The Cheapest Home Theater Upgrade
May 14th, 2008 by Mike K
Over the past several years I’ve been collecting gear for my “dream” home theater. A front projector here, a surround receiver there, ceiling mounts, speaker wire, it all adds up after a while. Once we moved into our latest house last year (the one we’re going to stay in for a while) I set out on the task of installing a more permanent home theater room than I had been able to in the previous rental houses and apartments we’ve called home over the years.
As I setup my various components and moved onto the room as a whole I discovered that my cheapest upgrade turned out to be one of the most impactful. What was this secret I discovered? A good quality gallon of dark colored satin paint.
If you decide to go the route of a front projector it’s important to remember that the whole room impacts your experience much more than with a flat panel LCD, Plasma or rear projection set (though the room is important with all setups). The ability to control ambient light is critical to black levels and contrast ratios with front projectors and the right wall treatments can make a tremendous difference.
For my room I went with a dark slate in a satin finish that sucks up light like you can’t believe (it’s a good idea to stick with neutral colors as they will have the least impact on how you perceive the colors on your screen). Now when I’m watching a movie all I see is that large glowing screen and everything else just seems to melt away.
In home theater the details are important and little things like wall colors can play a big part in your level of enjoyment. Use quality components throughout and you’ll be rewarded with a setup that packs all the excitement of the big screen into a room you can call your very own.
