Today’s post comes to us from Robert Bell of VM Media, thanks for the great ideas Robert!

There are all sorts of home theaters in today’s day and age. When you decide to design a home theater for your family, there are some tips that you should follow to ensure that you get the best possible picture, sound and overall experience. You don’t want to forget anything as it may detract from the viewing process.

Choose your TV carefully.

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You may think that buying the enormous 80” TV that’s on sale at your local electronics store is the best deal. Once you put it into the space, however, it may be completely wrong. You don’t want to turn your head from side to side to see the whole movie. This isn’t a tennis match, it’s a movie. This means that you have to choose the TV based upon the size of the room.

Control your Lighting.

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If you have windows or sliding doors in your home theater room, you are going to have to prepare them appropriately. Light is going to affect the way that the image is projected on the screen. You don’t have to make the room pitch dark. Even movie theaters have some indirect, dim lighting just to avoid eyestrain and so you don’t trip on your way to get more popcorn.

Focus on Sound.

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As you shop for speakers, learn about what your amplifier is looking for. Ohms and wattage numbers are written on things for a reason. If you want your sound to be top notch, it has to be a good pairing. If the pairing is wrong, your amplifier could burn out or your speakers could be blown – and that’s a lot of money down the drain. Read the owner’s manual to protect yourself.

Hide the Wires.

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You are going to be in the home theater room often. If you have a lot of wire showing on the walls, it’s going to detract from the aesthetics. If the wire is draped across the floor, you also run the risk of someone tripping on it and taking the entire surround system with them. You can hide the wires with rugs, duct tape, and by bringing them through the walls. If the wires aren’t cooperating with you, consider hiring a professional. It will only cost a few hundred dollars and is nothing when you compare it with the other money you are spending.

Tiered-Seating.

Everyone in the room has to be able to see the screen well. If you want to have more than a few people come in, you want to look at tiered seating as it will help you to fit more people into the room. You don’t have to buy stadium seating. If you create multiple levels within the room using cement or wooden platforms, you can then put chairs or couches on them.

Get the Right Content

You have to consider how you are going to get content for your TV. Think about:

– Streaming Video: YouTube, Hulu, and Netflix can all provide a huge amount of viewing options for your TV.  Many people have even eliminated cable all together as they find they get enough out of YouTube and Netflix. There are even rumors that YouTube might start streaming football games in the near future.

– Cable – This option is often the most traditional and many people still use cable combined with a DVR to get everything they want out of their TV.

– DirecTV – Currently DirecTV has the most advanced DVR on the market.  The DirecTV Genie not only records shows but it can also stream them on your iPhone, iPad, and laptop.  This makes for a great provider if you can’t always enjoy your shows in your home theater.  If you sign up using www.SaveonTVDirect.com you get special pricing and 3 free months of Showtime.

Some Other Things to Consider

When you design your home theater, try to pick a few features that are just like in the movie theaters. Love how they have lighting along the seating to help you see? You can buy rope lighting to run along the floor to get the same effect.

Want the snack bar? A movie-theater style popcorn machine can be outfitted into your home theater. It will pop a lot of popcorn at once and you can even get liquid butter to pump over top of it – just like you would get at the movie theater.

Don’t waste your money where it doesn’t need to be wasted. HDMI cables are going to be the same whether they are gold plated or not.

The perfect home theater should be perfect for your space and your family. The entire idea behind designing it should be that it fits your needs and your budget.