10 Trends That Will Shape the Future of Custom Home Theater
In the past decade, the Custom home theater market has seen a paradigm shift. In 2010, the early days of my Home Theater consulting career, high-definition projection systems were considered a luxury. Today, we have high-end home theater AV systems supporting 4K Ultra HD/8K content.
Through the years, I have seen the home cinema environment rapidly evolve, and the next 10 years will lay a strong foundation for more advanced and affordable technologies.
Here are the top 10 trends that will spearhead the transformation:
1. Rise of Active Speaker Systems
Conventionally, passive speakers have been extensively used in the Custom home cinema. Moreover, the flexibility to mix and match loudspeakers and amplifiers made passive speakers a favourable choice.
But, active speakers, which have inbuilt amplifiers, will become more popular in the next few years as it removes the hassles of manual matching and provides well-integrated audio.
2. The Advent of Invisible Speakers
Are you worried about the giant speakers reducing the aesthetic of your home cinema? Not anymore. This advanced technology will make bulky speakers disappear into the walls. That’s right! Unlike the traditional speakers, the invisible speakers complement the ergonomics of the room.
Installed directly into the wall or ceiling, the speakers project just the right amount of sound into the room. With no visual footprint, it appears as if the immersive sound comes directly from the walls. Once installed, you could use the drywall finish with your preferred paint to blend into the home cinema room’s aesthetics.
3. Rise of High-quality On-demand Content
Subscribers to OTT platforms like Netflix, Amazon Prime, Hulu are increasing drastically every year. Today, you can enjoy content created with Dolby Atmos and 4K quality getting streamed on OTT platforms right in the comfort of your Custom Home Theater room.
Youtube is seeing a surge in online creators who are providing high-value content. These audio and visual content are being produced with advanced cameras, recorders, and mixers to give viewers an immersive experience.
4. OTT Platforms Turn into Multiplexes
When theatres worldwide were shut down for health precaution during the pandemic, filmmakers were forced to premiere their movies on OTT platforms. I strongly feel that the trend is likely to continue in the post-pandemic world too.
This behaviour will encourage OTT platforms to enable their viewers to watch their favourite movies first day, the first show. And what better way than watching in your very own Custom home theater!
5. MicroLEDs will Make Inroad
MicroLEDs are the next biggest TV technology. MicroLEDs can easily scale the size of the displays to suit your home theater needs, promoting incredible size and excellent picture quality.
Home theater screens can be easily scaled from 65-inch to 150-inches for a better viewing experience. This will become a game-changer.
6. Aesthetic Acoustic Finishes
If you had built a home theater in the last decade, plain fabric panels would have been the de facto acoustic finishing. But, In the coming years, you will see easily manageable and aesthetically better finish options with graphic artwork etc.
You will have more options like wooden finishes and advanced spray paints with acoustical characteristics available for you to choose from.
7. Affordable Price and Standardization Encourages Sales Surge
The home theater market is growing extensively, with several new players entering the arena with more affordable products.
Along with this, new rules around standardization of speaker specifics and stricter measures to meet the specified standards will make it easier for consumers to evaluate home theater products and buy the best ones. Thus, the conducive environment to build Custom home theatres will increase the adoption.
8. More Knowledgeable Service Providers Will Enter the Custom Home Theater Market
In the coming years, you will see better certified Home Theater acoustic experts and sound engineers help with designing, assessing, managing, and controlling sound in home cinema.
Custom Home Theater Solution experts with the creative problem-solving ability and broad knowledge of the subject will help you complete complex projects and provide technical support.
9. Optimized System Calibration Capabilities
Today, creating a home theater room acoustics is a significant part of the entire installation and setup process. First, acoustic engineers inspect your room and install many panels to reduce the noise inside the room.
But, in the future, the acoustical panel’s dependency will reduce eventually with the advent of optimized equipment.
When you use DSP-based Home Cinema speakers & AV processors, you could use their advanced calibration capabilities to evaluate the room environment to adapt and optimize the sound quality.
Although this method cannot negate the need for Quality internal acoustics, it will help reduce the dependency on acoustics and its associated costs.
10. Home Theaters Might Get a 5D Touch
With the viewers wanting more than just the viewing experience, home theatres might upgrade to 5D home cinemas.
Home theater enthusiasts and movie buffs like you would want to feel the movements, sense the rain, wind, and the sun, smell the ocean breeze, feel the vibration of seats, and more.
Therefore, I foresee multi-channel surround sound systems, dynamic seating arrangements, cylinder circular screens, and computer programs that control the environment might get integrated into the futuristic custom home theater design.
What are your thoughts on how custom home theatres will evolve in the coming years? If you plan to build a custom home theater in Bangalore, Hyderabad or anywhere in India, get a free consultation from Symphony 440 Design Group Home Theater solution experts.
