In old days, in order to enjoy surrounding sound and euphoria of movies and matches, people used to go to the cinema theaters. This brought up some problems: one could not enjoy intimate moments with his/her spouse or family.
Moreover, they had to buy tickets for each show, which did not allow them to enjoy something twice at the same price. Also the cinema theaters, most of the times, were not at the doorstep.
With the arrival of home theater, people are preferring television and enjoying it in a more personalized and private environment. The similarity between cinema theater and home theater is the arrangement of sound systems to achieve best movie-experience: a big stereo sound stage at the front, a dedicated center channel speaker in the middle that anchors the actors’ dialogue at the movie screen or video display, and at least two or more surround speakers at the sides of the theater or room, with the option of two additional surrounds on the back wall.
As home theater is inspired from cinema theater, both of them tend to have shared attributes. However, there are areas where home theater manages to establish its separate identity from cinema theater, but is this difference enough to make home theater a superior system over cinema theater? It can be explored from the following study.
Comparison attributes
Similarities
1. Both systems use the same number of speakers (between 6 and 8) – including a subwoofer – to create better video and audio extravaganza. This system – known as surround sound system – has its origins in 1950s in order to combat the rising popularity of television over screens.
2. As the origin of home theater is in cinema theater, their technical systems remain largely the same. DVDs and Blu-ray discs – used by Home Theater System – work on Dolby Sound and Dolby Digital, which are originally used in cinema theaters. Today, High Definition TVs use Dolby Digital as the standard soundtrack.
Differences
1. There are glaring differences between surround sound system of home theater and cinema theater, with the former being cheaper to install than the latter. One can get natural surround sound at home by installing the dedicated speakers manufactured by any company known for research in loudspeaker and surround sound setup.
On the other hand, cinema theaters use big speakers to give the huge hall a surround sound-effect without using amplifiers. It makes the setup cheaper, but the natural surround sound quality is severely affected – missing in some case, in fact – spoiling the otherwise great experience. Moreover, when it comes to instrumental sounds, these speakers, instead of giving the audience pure emotional feelings of the sounds, tend to irritate them with very loud and aggressive pitches, something that is not there in home theater system due to the absence of horn speakers altogether.
2. The placement of subwoofers is another criterion on which the two systems can be distinguished. In movie theaters, the main stereo speakers, central channel speaker and subwoofers are usually placed behind the screen. On the other hand, in home surround sound, the subwoofers can be placed anywhere: opposite sides of the room, at the front or in the back. This gives more independence and space to experiment with the sound system to get the best results.
3. Another difference is in sound-technology used in these systems. A cinema theater has at least eight speakers (four on each wall, and two on the rear wall). This setup brings in washed effect of the surround sound, but is costly.
On the other hand, at home, with center channel speaker in front, two multi-directional speakers on either walls and two speakers on the rear wall, the system becomes cheaper and less complex. This is due to the smaller size of the room that helps the surround speaker spread sound more effectively in the room.
4. Cinema theaters use perforated screens, while the same are not preferred in home theater systems due to image losses and poor audio quality.
Verdict: The winner
There are significant similarities between a home theater and a cinema theater. However, in the differences section, one can easily see that, due to the less requirement and flexible positioning of speakers to get better sound effect, home theater system wins out. Moreover, a home theater system does not require knowledge of acoustics, while cinema theater system requires very deep knowledge of the above mentioned field, thus making the former easier to install at home. Unless one wants to go for costlier versions and intricate study of acoustics, home theater system is the best choice.
