You’ve got the popcorn and the soda. The family is together, for the first time in who-knows how long, and everyone sits back in their own plush, leather reclining chair. It's movie time in your own beautiful home theater. No crowds, no cell phones, and no sticky floors.

But the screen curtains aren’t opening up. None of the buttons seem to be working. You pick up each remote but still nothing seems to be working, except the speakers that have a strange static-filled, chirping noise coming out of them. Now everyone is perturbed and the popcorn is half gone.

“If you’re serious about having a home theater, go to a custom installer,” said Tim Jones, director of sales and marketing for Viaav LLC, in Hagerstown Maryland. “Chances are, if you buy the equipment on your own you will have to install it on your own. You’re sitting there with $10,000 worth of equipment and frustrated because you can’t get it to work.”

There are many custom installers in Virginia and Jones recommends researching and utilizing the website www.cedia.com which lists certified companies all over the world. Clients can enter their zip code and find the closest installers locally. “Find three companies, get estimates, and find someone you’re comfortable working with,” he said. “Before you buy make sure you know who is doing the installation.”

Home theater prices range from the thousands to up in the millions. But a quality system is worth the money, said Jones. And the attraction of a home theater is a plus when selling your house. “It’s an investment. A $15,000 home theater is going to last for a long time,” he said. “You could buy one for $5,000 but you’re throwing your money away. You’ll end up getting a new projector, new screen, etc.”

One of the biggest issues to consider is the control factor. The home owner can totally control his or her cinematic experience, with a solid installation. Many companies like Viaav can set up your system so there is only one remote. “Ultimately, the experience blows away the (public) theater,” said Jones. “You have total control of it. The environment is totally yours. The image is phenomenal and the sound is setup for you to sit in the sweet spot. It’s the perfect se up for cinema experience.”

Home theaters can also be installed with automation systems that control the lights, thermostat, and reclining seats. You can even have your system programmed to pause the movie if the doorbell rings and show the front door camera image on the screen.

Many theater owners like the media server which organized your DVD’s and CD’s. Music can be accessed in the theater or from different rooms in the house. Another popular item is CineWide which shows the movie as it was originally filmed in CinemaScope™ 2.35:1 format without the black bars and without losing any of the quality. Constant vertical height is maintained, filling the entire screen area. “It still utilizes all of the pixels. It doesn’t blow the picture up,” Jones said.

For more information about Viaav, visit www.viaav.com.

L. A. Eaton,
Staff