TV Room Tips

Designing a perfect home theater system can be an exciting project for those who enjoy movies and television. A home theater offers the perfect space to entertain, watch the big game, or just sit back and watch reruns of a favorite show to unwind after a tough week. While many people will opt to just place a television in the middle of a living room, designing a home theater takes the experience one step further and creates an ideal space for relaxing. Here are some tips and suggestions to keep in mind while looking to design this perfect space.

Lighting

Lighting is critical in a home theater. It is important to find a balance between having too much light, which can result in glares on the screen, and too little light, when people cannot see to move about the room or strain their eyes while watching the television. To help control the lighting, it may be a good idea to select a room that is either in the basement or more towards the middle of the house to minimize the number of windows and natural light. If the selected room does have natural light, blackout curtains can help control the light for daytime viewing pleasure. Then, a few overhead lights, preferably with a dimmer or alternate way to adjust them, should do the trick.

Seating

Seats should be arranged so that viewers can see the screen straight on to maximize the experience. It is also important to remember that the larger the screen, the further back the seats should be. For example, a screen that is 32” to 40” should probably have seating that ranges from 8 feet to 12 feet away.

Equipment

Home theater equipment is what many people worry will drain the budget when they begin designing their own home theater. To help avoid this problem, it is a good idea to figure out which items will be a priority and which can be either left out or added at a later time. As a suggestion, surround sound speakers might seem as though they are not a necessity, but they are one item that helps to bring the theater to the next level and should be included if possible. Other important items would be a quality DVD or Blu Ray player, high quality screen, and comfortable chairs. Don’t forget how important a quality DVR can be for your setup. DirecTV has the best DVR on the market titled the Genie. As well as working great with your iPhone the Genie can also stream through your laptop and iPad. Other items that should definitely be considered would be a projector, coffee or side tables for people to place drinks or snacks, and perhaps even a mini fridge to store special food items for movie nights.

TV viewing selection

Designing the ideal home theater will not do much good if there is nothing to watch. For this reason it is essential to have a range of viewing material available. If the room will be used for game nights or watching prime time television, getting a cable subscription through DirecTV will be an excellent idea. If movies are popular choices, then using a moving streaming service, such as Hulu, can be a great addition to a cable subscription to make sure a number of movies are available.

Home theaters are excellent additions to homes. They can be used privately or can make a particular home into the perfect place to watch the big game. Taking the above advice into account can help make any home theater into a comfortable viewing space.