Home Theater Lighting

Good lighting is essential to setting the right mood for your home theater. Although most Canadian home theater owners prefer to watch with the lights out, lighting adds a dramatic atmosphere to your room and makes it feel more like a real home cinema. If you’re wondering how to set up your lighting, here are a few home theater lighting tips to help you out.

Block out any incoming light.

Ideally, a home theater should be a windowless room in a low-traffic area (such as the basement). If you don’t have one in your home, block up any windows and openings with heavy-duty drapes or dark boards.

Use recessed lighting.

This is what you see in most Canadian home theater pictures. Recessed lights are screwed into small cavities in the ceiling, so they seem to come out of the surface. The result is a dramatic, understated lighting that sets the perfect mood for any movie.

Light the back of the screen.

According to Canadian home theater specialists, viewing in total darkness can actually strain your eyes over time. It’s best to leave some dim lighting on at the back of the screen. It reduces the contrast without creating glare, and it helps your eyes readjust when you turn the home theater lights back on.

Get a light controller.

A home theater light controller allows you to adjust the brightness and spread of your home theater lights. This way, you can make the room brighter or darker depending on your mood. You can get a remote light controller if you have a large room.