How To Set Up A Movie Theater At Home

By XGIMI Tech - 2022-01

What Is A Home Theater?

Why Do We Have Home Theaters?

What Should You Consider?

Home Theater Projector Setup And Guide To Buying Projectors

Product Recommendations

Choosing A Suitable Projector Screen              

Conclusion        

What Is A Home Theater?

A large "cinema-like" movie palace at your home.

"Home theater" known as home cinema gives you a cinema experience that you are in control of.

Are you thinking of your wallet? Don't panic, "improved technology" has made building a home theater easier and more affordable. Keep reading and learn the how-tos of setting up a home theater.

Why Do We Have Home Theaters?

• Having a cinema experience without leaving your home.
• High standard sound quality
• Immersive movie experience
• For those who prefer watching content on a large screen.

What Should you consider?

• Size and shape of your home theater
• Screen size if you're using a TV or projector
•  Sound system (acoustics)
•  Seating style

●The perfect size

The-larger the-merrier! A 20ft long by 15ft wide home theater with a high ceiling provides an immersive viewing experience; if you are opting-in for a smaller space, a classic family room around 10ft square will give you a whacking immersive experience with a perfect TV or Projector size.

The room should be rectangular for better viewing and sound transmission.

● Calculating the suggested viewing distance for your TV/Projector dimensions

• 4:3 Aspect ratio

• 16:9 Aspect ratio

● Choosing the right room shape for sound transmission

Sound waves bounce across each other causing a muddy sound if your home theater room is not the right shape.

Best shapes for Home Theater room

• The Golden Trapagon
• The Golden Cuboid
• The Normal Trapagon

The sound systems should have enough power to fill the room.

A surround sound system requires more planning than stereos.

Home Theater Projector Setup And Guide To Buying Projectors

Choosing a suitable projector

• What resolution is best for you？
• How about the brightness?
        A projector with 1800 to 3000 ANSI lumens will be sufficient in a home theater with low surrounding lights and thick curtains. A bright movie theatre projector with over 3000 ANSI lumens in a dark room will be too bright and may cause eye strain, except your home theatre is bright.
• Long-throw or short-throw projector?

Differences

• Long-throw projection refers to a distance over 8 feet away from projector to screen.
• Short-throw projection refers to a distance less than 8 feet away from projector to screen.

Long-throw projector

• They are smaller and lighter than short-throw projectors and can be moved from one room to another easily.
• They needs to be put farther from the wall or screen.

Short throw projectors

• They are bigger and harder to carry. They are usually closer to the wall or screen.
• They have built-in speakers and heat dispersion technology which gives them a better sound quality and allows them to use higher ANSI lumens, resulting in a higher brightness level.

Product Recommendations

XGIMI AURA (4K Ultra Short-Throw laser projector)

Placement

• place 11.7” from any wall to project a 120” razor-sharp theatre screen.
• place 4.3” from any wall to project a 80” razor-sharp theatre screen.

Resolution

• 4K UHD with 8.3m individual pixels on the screen, providing clear and sharp images.

Image quality

• ALDP technology (provides higher color gamut, contrast and light efficiency)
• HDR10 (displays impressive contrast ratio in bright or dark environments)
• MEMC (delivers an amazingly reduced latency with the least amount of image blur)
• 3D (cinematic 3D display with 3D glasses)

Brightness

• 1800 ISO lumens, enough for medium to low ambient light environments.

Safe viewing

• It eliminates harmful blue light and uses diffuse reflection imaging, preventing eye strain caused by direct blue light exposure.

System

• Its built-in Android TV™ provides 5000+ apps such as Disney+, HBO Max, YouTube, and Hulu for your entertainment!

Sound quality (Provides excellent sound quality and creates an immersive viewing experience).

It includes:

• 4'15W built-in Harman/Kardon speakers (2 tweeters, 2 woofers)
• Dolby Digital Audio
• DTS-HD
• DTS Studio Sound

Connections

• WIFI
• HDMI*3 (for Chromecast, PS5, Switch, external speakers, laptop, DVD, etc)
• USB*3 (USB flash disk, for videos, music, PPTs, etc)
• Bluetooth 5.0 (for external speakers, etc)
• OPTICAL*1 (for external speakers, home theatre, etc)

XGIMI HORIZON Pro (4K long-throw projector)

Placement

• place 13 feet from any wall to project a 150” razor-sharp theatre screen.
• place 10.5 feet from any wall to project a 120” razor-sharp theatre screen.

Resolution

• 4K optical engine, 8.3 million pixels

Image quality

• XGIMI’s unique X-VUE 2.0 image engine increases the clarity and accuracy of dynamic pictures.
• MEMC: This delivers a reduced latency with the least amount of image blur using frame insertion technology.
• HDR10 and HLG: impressive contrast ratio in bright or dark environments.

Brightness

• 1500 ISO lumens

System

• It has built-in Android TV™ provides 5000+ apps such as Disney+, HBO Max, YouTube, and HULU for your entertainment!

Setup

(The advanced Intelligent Screen Adaption (ISA) technology significantly decreased the hardships of setting up a projector).

It removes the need to manually adjust the projection screen to each edge and corner by matching the display to each edge flawlessly, automatically optimizing your display.

It also supports:

• Autofocus, automatically focuses on selected point or area
• Auto keystone correction. My projector self-adjusts its lenses, now I don't have to watch distorted, off-axis images
• Auto obstacle avoidance, detects obstacles and avoids crash

Sound quality

• 2*8W Harman Kardon speakers, DTS-HD studio sound, Dolby Digital, provides superb sound quality.

Connections

• WIFI
• HDMI*2 (for Chromecast, PS5, Switch, external speakers, laptop, DVD, etc)
• USB*2 (USB flash disk, for videos, music, PowerPoint for presentations, etc)
• Bluetooth 5.0 (for external speakers, etc)
• OPTICAL*1 (for external speakers, home theatre, etc)

Choosing A Suitable Projector Screen     

Screen color

A white screen is the most common projector screen color. It reflects colours sharp and clear than grey screens, making its consumer demand higher in the market. A grey screen reflects less surrounding light than a white screen.

What screen size is better?

It varies depending on the user's need, viewing habits, and preferred viewing distance. Projector screens can be 80” to 150”.

A screen size larger than 80" will give you a stunning view.

The rule of calculating a perfect screen size is to multiply the distance of the person seated farthest from the screen by 1/5. If the farthest seating position is 50 feet away, you'll need a screen that is 120 inches high.

Does screen size affect resolution?

Yes.
The number of pixels in a screen remains the same regardless of its size, meaning that a size 20” and size 100” screens have the same amount of pixels, for example, 2.07 million pixels with 1080p resolution.

As a result, the image will reduce in quality when projected on a larger home theater projector screen with the same resolution used on a smaller screen.

Sound system

Consider a surround sound system if you have high standards for sound quality but remember, it requires careful planning. Check the last pages of #Number2: "what to consider when choosing a location" for room shapes that have been recommended through careful planning and calculation.

Choose some or all of the mentioned systems below based on your needs

• Left/ right channel speakers (main speakers for most sound)
• Center channel speakers (for dialogue or music locals)
• Subwoofer (for bass)
• Surround speakers support the left/right speakers to create a more immersive experience

Theater seating style

• Consider the number of seats you need
• Do you like armchairs or sofas, make your choice
• If the theater is large, remember to elevate the back row considering those sitting at the back, so they don't have to strain their necks (consider a pre-built platform)

Conclusion

Important factors to consider when setting up a home theater

• Size (20 ft long by 15 ft wide with high ceiling is recommended)
• The room shape (rectangular room is recommended for better sound transmission and viewing)
• Theater seating style (number and array of seats)
• TV (size, HDR compatibility and viewing distance)
• Projector (long-throw or short-throw, projector screen and resolution)
• Projector screen (color and size)
• Sound system

You can also consider using the best projector stand available to you to mount the projector to give you excellent viewing. 

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