There are a couple of ways to enjoy the outdoor home theater experience. The first way is to construct a large outdoor projection screen and with a home theater audio system, DVD player and a video projector you can have friends and family over for a movie night under the stars. Setup lawn chairs and tables in a large area outside and position enough surround sound speakers around the area for a true home theater experience ……. outdoors! The other way is to setup your screen and projector but for audio, purchase an FM transmitter to broadcast the sound through car stereo speakers. Yes, have an area setup where your friends can park their cars and see the screen and create a true Drive In experience! For those that remember the old days of going to the Drive In, it will be a great trip down memory lane. For the younger ones that have never been to a Drive In, it will be a rewarding experience that they may have never had a chance to experience today.
Many people make these outdoor home theater movie events a block party. They block off part of their neighborhood and everyone gets together at someone’s house, setup with an outdoor theater, and watch their favorite movies in a party atmosphere. Other’s make it a family get together. I recently held a family event at our campsite. I built a frame and covered it with projection screen material and hung it from a tree branch. Then I hooked up my sound system, DVD player and projector and we watched scary movies by the campfire. Everyone still talks about that night to this day.
One advantage to an outdoor home theater theater is the ability to use a much larger screen than you can use in most indoor home theaters because of the space allowed. Most outdoor screens are anywhere from 100” to huge 16 ft. x 10 ft. screens, some even larger! And don’t forget the food! One great thing about an outdoor theater night is it’s close to the BBQ grill! Yes, make it a cookout too!
A couple of other ideas for an outdoor movie night include a pool party. Relax in your raft or float in your pool and watch your favorite movie. Also these movie nights could become a great fund raiser for your charity or organization.
A couple of things to consider when planning your outdoor home theater movie night is to catch the weather report. The worse thing you could do is take all the time to setup your outdoor theater and a thunderstorm come along and wash all the fun away. Also make sure your projector is strong enough to project the image you are wanting on the size screen you have planned. 1,000 lumens will do the trick but anywhere up to 2,000 lumens will give you a better quality picture even if there is some ambient light. You may want to consider a surround system with wireless rear speakers. It’s not a necessity but will prevent people from tripping over speaker wires strewn across your yard. And last but not least, make sure that your screen is anchored down. They can act like a sail on a boat with the least amount of wind.