In our blog, we write a lot about how a home theater enhances your movie- and sports-watching experience. One aspect that we rarely touch on, though, is how it affects gaming. With the recent announcements of the 4K-capable Playstation 4 Pro and Xbox One S, now’s the perfect time to begin planning your video game upgrade. But how does smart automation improve your gaming? We’ll show you after the jump.

See Also: Designing the Perfect Home Theater for Football Season

Earlier this month, Sony announced they would be taking pre-orders for the Playstation 4 Pro, according to The Verge:

“The console — codenamed Neo, which the company discussed in brief just ahead of E3 in June — upgrades the three-year-old PS4 hardware with a faster processor, better graphics, and support for 4K resolution. It launches November 10th, and it will cost $399.”

The new version of the system will also sport HDR compatibility, an upgraded GPU and an improved clock rate. Sony’s console also currently supports Dolby Atmos, and the new version will as well, making it an excellent addition to a modern home theater setting.

It’s not as fun as talking about Dolby Atmos. It’s not as technical as analyzing receiver specs. But if you want to get the most out of your home theater surround sound system, you’re going to need specialized acoustic treatments. We spend a lot of time talking about the different components you can put into your Atlanta home to get great sound, but if the room isn’t properly designed to both absorb and reflect sound in the proper way, your components can sound muffled, muddled and will generally go to waste. Read on to find out why your home theater needs acoustic treatments.

SEE ALSO: Get the Most Out of Your Dolby Atmos Home Theater

"Home Theater Design - 3 Essential Ingredients" HTA Certified; Accessed July 6th 2021

Home Theater Design - 3 Essential Ingredients

"Are you in the process of planning a home theater? Possibly you are well into the design or even already have some construction underway. Or, you may have only recently started to consider the possibility. In any case, you have likely been overwhelmed with copious, confusing and often misleading information on just exactly what creates a great home theater experience. To make sense of it all, it is a good idea to step back and consider what is possible, and what is essential to attain the results you desire. This article will consider three key ingredients of proper home theater design.

To be clear by what is meant by the term "home theater" in this article, we are referring to a room dedicated and optimized for movie, music, TV, and increasingly, video gaming. Other synonyms home technology professionals may use interchangeable for the term "home theater" are "home cinema" and private "screening room". What we are not referring to here are dual-purpose rooms that may double as the Living Room, Great Room, etc, that are open to other rooms in the home and that are not able to be optimized for high-performance audio and video. In home technology professional speak, these dual-purpose, more casual rooms are called "media rooms".

Now that CEDIA has hit, technology season is in full swing. Just in time for the holidays, we’ve seen some interesting things coming out of one of the biggest custom electronics expos in the country. Whether you’re looking to install massive flat-panel TVs to enjoy beautiful Ultra HD Blu-rays or you’re just now considering the perfect additions to your home theater, CEDIA 2016 had something for you. After the jump, we’ll take a look at some of our favorite products.

See Also: Big Changes Coming to Control4 in the New Year

Sony’s Big Surprise

When we say “big,” we mean it. Sony unveiled one of the largest and brightest TV displays at this year’s event: the 100” Z9D. It’s part of their Z-series of TVs, which aim to challenge LG’s OLED units for the best-looking 4K HDR images available.

If you’re a fan of home theater tech, you know that OLED is widely considered the best display technology around. It gained praise from industry professionals in recent years because unlike more traditional LED displays, which use white LED backlighting but LCD technology for color and clarity, OLED does away with LCDs, allowing for a deeper, more natural black and sharper contrast between pixels.

Find The Home Theater Design That Fits You and Your Georgia Home  

Your home theater is where you come to relax and unwind. It’s probably also the space that all of your family likes to gather in and spend the most time together. In a lot of ways, it’s replaced the dinner table. And while we might not talk as much during a movie as we would eating spaghetti, it’s still a great way to spend quality time in a relaxed environment with the people that mean the most to us. 

So designing a home theater that fits your Atlanta residenceis important. Because you need the type of screen, sound, and seating that is conducive to the viewing experience that you want to have. And with help from one of our entertainment and AV experts, you can design the home theater you’ve always wanted. 

Over the past few years, Dolby Atmos has been taking over home theater audio systems. The reason is simple: it sounds better than anything you’ve ever heard before. And it didn’t just improve movie soundtracks – it made music sound incredible as well. The only problem was that it couldn’t reproduce live music with the same impact. If you wanted to experience a live concert in your home, you’d have to settle for stereo. But recently, Dolby devised a way to improve live sound mixing, giving you a more immersive experience when listening to your favorite bands.

See Also: Get the Most Out of Your Dolby Atmos Home Theater

Live Music – the Atmos Difference

While movie buffs have enjoyed the detailed sound mixing of Dolby Atmos for a couple of years now, live music has remained behind the curve. Why? Because of the complexity of mixing multiple sounds at once as individual “objects” – the method that Atmos uses to create the immersive effect – was simply too difficult.

Earlier this year, however, Dolby figured out a solution. And it turns out the translation was easier than expected. According to Ian Morris at Forbes, “The files [used to record live music] contain key parts of the track separated out, so vocals, bassline, melody and drums are all given their own tracks. This is much like a multitrack sound system in a recording studio, but greatly simplified.” Ultimately, Dolby realized the technology already existed, and they improved on it.

That means you can hear live music with the same directional sphere of sound reproduced in your home theater. Venues like London’s Ministry of Sound now offer better-than-ever listening experiences. It also means that live concert streams and broadcasts can now air in the format. So if you’re a music buff who loves concerts, you’ll potentially be able to stream concerts with full Dolby Atmos on services like Vimeo.

AV Solutions, Acoustics, & Comfy Seating

A home theater should bring everything you’d find at the local cinema right into the comfort of your own home – but leave all the negative features at the door! No more sticky floors, overpriced snacks, or too-talkative seat neighbors. Well, that last one might still be unavoidable – however, your dedicated home theater design can instead match the views, sounds, and comforts of a commercial cinema and improve them tenfold!

In this blog, we’ll dive into what design aspects truly make up the ultimate home theater in your Atlanta, GA living space and how these features can take your entertainment setup to the next level. Keep reading below to find out more.

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.

The autumn is the perfect time to integrate upgrades to your Atlanta home theater system. With the major holidays right around the corner – and don’t forget the Super Bowl hitting early next year – you’ll want to begin upgrading your space with full 4K UHD HDR picture quality. But not all systems are created equal, and there are some issues you’ll want to address before you can enjoy the beauty of higher resolution and color range. In this blog, we’ll show you what to look out for. Read more after the jump.

See Also: The Coolest Things Atlanta Home Theater Owners Will Love From CEDIA 2016

Cabling

The most common – and most frequently overlooked – issue with upgrading your system is ensuring the proper amount of bandwidth. Remember, 4K UHD offers four times the resolution of 1080p HD, and that means your cables need to support four times the information. Throw HDR into the mix and you could suffer from a downscaled signal or even no picture at all.

So upgrading your cables is essential. For any devices contained within the theater, say a local UHD Blu-ray player, you can connect them with HDMI 2.0 cables. For any hardware racked neatly in the basement, you’ll want to fortify your signal with fiber optic cables which, unlike HDMI 2.0, can transmit 4K signals over long distances.

There’s a lot of equipment that goes into creating a top-quality home theater. The list begins with a projector, a display, and a speaker system, but those are just the basics. You must also consider source components, an AV receiver, a control system, cabling, seating, acoustics, and much more.

If you practice feng shui or prefer a minimalistic style throughout your Atlanta, GA home, we understand why a home theater system could seem like the perfect way to clutter your house with bulky, intrusive technology and disturb an otherwise sleek interior design. However, there are plenty of solutions that can complement any minimalistic style while delivering the home theater of your dreams. Explore a few clutter-free solutions below!

SEE ALSO: Tired of Clunky Tech Cluttering Your Home? Here Are 4 Ways to Hide It

Gear Be Gone

Our team at Atlanta Audio & Automation specializes in custom home theater designs for any unique style, no matter how simplistic. We work with world-leading brands to offer homeowners intelligently concealed solutions that hide excessive wiring, source components, bulky speakers, and even do away with that pile of remote controllers.

Consider a custom ceiling soffit to hide your projector or select a projection screen that retracts to the ceiling when not in use. Motorized lifts are also a notable option to conceal speakers, displays, and other equipment until you’re ready to use them. What’s more, say goodbye to that big rack of AV equipment that typically lies underneath or beside the projector screen—we’ll create a dedicated AV closet hidden behind moveable wall panels or artwork so that it stays completely out of sight.

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.

Are you ready for some football? For plenty of Atlanta, Georgia homeowners, football season is the perfect time of year – the pigskins are in play, the end-zones are freshly painted and the Falcons are on the field. But this year, there’s no reason to battle for space in front of the living room TV just to cheer on your favorite team. It’s time to turn that unused space in your home into the ultimate home theater. Deck it out with team colors, a full bar and, of course, top-of-the-line electronics for the perfect man cave escape. Take a look at how you can transform a room in your home into an essential game day viewing room.

Catch the Details the Refs Miss

We’ve said it before and we’ll say it again: 4K Ultra HD is the wave of the future. There’s no getting around it, you’ll want to invest in the latest technology for your new home theater installation. Take for instance the 75X91C by Sony. Only 15mm thick and sporting a whopping 75 inch display, the only thing clunky about this bad boy is the name. Sony’s biggest (and thinnest) television features native 4K resolution and improved handling of up-scaled HD. That’s just a fancy way of saying the display looks great, even if you’re not watching UHD content. And with a High Dynamic Range firmware update scheduled later this year that will allow the TV to reach even truer colors and deeper blacks, you can bet that the 75X91C will have you seeing details that even the refs miss.

Football in the Morning, Football in the Evening…

Using Pros Who Understand Acoustics and Visuals Guarantees a Truly Immersive In-Home Theater Venue

Your fully automated home theater in Atlanta, GA should not only be stylish, unique, and easy to use but should also be designed so that you can have an amazing viewing and listening experience.

The most obvious goal of any good home theater is to replicate the experience of a real movie theater but to achieve that you’re going to need the highest-end audio and video technology combined with the expertise of how and where to install it.

The installation professionals at Atlanta Audio & Automation will be able to help you decide the precise kind of components and equipment that will transform your home theater into a special cinematic experience.

When Can You Get Dolby Atmos Content?

For months we’ve been excited about the impending release of 4K Ultra HD Blu-rays, in part because we expect great things sonically. But the truth is, Dolby Atmos home video, unlike Ultra HD, is here already. The latest Blu-ray releases like Mad Max: Fury Road and The Hunger Games: Mocking Jay Part 1 are being released with incredible soundtracks – leading many to call them the best-sounding home video releases ever.

But that’s not all. Netflix, which has begun streaming some 4K content, is delivering Atmos soundtracks as well. Similar services like Amazon Prime have also started experimenting with the sound format. Some experts are predicting that this could be the beginning of the end for disc-based home entertainment altogether (but we still love our Blu-rays!).

You’ve Got the Set-up, Now Get the Sound

Getting the best sound out of your home theater requires more than just great components – the entire room has to be tailored to create the ideal atmosphere. There are two steps you need to take for this to happen: specialized acoustic treatments and customized seating.

You know you want it; the eye-catching, pixel-popping clarity of Ultra HD. Today's home theaters won't impress anybody without the sheer spectacle of nearly 4K resolution. But achieving that beautiful look in your Atlanta private cinema is about more than just the latest television or projector display – your home needs the right infrastructure to support UHD content. In this blog we'll take you through the right equipment you'll need to get the most out of your home theater.

SEE ALSO: Why Your Home Theater Needs Acoustical Treatments

A Strong Network

If you want to control any part of your connected home, a strong network is key. Smart home technology – which is commonly referred to as the "Internet of Things" – needs more than just intelligent devices and happy thoughts to work effectively, it needs enough bandwidth to support every connection without slowing it down. The same is true for streaming your favorite content in Ultra HD.

According to content delivery network Akamai, only about 21 percent of U.S. homes had enough bandwidth to support 4K content in September 2015. But there's good news: your home simply needs a network upgrade to support all of those delightful pixels.

Remember the days when “direct-to-video” was synonymous with “low-quality”? Today that’s no longer the case with being able to easily access streaming services like Netflix and Hulu that produce celebrated original content, and higher-end services like Prima Cinema who put Hollywood blockbusters in your home the same day they premier in theaters. Maybe that’s why Apple is starting to make waves in the day-and-date streaming market. But what does that mean for your Atlanta home theater? Find out after the jump.

See Also: The Secret to Stunning 4K UHD in Your Atlanta Home Theater

Same Day as Theaters? 

As movie theaters start to wane and studios look for new ways to push out their content, your home theater stands to gain a lot. Now that Apple is entering the discussion, you may even be able to stream first run movies on iTunes. According to Bloomberg:

“21st Century Fox Inc., Time Warner Inc.’s Warner Bros. and Comcast Corp.’s Universal Pictures all confirmed over the past week that they are looking to offer high-priced, home-video rentals of new movies shortly after they open in theaters.”

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.