3 Common Home Theater Design Mistakes and How to Fix Them

If you have an existing home theater or media room that just isn’t living up to your expectations, it may be that something went wrong during the initial installation. Whether you attempted the setup or worked with a different installer, a home entertainment system that rivals the nearby cinema requires professional expertise, equipment, and design to do the job right.

Beware of the following media room or home theater design mistakes we often see in subpar installations and consider our expert tips to greatly improve the entertainment experience in your Greenwich, CT home.

SEE ALSO: 3 of the Best Benefits to a Professional Home Theater Installation

Mistake 1: You Chose the Wrong Screen Size

Most homeowners think a bigger display is better. While this statement is generally true, a wall-size TV or projector screen can do more harm than good if you can’t install it at the right viewing distance from your seating area.

Generally, you should sit 1.5 to 3 times the screen height measurement away from your display for a widescreen cinema experience. This measurement depends on several factors, including your personal seating preference. The best way to determine the ideal measurement for you is by setting up a private demonstration at our local showroom.

We know not all rooms can accommodate such a large screen, and that’s okay. If you need to downsize your display, consider an OLED 4K HDR TV from Sony. Not only are OLED displays specifically designed to deliver beautiful picture from virtually any viewing angle in the room, but Sony offers a variety of display sizes to accommodate different home theater and media room environments.

Mistake 2: You Chose a Room with Lots of Ambient Light

If your home theater or media room is in a higher-traffic area of the home that is exposed to windows for natural lighting, then watching a movie during the day is likely a painful event. Your picture is dull, colorless, and washed out due to the reflection of ambient light on the screen.

There are multiple solutions to this issue, but a popular one that also adds convenience to your daily routines is using motorized blackout shades on your home theater or media room windows. Motorized blackout shades are made to transform your space for total darkness. Keep them rolled up to enjoy natural light when your display is not in use, and then use one-touch control from a designated app, hand-held remote, or on-wall keypad to lower them once you’re ready for a movie.

Mistake 3: You Didn’t Consider Room Acoustics

Even if you’ve invested in high-quality speakers, you may not be getting the most out of your home theater sound system if the acoustics in your room are poor. The objects and surfaces in your home theater or media room significantly affect how you hear sound coming from your speakers. Hard, bare surfaces create loud and painful echoes while plush surfaces absorb sound and make it thin.

Acoustic treatments must be properly designed and installed to balance and enhance the audio in your home theater or media room. While you can find a lot of free tutorials online that assist in installing your own acoustic treatment panels, you still risk spending unwanted time, money, and labor doing it yourself.

Instead, we suggest you work with a professional who has seasoned experience in designing unrivaled home theaters and media rooms that tick all your boxes and more. Our credentials speak for themselves.

Learn what else your home theater or media room might be missing by visiting our local showroom and exploring the latest trends in audiovisual technology. Our AV professionals will be there to answer your questions and make suggestions for your current setup. Learn more by contacting our team at (203) 338-0706 or filling out our online contact form.