| EnVision! Audio/Visual Inc. 1700 B Arctic Ave Bohemia, NY 11716 Long Island ... Make it Happen |
Home Theater
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What makes a home theater extraordinary?
There are many factors to consider when designing a home theater. Some are
obvious and some, not so much. Here is a list of things to consider:
1] Audio: At EnVision, we consider your sound system to be the most important
aspect of your system. Yes, even more than your video display. Emotional
response is the key. Big sound coupled with good content enhances the intended
experience. We're not talking about how loud the system plays, [although that
helps] but how accurate the reproduction of the content. Big loud explosions are
cool but that is not where it ends.
Surround sound gives you a feeling of being in the action. Whatever happens on
the screen typically will play through your center channel. What happens off the
screen will play through one of the other speakers. For example, when a plane
lands, you first hear it come from behind, then you see it on your screen and hear
it from your center and fronts. In a horror movie, you see the potential next
victim on the screen and hear the ominous footsteps of the bad guy behind you.
Don't forget that music plays a major role in movies and TV. Good sound
reproduction for music should not be overlooked.
Home Theater Audio can get complicated if you want to do it right. You need to
deal with: speaker selection and placement, amplification, surround possessing
and acoustics. You need someone who knows what to look for, see your space
ahead of time and design it based on your circumstance and budget. I assure
you this can not be done at a big box retailer.
Audio equipment can literally cost whatever you want to spend. You can by a
home theater in a box for a hundred bucks or you can spend $150,000 per
speaker if you want. My guess is that somewhere in the middle will work for you.
2] Video: A very close second. A lot of people put the major emphasis on the
video display, with good reason. The whole purpose of having a home theater is
to watch movies or TV. These days flat panel TV's and monitors are a dime a
dozen. As with most things in life, cheap isn't always good. Sure, they all look
good in the store where they feed the best possible signal into them. In reality
you don't always watch a perfect 1080p signal. Sometimes we watch analog TV
or old movies that are not in high def. A good TV or projector will have quality
video possessing that will make any video source look good. Most box stores
don't even sell the high quality sets, so you cant even see the difference but trust
me, when you see a Hitachi Director's Series, Fujitsu, or Pioneer Elite, you'll
know what I'm talking about. A high quality plasma almost looks three
dimensional.
Then there is the debate over technology. Should you buy plasma, LDC, DLP or
a projector? If you go to a store some sales people will tell you plasma is better,
others will tell you LCD is better. The truth is they are both wrong, and both
right. You need to figure out what is the best for you, based on location, budget
and how you will use the display. A quality projector will give you the largest
picture for the money but you need the right situation and lighting for that.
3] Remote: Having quality home theater without a remote to control everything
with "one touch" macros is almost pointless. If you go to the store and buy a
display, amp, processor, scaler, and DVD player, then you add your cable or
satellite box, you end up with about half a dozen remotes. At EnVision, this is
unacceptable. Remotes vary in format style and cost. You can choose a
touchscreen remote, a more traditional button remote or a combination of both.
RF remotes will allow you to house the equipment in another location.
Which ever remote you choose if fine, as long as it has intuitive, easy to use
macros to control everything. You should be able to turn everything on and off
with one button. Choose sources with one touch and let the remote do all the
necessary switching and adjust the settings to desired presets in case someone
messes with the controls. This will allow your theater to be used by everybody
without the hassle of people calling you because they don't know how to turn the
TV on.
4] Source Components: HDDVD or Blu-Ray? As of this writing, I still don't Know.
Based solely on anecdotal evidence, Blu-Ray seems to be what clients are
asking for. They both have pros and cons compared to each other. One thing I
do know is that they both look great on a quality 1080p display. My best advice
at this point is; if you don't have a 1080p set, wait for this format war to shake
itself out. If you have 1080p, and you want the best possible picture, choose the
format that has the content you want and go from there.
If you have a 720p set, or you just have a lot of DVD's that you don't want to
replace, then get a quality, up converting DVD player. If you are willing to spend
$800 or more on your DVD player you wont be disappointed. There really is a
difference.
Cable or satellite? Your call. Choose the one that has the channels you want
and priced to your satisfaction. VHS? Why not? You may have content on VHS.
If you have a quality display or video scaler, it should look OK. These units are
becoming rare and you may not be able to find them soon. If you have
irreplaceable VHS content, you may want to have it converted to DVD.
5] Acoustics: I know that wood floors are in but when it comes to your theater,
opt for carpet and padding. Wall carpet, curtains and fluffy furniture all help.
That's the basics. You need to get the echo out one way or another. An expert
from Envision can come in and look at your room to help get it right.
6] Lighting: Often overlooked, proper lighting will round out the experience. First
of all, fixtures should all be dimable. No florescent fixtures please, including
those squiggly light bulb things. Environmentalists, before you pull out the poison
pen, you should know that dimmed incandescent light bulbs save as much energy
as those expensive, non dimming squiggle jobs. Lights should be positioned so
they do not cause glare on the screen.
Once you got the perfect lighting, control should be available on your remote.
Presets for [Play] [Pause] [Stop] should happen automatically. This an
inexpensive way to get a ton of "wow" in your home theater. When your friends
come over and the lights dim when you press play, they will be more impressed
with that, then your AV system. Don't ask me why, they just will.
7] Atmosphere: Comfortable seating goes without saying. When it comes to
enjoying a movie, [decorators, hold your ears] aesthetics are the least important
aspect of your home theater, mainly because it should be dark! Seriously, hire a
good decorator, this ain't my bag. EnVision has a list of talented decorators who
know how to balance aesthetics, comfort and acoustics. Together with EnVision
system integrators, we can design the perfect home theater for you.
There are many factors to consider when designing a home theater. Some are
obvious and some, not so much. Here is a list of things to consider:
1] Audio: At EnVision, we consider your sound system to be the most important
aspect of your system. Yes, even more than your video display. Emotional
response is the key. Big sound coupled with good content enhances the intended
experience. We're not talking about how loud the system plays, [although that
helps] but how accurate the reproduction of the content. Big loud explosions are
cool but that is not where it ends.
Surround sound gives you a feeling of being in the action. Whatever happens on
the screen typically will play through your center channel. What happens off the
screen will play through one of the other speakers. For example, when a plane
lands, you first hear it come from behind, then you see it on your screen and hear
it from your center and fronts. In a horror movie, you see the potential next
victim on the screen and hear the ominous footsteps of the bad guy behind you.
Don't forget that music plays a major role in movies and TV. Good sound
reproduction for music should not be overlooked.
Home Theater Audio can get complicated if you want to do it right. You need to
deal with: speaker selection and placement, amplification, surround possessing
and acoustics. You need someone who knows what to look for, see your space
ahead of time and design it based on your circumstance and budget. I assure
you this can not be done at a big box retailer.
Audio equipment can literally cost whatever you want to spend. You can by a
home theater in a box for a hundred bucks or you can spend $150,000 per
speaker if you want. My guess is that somewhere in the middle will work for you.
2] Video: A very close second. A lot of people put the major emphasis on the
video display, with good reason. The whole purpose of having a home theater is
to watch movies or TV. These days flat panel TV's and monitors are a dime a
dozen. As with most things in life, cheap isn't always good. Sure, they all look
good in the store where they feed the best possible signal into them. In reality
you don't always watch a perfect 1080p signal. Sometimes we watch analog TV
or old movies that are not in high def. A good TV or projector will have quality
video possessing that will make any video source look good. Most box stores
don't even sell the high quality sets, so you cant even see the difference but trust
me, when you see a Hitachi Director's Series, Fujitsu, or Pioneer Elite, you'll
know what I'm talking about. A high quality plasma almost looks three
dimensional.
Then there is the debate over technology. Should you buy plasma, LDC, DLP or
a projector? If you go to a store some sales people will tell you plasma is better,
others will tell you LCD is better. The truth is they are both wrong, and both
right. You need to figure out what is the best for you, based on location, budget
and how you will use the display. A quality projector will give you the largest
picture for the money but you need the right situation and lighting for that.
3] Remote: Having quality home theater without a remote to control everything
with "one touch" macros is almost pointless. If you go to the store and buy a
display, amp, processor, scaler, and DVD player, then you add your cable or
satellite box, you end up with about half a dozen remotes. At EnVision, this is
unacceptable. Remotes vary in format style and cost. You can choose a
touchscreen remote, a more traditional button remote or a combination of both.
RF remotes will allow you to house the equipment in another location.
Which ever remote you choose if fine, as long as it has intuitive, easy to use
macros to control everything. You should be able to turn everything on and off
with one button. Choose sources with one touch and let the remote do all the
necessary switching and adjust the settings to desired presets in case someone
messes with the controls. This will allow your theater to be used by everybody
without the hassle of people calling you because they don't know how to turn the
TV on.
4] Source Components: HDDVD or Blu-Ray? As of this writing, I still don't Know.
Based solely on anecdotal evidence, Blu-Ray seems to be what clients are
asking for. They both have pros and cons compared to each other. One thing I
do know is that they both look great on a quality 1080p display. My best advice
at this point is; if you don't have a 1080p set, wait for this format war to shake
itself out. If you have 1080p, and you want the best possible picture, choose the
format that has the content you want and go from there.
If you have a 720p set, or you just have a lot of DVD's that you don't want to
replace, then get a quality, up converting DVD player. If you are willing to spend
$800 or more on your DVD player you wont be disappointed. There really is a
difference.
Cable or satellite? Your call. Choose the one that has the channels you want
and priced to your satisfaction. VHS? Why not? You may have content on VHS.
If you have a quality display or video scaler, it should look OK. These units are
becoming rare and you may not be able to find them soon. If you have
irreplaceable VHS content, you may want to have it converted to DVD.
5] Acoustics: I know that wood floors are in but when it comes to your theater,
opt for carpet and padding. Wall carpet, curtains and fluffy furniture all help.
That's the basics. You need to get the echo out one way or another. An expert
from Envision can come in and look at your room to help get it right.
6] Lighting: Often overlooked, proper lighting will round out the experience. First
of all, fixtures should all be dimable. No florescent fixtures please, including
those squiggly light bulb things. Environmentalists, before you pull out the poison
pen, you should know that dimmed incandescent light bulbs save as much energy
as those expensive, non dimming squiggle jobs. Lights should be positioned so
they do not cause glare on the screen.
Once you got the perfect lighting, control should be available on your remote.
Presets for [Play] [Pause] [Stop] should happen automatically. This an
inexpensive way to get a ton of "wow" in your home theater. When your friends
come over and the lights dim when you press play, they will be more impressed
with that, then your AV system. Don't ask me why, they just will.
7] Atmosphere: Comfortable seating goes without saying. When it comes to
enjoying a movie, [decorators, hold your ears] aesthetics are the least important
aspect of your home theater, mainly because it should be dark! Seriously, hire a
good decorator, this ain't my bag. EnVision has a list of talented decorators who
know how to balance aesthetics, comfort and acoustics. Together with EnVision
system integrators, we can design the perfect home theater for you.
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