Should I Add a Home Cinema To My House?
Should I Add a Home Cinema To My House?
What is a home cinema?
Before the commercialization of the television, radios used to be where a family would gather and before that it would be a fireplace. Now, most living rooms have flat-screen TVs as the focal point of the living room.
But what if you wanted to go one step further and recreate the experience of being at the cinema?
Whether it's the surround sound or using a projection screen, home cinemas elevate your family movie nights to another level.
Why would I want a home cinema?
We already covered the most obvious reason above in a way: to create a movie theatre-like experience. Watching a movie at home comes is a very different experience from watching it at the theatre. Both have their pros and cons.
At the movies, the sound quality is far superior with sound effects and music able to play over speakers that can give space for the full range and depth of sound that a good movie is designed with.
The projector screen used also has an extremely high picture quality that even an OLED TV can have trouble replicating.
Meanwhile at home, you don't have to deal with other people (that alone could be enough a reason to change).
You can also pause the movie whenever you need to, never need to dress up or leave the house. The movie experience is very different and usually a much more casual affair.
Another point that would go to the movie theatre would be new releases but with the pandemic normalizing releases on online services and vastly accelerating how quickly titles come to streaming services, it takes a lot less patience now to just wait to watch a movie at home.
The feel of being in an actual movie theatre is also another reason why people get one, especially parents raising young children.
Families typically watch movies together and with the demands of modern life, it can be difficult to find time to do so. A home cinema allows parents to have the time to create family movie nights no matter how busy they are.
Unless you like the experience of the movie theatre itself, movie night under a cozy blanket with all the comforts of home does sound like a better idea. It's also a great investment if you have sports fans in the house.
Surround speakers might set you back a little but enough room to run and flail during celebrations is priceless.
Speaking of price, let's talk about that next.
The elephant in the home theatre room: cost.
A surround sound speaker system, HDMI cables, a smart tv and a large room are the basics of a home theatre setup. This does add up to a pretty dollar, that's undeniable but remember that you can gradually at to your setup over time. The best budget is one that lets you live your life without stressing out about the essentials.
You may be considering something like the soon-to-be-released Samsung Freestyle - advertised as a portable home theatre system. It has a projector that adapts to your walls, its own speakers, and has the unique feature of being portable all for a price of around a thousand dollars.
Compared to a traditional home theatre setup, a thousand dollars can get you a new 50" 4K HDR Smart TV and an entry-level surround sound system.
On the other end of the spectrum, a top-of-the-line television with more acronyms that you would know what to do with can go up to $12,000 on its own.
How much money is too much money is dependent on your budget but if you have the funds then you could move away from fiddling with an HDMI cable for a television set you just bought and invest in a full-on home theatre.
Think of the home theatres you see in movies, an entire room dedicated to emulating the movie theatre experience. What would something like that cost? A custom home theatre system, on the highest end, can fetch around or above $70,000 CDN.
Where can I have my home theatre experience?
The best place to put your home theatre is going to be dictated by a few factors.
How much space do you have?
Are you living in a studio, one-bedroom or something larger? No matter where you live there are some minimum requirements of size and equipment for your home theatre to function properly.
Getting a television that's wider than your wall is bad for a multitude of reasons but chief among them is audio quality.
Sound needs space. A crowded surround speaker will not create the best sound. it's better to achieve a good balance for your screening room rather than go all-in on one part of the home theatre.
What can you afford?
Home theatres do not come cheap as we discovered above. The amount of money you want to spend is going to be a deciding factor in what you choose and how much you can experiment with your home theatre setup. A basic setup online may still be thousands of dollars.
Depending on your budget, where you put your home theatre can change.
Lighting
When it comes to where to place your home theatre you want to make sure that all the upgrades you've made, like adding an optical cable and adding in wall scones to add to the movie-going atmosphere, don't get squandered by something as simple as light.
Light coming from windows can cast a glare on your screen (projected or otherwise) and though you still need some light, it's better to invest in soft overhead lighting.
Ambient light is a big part of walking in a cinema, finding the right balance of ambient light when you're planning something for movie night can elevate the entire experience.
However, your primary concern when it comes to lighting as a whole is removing excess light. Your best bet will be to find a dark room, ideally with no windows.
Before you take a hammer if you intend on doing things by yourself, make sure that you're not knocking out critical wall studs - that's bad news for your entire house.
Are you planning to move in the near future?
If you are planning to move to a different house in the near future then it may be best to wait until you are in the new home. In that future home, you may have a spare room that you can customize fully or at least plan around better.
Keep in mind that one of the core components of the experience is sound and sound waves are going to behave differently in different spaces.
Video components are relatively easy to deal with but to get the most out of your setup then you have to plan for things like the placement of the rear speakers, the space to move around from seat to seat and more.
If you are planning to move into your dream home soon, then waiting to move is the best call. You can still stock up on things like a good AV receiver with the right HDMI inputs beforehand or use them in your living room for now.
The parts of a home theatre system.
The screen.
Many home theatres use projector screens over televisions. The best projectors tend to have a better high contrast ratio which gives the image more accurate colours.
A big screen is essential to a movie theatre experience. Good image quality from your projector or television and a minimum amount of light reflected on the screen are the basics.
The sound.
We talked about the importance of sound a lot but what are some of the things that can affect your acoustic experience?
A good sound system will have its worth amplified with acoustic panels that help redirect the sound properly. Noise-cancelling foam can also help keep noise out of the room. AV gear isn't just about finding the right HDMI cable, there's a lot of foam involved too.
A component that people tend to overlook is the centre speaker. That piece of equipment is placed in front of the big screen and is actually the most important part of your setup.
It is usually a long bar and from that part of the speaker system will come the most crucial part of the dialogue and music that's a part of the movie you're watching.
Additional electronics.
If it's been a while since you upgraded your entertainment centre, then you might have a blu ray player lying around.
Here's the thing though, blu ray players, and physical media in general, is dead.
You can still buy one at a reasonable price if you have blu ray discs lying around but streaming services have taken over movies. Modern televisions also come with apps that include music streaming services as well.
Given that you won't have to pay extra for wi-fi in your own home, you can hook up your home cinema with a smart speaker and use features like Google assistant to give out trivia during the quick pauses. If you add a few different systems that can use the home theatre's screen then having a universal remote control is a good idea to keep everything easily manageable.
The additions.
There's more to a home theatre than sound technology and a high-resolution image. You can invest in some high-end stadium-seating-like chairs to give you and your guests a more comfortable experience than typical cinema seats. Being able to lean back and sit however you want is not an option in most places.
Food is also a big part of movie nights, additions to the room like a mini-fridge or a popcorn machine complete the experience and make sure that you don't have to leave the room for minor things. Also, no movie theatres will sell you a drink for the price you can get at the grocery store.
Decorations
If you have a custom-built home theatre room then you can decorate the space with movie posters to highlight the movies you love and enliven the atmosphere. If you invest in some dedicated lighting right outside the theatre room, you can really up the experiential aspect of a movie night. If you're having a party, you could even try to recreate the experience of being at the theatre with mock tickets or something different.
During Halloween or at Christmas you can even decorate the room's wall sconces with cobwebs or Christmas decorations to create the perfect horror or Christmas ambience. You can even mix both for viewings of A Nightmare Before Christmas which are never a bad idea.
When it comes to home theatre ideas, you can use the whole of film history to give you ideas. If you want to have a home theatre room, chances are that at least someone in your family likes movies. Ask them what could be a good theme for your home theatre.
Here's what to keep in mind.
The first thing that people think is that a home theatre is far too expensive for them. The truth is that you can get started with a surround sound system in the range of $300. Home theatre sound does improve with more money invested but you can create a great experience without creating a whole custom room with a projector screen, ambient light, and a complicated universal remote control.
If you do have the budget though, be sure to invest it in things that will improve not only your image quality but also acoustic panels that will enhance your surround speakers. Beyond image and sound quality, look at adding movie posters in or on the way into the home theatre - if you can do it, might as well do it right.
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