HT colors

[DrMaustus]

Hey all,

I'm looking for some advice. Most recommendations for home theaters suggest an all black setup, since this will reduce the amount of reflected light. However, that's simply not practical and probably wouldn't pass the WAF test.

Here's what I plan to do: I want to mount the projector in the ceiling, and paint the lower half of the walls a dark brown. The upper half of the walls would be some light shade of a blue.

My questions are as follows: Should the darker color be on the upper half of the walls? Should I have the ceiling brown as well? Basically, I'm wondering if more light is reflected from the upper or lower part of the walls, or if this really matters at all.

Thoughts?

[AV_Integrated]

I think that black, while desirable, is rarely feasible. So, dark is the rule. Don't go with light blue, go with dark. Dark blues, greens, reds, etc. Make sure you use flat paint (not semi gloss, gloss, etc.). There's no WAF issue in most theaters if this is a dedicated room if you go this route, and lighting should be used ABUNDANTLY! My #1 pet peeve is people who put one light in their theater and think that it is enough. You should be putting 10+ lights into most theaters so that you are lighting up all the nooks and crannies when you want to. You can always turn lights off, but it's really dismal and dark in those rooms when you can't turn the lights on bright enough.

For reflections, it is not going to make a lot of difference in the room. From a seating position I think I would find is very distracting to have half the room reflecting a lot more light than the other half of the room, so I would avoid using two different brightnesses within the room. You could go with different colors on different walls. Perhaps paint the front wall brighter, and the side walls darker and the ceiling something neutral but darker.

Don't forget about the carpet!

[ack_bak]

I am using a green shade (olive green) on my wall with a hint of gold in it and am happy with the color. Since I can control my lighting very easily (basement) the wall color is plenty dark enough for me. I highly recommend going to a dedicated paint store such as Sherwin Williams and getting a color swatch book to bring home.

My biggest issue was that the trim (baseboards, doors, door trim, etc) is white and the ceilings are white as well (this is not a dedicated HT room, it also houses a play area, and an office are and is about 550sq ft). I would really like to paing the ceiling a darker color but my wife is not too hip on the idea. I would also like to paint the trim a darker color.. As AV Integrated mentioned make sure you use a flat paint. This is the key.

[DrMaustus]

Thanks for the advice. I'm going to use a flat paint for sure. Perhaps I'll use the light blue (really want this color...somewhere) for the trim only. My floor is going to be a dark brown/coffee colored cork floor.

I'm going to install potlights and plenty of them. I'll need to be able to light up the room when necessary, but also turn off all the lights when it's movie time.

Perhaps I'll post some pictures in here when I get things going. Thanks again for the input. If anyone else has any insight, please chime in.

[crazzeto]

Just remember to add some throw pillows and maybe some flow...errrr how about that olympic basketball guys?

[ack_bak]

Originally Posted by DrMaustus

Thanks for the advice. I'm going to use a flat paint for sure. Perhaps I'll use the light blue (really want this color...somewhere) for the trim only. My floor is going to be a dark brown/coffee colored cork floor.

I'm going to install potlights and plenty of them. I'll need to be able to light up the room when necessary, but also turn off all the lights when it's movie time.

Perhaps I'll post some pictures in here when I get things going. Thanks again for the input. If anyone else has any insight, please chime in.

I would also recommend adding some IR/RF dimmers as well. My Harmony remote is programmed to control my Lutron IR dimmers which control all my recessed lights. It is well worth the money.

[DrMaustus]

Originally Posted by ack_bak

I would also recommend adding some IR/RF dimmers as well. My Harmony remote is programmed to control my Lutron IR dimmers which control all my recessed lights. It is well worth the money.

I'd love to do that, Ack, but my top-of-the-line Logitech doesn't support the control of lighting! I couldn't believe that when I read it. I might have to sell this remote to get one that does.

[crazzeto]

Originally Posted by DrMaustus

I'd love to do that, Ack, but my top-of-the-line Logitech doesn't support the control of lighting! I couldn't believe that when I read it. I might have to sell this remote to get one that does.

I beleive it does support the lutron's out of the database, and actually as long as you have the original IR remote you should be able to get it to support any remote control lighting system. When I was living in Cleveland OH my roommate did the same thing ack did and it worked great.

[DrMaustus]

Originally Posted by crazzeto

Just remember to add some throw pillows and maybe some flow...errrr how about that olympic basketball guys?

And some lace and chiffon...wait a minute...um...something manly...like hunting trophies...maybe some large fish and the heads of some deer...

[ack_bak]

Originally Posted by crazzeto

I beleive it does support the lutron's out of the database, and actually as long as you have the original IR remote you should be able to get it to support any remote control lighting system. When I was living in Cleveland OH my roommate did the same thing ack did and it worked great.

Crazzeto is right. You should have no problem controlling Lutron IR dimmers with the Logitech Harmony remote. The Harmony remote is amazing. Love the thing.

[/dev/null]

Here an interesting little factiod... Because of the way human eyes perceive colors and brightness, a very dark blue in a dark room will appear to be darker than black. Theme parks paint the ceiling/works areas of rides this dark blue, so people won't be able to pick out pipes and conduits in the ceiling areas. The brain just kind of ignores the detail, and says 'yup.... it's dark up there!'
I put together a theater for a couple in Orlando, and we did a dark blue ceiling and front wall, with tan sides and dark tan accent/acoustic panels on the side walls. As the lights dimmed, the front wall and ceiling just kind of disappeared. Eventually they painted the side walls the dark color and left the panels for accents.

Peter M

[DrMaustus]

Interesting, thanks for the idea Peter. My only problem is I wanted a lighter shade of blue so as to not make it feel like a dungeon. I wonder if the effect would be similar although not as pronounced with a lighter shade of blue?

Originally Posted by /dev/null

Here an interesting little factiod... Because of the way human eyes perceive colors and brightness, a very dark blue in a dark room will appear to be darker than black. Theme parks paint the ceiling/works areas of rides this dark blue, so people won't be able to pick out pipes and conduits in the ceiling areas. The brain just kind of ignores the detail, and says 'yup.... it's dark up there!'
I put together a theater for a couple in Orlando, and we did a dark blue ceiling and front wall, with tan sides and dark tan accent/acoustic panels on the side walls. As the lights dimmed, the front wall and ceiling just kind of disappeared. Eventually they painted the side walls the dark color and left the panels for accents.

Peter M

[/dev/null]

I wonder if the effect would be similar although not as pronounced with a lighter shade of blue?

To some extent, yes. I just don't know how much less pronounced. It would depend on how dark your room is, and how light a shade of blue we're talking about.


Peter M

[AV_Integrated]

What's amazing, is that it is really all about the lights, not the color of the room. Go dark - period. Then add lighting. If you add sconces around the perimeter, then you get solid wall accent lighting that can make a different color really 'pop' on the wall while brightening the room a good deal, yet not at all impacting things when you really want the room dark.

See: http://www.avintegrated.com/lighting.html

It's more about how lighting affects the screen, but you can see what a lot of well zoned lights in a front projection setup can do to highlight different sections of a room. Our room is medium grey (family room) which is about all I could get away with.

[Chickengas]

Check out your local movie theater. Dark Blue and Maroon (or other dark red) is usually what the wall fabric and seats are made up of. They don't use any light colors for a reasons. Maroon and Dark Blue still have some color to them and allow people to distinguish where the floor stops and the wall starts...thats why they stay away from black, liabilitiy.