Blog

Cape Town Home Cinema design services that Mirror Edge Networks offers.

Introduction;

A home cinema has various different design requirements, the easiest way to work through these design requirements is to break them down to simple sections:

• Audio Requirements
• Video requirements
• Equipment control
• Equipment installation location (racking)
• Construction requirements and constraints
• Seating requirements and locations
• Room décor
• HVAC including Air management (fresh air circulation / air conditioning)

Once these have been quantified, the Terms and Conditions surrounding the home cinema are tailored according to the project.

We can then discuss the Timeline proposed for the home cinema. These are worked on reasonable delivery schedules considering no interruptions to work via external sources. As we are often working in new build houses, we need to take into consideration when the handover of the prepared room to us is going to take place, or any other builders issues.

We aim to be on site in a timeous fashion on a daily basis to ensure the maximum work possible.

 

The Scope of Works to be completed by Mirror Edge Networks after receiving the built room in which we will be working. This may or may not included specialist installation requirements like installation of air management systems, seating installation, or some other type of installation work that is not generally associated with an ‘audio video’ installer.
Mirror Edge Networks does our best to carry out all aspects of a home cinema build, however there are of course a few specialist tasks that we are not able to complete.

We will provide Plans of the home cinema room, with various different degrees of detail according to the level at which you chose for your home cinema, these include;

General Floor Plan

• Elevations:
  • Screen Wall
  • Side Walls
  • Rear Wall
  • Rack / Equipment installation location (where applicable)
  • Inverted ceiling plans for immersive surround sound speaker locations
• Section diagrams and perspective drawings where required
• Any other general details that are required prior to site works commencing

 

Detail Documentation required by technicians onsite, internal or external.
Sample Boards as required by client to make final decisions of fabrics, carpet, timber or other soft or hard furnishings within the cinema

 

Acoustic Calculations
The audio properties of a home cinema have a direct relationship with the ability to hear your movies correctly. For this reason we insist that where possible our rooms have the best acoustic design possible. The acoustic design of a home cinema can include various specialist acoustic consultations and measurements which include detailed room measurement (HAA Certification) as well as RT60 times.

 

HVAC – Heating, Ventilation and Air Conditioning.
Fresh air, cooling and heating a home cinema is a design aspect which is not as apparently important as the seating and lighting, however if not considered correctly can cause fatigue and decrease enjoyment. We measure and consider the effects of people, equipment and the room on the habitability of the room and factor this into our designs accordingly.

 

Audio Overview
We detail the specifications of the equipment that we have recommended. This is based on the audio format which the room has been designed for as well as the locations of the speakers and how these would be connected to the equipment. This is not a complicated design element, but one that can lead to incredibly rewarding results when done correcrtly.

 

Video Overview
We approach the video formats in our cinema rooms with great care as there are many different formats and buzzwords flying around. We aim to deliver the best viewing experience available through the choice of the equipment that is going to offer the best experience for our customers. For this reason we will specify the correct equipment and expand on this in this part of our proposal.

 

Power consumption and electrical considerations.
In recent years South Africa was plagued with power supply issues. In Gauteng lightning is a special issue which is presented to our clients. When we are tasked with designing a home cinema we consider  these challenges as well as taking all other power requirements into consideration. We will detail these and provide supporting documentation to this effect.

 

General Overview of the system & its functionality
A closing summary of the proposed design including the following estimates

• Construction
• Interior & Décor
• Lighting
• Equipment
• Project management fees

 

 

Now that we have given an overview of the different parts of a home cinema, we will detail each of them below with photographs and descriptions where possible.

Introduction;

 

• Audio Requirements

 

Which type of audio formats will the Home Cinema be designed for?

There are various notable home cinema surround sound audio formats. The most common are the following:

• Dolby Digital
• Dolby Atmos
• Auro 3D
• DTS:X
• IMAX enhanced audio

A short description about the most commonly used surround sound formats for home cinema that we have used in Cape Town can be read below:

The history of audio has progressed significantly since the original design of the speaker. When we started listening to music, it was from a single speaker, this was common when portable music systems were popular, as these would have a single speaker. As time progressed musicians and producers realised that they could achieve better sound through a pair of speakers, and so home hifi begun.

In the 1990’s home cinema systems started to become part of home entertainment, these started with 5.1 surround sound systems. As technology progressed the 5.1 surround sound format increased to 7.1 channels of audio.

In 2005 Wilfried Van Baelen developed Auro 3D at Galaxy Studios in Belguim. This would become the first surround sound format to incorporate speakers above the listener and an in-ceiling speaker configuration.

The minimum recommended standard that we work to in our installation is an Auro 11.1 configuration which is described in the photo above.

 

It would take until 2012 for Dolby Laboratories to release the next audio format to join the home cinema space. This is Dolby Atmos.

Dolby Atmos is a configuration of 5.1 or 7.1 “bed channel” speakers with 2, 4 or 6 in-ceiling channels to create the 3-D surround sound effect.

 

Our minimum recommended installation for Atmos would be a 5.1.4 installation which features 5 surround sound speakers and 4 in-ceiling speakers. To increase this additional surround speakers can be added to make the configuration a 7.1.4 configuration.

 

In 2015 DTS (Dedicated to Sound) launches DTS:X

DTS:X is channel and speaker layout agnostic. In other words, even though DTS:X for home theater  is designed to be optimally used with an 11.1 (or 7.1.4 in Dolby Atmos terms) channel and speaker layout, DTS:X will remap sound object distribution according to the channel and speaker system it has to work with.

 

• Video requirements

 

Is the cinema going to be:

• HD
• 4k
• HDR compliant

What size screen is best for our cinema?

Should we use a television or a projection screen?

If we use a projection system, how big must the screen be?

If we use a projection system, what projector should we use and why?

What source equipment are we going to use in our home cinema?

 

• Equipment control

How are we going to control your home cinema?

Mirror Edge Networks recommends and endorses Crestron HR150, fixed button remote control.

 

 

 

Control functionality from the Crestron HR150 remote control includes:

 

• Single command on / off of entire cinema
• Dedicated button for BluRay DVD player, with full functionality from remote control
• Dedicated button for Apple TV, with full functionality from remote control
• Dedicated button for DSTV, with full functionality from remote control
• Lighting control from 4 fixed buttons at bottom of remote control

 

Intuitive operation and volume control without necessity to look at remote control.

We would formalize the control requirements of the home cinema.

  

• Equipment installation location (racking)

 

 

As we would like the equipment to function at its optimum without the chance of interruption, we install our equipment into dedicated equipment racks with suitable support and ventilation. This also ensures that the equipment is not tampered with and will not be effected by anyone wanting to make changes or fiddle with it unnecessarily.

 

We would determine the requirements of the equipment racks.

 

• Construction requirements and constraints

 

This is an overview of what construction services we offer and what would be required by an external contractor outside of our company.

 

• Seating requirements and locations

 

How many seats would you like in your cinema?

Where must the seats be located?

 

 

• Room décor

 

What would you like your cinema to look like?

Do you have conceptual photographs that we can work from?

Sample Boards as required by client to make final decisions of fabrics, carpet, timber or other soft or hard furnishings within the home cinema

• Air management

(fresh air circulation / air conditioning)

 

How will we take care of fresh air circulation?

What will be the method of heating and cooling the cinema room?

The Terms and Conditions surrounding the project once the technical clarifications is then compiled as these are tailored according to each project.

 

 

The Timeline proposal is then compiled. These are worked on reasonable delivery schedules considering no interruptions to work via external sources, these could be builders delays causing handover of the prepared room to us, or any other builders issues.

We aim to be on site in a timeous fashion on a daily basis to ensure the maximum work possible.

 

 

The Scope of Works to be completed by Mirror Edge Networks after receiving the completed room in which we will be working. This may or may not included specialist installation requirements like installation of air management systems, seating installation, or some other type of installation work that is not generally associated with an ‘audio video’ installer.

 

We will provide Plans of the home cinema room, with various different degrees of detail according to the level at which you chose to design your cinema, these include;

 

 

General Floor Plan

 

 

• Elevations:

 

• Screen Wall

 

• Side Walls

 

 

• Rear Wall

 

• Section diagrams and perspective drawings where required
• Rack / Equipment installation location (where applicable)
• Inverted ceiling plans for immersive surround sound speaker locations

 

• Any other general details that are required prior to site works commencing

Detail Documentation required by technicians onsite, internal or external.

 

Acoustic Calculations

The audio properties of a home cinema are a fundamental when we begin the approach to design. For this reason we insist that where possible our rooms have the best sound possible.

 

The acoustic design of the cinemas is developed upon highly when we progress in the cinema design packages to include detailed room measurement (HAA Certification) as well as RT60 times of the cinema.

 

HVAC – Heating Cooling and Air Conditioning.

Fresh air, cooling and heating of a cinema are one of the parts which do not seem as apparently important for comfort as seating and lighting, however if not considered correctly can cause fatigue and decrease enjoyment. We measure and consider the effects of people, equipment and the room on the habitability of the room and factor this into our designs accordingly.

 

Audio Overview

We detail the specifications of the equipment that we have recommended. This would include the audio format which the room has been designed for as well as the locations of the speakers and how these would be connected to the equipment

 

 

 

Video Overview

We approach the video formats in our cinema rooms with great care as there are many different formats and buzzwords flying around. We aim to deliver the best viewing experience available through the choice of the equipment that is going to offer the best experience for our customers. For this reason we will specify the correct equipment and expand on this in this part of our proposal.

 

Power consumption and electrical considerations.

In recent years South Africa was plagued with power supply issues. In Gauteng lightning is a special issue which is presented to our clients. When we are tasked with designing a home cinema we take these challenges as well as the over all power requirements into consideration. We will detail these and provide supporting documentation to this effect.

 

General Overview of the system & its functionality

A closing summary of the proposed design including the following estimates

• Construction
• Interior & Décor
• Lighting
• Equipment
• Project management fees

Payment Schedule according to project timeline

 

Calibration fees

 

As you can see there are many detailed stages that go into designing and building a professional home cinema.
This is always an exciting process and one that we hope we will be able to assist you with.

Please get in contact with us so that we can start the conversation with you about your home cinema!