When you are planning your own state of art home theater, there is many features that should be taken in consideration.
You are ready for a home theater set-up, and you’re quivering with anticipation at the thought of a fully immersive movie experience right in your own home.
Today, homeowners are using these rooms to surf the internet and mimic cinema experience.
Technology is much more affordable, making it easier to customize a dedicated space with one or multiple flat-screen televisions, surround sound and even an iPad control panel.
The best location for this space is the basement or roof floor. But if there is not enough space, it can be arranged in the main living room, or a spare bedroom.
The Basics
Regardless of the construction aspects, the home cinema has unique characteristics, and requires general special features, including:
- Sound and light isolation
- Special theater-style seating
- Remote controlled lighting and heating/air conditioning
- Built-in components such as the display and speakers
- Hidden wires and cables
Room Shape
A properly shaped room will dramatically improve the acoustics and help you get the most out of your sound system. Often, audio problems such as difficulty understanding the dialogue are a result of improper room design.
Avoid square rooms and long narrow rectangular rooms because deep bass sound waves misbehave in square or extra-long rooms.
Instead select a rectangular shaped room where the best dimensions (length, width and height) are 8 x 5 x 5 sq.m for a maximum of six persons.
Walls
If you ever came late to movie and was forced to sit in the first rows, you know that twisting your body and head up towards the screen, isn’t the most comfortable way to view a movie.
If you analyze this discomfort, there a two unpleasant components. First, your seat is on the outside edge, you have to twist your head laterally to view the screen. Second, because you are close to the screen, you have to tilt your head back to see the entire image.
Both of these conditions aren’t very comfortable, and it can be avoided through a proper seating area.
The best viewing height is to have the center of the display screen at eye level. This gives a more natural sight line to viewers on the outside edge by eliminating excessive twisting to see the screen.
Flooring
Carpeted floors are generally considered to be the best option. They absorb sound and prevent excess reverberation around the room. You can either choose wall-to-wall carpeting or carpet tiles to help clarify the sound from your speakers as it travels throughout the room.
Ceramic tile is usually not recommended for use in a home theater, because sound would reverberate even more than with wood floors. Adding rugs to the floors and acoustic tile to the walls will absorb some of the sound if ceramic tile flooring is your only option.
Conclusion
Instead of adding just a room with TV, is space allow, opt for a design that offers the home cinema experience including a small home bar. This will barely take up any extra room, and you will have a dynamic ‘social zone’ that extends beyond just the big screen.
People love movies and want to get the most out of their viewing experiences. For a long time, the best way to do this was to drive down to the local theater, buy a movie ticket and some popcorn, and pile in with the rest of the crowd.
Now that home theater systems are available, the best possible movie viewing experience could very well designed and implemented in your own home.
Owning a home theater system allows viewers to enjoy the show on their terms. In fact, with the right setup, there will be little need to go to a theater at all.
