Why is watching a movie in a theater so much more fulfilling than watching one on your own television? There are three key elements responsible for the dramatic difference between a movie theater you become completely immersed in the story unfolding before you. The superior image quality of the large screen brings every detail to light and with the help of the surrounding darkness, the film captures your undivided attention. To top it off, dialogue, sounds effects and music are projected from speakers positioned around the theater to draw you in even further.
Advances in audio and video technology now make it possible to have the movie theater experience in your very own home. But great technology will only get you halfway there. You'll need an acoustic friendly space, an appropriately planned seating configuration and a stellar atmosphere to bring your home theater to life.
Designing your home theater may seem like a daunting task after reading articles filled with esoteric language and complex diagrams. Suprisingly, coming up with a plan is relatively simple if you understand some home theater basics. We'll show you how to pick the right room and offer some tips on how to modify any space to optimize your system's sound and image quality. To start out, you should think about what you want and what you have to work with.
Before You Begin
Before you start planning your home theater design, it's important to think about why you are building it. If you know and understand what you hope to get out of your theater, the design process will be easier and your end result will be just what you wanted. You may want to jot down your answers to the following questions to use as a reference during the design process: 1. Who will be using your home theater?
When you begin planning, it's a good idea to think about who the primary users will be. If your kids will be using your home theater the most, you may want to think about adding a few extra seats so that they can have their friends over to enjoy the show with them!
2. What kind of space do you have available? Will the theater be a dedicated room or a multi-purpose room?
You will need a considerable amount of space for your home theater. Whether you're starting from scratch or converting and existing room, you still need to devote an ample amount of space to create a home theater in order to accomodate all equipment appropriately.
3. What kind of investment are you willing to make to build your home theater? Are you on a budget?
A huge factor to consider when planning a home theater is the investment that you are willing and able to make. If you're on a small, strict budget, it may be better to convert and existing living room into a theater rather than building one from scratch. If you do not have a tight budget you will have more flexibility and therefore more possibilities with regard to design and technology.
Designing The Room
It's important to know what makes or breaks a home theater in terms of the space that it's in. Several factors have a significant impact on sound, image quality and atmosphere in a home theater. SIZE & SHAPE
When choosing a room to build your home theater in, you need to consider its shape. It is best for acoustic rooms to be rectangular in shape, not square. In a square room, wound waves produced cause "dead spots" in certain areas of the room. Sound waves reflect in rectangular rooms, too, but interference can be kept at a minimum with the right acoustic treatments.
SURFACES
In an enclosed room, sound is greatly affected by its interior surfaces. Hard surfaces reflect sound waves creating patterns of interference which can cause sound distortion. Soft surfaces will minimize wave reflection and enhance sound quality in the room. Although sound wave reflections can cause sound distortion, they should not be eliminated entirely, as an acoustically dead room is awkward and unnatural. To ensure the best quality sound in your home theater, minimize the amount of reflective surfaces in the room and place sound-absorbing materials at first reflection points.
Minimize Reflective Surfaces
Tile and hardwood flooring, glass windows and stone fireplaces are all examples of hard reflective surfaces to avoid in a home theater room. If your room has hard surfaces, there are ways to prevent sound interference.
- Flooring: Wall-to-wall carpeting is ideal in an acoustic room, however, area rugs that cover the majority of a hard floor will suffice.
- Windows: All of the windows in a home theater room should be covered with curtains. Not only will drapes reduce sound wave reflection, they will also help to minimize the amount of ambient light in the room.
- Furniture: Sound can also be affected by furniture. Soft, cushioned seating will help absorb sound while large, hard surfaced furniture may interfere.
Reduce Reflection at First Reflection Points
The best way to prevent interference is to reduce the sound wave's energy at the first reflection point. To do this, you need to have appropriate sound-absorbing material on your walls, ceiling and floor at the first reflection points. To determine your first reflection points, first determine your seating configuration and speaker postions, then create a reflection diagram.
LIGHT
It is important to control the amount of light inside your home theater as light will have a negative impact on picture quality and ambiance. If you have windows in the room, invest in some heavy drapes and thick blinds to block out as much natural light as possible. Not only can drapes keep out unwanted light, they can also absorb sound and add a great decorative element to a home theater. You should also try to keep your wall colors dark, as any light that does its way into the theater will reflect off light wall colors.
Common Home Theater Layouts
Home Theaters can be built in any relatively large space in your home. In most cases your chosen space will fall into one of two room categories: dedicated or multi-purpose. Here we'll highlight the benefits of each of these popular home theater scenarios to help you get started.
Multi-Purpose
Converting a living or family room into a multi-purpose home theater is an easy way to get theater quality system into an existing living space in your home. Although the multi-purpose home theater may lack a theater atmosphere, there are many benefits to consider.
- Great for a Small Budget If you are on a tight budget then a multi-purpose theater may be the best way to go for several reasons. You may be able to incorporate some of your current furniture and audio video equipment into your home theater design. The only adjustments that you'll need to make to the room will be positioning your furniture in correct angles and preparing the room to be condusive to acoustic quality needed for a successful home theater.
- Multi-Functional As its name suggests, a multi-purpose home theater arrangement is used for purposes other than movie watching. If you choose to integrate a theater into your existing living room, you will be able to use your sound system to play music, as well. You may want to consider some of our home theater sectionals for your multi-purpose room. Aside from being great home theater seats, they're perfect for kicking back with your friends and family.
- A Great Reason to Redecorate Your new entertainment system will bring more traffic into the room, so why not update your look? Check out some great accent tables, entertainment centers and rugs and let the redecorating begin!
Dedicated
If you have a flexible budget and some extra space, then devoting an entire room to your home theater can be a reality.
- Best Sound and Picture Quality In a dedicated home theater scenario, you can make adjustments to any part of the room to optimize your system's sound and image quality, while in a multi-purpose arrangement you have to compromise.
- More Seating Dedicated home theaters can generally hold a larger audience than a multi-purpose theater could. Any space within the screen's viewing angle can be used for seating. Check out our multiple chair seating options!
- Creative Freedom If you want to recreate the look of an authentic cinema, you can! We have everything you'll need to make your home theater feel like the real thing.