Wilson Kelsey Design and Audio Video Design recently partnered to present "Now Becomes WOW!" This seminar shared tips for transforming an existing room into a home cinema, without extensive construction.
Among the concepts which were explored:
Dedicated Home Theater vs Media Room
A Dedicated Home Theater is a room primarily used for viewing and listening. The scale of viewing is larger and the listening experience is richer. A Media Room which is used for other activities, along with viewing, can also provide an excellent home-entertainment environment. Often, a family room or living room also serves as a media room.
Making the most of a mixed-use media room
Typically the screen will be either Plasma, LED-lit LCD or conventionally- lit LCD screen. There are advantages to each. Plasma screens aren’t quite as bright as LCD/LED screens, but they have a wider viewing angle before the picture quality begins to degenerate. They also have a more accurate color balance. LCD/LED screens are brighter, but the viewing angle is smaller.
Putting the TV over the fireplace
At AVD we tell our clients: “Before you decide to locate the TV over the fireplace, go to the local cinema and watch a full length feature while sitting in the second row.” Even if there is no other place to set up seating for TV viewing, and the main seating group is oriented toward the fireplace, there are other options, including
Lifts that will raise the TV up from the floor. (You need space below the floor that is accessible.)
The TV can be mounted adjacent to the fireplace in a piece of furniture or custom-built cabinetry. For better viewing angles, it can be mounted on an articulating arm, so the screen can be moved and turned to an optimal angle
The specialized hardware, the TV can be mounted flush in the ceiling. For viewing, the TV folds down to the appropriate viewing height. (Ideal seated viewing height is about 40” from the center of the screen.)
If the only place for the TV really is over the fireplace, the TV can be concealed within special “picture frames” that are designed specifically for housing television screen. To the extent that is possible, the TV housing is recessed in to the wall. Options for covering the screen range form artwork to specialty beam splitter glass that looks like a mirror without degrading the TV picture.
Speaker Location:
For typical surround sound systems of five speakers and one subwoofer, three speakers are placed in the front, with the center speaker placed adjacent to a TV, or behind the projection screen. The other two speakers are to the left and right of the center speaker, as the room allows. However, when the face of the speakers clashes with décor or design, the front speakers can go in the ceiling, or in the wall behind speaker cloth covers. The two effects speakers should be placed behind the area where viewers are seated, either high on/in the wall or in the ceiling. When watching movies, these speakers are the ones that kick in when a special sound effect is called for, like a jet taking off. Sometimes the sound is first heard from behind, and then it transfers to the front speakers. Typically these speakers do not carry the general audio of a movie. The subwoofer should be in the front third of the room. Today, they are small enough to be easily concealed. The “advanced” surround sound systems add two more speakers to the sides of the room so that the transition of special effects
Lighting
Typically, three layers of light are involved; ambient, task and mood. The ambient light is the general lighting. In the case of home theater, task lighting includes the lighting that is necessary for navigating safely in a fully darkened room. This is generally pathway lighting that outlines steps and paths to the door. Mood lighting is driven by the look/style/feel of the room. Sconces, chandeliers and specialty LED lighting would fit the bill quite nicely
TV Picture Quality
The best picture quality still comes from a properly installed roof antenna. Next is the satellite dish signal, and last is conventional copper fed cable TV. The Cable TV supplied by fiber optic cabling (Verizon FIOS) has a picture equal to satellite-sourced TV. The signal received by an antenna is not compressed, as it is with a cable signal.