One of the most important factors when choosing the size of your home theater room is the dimensions of your viewing screen. Each has a suggested viewing distance, which is the minimum distance between you and the screen that allows for the best picture. This issue crops up when you plan to install a front projection setup in your home theater room. the optimum screen size is directly related to your available floor area. The issue is how this will impact your home theater room design- in particular the screen placement and room height. We would like to give a few guiding principles here that can help you in the process.
Screen Height
The screen height should be roughly one-third of the distance from the display to the seats in the media room. Place it 24” to 36” inches above the floor as the optimum vertical Viewing angle is in the range of 15 to 20 degrees. Make sure to mount the screen on the wall that does not receive direct light. The gain or the reflective property of a display screen is also an important factor that can significantly affect your viewing experience.
Screen Position
The eyes of the viewer should be level with the center of the screen. Your eye level should align with the boundary line between the top two-thirds and bottom one-third of the screen. With eyes aligned one-third of the way up on the screen, the least amount of eye, head or neck movement is required for the viewer to take in everything happening on the screen. So if your eye level is 48 inches, this should also align with the bottom one-third measurement of the screen’s height. Beyond this angle the viewer will be subject to an increased neck strain rendering extended viewing tiring and uncomfortable.
All Parts of the Screen Must Be Visible
Make sure that the lower part of the screen is visible from all seats. If there is the need, the rear set of seats should be raised on a 6 to 12 inch high platform for better viewing. This means that in home theaters with one or two rows of seats, the lower part of the screen should usually be set at 30 inches above the floor. Indirectly, this will limit your maximum screen size. Base on the guidelines presented a 9 feet high home theater room should be able to accommodate a 20 inch diagonal 16.9 theater screen.
Designing & Building a Home Theater Series
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SimpTech Solutions operates as a residential and commercial electronics systems design and integration firm to deliver simple, flexible, and feature-rich technology solutions for customers across Northern Kentucky and Greater Cincinnati. Why Choose SimpTech Solutions? Because we listen to you! Once we fully understand what you want, we can put together a solution to fulfill all your needs and your greatest desires.
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