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Seat and Screen Placement Create the perfect seating arrangement for your new home theater. From "Home Theater" episode DHTW-102

(Continued from page 1)

	Figure C
	Figure D

Screen Size and Placement Guidelines

In the project home a front-projection system is being used with a non-perforated screen, which requires speakers above, below or to the sides of the screen. Here is the "standard" guideline for deciding what size screen goes with the dimensions of your room:

• The standard guideline home-theater designers use to determine an appropriate screen size is to make sure the seating distance to the screen equals 1-1/2 times the diagonal of the screen. For example, in the case of the project home, Peter will sit about 11 feet from the screen, which divided by 1-/12 yields a screen size of 88 inches (figure C).

  Note: If the calculations for your room don't match up with standard screen sizes, don't worry. Just choose the screen that's closest to your measurements.

• You also need to know how high the screen must be placed on the wall. For comfortable viewing, the center of the screen should be no higher than 15-degrees above the viewer, and the top of the screen should be no more than 35-degrees above the viewer.

  Since the average person sits 36" high in a home-theater style chair, the center of the screen should be no higher than 5', 10" from the ground (figure D).

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Figure E

Once you determine where to place your screen, you can figure out how far away the projector should be located:

• There are three locations from which you can choose --
  1. Ceiling-mounted projector.

  2. Locate the projector in an adjoining room by using special lenses.

  3. Or you can set the projector on or hide it in a coffee table.

• Our homeowner chose to go with a ceiling mount for his projector (figure E). Mark determined that the projector should be mounted on the ceiling, 12 feet away from the screen.

• If you're building a new home like Peter, you may want to consider whole-house wiring, which is a great addition to your entire home theater, especially if you want music throughout your home.

  Note: Whole-house wiring also allows you to control security alarms, which means you can monitor any security camera from any television in your home.

Whole House Wiring

The consumer buzz words for whole house wiring are "smart home" and "intelligent home". Whole house wiring allows you to control Internet communications, data communications for computers, security systems, lighting, satellite TV as well as audio and video controls from any room in the house. It's like having a networked home.

From a cost standpoint, it's best to install whole house wiring while a home while it's still being built. For existing homes, there are a number of ways to rewire--through the attic or crawl space under the house, then route through the hollow spaces between the walls.

There are some do-it-yourself aspects to whole house wiring if you have the right test equipment and the knowledge about how to operate that test equipment. You must also know how to properly install and terminate the cabling to the equipment in the home. If you do not have that ability, you should hire a professional installer who can test and verify performance.

For more information on wiring your home for sound and security, click on the following links:

Home-Theater Component

Planning a Home Theater

Smart-Home Technology

In the next segment the surround-sound system is discussed.

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RESOURCES :

Don Fillers & Assoc.
Website: www.dfasolutions.com

McDougall Bros. Construction, Inc.
Website: www.mcdougallbros.com

Belden CDT Electronics Division
Website: www.belden.com

Kinetics Noise Control
Website: www.kineticsnoise.com

La-Z-Boy
Website: www.lazboy.com

Home Theater Builder Magazine
We apologize no contact information is available.

GUESTS :

Mark Midyett
Engineer/Designer
Don Fillers & Assoc.
1003 North Broadway St.
Knoxville, TN 37917
Phone: 865-523-4470
Website: www.dfasolutions.com

Russ Herschelmann
Home Theater Designer
Phone: 707-257-0112