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Design Center - Home Theater

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Home Theater: Get a Handle on your High-Tech Headaches . Do you feel like your electronics, video games, CDs, DVDs, and other tech toys are taking over your home? The heap of various systems, power cords, controllers, disks and the peripherals that come with them can turn your home entertainment center into an unsightly mess. Certainly, the need for attractive and versatile storage options has never been greater. But with some clever display and storage solutions, you can streamline your home media center and turn your entertainment chaos into a manageable mix. Display versus hideaway First, decide if you want to keep your media under wraps or on display. There's no right or wrong here; it's just a matter of personal preference. Some people like to have their large, flat panel TVs out in the open, but want to keep all the other equipment tucked out of sight. If that's the case, look for an attractive TV stand with drawers for media storage. TV stands come in all styles from vintage to modern, as well as different heights - if you or your kids spend a lot of time on the floor playing video games, you'll want something that sits lower to the ground. If not, you may want a taller piece that keeps the TV at eye level while you're sitting on the sofa. If you prefer to have everything out of sight until you're ready to use it, consider an armoire or entertainment center with doors. Armoires are especially nice for concealing the TV and any associated media clutter when you want a quick way to clean up the look of your living room. Look for one that has precut holes in the back for wiring, which will make plugging in your electronics much easier. If space is the major issue, modular furniture designs allow you to extend the units upwards and outward at varying heights, and may help you configure just the right size and shape to fit your needs. Within your entertainment furniture, the most efficient use of space is to stacking equipment. Be careful not to stack any equipment with venting on the top (such as amps or satellite receivers) because they might get too warm. Use chair-leg protectors (small plastic discs) as spacers between these pieces of equipment when stacking. Super storage Some of the best advice for adding storage solutions is to look UP! Vertical space is often under-utilized in the home, and the home entertainment center is one of the best places to use it. Buy furniture that makes full use of the height in your room - for example, an entertainment center with a bridge and audio piers over the TV for storing DVDs, CDs and games, or a full-scale wall system that has lots of levels for storage space. If you don't want one large piece, consider installing shelves above and/or around the TV to display and organize your stuff. Think of other hard-to-reach areas in the room, such as above a tables or sofas - open shelves here may be the perfect place to display the things that you only want to access occasionally. You might also frame your TV stand or armoire with tall bookcases, which give you more flexibility in changing the room around than one large piece of furniture. Make ALL your furnishings contribute Make sure tables and stands work overtime by choosing two-tiered coffee tables that add an extra display surface or built-in storage, end tables with attached magazine storage, and ottomans that open up to store DVDs or game controllers. Cut down on cord clutter Acquiring new electronics and getting rid of old ones are a nightmare if your cords are a jumbled mess behind the TV. Fold mailing labels back on themselves around each cord and label the wire. Don't forget to label the cords that connect different components to each other, as well as the cord to the electric supply. Then bundle like wires together to cut down on cord clutter. No matter which media storage solution you choose, you'll enjoy your home entertainment that much more when your home is organized and clutter-free.

Home Theater: Home Theater . Now, more and more people are turning their ordinary TV rooms into Home Theaters. This process used to involve a projector and a screen and was too expensive for most people to afford. Advances in technology have given people more choices for home theater setups. Some people find that a home theater is quieter and more convenient than a movie theater, and the picture and sound quality are great. If you're looking for a home theater system, you have a lot of decisions ahead of you. If you're thinking of turning your den into a fully functioning home theater, this article will help you get started. What Is Home Theater? Home Theater is difficult to define: it's really just a vague term for a particular approach to home entertainment. Generally speaking, a home theater system is a combination of electronic components designed to recreate the experience of watching a movie in a theater. When you watch a movie on a home theater system, you are more immersed in the experience than when you watch one on an ordinary television. Unique home theater seating can help bring the experience to life. To see how home theaters do this, let's take a look at the original model, the movie theater. When it comes to picture and sound, the theater can offer an amazing experience we just don't get at home. That's usually why people will pay to go to the movies, even though renting a movie is cheaper. There are a few main components that make watching TV and going to the movies very different. 1. One of the biggest differences is the sound experience. When you go to see a movie in a quality movie theater, you'll hear the music, sound effects and dialogue not just from the screen, but all around you. In this surround sound system, you hear different parts of the soundtrack coming from different places. You are more involved in the experience of watching a film because the world of the movie is all around you. 2. The second chief component of the theater experience is the large size of the movie screen. In a theater, the screen takes up most of your field of view, which makes it very easy to lose yourself in the movie. After all, you're sitting in the dark with only one thing to look at, and everything you're looking at seems much bigger than life 3. We also enjoy going to the movies because we can see everything so well. The detail is much sharper than what we see on an ordinary 19-inch television, and the movement is much more fluid. We may not consciously recognize this, but it does make a significant difference in how we enjoy a movie. When we can see more detail, we are more engrossed in the world of the movie. 4. The basic idea of a home theater is to recreate these elements with home equipment, furnishings and even the popcorn. What Do You Need? In the last section, we saw that the major components of a movie-theater experience are a large, clear picture and a surround-sound system. To build a home theater, then, you need to recreate these elements. At the bare minimum, you need: · A large-screen television (at least 27 inches across, measured diagonally) with a clear picture · At least four speakers · Equipment for splitting up the surround-sound signal and sending it to the speakers · Something that plays or broadcasts movies in surround sound, preferably with a clear picture And very importantly, you'll need a room where you can arrange all this stuff and the proper seating and furnishings to make it feel like a real theater experience. Furniture Whether it's a home theater built for two or two dozen, there are now abundant choices of furniture that provides unique comfort and beauty. Specifically designed seat backs allow for optimal sound and viewing. And cozy pillow tops, along with an optional power-reclining footrest, will make every movie worth watching. Plus, most styles can be configured to meet the needs of any room. Today, consumers can choose from individual leather or upholstery chairs, to motion recliners that are 4 chairs wide. The choices are limitless and the designs will meet any room décor. Bringing the theater home is now a possibility.