Selecting the video and audio equipment for your home theater set-up is crucial, of course, but how you arrange your home theater seating is equally important. Adding this feature to your home is a major upgrade, and you want to make sure you do it correctly to ensure everyone’s comfort during—and after—the show.
A home theater set-up is on everybody’s wish list these days. Imagine being able to watch movies in a plush setting without even having to get into the car, with high-quality video and audio and home theater seating that’s infinitely more comfortable (and cleaner!) than in the cinemas. A large-scale amenity like this will make your home a film fan’s version of paradise—if it’s done correctly. Comfort is of course paramount, as is ensuring that every V.I.P. in your small audience has a clear view of the screen.
There are a couple of standard set-ups you can choose from for your own home theater seating: straight-line or radius. Straight-line seating, just as it sounds, is a simple side-by-side alignment, like a formation of soldiers, just as you see when you go out to the movies. In the other option the seats are installed in a curve, mainly to minimize any craning of the neck amongst the viewers trying to catch every speck of the action; this arrangement allows each person a full view without having to turn the head more than an easy 45 degrees in either direction.
It’s true: as great as the movie may be, that will be somewhat forgotten by anyone who ends up with a crick in their neck after the fact. Radius seating for home theater optimizes each viewer’s sight line, meaning that no one seat really has an advantage over the other. So with radius seating, everyone can see and hear fine without ill effects. What’s more, this curved style of seating is aesthetically more interesting and it can also help you make the most of the room’s square footage (plus, the younger movie-watchers will likely declare it “cooler” than the straight line).
A home theater seat’s reclining function is not just about comfort. A seated person’s line of sight is 15 degrees lower than that of a standing person, and a slight reclining ability helps the viewer to achieve that. With multiple rows of either straight or radius seating you may use risers at the recommended height of one foot to ensure that anyone behind the first row also has a clear view of the movie (this is sometimes referred to as stadium seating). If the available space won’t allow for this, fear not: since this is your home theater you can tell the tall folks to scoot to the back row and they should do so willingly. Another option is to stagger the seats so that none is directly behind another.
How Far Away from the Screen?
The well-designed home theater set-up calls for specific distances for home theater furniture placement and angles alike. The recommendation of the Society of Motion Pictures and Television Engineers specifies a 30-degree horizontal field of view for the viewers. Of course, this is in line with the optimal sight line of 15 degrees in either direction, as referenced in the previous paragraph. The vertical field of view, however, should be half that—15 degrees—so that the audience will not have to look more than 7.5 degrees up or down to fully see the screen. For a simple calculation of the ideal distance, multiply your screen’s width (straight across, not on the diagonal) by 1.9 and use that number to determine how far back the seating should begin. That will ensure that your front-row folks aren’t straining their necks and eyes to see; anyone farther back will be fine as long as the distance is not more than 5 times the screen’s width.
Whether you hire somebody to set up your home theater seating or you do it yourself, these simple guidelines will optimize everyone’s enjoyment of the show. Nobody will be too close or too far, and they’ll all have a clear view. Once your home theater is up and running you’ll probably wait for everything to go to video, rather than braving the cinema. After all, why would you want to deal with rushing out to the multiplex in hopes of grabbing a good seat, when every seat at home is perfect?
