HD MA 7.1 - full remix, original mix included as Dolby Digital 4.0 track) Play Time (Criterion - DTS-HD MA 3.0 - Jacques Tati opted to omit the surround channel) Doctor Zhivago (Warner - DTS-HD MA 5.1) 2001: A Space Odyssey (Warner - PCM 5.1 slight remix) Close Encounters of the Third Kind (Sony - Dolby TrueHD 5.1) Apocalypse Now (Lionsgate - DTS-HD MA 5.1) Dolby Stereo (Left/Center/Right plus mono surround): Stop Making Sense (Palm Pictures - PCM 2.0 surround - a DTS-HD MA 5.1 remix is also included) Brazil (Criterion - DTS-HD MA 2.0 surround) Blue Velvet (MGM - DTS-HD MA 5.1 - slight remix) Rejected (Bitter Films [on It's Such a Beautiful Day] - DTS-HD MA 2.0 surround) Great remixes (from mono or plain stereo): Vertigo (Universal - DTS-HD MA 5.1 - totally remixed version without obvious foley in 1996 track. Also includes original mono as DTS-HD MA 2.0 track) North by Northwest (Warner - DTS-HD MA 5.1 - remixed from stems and score recordings) A Hard Day's Night (Criterion - DTS-HD MA 5.1 and PCM 2.0 stereo surround, both remixed by Giles Martin from original stems) Yellow Submarine (Apple - DTS-HD MA 5.1, remixed from stems - original mono included as PCM 2.0 track) Eraserhead (Criterion - PCM 2.0 surround - original format: mono, remixed by David Lynch and Alan Splet in 1992) Big Trouble in Little China (Fox - DTS-HD MA 5.1 - also has an isolated music track of John Carpenter's score also in lossless 5.1!) Beatles 1+ (Apple - mostly DTS-HD MA 5.1 remixes from original recordings supervised by Giles Martin)
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Jan 6, 2017 03:36
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 (Yes, I know I need to dust - had the carpets cleaned the day before I had to leave for a business trip)
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Jan 14, 2017 06:24
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IDK why, but whenever I want to get a good look at my pixels I pull out the Criterion Paris, Texas blu.
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Jan 14, 2017 06:32
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Thanks for reviving the thread, Egbert. I didn't want to be spamming it up as the OP. I see you're using a soundbar. I've never tried one. Is that your only speaker? I know you mentioned that you aren't as into the surround sound experience as I am. I don't know what it is, but I just love hearing the movie around me as well as seeing it. Also, your post is making me think we need a books about film thread, too. I have never read a film book aside from the unbelievably funny The Disaster Artist, which made me laugh so hard and for so long I think I suffered permanent health effects. blue squares fucked around with this message at 06:41 on Jan 14, 2017 |
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Jan 14, 2017 06:39
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Jan 14, 2017 06:46
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blue squares posted:Thanks for reviving the thread, Egbert. I didn't want to be spamming it up as the OP. I see you're using a soundbar. I've never tried one. Is that your only speaker? I know you mentioned that you aren't as into the surround sound experience as I am. I don't know what it is, but I just love hearing the movie around me as well as seeing it. The soundbar has the left/center/right speakers. The surrounds are wired to the subwoofer behind the couch, which has its own power supply and connects to the soundbar via Bluetooth. According to the specs, the subwoofer and surround channels are decoded in subwoofer unit, which is how the signal doesn't degrade. I've used better systems in the past, but it works well for my tiny living room. Also just picked up the bookcase from IKEA. Had to keep the discs in a binder and cases in the closet in boxes. Love the setup and collection photo with matching cat. Egbert Souse fucked around with this message at 06:50 on Jan 14, 2017 |
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Jan 14, 2017 06:48
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I'm not posting a picture of my setup right now because my bedroom is messy as all gently caress, but I have a question: do any of you guys have lighting meant to compliment your movie going? I have an obsession with my Phillips HUE lightbulbs and if a movie is particularly lit I like to set them to match it (neon for something like Spring Breakers or Drive, blue for Minority Report, If I ever watch the Matrix again it will probably go green, etc). I wish there was some website where other film nerds had lighting to match films because even a little thing like color can really boost the experience.
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Jan 15, 2017 06:01
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I finished my movie room. Here's a rundown of what we did: - Refinish the ceiling (it had a big crack) - Replace a nasty old ceiling fan with the light fixture you see below. - Paint the entire room - Construct and install shelves in the closet for my movie collection. I did this myself. - Install new floor trim - Purchase new sofa, chair, coffee table, side tables, blinds, lamp and light fixture - Hang posters My equipment (repeating from my earlier post): TV - Panasonic 65ST60 65" plasma Receiver - Yamaha HTR-5540 Player - Sony BDP-S5200 region free Old Sony CD player Speakers: Center, mains and rears are Polk Audio from around 2003, all purchased separately. The TV stand is this one. Here are some pics.  (Thanks again to GonSmithe for the Godzilla poster!)     The door to the left of the TV is my movie closet. The shelves go from floor to ceiling and cover three sides of the closet. I can't really get the whole collection in the photos, but you get the gist of it:   
Spatulater bro! fucked around with this message at 22:29 on Apr 2, 2017 |
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Apr 2, 2017 22:03
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Looks awesome!
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Apr 2, 2017 23:46
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Akira is one of my go to Blu-rays to show off movies. The animation is gorgeous, the sound track is presented at an absurdly high resolution, and the scan is really good. Ratatouille is another good one (most Pixar films are). People love the film, and it looks really good. You really appreciate the detail they put into the designs. The Godfather Part One and Two are great to show what an appropriate remaster can do. Aliens is great all around. The restoration they did on the film was beyond most other films, and it really shows how much James Cameron cares about the presentation of his film.
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Apr 3, 2017 17:37
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Just jumping in because question 3 grabbed me. I bought my first HDTV and BD player in 2008, after Blu-Ray clearly won the format war, and prices came down a bit. The player died last year, so I replaced it with a fairly lousy $50 cheapo player, and recently my TV had the main HDMI inputs glitch out with static every 5 minutes, and now the screen has one pixel line on the far left that is mis-colored until the TV warms up. As soon as that problem gets worse I'll probably be going 4k, because holy poo poo they look good in the store, and the prices are dropping hard. In 08 I paid $1800 on black friday for my 55" Samsung which isn't even LED backlit, and 70" 4k tvs now are cheaper than that in some cases. Just a month ago I finally upgraded to surround sound with quality speakers after 22 years of watching tv and movies on the same garage sale stereo setup that I got in my early 20s. It still sounded good, I just decided that as much as I like movies I need a grown up setup. I spent just under $2k on Klipsch speakers and a Yamaha receiver that is fully 4k compatible through all 4 HDMI inputs. The receiver makes it pretty hard to dial in the EQ because it has individual settings for each speaker. I wish it was for each pair, or basically the front stage vs rear vs sub. The rear channels don't really need any equalization but the fronts were incredibly mid-heavy while lacking bass. In reality though after one evening of screwing around with it, I have it dialed in. Just about every source and media sounds really fantastic. I mean, I'd have to really sit and fine tweak some settings to actually get any more noticeable improvement out of it. And after 10 years, I finally got a text from my neighbor that it was too loud (we're on very good terms). I got drunk and basically spent about 4 hours going through my music collection and being amazed by everything at really high volumes. So to answer the question, I'll probably go 4k within a year when my current TV fails completely.
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Apr 19, 2017 19:33
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