New to home cinema? Read these in order. Each step builds on the one before, from deciding between a projector and a TV to sorting out the room it goes in. Everything here is general guidance for UK homes.
1Decide what you’re building
- Projector or TV: which is right for your room?Screen size, the light in your room, HDR and installation, compared so you can decide which suits your room.
- Soundbar or separate speaker system: which should you buy?How soundbars and AV receiver systems work, where each wins, and the questions that decide which suits your room.
- 4K Blu-ray vs streaming: is the disc still worth it?Bitrate, lossless sound, ownership and what you need to play 4K discs, compared with streaming.
2Get the picture right
- Projector throw distance and screen size: how to work it out for your roomThrow ratio, screen width and seating distance, worked through with a table for common screen sizes and a calculator for your own room.
- Seating distance and screen height: where to sit and how high to mountHow far back to sit for any screen size, how high to put a TV or projector screen, and where in the room the main seat should go.
- Projector brightness explained: how many lumens do you need?ANSI vs “LED” lumens, brightness on the screen, and a table of how many lumens each screen size needs.
- Projector screens explained: gain, grey, ALR and acoustically transparentWhat screen gain really means, when a grey or ALR screen helps, acoustically transparent materials, and 16:9 versus scope.
- HDR formats explained: HDR10, HDR10+, Dolby Vision and HLGWhat each HDR format does, why dynamic metadata matters, and how to check your TV, player and receiver all support it.
3Get the sound right
- Dolby Atmos speaker layouts explained: 5.1.2, 7.1.4 and where each speaker goesWhat the numbers in 5.1.2 and 7.1.4 mean, speaker angles for every position, one subwoofer or two, and what your AV receiver needs.
- How to choose an AV receiver for your home cinemaProcessing vs amplifier channels, power figures, HDMI 2.1, room correction and subwoofer outputs: what matters on a receiver spec sheet.
- Home cinema cables explainedSpeaker cable thickness, copper vs CCA, polarity, in-wall ratings, HDMI certification, subwoofer hum and optical audio: what matters and what doesn’t.
4Sort out the room
- Home cinema room set-up: light control and acousticsBlackout, reflections near the screen, lighting you can watch by, and where acoustic treatment actually helps.
- Home cinema acoustics: reflection, absorption and diffusion explainedHow sound behaves in a room, and how to use absorption, diffusion and bass traps to make a home cinema sound clearer, with a room modes calculator.
- Soundproofing explained: how to stop home cinema sound escapingThe difference between soundproofing and acoustic treatment, how sound leaks, the four principles that work, and the myths that don’t.
- How to soundproof a home cinema room: walls, ceiling, floor, door and windowsA surface-by-surface guide to soundproofing a dedicated cinema room or conversion, from decoupled walls to door seals and silenced ventilation.
- How to reduce home cinema noise for neighbours without building workPractical ways to cut how much your neighbours hear, from subwoofer placement and isolation to night modes and seals, without rebuilding the room.
5Choose the kit
- Best home cinema projectorsOur picks of the best home cinema projectors for UK rooms, and what to look for when you choose one.
- Best projector screensOur picks of the best projector screens for home cinemas, and how to choose size, gain and material.
- Best TVs for home cinemaOur picks of the best TVs for watching films at home, from premium OLEDs to bright, affordable Mini LED sets.
- Best soundbars for filmsOur picks of the best soundbars for watching films, from compact bars to full Dolby Atmos systems.
- Best AV receiversOur picks of the best AV receivers for home cinema, from 5.1 systems to full Dolby Atmos.
- Best home cinema speaker packagesOur picks of the best 5.1 home cinema speaker packages, from compact sets for small rooms to full-size systems.
- Best 4K Blu-ray playersOur picks of the best 4K Blu-ray players for picture, sound and big disc collections.
- Best speaker cable and HDMI cablesThe speaker cable and HDMI cables worth buying for a home cinema, picked on specifications and certification.