Home Theater Ceiling

[Rogue]

I recently acquired a 96" wide ceiling mount, pull down projection screen. My basement is going to be turned into a home theater, but I don't know exactly what I should do with this screen I got. A side cutout view of my basement is depicted in this image: Basement cross section

The black areas represent a drywall ceiling covered in popcorn (or whatever that textured stuff is). The gray square represents the side profile of the retractable projection screen housing. The red striped area is what is making me wonder what to do.

My first thought is to install a drop ceiling in the red striped area to make it flush with the drywall covered ductwork shown as the low hanging portion in the middle. At that lowest point my ceiling is still a good 7 foot high or so. I would likely paint the drop ceiling black to help with light as I will be getting a DLP projector of some kind.

I should also note that in the approximate location of the screen (gray square) is a ceiling mounted light fixture that could be used to power other things (motorized screen, recessed lighting, etc.). I have never put in a drop ceiling before, but a pal of mine says it's easy. Does anyone have any better suggestions for mounting this screen?

 

[5ayle]

wow... you've really got to step into the world of 3D. I'm sure it made perfect sense to you when you drew it, but I don't wanna dedicate any neurons trying to figure out that Atari quality picture you got there.

GL though.

remember there are three dimensions.... three

 

[dartworth]

"Atari quality "...lol so true

 

[Rogue]

How hard would it be to code it using the Source engine?

Seriously, I'll work on something better today.

 

[ATLien247]

Like your buddy said, false ceilings are relatively easy to install. In your case, it should hide the retracted projection screen nicely, provided you have enough clearance to house the screen whilst keeping it all (the false ceiling and retracted screen) flush with the ductwork. My only concerns would be how low the screen hangs down when fully extracted, and what projector positioning is required to get the best picture. I don't know what projector you had in mind, but the throw distance required to fill your screen may very well be right where your ductwork is located, which may make a ceiling mount for your projector a bit awkward.