IS A MEDIA ROOM RIGHT FOR YOU?
A ‘home cinema’ project can mean something completely different to everyone. Below is our take on defining the differences between a Home Cinema and a Media Room. Be warned – there can be a lot of cross over between the two!
Acoustic Pixel design and install home cinema and media rooms across the United Kingdom. Book a demonstration at one of our showrooms or contact us to discuss your project. We can’t wait to help you make it a reality!
WHAT IS A HOME CINEMA ROOM?
When you walk into a home cinema room you will be in no doubt that you are in a home cinema room! It is a single purpose room where you go to watch something! Consequently, the room will be designed to achieve the best possible audio and visual performance – there will be no compromise! Our team of THX trained Home Cinema Designers can specify optimum screen size, speaker positions, lighting control and seating locations to ensure that you enjoy every movie as the director intended!
FEATURES OF A home cinema room
- A home cinema projector rather than a big screen TV to achieve a genuine cinematic experience. A home cinema projector can deliver a stunning 4K image (even 8K is possible now) onto a screen much larger than any TV. We regularly produce images over 3m wide to totally immerse you in the action!
- Projection screen to accompany the projector. The screen is likely to be acoustically transparent, so that we can place the LCR speakers behind it. You may have a cinemascope screen instead of a 16:9 format screen, so that your movies are shown in the format they were created!
- Atmos Immersive sound systems. To create the ultimate home cinema experience you will need to have a home cinema sound system that features surround speakers (in wall or on wall speakers) and height speakers (in ceiling). This will give you a 3D sound experience so that you can hear and feel the sound effects, exactly where the Director placed them in the sound field around you! Imagine being immersed in the sound effects – planes flying above your head, cars crashing on your right and accurate dialogue coming right at you! That is genuine home cinema sound!
- A dark room. A home cinema room must be as dark as possible, so expect to install black out blinds if you aren’t lucky enough to have a basement or attic room spare!
- Home cinema lighting effects. As the room is dedicated to home cinema you may consider more ‘interesting’ lighting than you would in a media room. Starlight ceilings, coloured LED strips and floor lights are some of the things that make up a home cinema lighting design.
- It looks like a cinema room! Even the interior design is created to ensure that you get the best possible home cinema performance. Fabric walls may be used to create a very luxurious, cinema ‘look’. As well as looking amazing, fabric walls allow our home cinema designers to ‘hide’ speakers around the room and to position the necessary acoustic treatment in exactly the right places. The seating is often tiered, to ensure that everyone gets the best possible view, while luxurious cinema seating is often preferred to a sofa.
HOW MUCH DOES A HOME
CINEMA ROOM COST?
It depends! The size of the room, quality of products used, and the overall finish of the room will all have a significant impact on the cost. Excluding installation, seating and interior design work – an enhanced 4K projector, 3m wide screen and Dolby Atmos surround sound system might start at around £10,000. Top of the range systems could be £75,000+.
Talk to our team and we will be delighted to discuss your project in more detail.
Every home cinema room project we work on is different. Rooms vary in size and client priorities, interests, vision and budgets can differ enormously. If you want to have a fantastic cinema experience but also envision entertaining and relaxing in the space too, then we start moving towards a media room solution.
HOW MUCH DOES A MEDIA
ROOM COST?
Like with a home cinema, it is hard to put a cost on a media room as every room can be very different. In terms of basic audio-visual equipment for a media room (65” TV and on wall sound system), the price would start at around £5,000.
Much then depends on what extra features and performance you want to add to the room!
Some media rooms include projectors designed to operate in brighter environments, either as an alternative to the big screen TV or as a replacement. Having that kind of system could make the investment in audio visual equipment similar to a dedicated cinema room. Ultimately it all depends on the quality of the products that are included. For example, a single speaker could cost anywhere between £100 and £3000. Our team of cinema design experts can advise on the best solution for your media room!
WHAT IS A MEDIA room?
The term ‘media room’ is often used by home cinema installers to describe rooms that have more than one purpose. In addition to a home cinema system, a media room might include a bar area, more informal seating or even a pool table! While a home cinema often has a very distinct style of its own, a media room tends to fit in with the rest of the house. It is a space that families and friends enjoy even when they aren’t watching the latest Hollywood blockbuster! A media room is best categorised as a multi-functional entertainment room.
The elements that make up a media room are often less prescriptive than for a home cinema room. As the audio-visual performance is not the only consideration (the room has other purposes), our home cinema designers will deliver innovative solutions to create a room that meets your own unique requirements.
FEATURES OF A MEDIA ROOM
- Recessed projector and projector screen. You might not want your room to be dominated by a large home cinema projector on the roof and 3m wide screen on the wall of your room – well we have a solution! Our engineers may be able to install the projector and screen into your ceiling so that they only appear when it is movie night or time for the big game!
- Speakers disguised as pieces of artwork. While we love speakers, we know that not everyone wants them visible in their living room. How about if we can install them into walls and/or ceilings and make them invisible? Or what if we could make them look like a piece of your favourite artwork/digital image? Our cinema design team can help find a solution that sounds great but looks great too!
- TV based home cinema systems. In some spaces it might be difficult to control the ambient light, or a projector/screen system may not be practical/wanted. In this situation we would propose a TV based system.
- Fewer speakers. In some rooms it might be unrealistic to install speakers in the precise locations we would want. This could be due to existing furniture, lack of voids in walls or in some cases lack of walls entirely if the room is part of a larger living space! Whatever the challenges of the room, our home cinema design team will explain the compromises that be made and suggest the best possible solutions
MEDIA ROOM & HOME CINEMA ROOM
DESIGN & INSTALLATION
The truth is that many of our projects fall somewhere between a bespoke home cinema room and a media room. Whatever you need, Acoustic Pixel will bring a touch of Hollywood to your home!
Acoustic Pixel design and install media rooms & home cinema rooms across the uk.
wE HAVE our own showroom in north yorkshire and access to others in berikshire, london and hertfordshire. get in touch today and let’s work together to deliver an epic home cinema room
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