System Planning Guide

Video Placement

Electronics Placement

Speaker Placement

Experience shows that almost any reasonable amount of time spent in the plan- ning stages will pay for itself two to three times over during the installation— more if the installation crew includes two or three people. With the background provided in the previous sections, the planning process can be boiled down to a checklist which will ensure that you do not overlook anything important.

■The primary seating area should be perpendicular to the picture.

■Be aware of the trade-off between screen size and perceived clar- ity. The resolution of NTSC requires a seating distance of at least 4 times the diagonal screen size for maximum perceived clarity (this is why small screens seem so sharp). Yet larger images have greater visual impact. You may want to go for a seating distance of as little as 2 times the screen size to increase visual involvement (although this is probably only realistic if you have a line-doubled television).

■Stray ambient light should be minimized. (Drapes, dimmers, light placement)

■Leave room for the Left, Center, and Right (LCR) speakers up front, flanking the screen itself, placed with reasonable symmetry with respect to adjacent walls, and all at the same distance from the pri- mary viewing area.

■The screen should be well away from side walls, since you want to minimize side wall reflections from the front (LCR) speakers.

■Cabinetry is generally preferred to conceal the distracting LEDs on the equipment. (An infrared repeater system may be needed in this case.)

■The ideal system would have invisible, yet readily accessible equip- ment and an IR repeater to relay the user’s commands from the area of the screen to the concealed electronics.

■People tend to aim their remote controls at the screen, regardless of where the equipment is. In the absence of IR repeaters, placing the electronics near the screen makes the system’s operation more intuitive.

■Ample ventilation for the power amplifiers must be provided, pref- erably through convection (to avoid fan noise).

■Can the speakers be used as designed? (Wall-mounting speakers designed to be used in free space may create a mid-bass bump in the response—consult with the manufacturer of your speakers as to their best use.)

■The Left and Right speakers often should be closer to the edges of the screen than you may think best initially. There is some cogni- tive dissonance (disorientation) when sound appears to come from well away from its apparent visible source.

■The Center speaker should be centered on the screen, directly above or below it (unless you have an acoustically transparent screen, in which case it may be directly behind the center of the screen). Try to keep its tweeters as close to the level of the tweet- ers in the L&R speakers as possible, so that pans do not involve noticeable changes in altitude. Make sure that the Center speaker is