A Smart Home System is the Cherry On Top for Your High-Tech Home in Marietta
As we’ve discussed in previous articles, putting together a home theater can be roughly split into the steps of choosing a projector/TV and pairing it with a great home theater sound system. In this article, we’ll look at some of the final touches to making your home theater complete.
Projector screen
First-time buyers of home theater projectors might think that you can forgo a projector screen altogether. But projecting onto a white wall offers a significantly poorer experience than using a projector screen.
Most people use a fixed-frame projector screen, either hung from the ceiling or directly mounted to a wall. Fixed-frame projectors are the cheapest option and can come with a bezel up to three inches in width or be completely bezel-less. Another option is a motorized screen controlled by a wireless controller or smart home theater remote.
You’ll need to consider the aspect ratio of the projector screen, too. Most installations choose a 16:9 aspect ratio that mirrors HDTV broadcasts, but this means that widescreen movies get black letterbox bars at the top and bottom of the screen. The other major option is a 2.4:1 aspect screen, which works better for widescreen movies but introduces borders for HDTV broadcasts.
Your media sources
Besides the most fantastic home theater speakers, subwoofers, and projector/TV, you’ll need to get your media from somewhere. It will make sense to choose products that can play a multitude of different types of media.
For movies and TV, a Blu-ray player that can also play DVDs is a must. We’d suggest an Ultra HD Blu-ray disk player, which can output true-4k resolution ultra-HD. You may even want to consider an 8k system for future-proofing, but unless you have a giant screen, the difference in video quality will not be very noticeable.
If you still use cable TV, a cable or satellite service needs to be considered. Increasingly, home theater systems are being powered by streaming media over high-speed internet access. Many smart TVs can connect to popular streaming media content, or you can use a home controller like the Control 4 EA1.
Surge protectors
With so much expensive electronic equipment in close proximity, it makes sense to add a surge protector or power conditioner to the mix. A surge protector greatly reduces the chance of any of your equipment being damaged if there is a power surge or brownout.
AV receiver and cabling
With so many different devices in play in one room, it can quickly become a cabling nightmare. And we haven’t even considered the idea of adding in games consoles or similar devices.Much of the time, you’ll be dealing with HDMI cables. HDMI supports 7.1-channel sound for Dolby TrueHD and DTS-HD.
Putting it all together is the home theater AV receiver, which takes in all your inputs and intelligently outputs them to your speakers.
A high-end AV receiver like the Denon AVR-X3700H has many inputs and outputs, so you can put more types of devices to work. It has seven HDMI inputs, an 8K HDMI input, two component video inputs, three composite video inputs, a phono input, five analog audio inputs, two digital coaxial inputs, two digital optical inputs, and a USB input. Media can also be streamed via ethernet and wireless, and there’s still a trusty FM/AM tuner.
Home theater furniture
When you choose a professionally installed home theater, it can include home theater furniture that makes your experience even more authentic. The proper lighting and furniture are the finishing touches on your perfect home theater experience.
The home theater as part of a smart home system
Having a complete high-end home theater can be complemented by several smart home devices that simplify your life. Smart lighting can be set to dim when the movie starts and come up when you pause it, for example.
With a home controller like the Control 4 EA1, every part of your home can be automated, from lighting to IP cameras, from HVAC to window shades. The controller offers a long list of streaming music services, and you can access the music from your home theater system or Apple devices.
It’s also important to consider your home network. High-definition video projected in your home theater room benefits from fast Wi-Fi networking or a discretely hidden wired network. Excellent networking eliminates the chance of buffering, allows your media interface to load more quickly, and lets everyone in the house take advantage of your smart home’s outstanding features.
Smart Home System Installation in Marietta, GA
Here at Sound Sensations, our product experts can help make sure you’re not only getting some great tech for your home, but they can make sure you have all the pieces and components you’ll need, and that they’re all compatible with one another. This becomes even more critical when you throw in other things like home theater installation.
In addition to our product experts, we also have a full team of installation techs that do this on a daily basis. They have years of experience installing the specific equipment we sell, which means you’ll get a quality installation that’s right every single time.
Stop by and see our team at 337 Cobb Parkway South in Marietta, contact us online, or give us a call at 770-429-1600.