Ideal Home Theater Size
Looking to try and maximize potential but would ideally like 2 rows with lounge seating in the back so essentially 3 rows.
Ideal home theater size. An eight foot ceiling height is average for many home theaters so below are the dimensions using the ratio of height. If you are building a dedicated home theater room geared mostly towards movie watching then we would suggest a 2 35 1 cinema aspect ratio screen since this is what most movies are usually shot in. Thx has a similar formula but thx believes the ideal distance from the screen is closer than what smpte says. While there s no perfect size for your home theater bigger is better.
You may be a bit cramped if you opt to go smaller than this minimum home theater room size. For a fully immersive experience 20ft long by 15ft wide is best with high ceilings. Figuring out the most appropriate screen size and seating distances for a home theater involves a bit of math a bit of rule of thumb and a bit of personal taste. Using this example and the volkmann ratio you would have a room that is 8 feet tall 12 feet wide and 20 feet deep.
The biggest suggestion is to avoid cube shaped rooms where the height width and depth of the room are equal or very similar. The optimum screen size and viewing distance for your theater depends on the aspect ratio you choose. The answer is the ideal viewing distance in inches at a 30 degree viewing angle. In the thx formula you need to divide your screen diagonal in inches by 0 84 to get your viewing distance in inches.
Let s focus on this for a moment. Choose a room that s at least 15 feet wide and 20 feet long and you should have a good basis to start building your home theater. Now for a single row of theater seating the math would be easy. However smaller typical family rooms around 10ft square are also fine for use with a large tv.
Say you choose to go with an 8 foot wide 2 4 cinemascope screen. Length and using eight feet as the ceiling height. Unfortunately there is no one size fits all for a home theater room. 9 inches x 12 feet would be about a 108 inch diagonal screen.