Last month we featured a custom home theater designed to model the Enterprise NCC-1701D from Star Trek: The Next Generation. We return in December to show you the home theater set-up of a retired naturalist who thought that her cellar would be a great Batcave.
That’s right, a Batcave themed home theater created by New Hampshire-based installer DC Audio Video Systems. The set-up includes prop bats which hang from above, a motorized 110″ 16:9 Stewart Electriscreen, Triad Silver THX Speakers, and a Sony G90, a $36,000 commercial 1080p 2500 x 2000 CRT projector. The room also features eight black, motorized leather recliners and a LiteTouch LC5000 System for Lighting Control. I love the desaturated dark gothic look (very Tim Burton-esque)
Check out more photos after the jump thanks to the CE Pro.
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December 25th, 2007 at 4:20 pm
My gosh that is COOL!! Where does he find this stuff?!! Damn cool,man! :-D I love it!
The Star Trek one was nice too…….:-)
December 25th, 2007 at 9:58 pm
DO WANT.
December 25th, 2007 at 10:23 pm
The perfect setup for The Dark Knight
Steviedee>>
December 26th, 2007 at 12:35 am
i have one thing to say is that i wish i could do that with my home theatre and my projector
December 26th, 2007 at 3:23 am
i like it …
but wudnt the uneven walls bounce sound off differently …
it’ll be echo-ing all over the place …
December 26th, 2007 at 7:47 am
I’m guessing the guy used spray foam insulation to mimic rock. This would provide several better alternatives to actual rock including sound, ease of building and “not hitting your head and wanting to sue the guy” thing.
December 26th, 2007 at 8:38 am
Where’s the giant penny? Where’s the mock tyrannosaurus? And no batpoles?
Just kidding. cool setup!
December 26th, 2007 at 8:42 am
All that effort just to watch tv. Ugh. And that last line: “very Tim Burton-esque” … oh good grief.
December 26th, 2007 at 8:56 am
CRT projector??!? What is this, the dark ages?
December 26th, 2007 at 9:40 am
Hey ben #1, CRT projectors are the highest resolution projectors available. You can’t match the quality of them with LCD or DLP yet. So no, this isn’t the dark ages, this is someone who wants the highest res available (and is insane enough to spend $36,000)
It’s good to have money apparently.
December 26th, 2007 at 10:09 am
Holy batman home theater system… Batman.
December 26th, 2007 at 10:12 am
Pretty nice, but you can do a lot better for the price. CRT is not the highest resolution projector available, they aren’t able to resolve all of 1080p!
110″ is pretty tiny, too (for the price!).
December 26th, 2007 at 10:30 am
Where did you get the idea that CRTs cannot resolve 1080p? There are computer monitors that can resolve greater than 1080p. Many consumer CRT RPTVs could not resolve 1080p, but that does not mean the technology is not there. This is a very expensive CRT projector and it clearly states that it is a 2500×2000 resolution. CRTs still have the best contrast ratio and motion smoothness.
December 26th, 2007 at 10:41 am
Ok people, apparently we need a breakdown on WHAT resolutions are:
480P/I= 720×480
720P = 1280×720
1080P/I= 1920×1080
2500×2000 > 1920×1080
December 26th, 2007 at 10:46 am
Sorry, guess it can resolve 1080p. Most of the “cheaper” CRT projectors I know can’t resolve 1080p, so I made a generalized assumption - though I still don’t know why you’d pump that much money into a 110″ puny screen?
The JVC RS2 (6K - LCOS) has a 30K:1 contrast ratio. Sorry, that’s close enough to CRT level.
My Sim2 DLP (and many new projectors) correctly display 1080p24 (motion smoothness).
All I’m saying is I think he can have at least the same picture quality in something cheaper, but to each his own. The days of CRT are ending.
December 26th, 2007 at 10:55 am
I still think the replacement for CRT is still not out!
December 26th, 2007 at 12:27 pm
Wow, that looks amazing!! ;-)
December 26th, 2007 at 2:16 pm
Holy Waste of Time, Batman!
December 26th, 2007 at 4:16 pm
Wow! Not only is it amazing, but how cool is it to be able to say “yeah, we’re gonna go hang out in the Bat Cave…” :D
December 26th, 2007 at 10:32 pm
I’m just wondering why there’s this debate/discussion regarding “CRT’s” or cathode ray tube projectors. I make my living as a projectionist and can tell you flat out that we haven’t used ANYTHING but LCD & DLP technology for at least five years. The current state of the art happens to be the Christie 20 which, if you ever see films in a digital theatre, is the only system currently in use and pretty much indiscernible from film.. er, well except for the lack of scratches! They are all DLP technology. True, they are in the 200K range, but smaller versions like the Christie L6 are still available… approximately 7000 lumens, interchangeable lenses, 1080i, in the $5k range.
Bottom line is that the three lens RGB set up in the Batcave photos is just about the oldest, most primitive projection system I’ve seen in about eight years. He must have spent all his money on the cave cosmetics… or it’s a very old article. Dark Knight would absolutely suck with that system.
December 26th, 2007 at 11:23 pm
Irikk, it seems you haven’t been doing projection for long. I am an IMAX projectionist and have been doing 35mm projection for about eight years now(come to Orlando and we’ll talk shop). While the Christie CP2000 DLP projector is passable , any decent projectionist will instantly be able to instantly see the difference between the grainy digital picture and film. Digital projection has come a long way, but it still is nowhere near the quality of film and won’t be for at least a few more years(especially IMAX). That said, they made a good choice with the CRT projector. It has excellent resolution and color clarity and has no peer in the home projection market at this time.
January 12th, 2008 at 1:50 pm
Wow, I can only imagine the total cost and hours it took to install this beautiful home theater system. We’ve put in theater rooms, but this must have required a large crew of professional designers. Amazing.
January 19th, 2008 at 3:03 am
woooah too many b!thec has too many spare time and agression after December 25th.
If you happen to know the ‘old’ Batman look and feel (the series), it was very retro and ridiculous in some ways. This projector suits the mood very nicely. He apparently didn’t want the best or the cheapest, he wanted the best vintage projector out there while still being able to play HD-DVD and BluRay.
January 19th, 2008 at 8:34 am
to follow pedantic mood:
its a she :P
“We return in December to show you the home theater set-up of a retired naturalist who thought that her cellar would be a great Batcave.”
April 5th, 2008 at 3:42 pm
Very Nice BUT It’s lacking One MAGOR thing - The cutting edge of Technology which is Hi-End Audio Vacuum Tube ( Valve ) Amplifers; so you can feel the sound and that gutteral bass resonating through your body.
I’m an electronics guy with 30 years of experience and I love the concept. Most modern theartres are not well thought out and have technicall issues with their design becase they are built to a price. [ You get what you pay for.]
This one though apperas very practical -because you can have immense power and volume in an underground cavern for such a studio. Also, because it’s so dark no magor issues with lighting unless you loose power.
As for the uneven walls - That is what you want NO FLAT PARRALLEL SURFACES so the acoustics reduce colloration and doppler shifts. they do need to be acoustically able to absorb sound, so foam or some other material would be the go. And adding to the vacuum tube technology a good old CRT Screen is not so bad.
Video definition with the new digital technology is far more superior and probably more reliable in some respects. Thermal heat from the tube amplifiers would warm the cavern in no time - though temperature should be relative stable all year round.
The comfy seating might put every one to sleep like many I know who fall asleep infront of the TV at home.
May 7th, 2008 at 8:38 pm
men are taking the cave to a whole new level, calling it the man cave. yeah bat caves are cool but the new thing is building your own man cave anyway you want.