So you’ve chosen to upgrade your Philadelphia property with a home media room. It makes sense – you want all of your favorite entertainment content presented in crisp 4K, with awesome Dolby Atmos surround sound and plenty of input sources, like your PS4 and media server. Plus, you want your space to be more versatile and family-friendly than a dedicated home theater. But versatility offers its own set of challenges, and one of the biggest is ambient light pollution. In this blog, we’ll provide some smart solutions for dealing with unwanted illumination in your media room.

See Also: The Top 4 Ways to Maximize Video Display in Your Custom Home Theater

What is Ambient Light?

We all know movies look better in the dark, right? When you go to a commercial theater, the last thing that happens before the feature presentation starts is that the lights shut completely off. That’s because the staff doesn’t want the projector to compete with multiple light sources, which can wash out the picture. Similarly, you don’t want your home projector to have to outshine any sources of extra light.

But some light you just can’t seem to control, like the sun, for instance. If you’re in a room with a lot of windows or with multiple areas like an open-concept kitchen, you can’t always just shut off all the lights. This presents a significant challenge to your viewing pleasure, as the picture on the screen can easily be overwhelmed by instances of ambient light. But what can you really do about them?

Motorized Window Treatments

The first step you’ll want to take is integrating motorized shades. In addition to your smart lighting system, integrated window treatments can help you save energy and keep your spaces cool. Even more importantly, they can reduce instances of ambient light.

And they don’t just reduce glare from the windows. While it’s a huge benefit to have thick blackout curtains drop down at the touch of a button – say, a pre-programmed scene like “Movie Night” that activates your AV system while shutting off lights – they can also help separate rooms and minimize light from under doors.

For example, you can integrate shades over the counters in your open-concept kitchen. Virtually invisible when not in use, when they are engaged your media room becomes a separate space entirely. You won’t have to worry about annoying lights like the oven clock, and the cook in the family can still enjoy a functioning area.

There are plenty more ways to reduce the effects of ambient light in your home media room. If you want to know more, contact us today!