Motorized home theater screens & equipment

Motorized home theater screens are not as simple to setup as it may seem. Just like other home theater components, there are many factors that you must consider before choosing one from many motorized home theater screens.

Before you choose your screen, you must first decide over the best room taking ambient light into consideration. More on ambient light and motorized home theater screens here.

For example, if you’re dedicated to purchasing your home theater system,  a fixed home theater screen would be the ultimate choice.  When you decide where to install your motorized screen,  you will need to provide electrical power, control wiring and any other electrical upgrades to enhance your home theater experience.

Anywhere your home theater system is installed, most motorized home theater screens if installed correctly will not interfere with the harmony of your room.  Depending on which electric screen you buy, there may be extensive sheet-rock and electrical work done to complete the project.  Many motorized home theater screens do require the former, and if this sounds like too much fun, you might consider hiring out?  Here is a free service that you can use to find a reputable contractor in you area.

One thing to consider when mounting your motorized home theater screen, you will want to pick an interior wall to mount your screen. This will make installation much easier because of the access to the top of the walls through the attic. Exterior walls tend to have less access because of the roof line resting on top of them.

Also you will need to know how much electrical current to screen the motor draws when considering a motorized home theater screen. You will need to check the breaker load on the particular electrical supply line you plan to use. Most electrical breakers or 20 amp, so if the breaker you plan to use is at capacity you will need to install another power line and a new breaker. I would highly recommend seeking professional help because this can be very dangerous if you do not know what you’re doing. You can find a reputable electrician in you area here. And you may consider installing a higher load breaker. Otherwise, you don’t want to turn on your motorized home theater screen and come to find that it only makes it half way down before it overloads and pops the circuit breaker. That could be a very unfortunate event with front of family and friends.

Other types of motorized home theater screens

If your home theater is in your back yard, you’ll want to look into one of these… Its a slightly unconventional motorized home theater screen and although this a inflatable home theater screen, we call it motorized because it uses an electric air pump to inflate/deflate it. As you can imagine, these inflatable home theater screens work very well in this type environment.

Motorized home theater screens & their characteristics

Motorized home theater screens are quite a bit different form a fixed home theater screen. Be sure that you choose one that will best match your projector output range and if it has the top blackout section for wide screen viewing. Study the output performance characteristics of your projector. For instance, if your planning on hanging a 2.35:1 aspect ratio motorized home theater screen, your projector will need to be capable with this 2.35:1 aspect ratio otherwise your picture will be short width-wise and tall height-wise.

One thing you you should keep in mine is that in general, the greater the screen aspect ratio, the more expensive the projector will be. If you’re on a budget, I would suggest sticking to 16:9 aspect ratio motorized home theater screens. You’ll get the best image quality at an affordable price in that range. So pick and choose your home theater projector and screen wisely because these are the most important aspects of creating a quality home theater experience.

On that note, I am working on a fixed & motorized home theater screens calculator that will remove all the guesswork. You’ll simply have to input the projectors output range, room size, etc. and it will tell you the maximum size and aspect ratio you can run with the amount of cash you want to spend. Perfect for planning a new home theater installation…

More on Motorized home theater screens here.