Although CEDIA integrators have become ever more focused on “creating experiences” as opposed to simply “selling devices,” this home cinema is a great example of what can happen when manufacturers are along for the entire ride, providing guidance and advice. The team at Thoughtful Integrations says, “Performance of this room was based on ‘at above’ standards set by manufacturers Rayva, Anthem, Triad, Sony, Kaleidescape, Control4, Screen Innovations, Dolby, and ISF.
“Teaming up with Rayva for the acoustic treatment of the room was a key to gaining proper audio in an acoustically challenged room. Closely following CEDIA white papers, best practices, and manufacturer guidelines and suggestions allowed this theater to be a strong example of the total shared knowledge of the CEDIA community with an insight to the excellence of knowledge cooperation.”
That collaborative effort yielded a room that won the 2020 CEDIA Award for Best Home Cinema, Level II, Americas.
Having It All
This is definitely the place to be for a family that’s stuck at home.
Thoughtful Integrations explains: “Whether the use was for sports, movies, gaming, music, or any other entertainment choice, everything was built to exceed expectations.
“The theme of this theater was to create a space where any resident of the home can enjoy their favorite digital pastime.”
If a movie’s the choice, a 4K Sony projector lights up the Screen Innovations display, and as Thoughtful Integrations notes, the Jaymar DBox seats sync their movements to the action onscreen to “create an immersive environment where the viewer feels like they are in the middle of the movie.”
The firm adds, “For sports, while the sights and sounds are amazing, the ability to change the colors right from the Control4 touchscreen to the colors of the owner’s favorite team was key. Gaming in this room is next level through the intelligent use of the 4k Xbox One, with saved audio and video profiles and an amazing experience through the DBox seats.
“While these are all standard features in many theaters due to the current climate of staying at home, the added desire for ‘concerts at home’ became a big use case. Having multiple saved profiles for true stereo concert imaging, use of new Dolby Atmos Mastered audio content (and several other formats all at the users fingertips) made this the concert venue you’ve dreamed of. Sitting at the bar in this theater and turning on the latest streamed concert turned this theater into a true music venue.”
Big Sound for Movies, Too
The cinematic audio elements further reveal the attention to detail at work here. Some examples:
“The room presents some acoustic challenges with the raised playground area in the left rear corner, the curved partial back wall, and the angled entry in the right rear corner. Front, side and rear speakers are installed with the tweeters below each wall’s midpoint, referencing the ‘New Rules for Dolby Atmos’ document.
“Three Triad InWall Silver/4 LCR front speakers will be installed behind an acoustically transparent screen, following the screen manufacturer’s guidance regarding the distance between the speakers and screen. That placement improves dialogue intelligibility and tonal balance.” Positioning of the surround speakers, height channel speakers, and subwoofers are also given careful attention here, and an Anthem unit handles signal processing for all the audio channels.
Lastly, the user interface had to be frictionless. The firm notes that the “Control4 UI and ‘experience buttons’ paired with engraved keypads” make for a intuitive control. Additionally, “Using the two-way visual communication and navigation of Kaleidescape for locally stored content (as well as streaming media) makes selection of content simple for anyone to use.”