While there have been undeniable advancements in the entertainment you can get home, there’s still nothing like a trip to the movies. The true immersive wonder of a huge screen and dark theater can be hard to replicate at home.
That is, unless, you have a home movie theater.
A home movie theater can provide you with all the benefits of the theatrical experience without having to leave the comfort of your home. You can enjoy a truly immersive experience of the latest and greatest films. And you can host guests for an entertaining night all year round.
They’ll be some costs up front, of course. But in the long run, there’s no scenario where a home theater isn’t a big win. Read on, and we’ll walk you through how to create your own.
First Steps: Deciding Where To Put Your Theater
If you’ve made the decision to hop into the movie room creation process, congratulations. A future of incredible and immersive movie-watching awaits you.
But before you can get to all of that, you need to establish the basics. Basics like, where is the home theater even going to be? It’s not always as simple as slapping a larger TV against your living room wall.
A true and quality home theater requires a few things from the available space. First and foremost? The shape of the room in question. The ideal situation would be a rectangular room, with your screen and speakers against one of the short walls.
This creates the best sound layout for your home theater. Square rooms have a habit of producing odd harmonic distortions and issues. A rectangular room better mimics the layout of a real movie theater.
Even more essential than the shape of the room will be how many windows it has. Too many windows can absolutely kill the power of a room. They have more than one negative effect on your theater experience.
They can contribute to warped or distorted sound very easily. But more than that, they can let light in and produce glares and reflections that can ruin the movie experience. You can get around this by putting up covers and heavy shades, but this can get irritating if there are too many windows (that’s a lot of closing and opening!).
If you have to design your theater in a room with many windows, consider permanently blacking them out.
Remember, there are many studies that believe some of the power of the movies comes from the darkness of our environment. A totally dark environment allows us to enter an almost dream-like state when watching a film.
A proper darkened environment can have a real difference in how we connect and enjoy a movie.
Getting the Right Sound
We think so much of movies as a visual thing that we forget that the sound can be just as important. More often than not, it’s the sound quality that really separates a home set up from a true movie theater.
Your speaker placement will mean a huge deal when trying to replicate this true theater experience. A typical 5.1 surround sound system is typical for a home theater. That means there are five fully functional speakers and one low-range speaker known as the woofer.
Three speakers and the woofer will sit at the front of the room, with the other two speakers sitting on the backsides, ideally behind where you’re sitting.
In a perfect world, your ears would be equal distance from all speakers in the room. Depending on the layout of your home, this might not be possible. But you should attempt to get as close as possible to ensure the most seamless sound.
If there’s a speaker to really pay attention to, it’s your center speaker. This is the more plain appearing of your traditional speaker set, but the most vital. Its duty is to project the sound of what’s really happening center stage on the screen at you.
In most cases, that’ll mean actor dialogue, which is something that you definitely won’t want to miss. The other speakers will be vital in capturing all sound and creating an immersive environment to get lost in.
But you don’t want to undervalue or under budget for that center speaker.
Getting the Right Image
Aiming for that big pristine screen is probably what propelled you into thoughts of a home theater, to begin with.
Now, you don’t want your screen to be too big. Depending on how big your room is, you might not be able to move far back enough to see the whole thing. You should be able to sit a few meters back from your screen and see the whole thing.
You should be able to sit at this distance without having to crane your neck too far. A thirty to forty-degree angle should be comfortable and suitable.
While you could install a large widescreen TV, if you want the true home theater experience it can be worth it to invest in a screen and a projector. This will provide you a better image quality for the size.
There a lot of pre-made entertainment centers out there that you can purchase as well. It’s easy to learn more about such products if you’re interested in them for your home theater.
Many screens nowadays are remote controlled and can easily unfurl from a hangable nest. A hanging screen can save you the trouble of having to get something perfectly flat and wrinkle-less against a wall.
Making the Perfect Home Movie Theater
There’s little more rewarding to add to your home than a home movie theater. It can provide a wonderful place to host guests and bring a little of that movie magic into your own abode.
Need more advice on how to bring your home to the next level? Check out our blog for more.
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