DIYer asks:

I want to build a theater / work out room in my Garage. I would like to have a projector screen and a big screen lcd in it along with a good controller for the media center. in regards to to audio and media hook up where does this DIY gets started? Light on the budget as possible.

The first thing you need to do is establish both your budget and your expectations. Without a budget you can’t even begin—and this means more than just selecting a projector, screen and components. You need to consider the wiring, the framing, the flooring and walls, what will you be sitting on, and since it’s a garage, the heating/air conditioning. You need to decide how “finished” you want your theater to look. Are you planning to build something that would rival an EH Home of the Year award winner or something that looks like a garage with a projector in it—either is fine, as long as you know ahead of time what you want and can budget accordingly.

Then you begin taking measurements. What kind of throw distances can the projectors in your price range produce? How much room do you have to work with? How much space will still be used as a garage.  This can be an exciting job, but it’s also a very big job to convert a garage into a finished theater.

Once you’ve got the skeleton all figured out, then you can begin to decide what electronic you want, again based on your budget. There are lots of companies that offer very economical projectors (Epson, Mitsubishi, Optoma, Vivitek) and components that can perform very well.  And don’t sacrifice on the audio performance once you’ve found the right projector. Brands like Onkyo, Yamaha and Pioneer offer good value AVRs that won’t strain your wallet too much.

Here are some examples of DIY jobs we really liked:
http://www.electronichouse.com/article/25_diy_home_theater_favorites/

My advice would be to first determine your room layout so you can figure out what size screen you need and how you want to arrange seating and the rooms other features.

Since this is going to be a multipurpose room I would suggest that you buy a screen with a gray screen color to help combat any ambient room light. Depending on how much you want to spend there are products from companies like SI that offers a product it calls “Black Diamond” and it’s designed for multipurpose room environments. Other companies that make more affordable products include Elite Screens.

There are plenty of HD projectors from companies like Panasonic, Mitsubishi, Optoma and Sony that cost about $1,000.  There are also lots of flat-panel TVs on the market worth considering from top manufacturers like Samsung, Sony, Panasonic and LG, to more value-minded products from companies like VIZIO.

As for audio, you can find a good A/V receiver for $500 to $800 that will do everything you ask for, including iPad/iPod Touch/iPhone control capabilities. You’ll also need to determine if you want in-wall speakers or in-room, freestanding speakers.

Another consideration is to think about Internet connectivity for this space. If the walls are open you can run network Cat-5 Ethernet cabling, and there’s other options such as wireless or even a technology known as powerline.

There are also lots of remote options from companies like URC that vary in price.

You may also want to consider soundproofing the garage,  since garages are many times adjacent to areas of the house that could be affected by sound bleeding.  The last thing you want is somebody yelling “turn that down, I can’t hear Gray’s Anatomy!” while you are trying to enjoy The Fifth Element for the fifteenth time.

Its good that you are thinking of having an LCD in garage but for that you need to take care that it should be soundproof and the other thing is that for LCD size you should first see the layout of your room and the size,then only the looks good.I think you should take the advice from the experts in this field.

Building a home theater in your garage gives you an escape for family movie nights or for romantic times when you want to avoid movie theater crowds.Your home theater can produce theater-quality results in a comfortable, ambient setting. .. ;)