Post by dkennedy on Jun 20, 2005 6:26:02 GMT -5
Home box office
Quality of sound, picture and decor all part of creating that movie theater experience
June 18, 2005
By Joanne Mamenta, The Tennessean
It's Saturday night and you don't want to fight the traffic and lines at the local movie theater. So you head to the video store and rent a movie. You stick a bag of popcorn in the microwave and within minutes, you, your spouse, the kids and the dog are crammed on the couch trying to get comfortable before the movie starts on your 27-inch TV set.
Wouldn't it be great to have a home theater room?
Today, home theaters are becoming one of the most popular additions to homes, and people are converting basements, bonus rooms and spare bedrooms into them. The level of performance you want will depend on how much you're willing to spend.
THE BASICS
For less than $300, you can purchase a home theater-in-a-box available at many electronic/media stores. Basically, you get all the components necessary to create the home theater system, including speakers, a surround-sound receiver, and most of the time, the DVD player. You just connect it to your existing TV set.
"Some of the newer versions are offering wireless speakers, which a lot of people like because they don't have to run cables," says Rodney Carrigan, a sales specialist with Best Buy in Hickory Hollow.
But for a little more money, you can create a better home theater experience by building the system piece by piece.
"Most people will eventually take their home theater-in-a-box and move it to the bedroom and then upgrade," Carrigan says.
That's where Brian Warford would start.
"I don't think you ever need to do the theater-in-a-box. If you can spend $2,000 on speakers, a receiver and a DVD player, we can help you build a good system that you can connect to your existing TV set," says Warford, executive vice president and general manager for Nicholson's Hi-Fi.
From there, it's a big jump in price in the home theater market. For those who want a true home theater experience, most of the high-end shops in Middle Tennessee that design these rooms start at about $20,000 and go up to hundreds of thousands of dollars.
No matter what kind of home theater system you get, here are some things to consider:
THE ROOM
The size and the shape of your room, as well as whether it has windows, will impact all aspects of setting up a home theater system.
When setting up the room, walk around and you'll see that the sound changes. Some of the upscale theater rooms are "tweaked" to ensure that the sound is even throughout the room. This might include adding special fiberglass to the walls, thick carpeting or moving the speakers around the room to balance out the sound.
Consider putting dark shades on the windows or dimmers on the lights to control the amount of light in the room.
AUDIO
To most home theater designers, the sound is the most important quality.
"It's the exclamation point to the whole experience," says Don Barber, sales manager for Audio Video Environments in Nashville. "If you watch a movie with no sound, there's no point to it."
Indeed. Warford cites studies that show that the soundtrack of a movie is more important to the experience than the picture.
"You can't watch a movie without sound, but you can listen to the sound without the picture and get a sense of the movie. There is just as much money spent on creating the soundtrack as getting the images onto the film. Movie designers know that sound makes the experience," Warford says.
In a home theater, the standard speaker set-up includes three speakers in the front of the room and two speakers in the back of the room and a subwoofer near the front of the room.
Each speaker has a specific purpose.
The left front and right front speakers carry the bulk of the music and sound effects. The center front speaker carries the dialogue. The speakers in the back give the room the surround sound effect. And the subwoofer reproduces the movie's sound effects, such as explosions, crashes or dinosaur footsteps. And in the more expensive home theaters, designers may add a second subwoofer.
"The subwoofer is what gives a movie viewing experience the sense of impact from the soundtrack," Warford says.
But all sound is not equal.
In fact, sound moves like waves reverberating off the walls, the furniture, the ceiling. That's why theater designers use computers and other instruments to measure the sound coming from the speakers and moving through the room.
"Every room has a place where it cancels out certain notes. By adjusting the placement of speakers or subwoofers, and or using equalizers, we can compensate for this anomaly," Barber says.
Now whether the speakers are free standing, mounted or built in the wall is up to debate. Most designers prefer free-standing speakers in the front of the room because there is less sound distortion. However, lots of people don't want to see speakers, so there are creative ways to hide them.
There are acoustical screens, panels, cabinets and frames to hide or embellish the speakers.
And if you're deciding where to spend your money on a home theater system, Warford says to put it in the audio system.
PICTURE
When it comes to the picture, it is a virtual alphabet soup out there. There is the HDTV (high definition TV), the LCDs (liquid crystal display) or the DLPs (digital light processing). And don't forget plasma.
This technology just offers different ways to produce a picture. Each of them has their advantages and disadvantages.
But when it comes to high-end home theater rooms, most designers are going to ignore all of the fancy TV sets and go with a front projector and screen combination. They say the quality and size of the picture is better than any TV set-up on the market.
"With the free-standing TV, the largest screen is going to be 80 inches. A projector and screen combination starts at 80 inches diagonal and goes up to as large as the room can support. It is entirely possible to do a 15-foot screen if the room is big enough," Warford says.
And the set-up is more economical. A 61-inch plasma TV is about $10,000 compared to projector/screen combinations that start at $6,000.
When determining the size of the screen there are two factors -- size of the room and where you're going to sit in the room.
"If you're too close, the picture isn't as sharp. If you're only going to sit eight feet back, we're not going with a 150-inch screen," Warford says.
But size does matter when it comes to viewing a movie.
"Most people are visual, so the larger the picture the better. I would go with the largest screen possible. One that is 11-feet wide, that's what gives people the thrill," says Carl Tatz, owner of Carl Tatz Designs, which creates custom home theater rooms for a discerning clientele.
Indeed. Echoing Tatz, Barber adds, "The larger the picture you have, the more eye movement you have and the more emotionally involved you are.
"That's why a live sports venue is more exciting than watching it on TV. You're so much more involved. That's what we want to accomplish with a home theater experience."
So get the biggest picture screen you can afford.
DÉCOR
You've got the sound; you've got the picture, now it is a question of furniture.
"The decor adds a psychological impact for someone viewing a movie," Tatz says.
Even the placement of the furniture is important. You want to be eye level with the screen. That's why Tatz can't understand the popularity of plasma TVs over the fireplace.
"Who wants to crank their necks up like that?" he asks.
And Warford prefers theater-style seating over other types.
"If you're lying down on the couch, you're not going to get that movie theater experience."
That's why designers will place theater-style chairs at specific places within a room. But when it comes down to it, Tatz doesn't believe that one element in a home theater room outshines another.
"It's not just about the sound, it's not just about the picture and it's not just about the decor. It's the gestalt of all three," Tatz says.
FUTURE
The home theater market will continue to grow, especially as technology makes it better and cheaper to have a theater room, Tatz says.
"We're going to see lots of advancements, such as in high definition. And the commercial theaters will drive this technology because the home theater industry keeps getting better and better and commercial theater isn't going to want to compete with that."
And no one sees a day when home theaters replace movie theaters.
"First, you're never going to have a screen that big in your home. The sound might be better in your home. I've been to some theaters in town where they forget to put on the surround sound.
"But people like to go to the movies. They want to see the new releases. It's a social thing. It's an event," Tatz says.
Meanwhile, if anyone out there has one of those home theater rooms with an 11-foot screen and DVD retrieval systems that lets you store up to 900 movies, give me a call. I'll bring the popcorn. o
Home theater glossary
Amplifier: It is the muscle of your home theater system. Power and a solid build are the two considerations for your amplifier. Look for at least 50 to 100 watts per channel for a home theater system.
(DLP) Digital Light Processing. A Texas Instruments process of projecting video images using a light source reflecting off an array of tens of thousands of microscopic mirrors.
(HDTV) High definition TV. HDTV has lifelike pictures and digital sound. The higher resolution produces clarity like you have never seen from a picture tube. Films retain their original width, enhancing your home theater experience. Imagine seeing more of a football field or a scenic panorama.
LCD (Liquid Crystal Display). This is a fixed pixel display device renowned for energy efficiency and colorful high-contrast images. It presents an attractive, bright picture with great contrasts. However, it does have trouble recreating blacks. The best you get is dark gray.
Pixel: The smallest element of data in a video image.
Plasma: Flat-panel display technology that ignites small pockets of gas to light phosphors.
Subwoofer: This is responsible for the lowest frequencies in your home theater system. The best subwoofers should make the room shake and rattle drinks. One of the most convenient things about a subwoofer is that the sound emanates in all directions. This means placement of the sub in a room is very easy; it can sit just about anywhere.
Surround sound: It's the name given to the rear speakers in a home theater speaker system.
Source: www.hometheatermag.com/glossary/
PHOTOS:
CREDIT: SANFORD MYERS / STAFF
CAPTION: Deep, comfortable theater seats give viewers a perfect place to watch a movie.
CAPTION: Nicholson's Hi-Fi built a theater wall to include the 92-inch screen as well as hide some of the system's speakers in a model home built by Beazer Homes in the Inglehame development in Brentwood.
CAPTION: This model home by Beazer features a seven-seat theater with a 92-inch screen and projection TV with eight speakers. The home is in the Inglehame development in Brentwood, and the theater was designed by Brian Warford of Nicholson's Hi-Fi.
Copyright © 2005 The Tennessean
Quality of sound, picture and decor all part of creating that movie theater experience
June 18, 2005
By Joanne Mamenta, The Tennessean
It's Saturday night and you don't want to fight the traffic and lines at the local movie theater. So you head to the video store and rent a movie. You stick a bag of popcorn in the microwave and within minutes, you, your spouse, the kids and the dog are crammed on the couch trying to get comfortable before the movie starts on your 27-inch TV set.
Wouldn't it be great to have a home theater room?
Today, home theaters are becoming one of the most popular additions to homes, and people are converting basements, bonus rooms and spare bedrooms into them. The level of performance you want will depend on how much you're willing to spend.
THE BASICS
For less than $300, you can purchase a home theater-in-a-box available at many electronic/media stores. Basically, you get all the components necessary to create the home theater system, including speakers, a surround-sound receiver, and most of the time, the DVD player. You just connect it to your existing TV set.
"Some of the newer versions are offering wireless speakers, which a lot of people like because they don't have to run cables," says Rodney Carrigan, a sales specialist with Best Buy in Hickory Hollow.
But for a little more money, you can create a better home theater experience by building the system piece by piece.
"Most people will eventually take their home theater-in-a-box and move it to the bedroom and then upgrade," Carrigan says.
That's where Brian Warford would start.
"I don't think you ever need to do the theater-in-a-box. If you can spend $2,000 on speakers, a receiver and a DVD player, we can help you build a good system that you can connect to your existing TV set," says Warford, executive vice president and general manager for Nicholson's Hi-Fi.
From there, it's a big jump in price in the home theater market. For those who want a true home theater experience, most of the high-end shops in Middle Tennessee that design these rooms start at about $20,000 and go up to hundreds of thousands of dollars.
No matter what kind of home theater system you get, here are some things to consider:
THE ROOM
The size and the shape of your room, as well as whether it has windows, will impact all aspects of setting up a home theater system.
When setting up the room, walk around and you'll see that the sound changes. Some of the upscale theater rooms are "tweaked" to ensure that the sound is even throughout the room. This might include adding special fiberglass to the walls, thick carpeting or moving the speakers around the room to balance out the sound.
Consider putting dark shades on the windows or dimmers on the lights to control the amount of light in the room.
AUDIO
To most home theater designers, the sound is the most important quality.
"It's the exclamation point to the whole experience," says Don Barber, sales manager for Audio Video Environments in Nashville. "If you watch a movie with no sound, there's no point to it."
Indeed. Warford cites studies that show that the soundtrack of a movie is more important to the experience than the picture.
"You can't watch a movie without sound, but you can listen to the sound without the picture and get a sense of the movie. There is just as much money spent on creating the soundtrack as getting the images onto the film. Movie designers know that sound makes the experience," Warford says.
In a home theater, the standard speaker set-up includes three speakers in the front of the room and two speakers in the back of the room and a subwoofer near the front of the room.
Each speaker has a specific purpose.
The left front and right front speakers carry the bulk of the music and sound effects. The center front speaker carries the dialogue. The speakers in the back give the room the surround sound effect. And the subwoofer reproduces the movie's sound effects, such as explosions, crashes or dinosaur footsteps. And in the more expensive home theaters, designers may add a second subwoofer.
"The subwoofer is what gives a movie viewing experience the sense of impact from the soundtrack," Warford says.
But all sound is not equal.
In fact, sound moves like waves reverberating off the walls, the furniture, the ceiling. That's why theater designers use computers and other instruments to measure the sound coming from the speakers and moving through the room.
"Every room has a place where it cancels out certain notes. By adjusting the placement of speakers or subwoofers, and or using equalizers, we can compensate for this anomaly," Barber says.
Now whether the speakers are free standing, mounted or built in the wall is up to debate. Most designers prefer free-standing speakers in the front of the room because there is less sound distortion. However, lots of people don't want to see speakers, so there are creative ways to hide them.
There are acoustical screens, panels, cabinets and frames to hide or embellish the speakers.
And if you're deciding where to spend your money on a home theater system, Warford says to put it in the audio system.
PICTURE
When it comes to the picture, it is a virtual alphabet soup out there. There is the HDTV (high definition TV), the LCDs (liquid crystal display) or the DLPs (digital light processing). And don't forget plasma.
This technology just offers different ways to produce a picture. Each of them has their advantages and disadvantages.
But when it comes to high-end home theater rooms, most designers are going to ignore all of the fancy TV sets and go with a front projector and screen combination. They say the quality and size of the picture is better than any TV set-up on the market.
"With the free-standing TV, the largest screen is going to be 80 inches. A projector and screen combination starts at 80 inches diagonal and goes up to as large as the room can support. It is entirely possible to do a 15-foot screen if the room is big enough," Warford says.
And the set-up is more economical. A 61-inch plasma TV is about $10,000 compared to projector/screen combinations that start at $6,000.
When determining the size of the screen there are two factors -- size of the room and where you're going to sit in the room.
"If you're too close, the picture isn't as sharp. If you're only going to sit eight feet back, we're not going with a 150-inch screen," Warford says.
But size does matter when it comes to viewing a movie.
"Most people are visual, so the larger the picture the better. I would go with the largest screen possible. One that is 11-feet wide, that's what gives people the thrill," says Carl Tatz, owner of Carl Tatz Designs, which creates custom home theater rooms for a discerning clientele.
Indeed. Echoing Tatz, Barber adds, "The larger the picture you have, the more eye movement you have and the more emotionally involved you are.
"That's why a live sports venue is more exciting than watching it on TV. You're so much more involved. That's what we want to accomplish with a home theater experience."
So get the biggest picture screen you can afford.
DÉCOR
You've got the sound; you've got the picture, now it is a question of furniture.
"The decor adds a psychological impact for someone viewing a movie," Tatz says.
Even the placement of the furniture is important. You want to be eye level with the screen. That's why Tatz can't understand the popularity of plasma TVs over the fireplace.
"Who wants to crank their necks up like that?" he asks.
And Warford prefers theater-style seating over other types.
"If you're lying down on the couch, you're not going to get that movie theater experience."
That's why designers will place theater-style chairs at specific places within a room. But when it comes down to it, Tatz doesn't believe that one element in a home theater room outshines another.
"It's not just about the sound, it's not just about the picture and it's not just about the decor. It's the gestalt of all three," Tatz says.
FUTURE
The home theater market will continue to grow, especially as technology makes it better and cheaper to have a theater room, Tatz says.
"We're going to see lots of advancements, such as in high definition. And the commercial theaters will drive this technology because the home theater industry keeps getting better and better and commercial theater isn't going to want to compete with that."
And no one sees a day when home theaters replace movie theaters.
"First, you're never going to have a screen that big in your home. The sound might be better in your home. I've been to some theaters in town where they forget to put on the surround sound.
"But people like to go to the movies. They want to see the new releases. It's a social thing. It's an event," Tatz says.
Meanwhile, if anyone out there has one of those home theater rooms with an 11-foot screen and DVD retrieval systems that lets you store up to 900 movies, give me a call. I'll bring the popcorn. o
Home theater glossary
Amplifier: It is the muscle of your home theater system. Power and a solid build are the two considerations for your amplifier. Look for at least 50 to 100 watts per channel for a home theater system.
(DLP) Digital Light Processing. A Texas Instruments process of projecting video images using a light source reflecting off an array of tens of thousands of microscopic mirrors.
(HDTV) High definition TV. HDTV has lifelike pictures and digital sound. The higher resolution produces clarity like you have never seen from a picture tube. Films retain their original width, enhancing your home theater experience. Imagine seeing more of a football field or a scenic panorama.
LCD (Liquid Crystal Display). This is a fixed pixel display device renowned for energy efficiency and colorful high-contrast images. It presents an attractive, bright picture with great contrasts. However, it does have trouble recreating blacks. The best you get is dark gray.
Pixel: The smallest element of data in a video image.
Plasma: Flat-panel display technology that ignites small pockets of gas to light phosphors.
Subwoofer: This is responsible for the lowest frequencies in your home theater system. The best subwoofers should make the room shake and rattle drinks. One of the most convenient things about a subwoofer is that the sound emanates in all directions. This means placement of the sub in a room is very easy; it can sit just about anywhere.
Surround sound: It's the name given to the rear speakers in a home theater speaker system.
Source: www.hometheatermag.com/glossary/
PHOTOS:
CREDIT: SANFORD MYERS / STAFF
CAPTION: Deep, comfortable theater seats give viewers a perfect place to watch a movie.
CAPTION: Nicholson's Hi-Fi built a theater wall to include the 92-inch screen as well as hide some of the system's speakers in a model home built by Beazer Homes in the Inglehame development in Brentwood.
CAPTION: This model home by Beazer features a seven-seat theater with a 92-inch screen and projection TV with eight speakers. The home is in the Inglehame development in Brentwood, and the theater was designed by Brian Warford of Nicholson's Hi-Fi.
Copyright © 2005 The Tennessean