Home theater design consists of much more than high-powered televisions and surround sound speakers. To be truly competitive with public movie houses, and to offer the eclectic homeowner a truly superior cinematic encounter, home theater design must reflect, balance, and work in complete harmony with its immediate environment and end-user commands. As sound and video are both directly affected by architectural acoustics, interior lighting, and natural light encroaching into the home, exceptional home theater design actually consists of multiple design layers where key components are balanced and networked together to provide a harmonious audiovisual unity that works in tandem with homeowner controls and automation and lighting programs. This requires both a multi-specialty skill set and access to literally thousands of audiovisual devices in order to provide a truly custom home theater design specific to the taste and desires of the individual client.
Our team initiates every home theater design project with a systematic and detailed consultation with the client. We develop a soft copy of the system first, using CAD software to represent individual audio/visual components, map out the automation and networking of controls and subsystems, and build visual models of layered lighting and acoustical affects. The resulting 3-D visual schematic of our proposed home theater design allows the client to clearly visualize the outcome and instantly provide us with feedback or request for changes prior to purchasing equipment of accruing labor costs.
Upon client approval of the proposal, our team then conducts a series of highly detailed, systematic tests on room acoustics and lighting levels. We measure window dimensions and corresponding natural light levels in order to determine which methods of natural light control will work best in that particular home theater design. We draw upon years of cross-training and partnership with major building contractors and architectural firms to carefully assess the acoustical qualities of wood, stone, interior brick, and other composite materials that will function as the physical housing of the new home theater. Systematic analysis of ceiling height and corner angles enables us to precisely anticipate the optimal audio frequency that will deliver the maximum quality of sound in that particular room. This data in turn helps us determine the size, number, manufacture, and placement of forward and surround sound speakers and audio distribution systems. Our certification and extensive experience in electrical design and home automation makes it possible to design a home theater in virtually any size room or custom floor plan, provided the environment offers exceptional acoustic potential.
We rely heavily upon client preference for television and projector selection. Often this is simply a matter of taste. Some clients prefer front-end projection screens that fill an entire wall. Others prefer their home theater designed around smaller, flat screen televisions that sit within the wall or an entertainment system. Regardless of build or model ultimately installed, each television and projection system features professional grade components whose picture quality, anticipated lifespan, and level of customization far surpass retail equivalents that may appear, but by no means function, the same.
Lighting also plays a critical role in home theater design, requiring a tight balance between functional light for comfort and safety and dim and speciality light for film viewing and appropriate special effects. Our relationship with over 20 major lighting manufacturers enables our home theater design team to select energy-saving, high-end lighting equipment that delivers the exact level of control and flexibility necessary to customize lighting to movie genre, historical period, audience, and homeowner preference. Our technicians can turn direct control of these lighting levels over to the host, or we can link multiple lighting levels and effects back to a central home automation control unit, using sensors and timers to automatically dim the lights the moment the host hits “play.”
As ever-growing numbers of people return home for entertainment that offers direct participation and personal control, home theater design becomes increasingly popular and sophisticated. ILD leads the way in this new, exciting, and continuously evolving industry. Contact Us at 713-863-1133713-863-1133 and learn how we can design a home theater for you!
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