Create a home theatre: some expert tips

Building a home theatre doesn't need to be a huge expense. In fact, almost any room can become a private cinema with just a few simple alterations. The key is knowing what makes for suitable room. Here are some expert tips you should consider when designing your home theatre.

• Sound is an important part of the cinematic experience.
• You'll want it loud enough to create atmosphere but not so loud that it upsets your neighbours. For the best sound, choose a room with these four characteristics:

1. An Enclosed Space

• Four walls and a door form the best home theatre room.
• An enclosed room lets you nudge up the volume without disturbing others and limits the area that has to be filled with sound, so you'll get a more powerful effect from your system.
• Positioning speakers is easier, too.

2. Rectangular shape

• Shape influences how sound bounces around a room.
• Perfectly square rooms or rooms that are twice as long as they are wide can create muddy sound patterns.
• The perfect room is about 1½ times as long as it is wide, with the screen and front speakers placed against one of the short walls.

3. Enough space

• You don't want a large screen in a small room.
• In such a set up, if you sit too close to a large screen, you'll see the individual dots that make up the picture.
• Ideally, the eye-to-screen distance is about three times the size of your screen (measured diagonally).

4. A centred seating area

• You don't just need seating space; you need it in front of the screen.
• An onscreen image is sharpest when viewed straight on.
• The farther you move off centre, the dimmer it gets.
• Most screens present a good picture within an arc of 60 to 90 degrees of their centre.

• When furnishing the room that will be your home theatre, keep lighting and sound in mind.
• For a vibrant picture, you want very little light in the room.
• For better acoustics, choose soft furnishings that absorb sound, not hard surfaces that reflect it.

• Wall-to-wall carpeting is ideal for a home theatre, but a large rug over wood or tile flooring is almost as good.
• Decorate the walls with sound absorbers.
• Heavy fabric wallpaper is an acoustical improvement over bare walls, and cloth wall hangings are even better.
• A bookshelf against a wall is also an effective sound absorber.

• Heavy curtains that completely cover windows are best (for both light and sound).
• Window coverings that fit inside window openings, such as blinds or shutters, block light pretty well but sometimes allow shafts of light to pass around them.
• Choose darker colours for your home theatre's walls, carpet, and other furnishing to subdue any light the does enter the room.

• For picture clarity (and less eye strain), avoid reflective surfaces in the room, especially mirrors, picture glass, table tops or cabinet doors.
• Even the sheen of your home theatre's paint can have a noticeable effect.
• Choose a flat or semi-gloss paint instead of satin or gloss variety.

Remember these expert tips and you'll be able to transform a room in your house into a lovely home theatre.