Bring Your Home Theater to Life with the Latest Sony 4K HDR Projector

If you’ve searched “home theaters” on the internet, you’ve undoubtedly seen every type of home theater design, from red velvet curtains and plush, reclining tiered movie seats to sectionals and loveseats designed for comfort and casual viewing. You’ll find home theaters that incorporate pool tables and arcade games and even outdoor theaters by the pool. 

What the best of these have in common is the bigger-than-life viewing experience with crystal-clear images and brilliant colors. At Barrett’s Technology Solutions, we specialize in home theater design, installation, and automation in Hinsdale, IL, and the surrounding areas. With flat-screen TVs growing in size and projectors increasing in image quality, we are often asked which display we recommend. 

Let’s explore the options and one of our recommended brands.

Build a Dedicated Media Room as an Entertainment and Fun Hub

TVs were once these big, bulky things that demanded their own focal point in a room. Do you remember the large-screen TVs of the mid-2000s? Rear projection 50-inch-and-up models came in huge heavy cabinets that competed with fireplaces in your living or family room. And while those TVs had arguably better speakers than today's flat panels, that didn't include the sound system!

As we all know, times have changed. Today's sleek flat-panel TVs can mount on a wall and go anywhere – even above the fireplace with no room-focal redesign needed! And the soundbar didn't exist years ago, which offers a sleeker, slimmer approach to better sound from the TV. But if you have such a setup in your family or living room, does that make it your media room? If that’s what you want to call it, we won’t argue with you. But we will suggest that a media room installation is more than a TV and a soundbar.

Read on below to see how you can create a media entertainment hub in your family room, basement rec room, or whatever space you choose in your Chicago, IL home.

Upgrade Your Home Theater Installation with the Best in Seating, Projection, and Audio

We’ve all spent much more time at home than ever. Fortunately, as the health situation slowly improves in Chicagoland and across Illinois, we are starting to get back to some level of normalcy. That said, no doubt you have depended on home entertainment to provide a much-needed mental break. If you have a home theater or media room, it’s probably gotten a workout lately.

With all the time you may have been spending in your home theater, you might be dreaming about some ways you could enhance it. Perhaps a larger screen and sharper projector for more cinematic visuals? Bigger, bolder sound that truly immerses you in the show? Or maybe even more luxurious seating that makes you never want to leave your home theater?

If any of those have crossed your mind lately, we have some excellent suggestions for upgrading your home theater installation in Naperville. Read on to see some of our favorites.

Create a Multipurpose Indoor Fun Zone in Your Theater or Media Room 

Virtual is a word that’s currently in vogue. In the past year, you’ve probably become tired of virtual meetings over Zoom, virtual work, virtual school, and virtual happy hours. Can we talk about something real?

Well, not in this blog. But we promise we have something virtual that’s absolutely more fun and far more realistic than a virtual happy hour. And unlike happy hour, your kids can enjoy it as well. What are we talking about? Home golf simulators. You don't have to be a golf fanatic to enjoy one, as these systems do more games than golf! As the weather in Illinois and Wisconsin turns chillier soon, a golf simulator is an excellent way to keep your game going and enjoy immersive entertainment indoors with your family in your Chicago home or your Lake Geneva retreat. Read on to learn more about how golf simulators add a new dimension of fun to your home theater or media room.

You May Never Want to Go Out to the Movies Again

Are you looking to revamp your home theater design? Many Illinois homes have had dedicated theater rooms for years now, but how long has it been since you upgraded yours? In the past several years, many new features have added new dimensions to home theaters – 4K/HDR projectors for sharper pictures with significantly enhanced contrast and color, Dolby Atmos audio for a realistic “in the scene” experience, and a plethora of streaming video services with more content than ever before.

If you're already enjoying some of these upgrades, perhaps there's one you don't know about. It adds convenience, the highest quality audio, and video experience, and maybe best of all, eliminates just about any reason to ever go out to the movies again. What is it? It's the Kaleidescape system, the ultimate movie player for your Chicago home theater. Read more below to learn how Kaleidescape is like having your very own movie theater.

Create a Superior Cinema Experience at Home

Recently, Regal Cinemas, one of the largest commercial movie theater companies in America, announced that they were temporarily closing over 500 theaters, including 9 in Illinois. This unprecedented move resulted from a decrease in business due to the ongoing concerns of the pandemic. Additionally, the health crisis also slowed down the production of new movies, resulting in fewer theatrical releases over the past several months.

It’s no surprise to anyone that we’ve had significant economic impacts from the pandemic, and much of that has meant spending much more time at home. While we hope commercial cinemas come back soon, you can still enjoy the cinematic experience at home – in many ways, better than at the cineplex.

If you haven’t yet taken the plunge into creating a private home theater system in your Naperville home, now is a perfect time. There is a plethora of options in equipment, seating, audio, and more to customize your cinema experience completely. What's more, there's a staggering array of content to enjoy in a home theater. Just recently, Disney announced a major reorganization to focus more on bringing its massive collection of content directly to consumers, meaning even more choices at home.

Keep reading below to see how to take an underutilized space and turn it into your personal movie and media entertainment zone!

An Expert Collaboration of Smart Home Technology and Smart Design

Barrett’s Technology Solutions has always believed in form and function. As a smart home company in the Chicago area since 1966, we’ve seen a lot of forms and an equal amount of function come and go. But one thing remains constant: We believe great technology and design go together, and we strive to achieve the balance of each with every project.

This year, we’re very proud to have been chosen by ASID (American Society of Interior Designers) Illinois chapter for a 2020 Design Excellence award. The home theater project was a collaboration between our company, CinemaTech (home theater design, seating, and acoustics), the client, the contractor, and some skilled local craftsmen.

Often in any successful endeavor, the devil is in the details. Keep reading to learn more about this award-winning project; we hope it inspires you to embark on yours!

What You Want to Know to Integrate Home Theaters 

As a design or build professional in Chicago, you keep up on the current trends in home design and lifestyles to keep your projects fresh and in demand. With all the time spent at home during the pandemic, few things are in more demand in Illinois than a home theater. With the plethora of content available over streaming services like Netflix and a lack of reasons to head out to an actual theater, a home cinema is an excellent investment for home entertainment. 

While almost any space can be turned into a home cinema, planning for one from the start when remodeling or building makes it far more manageable and less expensive to integrate a home theater system. Home theater systems involve many details, from seating to screens, projectors, speakers, sources and amplifiers, cabling, acoustics and more! Understanding what’s involved and how to plan a home theater space makes it much easier for your clients to get the home cinema they envision for their new home. Keep reading for more details below.