3 Top Home Theater Design Trends You Should Know About
Every Detail Matters for a Great Home Cinema
When you think of a home theater, some of the most obvious things to think about are the screen and the sound system. Those are the elements that provide the most visceral part of the experience. But home theaters are much more than that, as a myriad of details that you see or don’t see all add to the experience.
In this blog, we want to cover three areas to consider that can make your home cinema more comfortable, useful, and immersive. If you’re looking to build or update a home theater design in your Chesterfield County, VA, home, you'll want to know about these popular trends. Without further ado, keep reading below!
SEE ALSO: Designing a Home Theater? Consider these 5 Ideas
Immersive Sound
Within the past five years, advances in sound formats have revolutionized home theater sound. The first was Dolby Atmos, followed closely by DTS:X. These formats add height channels for an immersive, 3D audio experience for movies and shows. The best news is that now most new movies and many new streaming shows on services like Amazon Video and Netflix are available in Dolby Atmos. The latest home theater receivers can also process stereo and multichannel soundtracks to add a height element to older content. What does it mean for your theater design? One or two sets of ceiling speakers should be considered depending on the room size and the seating arrangement. Ceiling height can be critical to achieving the full effect, but other height speaker options exist if ceiling installation isn't practical. With Dolby Atmos and DTS:X, you can get a deeper level of involvement in everything you watch.
Starry, Starry Night
Have you ever seen the home theaters where the ceiling looks like a night sky? With LED lighting, you can design custom lighting with many types of designs. Go for a black ceiling with a night full of stars or use color LED cove lighting for different effects. LED lighting allows for extensive flexibility in shapes and fits of lighting into your architectural features. You can also use path lighting around floor level to light walkways when someone needs to get up for a drink or break. Other room lighting can be dimmed to different levels for the show – dark for movies, lighter for sports, and whatever you prefer. Govern it all with a lighting control system for one-touch management of all the lighting scenes. You can even synchronize lights with hitting play on your show!
Motorized Shades
If your home cinema is not in a dedicated, windowless room, managing light from windows is essential. Your home theater may be part of a large game room with windows. Motorized shading provides an easy way to have the perfect amount of natural light for any activity in your multipurpose theater. For movies in total darkness, you can have powered blackout shades lower behind your light filtering shades. For daytime sports viewing, you can adjust shades to filter the sun or let the light in, depending on the day. Best of all, your motorized shades can be controlled with smart home automation, so your theater AV, lighting, shades, and more can all work in tandem for a home cinema experience that will make you forget about going to the movies away from home.
Work with an expert like Sound + Image to design a home theater that delivers a complete entertainment experience.To learn more, give us a call at (804) 741-5816 or fill out our online form to get started today. We would love to work with you!
