3 Simple Tips for a Better, Smarter Home Theater Design

As big screen TVs have gotten cheaper while steadily improving and home audio has seen a revolution in quality, it’s easier and cheaper than ever to create a dedicated home theater. However, just because home theater components have gotten less expensive and easier to install doesn’t mean all systems are created equal. There are still better and worse pieces of equipment you can buy, and how those pieces are put together is equally important as the quality what you’ve purchased.

No need to stress, however. As the home theater design experts in the Atlanta, GA, area, Sunbelt Technology is fully equipped to design and build your ultimate movie palace. Here are three things to keep in mind as you start on your home theater project.

SEE ALSO: Visit Our Showroom Today to Try Out the Latest Home Automation Systems!

YOUR SCREEN

As a general rule, a 4K UHD TV or projector is what you want for your home theater. While a few 8K TVs have hit the market recently, there’s very little in the way of native 8K video content, so you’d be wise to hold off on buying an 8K display for now.

That said, not all 4K TVs or projectors are the same. You want a display with High-Dynamic Range imaging, or HDR. HDR gives you a broader and more vibrant range of colors than TVs without it, creating greater color contrast and more lifelike images. Another feature to look for is the screen refresh rate; a higher refresh rate means less motion blur, which is great for watching sports on your home theater. High-end 4K displays have refresh rates up to 240 Hz (meaning the on-screen image updates itself 240 times per second)

If at all possible, we’d also suggest you choose an OLED 4K TV. Unlike LCDs or standard LED displays, OLED TVs light each pixel on screen individually. How the screen is lit may seem like a trivial detail, but lighting the screen this way helps separate brighter and darker tones, giving you a true black background color for a higher-quality image.

SOUND

One advantage movie theaters used to have over home theaters was sound quality. Now, you can use the same system found in many theater chains right in your own home: Dolby Atmos.

What separates Atmos from other surround sound systems is the immersion factor. In most cases, you build a surround sound system by placing speakers throughout the room, including center, left, right, and rear channels. But Dolby Atmos works differently; the system renders every sound on screen as an individual audio object. Each sound is then placed in a three-dimensional soundscape created by speakers throughout your home theater, including devices placed behind you and overhead.

A system like this brings you into the action like nothing you’ve ever heard. One speaker brand we recommend for home theaters is Sonance. Their Invisible Series speakers are easily installed in your walls or ceiling, then finished over to blend in with the surrounding surface. This approach allows for a cleaner installation with less clutter around your room, and they work with Sonos whole-home audio systems for easy integration.

SYSTEM INTEGRATION

Smart home tech isn’t just for your home theater; by definition, it’s meant for your whole house. With this in mind, it’s a no-brainer to link your home theater to any existing automation systems you have.

Two easy systems to start with: Whole-home audio and lighting control. As we just mentioned, Sonance makes a line of speakers made for easy integration with Sonos systems. If you link your home theater to the other speakers in your home, you can listen to the movie even when you get up to grab a snack from the kitchen. Similarly, integrating lighting control with your home theater lets you turn on your TV and speakers while dimming the lights from one device with one button press.

If you’re ready to transform the way you watch movies, now’s the time to act. Call us today at (404) 236-0007 or check out our online contact page.