Lighting

A six zone Lutron Grafik Eye lighting system was installed to provide various scenes of lighting for the grand entrance hall, but it also provided easy remote control of a complex lighting system.

The circuits were divided up into balcony spots, ground floor spots, spots surrounding the projector, lamps, picture lights and a final circuit for the dining area.

Using the Nevo multi remote control, the client can easily choose between various preset moods. For example "entertain" sets the lamps on with dimmed spots, "dining" turns on the dining room spots on and dims the hall lights, or "movie" which has the projector lights on a low dim.

Projector

The main challenge with this particular installation was coping with light from the large south facing double height window above the screen. There were no blinds on the window and the client required a screen that could be viewed in daylight.

The large cost of daylight projectors meant that a sizable proportion of the budget was taken up by the projector itself. After testing various options off site we managed to source the brightest cinema projector for the budget available, the Sanyo PLV-70.

Standard cinema projectors have a brightness of approximately 1000 Ansi Lumens, but by using the PLV-70 super bright projector at 2200 Lumens we were able to deliver a system that could be enjoyed at all times of the day.

Projector Screen

The client demanded that the image be as large as possible, so we sourced a custom made Beamax projector screen that would allow the maximum possible drop, given the height available above the door.

This large 8ft screen was then fully automated so whenever the client chose to watch a movie or Sky on the Nevo remote, the screen would automatically drop and the projector turn on.

A high gain screen material was also used to reflect the maximum light possible back from the daylight projector and ensure that the picture was still crisp even on a summers day.

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Control, Amplifier and Sources

Using a Nevo SL multi remote control with wireless connectivity the client can control the equipment from any location in the room, on either floor.

Macros were programmed so that with a single button press the lights dim, all the equipment is switched on, set to the correct inputs, and the electric projector screen drops.

Given the large proportion of budget used up for the projector and screen, the client made a small compromise on the electronics, opting for the Marantz DV6600 DVD player and SR7500 Receiver. Sky HD and an Asian Sat box were incorporated into the system to allow maximum viewing potential.