<loc>http://www.projectionlogic.com/index_files/Page655.htm</loc>

SHEDDING THE LIGHT ON PROJECTION

Designing Your Home Theater

 

After you have decided where to build your home theater, there is still plenty to do before you make that trip to the electronics store and home center. A good plan will insure you budget properly, make fewer trips to the store and allow for emerging technology for years to come. If you are building from an unfinished room and you have drawn out your floor plan on paper, you should make a list of all the equipment you want to integrate into your system. Other than the obvious projector and sound system, consider lighting, automated window shades, dropdown screens and even seating and décor when searching for the ultimate home theater integration. Some other cool gadgets to think about are “rumble shakers” they mount under your seats and operate on low sound frequencies making you feel like part of the action, or consider game consoles and computer interface. Add a fog machine and some colored lights and your teenager will have his own personal dance club.

 

When you have come up with a complete list of ideas and gadgets you want to integrate, research them on the internet to find the right components at the best prices. If you can’t afford to do it all at once, prioritize the most important components. You can always run cables for future integration.

 

Plan ahead, measure, and record.

 

At this point, you have your floor plan on paper and have decided what components you want integrated into your new home theater. Now you need to decide where each piece of the puzzle will go. Screen and projector placement are easy, but what about speaker placement and lighting and room controls? Draw everything out on paper first, read the specification sheets for each component and record where the manufactures suggest putting them for optimal performance. Here are a few hints to help get you started:

 

 If you are using wall mounted speakers, be sure the center of the speaker is pointed directly where your head would be if you were sitting down watching a movie. The same rule applies for ceiling mounted speakers. Ceiling speakers should be directional. Lighting should be directed away from the screen and seating area.  Often, wall sconces that direct the light towards the ceiling work best.

 

 It’s a good idea to run conduit or pipe back to a central location close to where your stereo components will be, in case you want to replace wires or components in the future or if you plan on adding on to your system later. Also be sure to mark on your room diagram where the conduits are and how they run. Pull strings in all of your pipes by using a vacuum. Tie twine or heavy string to a sponge cut to fit loosely in the conduit, stick it in one end and hold the vacuum on the other, this will suck the string through the pipe at lightning speed.  You can use these strings to measure your cable lengths. Be sure to always add a few feet to your measurements - better to have too much than too little.

Blog