10 Features to Include in your Home Theater

10 Features to Include in your Home Theater Constructing a home theater is a great way to add value and enjoyment to your home.

The market for new home theaters has been considerably expanding. In fact, according to Statista, an incredible 41 percent of American homes have either a home theater or a surround sound system.

With so many of your neighbors installing a new home theater, you may be thinking of installing one of your own. Home theaters are even more popular in areas with rising populations, such as San Antonio or Austin, Texas.

Designing the perfect theater for home will be a rather extensive process. There are multiple key decisions that will need to be made and each of these decisions will have a major impact on how your project ends up turning out.

What are the best things to include in a home theater? Which features should you decide to include? In this article, we will discuss 10 key features to include in your home theater. By keeping these things in mind and working with a theater installation company you trust, you can create the perfect home theater.

1. Modern Projector While many older home theaters use screens for entertainment, projectors have recently become significantly more popular. With the right projector, you can create a crystal-clear image that is still quite large. Considering that this will be the central component of the entire theater, your choice in projectors is one that needs to be taken seriously. Factors such as price, brand, and special features can all make a major difference.

2. Soundproofing Features Depending on where your theater is located, you may want to invest in soundproofing features. Not only will your sound proofing tech keep nearby noise out, it will also help you avoid disturbing others by keeping the desired noise in. Just a few carefully placed panels can have a tremendous impact on the overall audio experience. So go ahead, feel free to crank up the noise as loud as you want to.

3. Surround Sound Surround sound is what makes the difference between an ordinary viewing and a truly memorable movie-going experience. Depending on the overall shape and layout of your home theater, you’ll probably need at least four different speakers. The speakers will need to be carefully arranged in order to assure that the sound is distributed evenly.

You’ll also need to balance softer sounds (such as dialogue) with louder sounds (such as special effects). A qualified audio expert should be able to help you create the perfect mix.

4. Smart Home Technology These days, having smart home technology in your theater is something that is an absolute must. Brands such as Lutron, Control 4, and various others make it easy to control your environment from a single location. Using either a smartphone app or an innovative remote control, you’ll be able to control the lighting, sound, climate, and other systems without ever having to get up off the couch.

5. Preset Environments Instead of needing to spend time adjusting your environment every time you decide to watch a movie, you may want to invest in a system that allows you to control preset environments. For example, if you were to hit the “movie” setting, your lights can be dimmed, shades adjusted, and volume raised with ease. Other possible settings include

“sports mode”, “concert”, and entertaining. No matter what occasion may arise, you’ll be prepared and ready to go.

6. Home Theater Seating There is no denying that seating is one of the most important components of any home theater. After all, the seats are where you are going to end up spending a considerable amount of your time. When choosing the seats that are right for your theater, you will have several important decisions to make. Not only will you need to decide between individual (standalone) and theater seating, you’ll also need to decide where the seats are located. Fortunately, there are guidelines you can use to make sure your seats are an appropriate distance from both the screen and the speakers.

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7. Dimmable Lights In the past, people would often find themselves having to decide whether they want to their lights to be entirely on or entirely off. However, thanks to developments in the world of lighting technology, your lights can now be operated along a spectrum, rather than a simple binary. With a dimmable light switch, you can easily control just how much light is present in the room. This makes it much easier to adapt the room for any possible occasion.

8. Opaque Shades Nothing ruins a movie more than unwanted light from the outside. If your theater happens to have a wall with outside-facing windows, then it will be incredibly important to purchase opaque shades. This way, you’ll be able to have a much more authentic movie-viewing experience. Additionally, most new shading systems, such as those created by Lutron, can be controlled automatically with a single switch.

9. Safe, Discrete Wiring Even though we are moving into a much more wireless era, there will likely still be plenty of wires within your home theater. In order to improve your aesthetics and make your theater more visually appealing, you’ll want to be sure to have the wiring discretely tucked away. At the same time, you’ll also want to make sure that the wires are hidden in a safe way that is still easy to access.

10. Home Security System If you are like most people, your home theater will be one of the most valuable rooms in your entire house. Between the projector, equipment, and everything else, it is not uncommon to have thousands of dollars of equipment in a single location. By investing in a home security system, you’ll be able to sleep easily, knowing that all your valuables are completely protected.

Conclusion Building a home theater can be a very rewarding, enriching experience. But before you get started with your next big project, make sure you are able to account for all details in advance. By remembering the importance of these ten things, you’ll be able to create the ideal theater for your home.