The single biggest factor in planning for a home theater, and the type of equipment you will need for your own theater, is the size of the space which will accommodate the system. For instance, it makes no sense to buy a huge, powerful projector for a small living space, just as it would be poor planning to buy an under-powered projector for a very large area. Assuming you have the typical small home theater space available, here are some things to consider to get the most out of your new home theater system.
Distance from the screen
A good rule of thumb in a small room for determining the proper seating distance, would be to divide your screen size by approximately .84 – for instance, if you are installing a 100-inch screen, dividing that by .84 would put your seats at 120 inches away, or about 10 feet.
Speaker wiring and setup
Your speaker setup should be wired for 7.1 channels, since most Blu-ray videos now have 7.1 soundtracks. Any speakers you buy should be measured for their power-handling capability, so that you don’t buy speakers to weak for your receiver – at minimum look for 50-Watt RMS speakers. Dolby Atmos theaters provide an incredible enveloping sound experience with height channels. Read our blog on Dolby Atmos here.
Sound system receiver
Receiver power is measured in watts per channel, but this can be deceiving because that denotes power for one channel driven and at 1 kHz. That capability does not really apply to home theaters, since between five and seven channels will always be in use. For this reason, it’s best to consult with our team about the unit’s power supply, because this is a better determinant of how much power it will actually drive.
Display type
Probably the biggest factor when choosing a display type of screen is how much ambient light is available in the home theater area. If there is abundant light streaming through windows, an LCD TV might be the best choice to ensure the ideal screen image. On the other hand, a windowless room would be better served by a projector, especially since projector prices are falling now and are far more affordable than they were originally.
Learn more about home theater technologies here
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