Home Theater
Now, more and more people are turning their ordinary TV rooms into Home Theaters. This process used to involve a projector and a screen and was too expensive for most people to afford. Advances in technology have given people more choices for home theater setups. Some people find that a home theater is quieter and more convenient than a movie theater, and the picture and sound quality are great.
If you're looking for a home theater system, you have a lot of decisions ahead of you. If you're thinking of turning your den into a fully functioning home theater, this article will help you get started.
What Is Home Theater?
Home Theater is difficult to define: it's really just a vague term for a particular approach to home entertainment. Generally speaking, a home theater system is a combination of electronic components designed to recreate the experience of watching a movie in a theater. When you watch a movie on a home theater system, you are more immersed in the experience than when you watch one on an ordinary television. Unique home theater seating can help bring the experience to life. To see how home theaters do this, let's take a look at the original model, the movie theater. When it comes to picture and sound, the theater can offer an amazing experience we just don't get at home. That's usually why people will pay to go to the movies, even though renting a movie is cheaper. There are a few main components that make watching TV and going to the movies very different.
- One of the biggest differences is the sound experience. When you go to see a movie in a quality movie theater, you'll hear the music, sound effects and dialogue not just from the screen, but all around you. In this surround sound system, you hear different parts of the soundtrack coming from different places. You are more involved in the experience of watching a film because the world of the movie is all around you.
- The second chief component of the theater experience is the large size of the movie screen. In a theater, the screen takes up most of your field of view, which makes it very easy to lose yourself in the movie. After all, you're sitting in the dark with only one thing to look at, and everything you're looking at seems much bigger than life
- We also enjoy going to the movies because we can see everything so well. The detail is much sharper than what we see on an ordinary 19-inch television, and the movement is much more fluid. We may not consciously recognize this, but it does make a significant difference in how we enjoy a movie. When we can see more detail, we are more engrossed in the world of the movie.
- The basic idea of a home theater is to recreate these elements with home equipment, furnishings and even the popcorn.
What Do You Need?
In the last section, we saw that the major components of a movie-theater experience are a large, clear picture and a surround-sound system. To build a home theater, then, you need to recreate these elements. At the bare minimum, you need:
- A large-screen television (at least 27 inches across, measured diagonally) with a clear picture
- At least four speakers
- Equipment for splitting up the surround-sound signal and sending it to the speakers
- Something that plays or broadcasts movies in surround sound, preferably with a clear picture
And very importantly, you'll need a room where you can arrange all this stuff and the proper seating and furnishings to make it feel like a real theater experience.
Furniture
Whether it's a home theater built for two or two dozen, there are now abundant choices of furniture that provides unique comfort and beauty.
Specifically designed seat backs allow for optimal sound and viewing. And cozy pillow tops, along with an optional power-reclining footrest, will make every movie worth watching. Plus, most styles can be configured to meet the needs of any room.
Today, consumers can choose from individual leather or upholstery chairs, to motion recliners that are 4 chairs wide. The choices are limitless and the designs will meet any room décor.
Bringing the theater home is now a possibility.