The Options Are Truly Endless!

A professional home theater installation from our team at Atlanta Audio & Automation entails so many components – from the room’s acoustics and seating to the overall setup. But what about arguably the most important, certainly eye-catching, part of the room?

Your screen display is crucial to the appearance and performance of your Alpharetta, GA home cinema – and when it comes to the sizing, resolution, and type, you have endless options. Keep reading below to explore the possibilities!

Embrace the Power of Hidden Technology in Your Home Entertainment

With the rollout of a new generation of smart home tech, home audio and video has become more powerful and more accessible than ever before.

We recently worked with a client in Sandy Springs, GA who wanted a powerful home audio system without the unsightly wires and cobbled-together feel of even some of today’s most powerful audio tech.

Large speakers that give you the audio experience you crave can often take up far too much space and change the look and feel of the rooms of your home. When you’ve worked hard on your decor and the arrangement of each space, you want home audio and video solutions that integrate seamlessly with the rest of your home.

We were able to provide our client in Sandy Springs with a solution that allowed them to create beautiful soundscapes in their home without the tech dominating the space visually.

There are plenty of hidden tech options that allow you to integrate audio throughout the entirety of your home—here’s what we recommend.

LG's wall-size direct-view LED TV.

Don't rule out switching to a larger size based on assumptions, but keep these TV buying tips in mind.

If it's been a while since you last bought a TV, you might be surprised to learn that what's considered "big" has changed a lot. These days even 42 and 50 inches are barely considered "midsize." This is thanks to manufacturers being able to make larger screens more cheaply, and also 4K and 8K resolutions making huge TVs more usable. Ultraslim designs also mean that larger screens take up less space.

So if you're considering a new TV, it's understandable if you're thinking of getting the same size, give or take a few inches. But the reality is, you can probably go a lot bigger. How big? Maybe you don't need a TV the size of a wall or a TV that is a wall, but in most homes a 65- or 75-inch TV will fit just fine.

Overall our advice is simple: Get as big a TV as you can afford. The longer answer depends on your room, your seating distance and the acceptance factor of any cohabiting co-deciders. Here's how to figure out how big you can go.

With the New Year now in full swing, it’s time to start looking ahead at the new technology you’ll soon be able to enjoy in your Georgia home theater. Everything from advanced display technology to top of the line audio gear means you’ll be seeing and hearing a lot more in your private cinema this year. In this blog, we’ll highlight some of our favorite trends to look out for in 2017. Read on for more.

See Also: Is iTunes Gearing up to Replace the Movie Theater?

Displays

High-dynamic range and 4K Ultra HD have taken the world by storm in 2016, so what’s next on the horizon? There’s plenty to look forward to in the coming months. Here are some of our favorites:

OLED: While OLED technology has been around for a while, it’s been a bit slow to catch on in the mainstream market. For a long time LG was the only major manufacturer producing TV displays with the backlighting technology, but with big announcements from Samsung and Sony that they would be jumping on the OLED bandwagon soon, it looks like this year may be its time to shine.

A home theater can come in virtually any shape or size. Whether you’re looking for a fully immersive, dedicated private cinema or simply a place to enjoy the Braves game with your friends and family, a theater can be customized to reflect your personal style and specifications. But no matter how you plan to utilize your space, you’ll want to make sure your components are optimized for peak performance – whether they’re in or out of your house. Read on to find out how your home theater can transform the way you experience your home entertainment.

Customize Seating for a Great Experience

For many homeowners, a home theater is a place for the whole family to come together for quality time with a nice movie or television show. For others, it’s a place to experience the way their favorite films were meant to be seen and heard. Whatever your preference, the right seating can make all the difference when designing a theater. While a nice, plush couch or recliner may seem like a comfortable option, it may interfere with the sound quality or disrupt the viewing angle. Customized theater seating by Palliser is a comfortable and functional solution for viewing movies and achieving the best possible sound and image in your space. Whether you’re a true film buff or simply looking to augment your family time, customized seating is a great option for any home theater.

Hear More With Dolby Atmos

Before you know it, the holidays will be over and you’ll have to start thinking about what’s really important: the slew of sports championships hitting in the early months of the New Year. With Super Bowl 50, March Madness, NBA Finals all around the corner, sports fans throughout Atlanta won’t be seen outside of their home theaters until summer. That means now’s the time to prepare with the coolest technology available for your home theater. Read on to find out how upgrading your space now can lead to a winning championship season.

SEE ALSO:  Build a Better Home Theater for the Ultimate Man Cave Experience

4K Sports HFR Compatibility

Between 4K UHD, OLED and HDR you might feel like all of the acronyms surrounding the next generation of video displays are taking precious brain space away from important game statistics and player info. But here’s one you’ll really want to pay attention to: HFR.

HFR stands for high frame rate. Why is that important for a sports fan? The frame rate is all about motion. Movies are generally shot at 24 frames per second (fps), lending a “cinematic” depth to the image, as well as capturing the distinct difference between light and shadow. Sports are currently shot and broadcast in 60 fps, flattening out the plane and capturing movement with incredible detail. But higher resolution allows for even higher frame rates. When you upgrade to 4K, sports can be broadcast in rates well over 100hz, turning your home theater into the ultimate game-watching zone.

Select someone locally. Find a professional home theater company within a 50-mile range of your home. You are more likely to have an installer come by and tweak your system, if need be, when you are within a reasonable distance.

Ask for a link to the home theater installation company's Web site or for some images of recently completed installations. Also, ask to visit the home theater installers' showroom to provide you with living examples of their workmanship. Check our our portfolio. Here at Atlanta Audio we have a 6,000 square foot showhouse that showcases home automation, home theater options, whole house audio, lighting control, media rooms, video surveillance, and much more. Call us today to set up an appointment or visit our website at www.atlantaaudio.com.

Ask for references on finished projects that are similar to what you have in mind for your home theater and are relatively within the same cost range. Ask the homeowner about how the installation company works and how satisfied they are with the finished results. Visit our customer testimonials to get an idea of what our customers say about Atlanta Audio.

Find out how an installer works. For example if you are a neat freak and your professional installer is very proficient in plasma and audio technologies but can seem a little scatterbrained or sloppy, your working styles may not connect.

The holiday season is all about family, and there’s no better place to bring everyone together than a custom home theater in your Atlanta, Georgia home. Gather around a festive film favorite while enjoying each other’s company – an incredible AV display doesn’t hurt either. Now that Halloween is over, it’s time to start thinking about the perfect gifts to give this year. Make your family’s winter special with a unique, custom home theater.

Every time there’s big news in the A/V industry, we make it our goal to help our clients learn everything they need to know about the latest products and features. Right now, everyone is talking about IMAX Enhanced. Since you're probably wondering what the company best known for its large screens and immersive viewing experience has to do with home theaters, we're here to sort it all out for you. In this blog, we're going to explain what the IMAX Enhanced program is and how to get it in your Georgia home. 

SEE MORE: 3 Necessary Accessories for Every Home Theater System

What is IMAX Enhanced?

IMAX Enhanced is a certification and licensing program. Its primary goal is to help consumers discern which high-end electronics will best showcase the company’s 4K Ultra HD content and DTS audio mixing. The secondary objective is elevating filmmaker's visions by making sure premium IMAX-remastered content looks just the way they envisioned when viewed in a home theater.

Atlanta’s home theater enthusiasts have heard the news, and now they want to take action – they want Dolby Atmos delivering the best-possible sound in their private cinema spaces. But if you’ve been following our blog, you already know that the conditions of the room you’re in will significantly affect the way the sound system works. That leaves many homeowners scratching their heads over how they can have Atmos integrated into their spaces. In this blog, we’ll answer some of your most frequently asked questions about what’s required to install the best audio gear around.

See Also: How Dolby Atmos Transforms Your Atlanta Home Theater Into an Epic Music Venue

How does Dolby Atmos recreate commercial cinema sound?

As you already know, when it was introduced to the movie industry a few years ago, Atmos revolutionized sound mixing by treating each sound like an individual object. “Sound objects” don’t have to be assigned to specific channels, allowing them to move freely between each speaker. Therefore, the number of speakers in your space doesn’t matter as much as how they are positioned and calibrated. The biggest physical difference is the addition of a minimum of two overhead speakers, usually mounted in the ceiling.

Do I have to have ceiling-mounted speakers for Dolby Atmos?

If you know anything about us, you know that we work hard to create the perfect Atlanta home theater experience. You can enjoy the sights of stunning 4K HDR displays and immersive Dolby Atmos audio in a dedicated space. But what if you want to expand home theater tech to another space – say a room above the garage or pool house? A wireless solution by Sonos just may be the answer. In this blog, we’ll explore the ways you can craft a secondary home theater with Sonos audio.

See Also: Home Theater Trends to Watch Out for in 2017

Perfect for Surround Sound

When building a secondary home theater for guests, space is always a major consideration. Often the same area will have to accommodate sleeping arrangements as well as entertainment options. That’s where Sonos shines, by offering unobtrusive audio equipment that can be placed just about anywhere.

The best part? Your guests can still enjoy full 5.1 surround sound. By combining a Sonos sound bar – which offers three distinct channels – a sub and two satellite speakers, your secondary home theater can sound great without cluttering up the limited space. You can even select between the substantial Play:3 or the top-of-the-line Play:5 for a fully customizable sonic experience.

Last month we highlighted why Sonos makes a perfect addition to any secondary home theater, thanks in part to the wireless capabilities and compatibility with Amazon’s Alexa. In this blog, we’ll explore some of the new products and technology upgrades the wireless audio giant is releasing to take center stage in surround sound. If you’re looking for a way to enhance a second home theater in your Georgia property, or you want to begin building a small, entry-level system, this blog will show you where to start. Read more after the jump.

See Also: Using Sonos for Excellent Audio in Your Atlanta Home Theater

The Sonos Playbase

One of the big releases this year is the Sonos Playbase. The Playbase isn’t Sono’s first foray into home theater or media room tech – their Playbar remains a strong contender in the soundbar market. But the soundbase offers an added kick, particularly for homeowners with a smaller setup.

While the Playbar is designed to be mounted on the wall underneath a hanging TV screen, you’ll place your display directly on top of the Playbase. The added real-estate that the TV balances on is put to good use, with plenty of room to emphasize deeper bass notes. The result is a system that offers a lot of power in a relatively compact package.

Home theater technology constantly is evolving.

Whether it’s the latest in picture resolution or audio quality, manufacturers continuously are improving their products.

This was as apparent as ever at this year’s CES 2018 – the annual consumer technology show in Las Vegas.

So, what did we learn at this year’s convention? And how might it impact the home theater in your Atlanta, GA area residence in the near future?

We answer those questions in the sections below. Just keep reading to find out more.

Home theaters are becoming amazing popular with long-time homeowners. After all, who wouldn’t want to come home after a long and busy day and unwind with your favorite movie or television series? If you’re in the market for the perfect home theater complete with full surround sound audio, you can rely on Atlanta Audio and Automation to help you with everything from construction and design to wiring and full assembly. But what about the extras? Here are four things that every home theater should include for convenience and comfort.

Home Theater Seating

Comfortable seating is going to make the difference between an awesome time and a sore back. Fortunately, there are lots of options to choose from, including full theater-style reclining seats to cozy sofas and sectionals that can seat the whole family. You can even customize your seats with bass shaker systems that rumble whenever the bass of the movie begins to vibrate. It’s all about comfort and class when choosing our furnishings; make sure you love what you choose.

Universal Remote

Nothing will make your home theater setup more confusing than having to play with three or four different remotes. Instead of bothering with all that, take advantage of our Control4 user experience and control everything in your home theater (and your home) from one device! Change the channel, raise the volume, turn on steaming services, or listen to music. It’s all at your fingertips with our universal controls.