A smart home theater system is one where the screen, speakers, streaming sources, lights and shades all work together, run from one remote, keypad or app, and connect to the rest of your smart home. You can get there in stages. This guide covers what to check in your current setup, which equipment to choose, how to set it up properly and how to tie it into the rest of the house.
What makes a home theater smart?
A smart home theater has three things a basic setup doesn’t.
- One control point. A single remote, wall keypad or phone app runs everything. You press one button and the system turns on the right devices and picks the right inputs.
- Automation. The room responds to what you are doing. Starting a movie dims the lights and closes the shades. Pausing raises the lights a little so you can find your way to the kitchen.
- Connection to the house. The theater talks to your lighting, shades, climate, doorbell and cameras. The movie can pause when someone rings the doorbell and show the camera feed on screen.
Take stock of what you have
Before buying anything, look at what can stay.
- Display: a 4K TV or projector with HDR (Dolby Vision or HDR10) is still a good base. If yours is older or only 1080p, it is likely the first thing to replace.
- Receiver or processor: this is the part that ages fastest. If it lacks HDMI eARC, Dolby Atmos decoding or HDMI 2.1 inputs, it will limit everything connected to it.
- Speakers: good passive speakers last for decades. In-wall and in-ceiling speakers in good condition can often stay.
- Wiring: check whether you have conduit or open paths to the screen and equipment locations. That decides how easily you can add ceiling speakers or move equipment.
Choosing the equipment
The screen
For a living room or media room with windows, a large TV is the simplest answer, and 85 to 100 inch models are now common. For a dedicated room you can make dark, a 4K laser projector and a properly sized screen give you a cinema-sized image. Size the screen so it fills roughly 30 to 40 degrees of your view from the main seats.
The sound
A soundbar is a reasonable step up from TV speakers in a small room. For a real theater, a surround system with a receiver or processor, separate speakers and at least one subwoofer is the way to go. Dolby Atmos adds height speakers in the ceiling. In-wall and in-ceiling speakers keep the room clean, and models such as the Sonance Invisible Series disappear entirely.
The sources
Plan for every way you watch: a streaming device such as Apple TV 4K, a cable or satellite box if you still use one, a game console, and possibly a Kaleidescape movie server for full-quality 4K movies with lossless audio. Every source should run through the receiver or processor so the control system can switch between them.
Build the network the theater needs
Streaming 4K HDR with Dolby Atmos needs a steady connection. Wi-Fi works, but a wired Ethernet connection to every streaming device, the display and the processor is far more reliable. Use a current Wi-Fi 6 or Wi-Fi 7 router or a managed network with wireless access points for phones and tablets. In larger homes, a managed network from Araknis, Access Networks, Ubiquiti or Ruckus lets your integrator monitor it and fix problems remotely. Our post on how smart devices affect your Wi-Fi speed explains why this matters.
Add a control system
This is the step that makes the theater smart. A control system from Savant or Control4 replaces the stack of remotes with one interface. Each source gets one button, such as “Apple TV,” “Cable” or “Game,” and the system handles the inputs, power and volume behind the scenes.
You can also set up scenes for the way you use the room:
- Movie: shades close, lights dim to a low level, the projector and processor turn on.
- Game Day: lights stay at half, the cable box tunes to the game, the sound switches to a sports setting.
- Intermission: lights come up partway and the movie pauses.
- All Off: everything shuts down with one press.
Voice control is a nice addition. Josh.ai handles requests such as “watch Apple TV in the theater” or “dim the lights” in a way that general voice assistants often don’t. Alexa and Google can still handle simple commands.
Lighting and shades
Light control has a big effect on how good the picture looks. Use dimmable lights on a Lutron system so each scene can set the right levels, with sconces and step lights instead of bright overhead cans pointed at the screen. Motorized shades on any windows let the room go dark at the press of a button. Our post on Lutron shades that follow the sun explains how shades can also work on a schedule.
Set it up properly
Good equipment set up badly sounds worse than modest equipment set up well. A few basics:
- Place the front left and right speakers at about ear height, angled toward the main seats.
- Put the center speaker directly above or below the screen, aimed at the listeners. If you use an acoustically transparent screen, it goes behind it.
- Place surround speakers to the sides of the seats, slightly above ear height.
- Try the subwoofer in a few spots. Two subwoofers give more even bass across the seats.
- Run the receiver’s room calibration with its microphone at the main seat, then adjust levels by ear.
- Set the display to its Movie or Filmmaker Mode as a starting point. Professional calibration goes further.
Common problems and fixes
- Sound out of sync with the picture: adjust the A/V sync or lip-sync setting on the receiver, and make sure the firmware is current.
- Blank screen or flickering after switching inputs: this is often an HDMI handshake problem. Power cycle the devices in order, starting with the display, and check that the HDMI cables are rated for the signal you are sending.
- Streaming that buffers: move the streaming device to a wired connection.
- Remote or app not responding: check the network first. Control systems depend on it.
When to bring in a professional
You can upgrade a TV and soundbar on your own. When the project involves ceiling speakers, a projector, a control system and lighting scenes, a designer and installer will save you time and mistakes. They plan the speaker locations for the room, run the wiring, program the scenes and calibrate the system. For more on the details, read our home theater installation tips.
Planning a smart home theater upgrade?
We design and install smart home theaters across Greater Boston, the South Shore and Rhode Island, and we are an authorized dealer for Savant, Control4 and Lutron. Book a free consultation or read more about our custom home theater services.
