How to make and assemble a home theater with your own hands

People who like to spend time watching movies are increasingly wondering if it is possible to assemble a home theater with their own hands. Experts say that this is quite possible. In order to get the most out of your cinema equipment, you need to take care of purchasing a multimedia projector/modern TV. You will also need powerful speakers. Below you can find the equipment that will be needed in the process of work and the advice of specialists.

Do-it-yourself home theater: why is it needed

Not so long ago, having a
home theater at home was considered an unaffordable luxury. However, today you are unlikely to surprise anyone by organizing a home theater in an ordinary apartment. People are willing to pay to be able to enjoy watching their favorite movie on the big screen at any time without leaving home. If funds are limited, you should try to assemble a home theater with your own hands. This will save the family budget and choose equipment that can satisfy the wishes.

Note! The area of ​​​​the room for arranging a home theater does not play a special role.

Preparatory stage – what you should pay attention to before manufacturing

Starting to assemble a home theater, you should take care of the proper distribution of space. For this, a detailed diagram is drawn, allocating the necessary area for each component of the cinema, namely for:

• furniture (armchairs and tables);
• audio systems (amplifier / speakers / subwoofer);
• video systems (projector);
• ventilation (air conditioning);
• disc storage, mini bar, etc.

Note! The optimal area for arranging a small home theater is considered to be a room within 42-50 square meters. m.

What to consider when choosing a room, components of a future cinema and options for manufacturing

To make the experience of watching a movie especially vivid, you should take care of dimming the room in which the screen is installed. When choosing the dimming level, the light output of the equipment used should be taken into account. Most often, they prefer models of projectors, the power of which is in the range of 400-2000 lm. In a room with an area of ​​​​40-50 sq.m, you can choose the following dimming levels:

• strong – brightness 200-500 ml;
• medium – brightness in the range of 600-700 ml (the best option for watching a video in the evening when the lighting is off);
• weak – brightness 900-1500 ml (ideal luminous flux for obtaining a clear image in dim daylight).

All windows in the room are hung with light filters or blackout blinds. It is advisable to take care of installing adjustable fixtures on the walls so that the eyes do not get tired of too saturated colors on the screen. You will also need to provide good soundproofing for your home theater. For this:

• walls are covered with materials that absorb sound;
• the floor surface and wall surfaces are covered with carpet;
• the room is sheathed with fabrics with foil thread that absorb sound;
• the room is equipped with a door that isolates sound, with a vestibule.

Do not forget about the organization of proper ventilation, air conditioning of the room, because against the background of thermal radiation of the equipment, the temperature in the room often reaches uncomfortable values.
When choosing a screen, the user can give preference to both the projector and the TV. Each of the options has advantages and disadvantages. The main advantages of the TV include:

• good quality image (sufficient level of brightness/contrast/clearness);
• even in cases where there is no complete light isolation, this will have little effect on image quality;
• the ability to use built-in TV speakers;
• equipping the equipment with a wireless interface that allows you to interact with a PC / tablet / Internet.

Among the disadvantages of using a TV as a monitor for a home theater, it is worth highlighting:

• insufficient viewing angle for group viewing of videos;
• excessive brightness during prolonged viewing leads to eye fatigue;
• the diagonal size of affordable screens is insufficient for a home theater.

The main advantages of the projector are:

• the size of the image is limited solely by the size of the walls, thanks to which the user can achieve the effect of a real cinema;
• the projector does not take up space in the room if it is mounted on the ceiling;
• the image formed after reflection from the background has practically no negative impact on vision.

When purchasing a projector as a home theater screen, it is important to remember that the level of brightness and clarity of the image will be less compared to a TV. It is also worth considering that the projector will heat up and the DLP lamps will fail every 2000-3000 hours of operation.

What components will be needed, the necessary equipment

When starting to assemble a home theater, you should take care of purchasing the necessary equipment and components, namely:

• projector (DLP, which has rich colors or LCD, which does not allow the eyes to tire quickly);
• screen for the projector;
• sound system;
• computer/player;
• window filters.

The cost of the projector is acceptable for most users, the screen resolution / quality / brightness and contrast levels of the image are suitable for home theater. To obtain a high-quality saturated picture, it is necessary to give preference to models with a resolution of 1280 × 720 pixels. The projector will require an appropriate screen (motorized/recessed/widescreen, etc.). It is recommended to give preference to tension or roll models. Tension options are durable, and roll options will delight you with ease of use. In order to save money, you can apply a layer of special screen paint to the wall surface. The image in this case will be clear and bright.

Stage 2

To implement the correct placement of equipment, the user will need a sufficient number of HDMI cables. It should be taken into account that the recommended distance between the audience and the monitor should be within 2-3 m.
acoustic system during the initial design of a recreation center [/ caption]

Stage 3

After that, you can proceed to the sound settings. The volume is set using a sound level meter. Then they test the system, including a short video for this. To make the necessary settings, you will need to use the equalizer.

The equipment is connected to each other using AV receivers, which have a large number of inputs/outputs. In order not to be mistaken in the connection process, it is necessary to adhere to the scheme recommended by the manufacturer. Connectors are clearly marked.

Option for assembling a home theater on your own from a computer

Step-by-step process of converting a PC to a home theater:

1. First of all, they purchase and install a TV tuner . When choosing a device, the performance characteristics of the processor are taken into account. For example, for a processor with a power of 600 MHz, a single Hauppauge PVR-150 tuner is suitable.
2. Then purchase an HTPC case and set up the BIOS . The timeout for the system, which can be found in the configurations, is put into standby mode. This will not only save energy, but also extend the life of the PC.
3. After that, download and install the Linux Ubuntu distribution . It can be easily found on the Internet and downloaded for free on a PC.
4. Reboot the system and check if Ubuntu recognizes the TV tuner that was installed.
5. Following the installation recommendations, the user downloads the full MythTV software package (download from https://www.mythtv.org/).

Scheme for creating a home theater with your own hands:
At the final stage, an autonomous launch of MythTV is set when the system is turned on. How to make a home theater projector out of your phone – video instruction: https://youtu.be/R5eOW8qTq9M

Errors and their solution

Often, people who want to assemble a home theater on their own make mistakes that prevent them from achieving the desired result in the end. Below you can find the most common errors and how to solve them.

1. Ignoring the isolation process to prevent sound leakage. While watching a movie, extraneous sounds will irritate and interfere with a good rest. It is important to take care of isolation in advance.
2. Arrangement of a home theater in a room with a large number of windows . Glass surfaces are highly reflective. It is better to organize a cinema in the basement.
3. Incorrectly installed sound system . If you ignore the advice of experts regarding the installation of a speaker system, it is unlikely that you will be able to fully enjoy high-quality sound.
4. Speaker levels not calibrated . Such a nuisance quite often becomes the reason that the user does not hear the dialogue over the background sound effect. Calibration will help solve the problem.

You should also avoid setting a screen that is too large.

Tips and secrets

Experts are happy to share tips and secrets for organizing a home theater in a room with their own hands.

1. To avoid the appearance of an echo in the room, it is worth sheathing the walls with mineral wool / felt and installing upholstered furniture in the room.
2. When arranging a home theater, it is recommended to mount soundproof structures on wall surfaces and ceilings.
3. An acoustic stretch ceiling will effectively mask the layer of sound-absorbing material that is attached to the fence.
4. Cables can be hidden under the floor covering.

If desired, a home theater can be assembled with your own hands. To do this, you do not need to purchase expensive equipment. Quite enough components of the middle class. However, when choosing equipment, it is important to consider that pairing devices does not cause problems.