11 Home Theater Tips For A Better Movie Watching Experience
11 Home Theater Tips For A Better Movie Watching Experience
One of the reasons I personally love home theater so much is because of how customizable the experience can be.
Whether it’s deciding to wall mount a TV to save space, or using a subwoofer for deep bass, there’s all kinds of ways you can make your entertainment experience special.
Plus, with things looking to become more digital as of late, more people may consume their content at home.
So in that regard, here’s 11 home theater tips for a better movie watching experience.
These are a few ways to optimize the space you’re in to make things more cinematic and immersive.
1. Using Bias Lighting
There’s plenty of ways to do so, but one way is through proper lighting which is a great way to set the tone.
Using what’s known as bias lighting, particularly in the form of light strips placed behind your TV, is a great way of doing that.
But more importantly, it can help minimize the difference in brightness perceived between the actual screen and the room’s lighting.
This in turn, has a few potential benefits.
The first is that it can help with viewing over extended periods of time making it more manageable.
The other thing that bias lighting can do is making the picture quality itself look better as black levels might seem darker — giving the image a little more depth & dynamism.
This of course is going to depend on the type of screen, its brightness, and lighting conditions in the room, but it sometimes helps in that regard.
The brightness the light strips should be set at also depends, but in general they should be relatively dim to enhance the look of things rather than distract from it.
The color of the lights is also important, and if possible should be set as closest to 6500Kelvin as possible as that’s the color temperature filmmakers create their movies in (basically a warmer color)
Just remember to not set it too bright though.
Light strips in this temperature also exist, so that can make things easier if you didn’t want to manually set it.
Plus, often times you can adjust things on the fly with a smartphone since they often have smart integration and compatibility.
Lamps around the room at this color temperature can also give that movie feel.
Even the room’s lighting in general can improve its ambiance and how it feels.
But if you wanted to go more colorful with your lighting, that’s also an option and it really just depends on your preferences and what look you’re going for regarding the room.
https://easyhometheater.net/is-bias-lighting-worth-it
2. Implementing A Particular Home Theater Paint Color Scheme
The right color scheme for your home theater or entertainment space can go a long way in improving the overall feel of the room.
In my opinion, the surroundings are just as important as the TV and speakers themselves.
Though the color, theme, etc depends on your preferences, keep in mind that brighter walls can reflect more light than darker ones.
Conversely, if the room you’re using is a living room and you use really dark colors, it could make things feel constricted within the room.
So you’ll want to find a balance if it’s not a dedicated room you specifically watch movies in.
It can get pretty in depth so here’s more I did on that if curious.
https://easyhometheater.net/home-theater-paint-color-ideas
3. Optimizing Your Display
Another way to improve your experience with viewing content is optimizing the display you’re watching it on.
Many TVs right out of the box aren’t set to their fullest capabilities, with some having a skewed color temperature or a sharpness set too high for example.
There’s of course the option of having it professionally calibrated if you didn’t want to adjust things yourself, however there’s ways you can optimize your display so that it looks better.
Here’s a way ways to do that.
https://easyhometheater.net/how-to-optimize-your-tv
4. Hiding Speaker Wires
Hiding your speaker wires is one of those things that can make your entertainment room look more tidy and professional.
Not to mention that with the wires out of the way, there’s less chance of actually tripping over them or pulling a component.
That way more focus is on the actual movie itself.
What’s interesting is that there’s quite a few ways to have them less visible, ranging from using cable covers/raceways to using flat speaker wire.
https://easyhometheater.net/hiding-speaker-wire-solutions
5. Calibrating And Placing Your Speakers
Similar to how having your display properly calibrated or optimized, calibrating your speakers can make a big difference with how they sound.
Now you technically could do this manually using a multimeter and other equipment, but the easier way in my opinion is using a receiver that can automatically adjust things.
Modern home theater receivers that support 5 channel sound or more often come with an optimization microphone that plugs into the device.
From there, it’s typically a matter of going through the initial prompt on screen, then starting the process while the receiver adjusts things.
Their placement is also important, and if they have a rear port, then placing them a bit from the wall can help with them not sounding too boomy.
6. Hiding Home Theater Equipment
The next way would be through organizing your devices and equipment so that things feel more spacious even in the same room.
From experience, even doing things as simple as moving wires out the way like previously mentioned, or wall mounting the TV to forgo the need of a stand can make a big difference.
Even storage containers for organizing things in the room may help.
Here’s some ways to save space in a home theater.
https://easyhometheater.net/ways-to-save-space-in-a-home-theater
7. Using The Right Subwoofer With Proper Placement
Using the right subwoofer is important since it’s not only the thing that’s often responsible for the bass in a home theater, but can add a sense of improved soundstage and depth to the content.
But its placement is also very important, and getting that wrong can diminish the bass you experience.
It’s a complex topic, and I went into a lot more depth here while also mentioning a few of the ones I think are solid.
https://easyhometheater.net/the-best-home-theater-subwoofers#guide
8. Using 2 Subwoofers
Building on from that last point, to improve things even more, using 2 subwoofers as opposed to one can work well too.
Reason being, by using 2 subwoofers, you not only get a 3 deciBel increase in bass output, but also the bass response itself being smoother in room.
That is, if you have them placed correctly, since placement can alter those improvements in bass.
Here’s more on that aspect.
https://easyhometheater.net/setting-up-2-subwoofers
9. Using Acoustic Panels Behind Speakers
Yet another aspect that can affect how everything sounds in the room is the very room itself.
Sound waves travel, and when they meet reflective surfaces in the room, they’re bounced off into other directions.
The more of these surfaces in a room, the more the audio from your speakers or soundbar can potentially echo and sound less detailed.
To potentially reduce this, you can do what’s known as acoustically treating the room
This is just basically implementing some sort of object or configuration that’s made with the purpose of diffusing or absorbing unwanted sounds in a space.
One way to do this is by using acoustic panels both behind the speakers themselves, and in specific parts of the room where the degradation of audio quality is most noticeable.
Since every room and home theater setup is different, the efficacy of this does depend on what kind of panels are used, how many are used, where they’re placed, and how it all sounds to your ears.
Still, acoustic panels can be one way to improve how things sound if there’s lots of hard surfaces in the room.
Using more plush materials in the room like rugs, overstuffed chairs, etc is another way as well.
https://easyhometheater.net/should-you-put-acoustic-panels-behind-speakers
10. Using A Bass Shaker
Using what’s known as a bass shaker can be another immersive way to enhance your listening experience.
To put it simply, these are basically a small device that attaches to the seat that outputs bass below what’s audibly perceptible.
By doing this, it can create a more tactile experience that’s also physical with what’s happening on screen.
https://easyhometheater.net/are-bass-shakers-worth-it
11. Decorating The Room With A Wallpaper Or Cinema Based Accessories
Now an obvious way to change how the room looks itself would be through paint, but if that’s not feasible, then a suitable wallpaper can also add flair to a room.
These are great because they’re basically peel and stick, and come in all kinds of varieties, colors, lengths, etc.
If you were going for a more cinematic feel in particular, you could even implement more cinematic based accessories like a movie reel or movie posters for example.
These can even make for great gift ideas too.
Final Thoughts
Hopefully this gave you ideas on a few ways you may be able to enhance the overall experience in your own setup.
There’s lots of choice in how that can be done, and it’s really just dependent on your particular preferences.
In my opinion, even something as simple as a bigger TV in a large room can sometimes be what adds that immersion.
That about does it for this one though.
Until next time, make it easy, keep it simple.
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Hey everyone it’s nice to meet you. I’m Jay, writer & founder of the site Easy Home Theater. I’ve been with the hobby of home entertainment for many years now. I decided to create this site to be a helpful resource, and share everything that I’ve learned from personal experience with you. I also happen to be a huge gamer, lover of all things tech related, and a major fitness buff (love weightlifting)
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