1) Start with the room Or if there isn't a room yet - say if you're designing your new home from scratch - start with the number of people you'd like to entertain in comfort, which will dictate the room size you need.
Most often, we start with a defined room. That tells us a lot - how many seats can we have, and how much sound level and picture brightness we need for convincing performance. Many 'home cinema' products don't actually achieve the required performance levels even for a modest sized cinema.
2) Consider additional uses
For some, a home cinema is for films and that's it - which is great. Others will want to use it for box sets, sport and even 'regular' TV. Some of us really enjoy console games, and some of us love music.
So think about what else you might like to use the room for. That will help you draw up the perfect spec for your needs - gamers might want USB charging in the seats, music lovers might want high performance and musical front speakers, and so on.
3) Control ambient light In every commercial cinema, the lights go down before the feature starts. It should be like that at home too.
Control the light levels with blinds, curtains and dimmable lighting. Not only will the picture quality improve dramatically, you'll focus on the screen much more effectively - which enhances the experience.
Keep reflective and shiny materials outside your field of vision, and avoid bright white or gloss paint finishes - they will all cause unwelcome distractions.
4) Investigate room treatments and soundproofing Room treatments make the room sound better - absorbers, diffusers and bass traps treat echoes and resonance for a more even sound. That means a better performance, which is also more consistent across seats.
Soundproofing keeps the sound of the cinema away from the outside, so you don't annoy your neighbours or family, and keeps external sound out of your cinema. This is one of the most cost-effective performance upgrades you can do. By lowering the background noise, the sound system doesn't have to work nearly as hard to sound fantastic.
Instead of a 'recording studio' look, you can conceal room treatments behind a fabric wall system, which can also hide all the speakers.
Simply AV
Home Cinema Do's:
1) Start with the room
Or if there isn't a room yet - say if you're designing your new home from scratch - start with the number of people you'd like to entertain in comfort, which will dictate the room size you need.
Most often, we start with a defined room. That tells us a lot - how many seats can we have, and how much sound level and picture brightness we need for convincing performance. Many 'home cinema' products don't actually achieve the required performance levels even for a modest sized cinema.
2) Consider additional uses
For some, a home cinema is for films and that's it - which is great. Others will want to use it for box sets, sport and even 'regular' TV. Some of us really enjoy console games, and some of us love music.
So think about what else you might like to use the room for. That will help you draw up the perfect spec for your needs - gamers might want USB charging in the seats, music lovers might want high performance and musical front speakers, and so on.
3) Control ambient light
In every commercial cinema, the lights go down before the feature starts. It should be like that at home too.
Control the light levels with blinds, curtains and dimmable lighting. Not only will the picture quality improve dramatically, you'll focus on the screen much more effectively - which enhances the experience.
Keep reflective and shiny materials outside your field of vision, and avoid bright white or gloss paint finishes - they will all cause unwelcome distractions.
4) Investigate room treatments and soundproofing
Room treatments make the room sound better - absorbers, diffusers and bass traps treat echoes and resonance for a more even sound. That means a better performance, which is also more consistent across seats.
Soundproofing keeps the sound of the cinema away from the outside, so you don't annoy your neighbours or family, and keeps external sound out of your cinema. This is one of the most cost-effective performance upgrades you can do. By lowering the background noise, the sound system doesn't have to work nearly as hard to sound fantastic.
Instead of a 'recording studio' look, you can conceal room treatments behind a fabric wall system, which can also hide all the speakers.
1 month ago | [YT] | 5