The stages most installers leave out.
Some of what separates a finished room from an installed one doesn't belong to any single product. It belongs to the process.
Calibration is the clearest example. An uncalibrated cinema performs at a fraction of what its equipment can do, however much that equipment cost. Most UK installers skip it, or run a receiver's auto-setup for ten seconds and call it done. We measure the room, correct it, and hand you the measurements.
Video calibration
Projectors and TVs leave the factory tuned for a showroom. Calibration measures the display's actual output against the reference standards films are mastered to, then adjusts until the image matches.
BT.709 · DCI-P3 / Rec.2020 · PQ EOTF
Audio calibration
Three disciplines, not one: the room's acoustics, the integration of every channel and subwoofer, and the electronic room correction applied last to refine what the first two left behind.
ITU-R BS.775 / BS.2051 · Dirac · Trinnov
Quick answers.
- Is calibration included, or is it an extra?
- Included. Both video and audio calibration are part of every cinema we build, carried out at handover by THX-trained calibrators and documented in a measurement report you keep. We won't sign a room off without it.
- Can I book calibration on a system someone else installed?
- No. Calibration is the last stage of a process that starts at design, so we don't calibrate projects we haven't designed and installed. If you're planning a new cinema, we'd be glad to talk through it from the start.
Start with a conversation about the room.
Every project starts the same way: we look at the room before we talk about equipment.