New home theater, need some advice on darkening it

cuda1337

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I'll be building a mostly dedicated theater room in a new home construction in an approximately 17x18 room.

I am trying to get a game plan together and have a few questions I'm hoping to get some input on.

I am looking to get a 4k projector under 3k, and probably put up a ~ 150 inch screen. I figure I'll be able to setup chairs about 14ish feet back from the screen and will likely only do one row of seating. The room is an upstairs 'bonus' room and is carpeted.

In terms of blacking out the room to ensure the best picture quality I can get, I think I have a few options. Paint the ceiling and wall a dark color (maybe a combination of black ceiling gray walls), put up curtains across the whole room and leave the ceiling white (or paint?), get an AVR screen to deal with reflections from brighter surfaces, put up dark colored acoustic panels on the walls and ceiling, or some combination of all of the above. Ideally I'd like to do whatever is the easiest to undo, while still getting a high quality picture. Painting is my least favorite idea, but I'm open to it.

I've read the curtains will be better than a flat black paint? I like the idea of doing curtains, but wasn't sure how difficult it would be to take care of the ceiling with curtains. Maybe curtains on walls and acoustic panels on the ceiling? But then I'd read that you don't want sound dampeners on the ceiling as well as carpeted flooring?


Any advice/thoughts are appreciated.
 
Paint only gets you so far. My DIY approach has made me realise that black velvet is your best friend. MVEL22 when available is brilliant and as much use of this on walls and ceilings will be the most effective approach.
 
Paint only gets you so far. My DIY approach has made me realise that black velvet is your best friend. MVEL22 when available is brilliant and as much use of this on walls and ceilings will be the most effective approach.
What's the best way to hang it from ceilings or walls without making it look crappy?
 
I’ve made floor to ceiling panels and will use french cleats to fix them to the side and screen walls. For side walls you could make curtains. @mb3195 has done this to great effect. Ceiling I am thinking about this and am I decided to go down a fabric track system or make lighter ceiling panels like @IWCdopplel has done.
 
Curtains is a easy option for the side walls, MVEL22 is also acoustically transparent so can also pull over speakers should you wish to do so.

Nothing wrong in having treatment on your ceiling upto your peripheral vision, this is a reflection point after all.

How easy is it for you to change the shape of your room? Your measurements are almost square which is an acoustic nightmare really. Ideally bringing your sidewalls in a couple of foot either side will certainly help.
 
Curtains is a easy option for the side walls, MVEL22 is also acoustically transparent so can also pull over speakers should you wish to do so.

Nothing wrong in having treatment on your ceiling upto your peripheral vision, this is a reflection point after all.

How easy is it for you to change the shape of your room? Your measurements are almost square which is an acoustic nightmare really. Ideally bringing your sidewalls in a couple of foot either side will certainly help.

I can't change the layout of the room, but to be more precise about the measurements it's 18'4 by 17'4. There is a closet in the room which causes the back corner of the room to stick out a bit further than the rest, so it's nearly a square with an extra piece off the top right edge of the square. Will that help acoustically?
 
I can't change the layout of the room, but to be more precise about the measurements it's 18'4 by 17'4. There is a closet in the room which causes the back corner of the room to stick out a bit further than the rest, so it's nearly a square with an extra piece off the top right edge of the square. Will that help acoustically?

Impossible to say how a room will actually sound, but square rooms are difficult due to cancellations caused by room modes.

Could you build a false wall to have an acoustically transparent screen to reduce the length instead?
 
Impossible to say how a room will actually sound, but square rooms are difficult due to cancellations caused by room modes.

Could you build a false wall to have an acoustically transparent screen to reduce the length instead?

Well, I have another room in the house I could use instead, I've attached a picture of the floor plan. It's the 19'5 by 13'1 room. I figured that wouldn't be as good of a room though. But thinking about it, I'm not sure about the pro's and con's of either room. The closets and little nooks of each room are kinda messing with my ability to envision where the screen would go and where the furniture would be. Ideally I'd like to get the biggest screen possible.
1596024998717.png
 
Well, I have another room in the house I could use instead, I've attached a picture of the floor plan. It's the 19'5 by 13'1 room. I figured that wouldn't be as good of a room though. But thinking about it, I'm not sure about the pro's and con's of either room. The closets and little nooks of each room are kinda messing with my ability to envision where the screen would go and where the furniture would be. Ideally I'd like to get the biggest screen possible. View attachment 1342033

The second bedroom will almost certainly be better.

Really nice size as well.
 
The challenge with square rooms (I use one) is the natural nodes from side and front,back walls are the same so you have double the peak at the same point, the entrance will help a bit, but the longer narrower room will be much easier to EQ the bass
 

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