Home Cinema seating design

Ben Goff, Home Cinema Designer at Cinema Lusso

When planning a Home Cinema the importance of seating design is often overlooked. For many clients, the audio and video systems are the most exciting because they bring the movies into our homes, but this can leave seating as an afterthought.

To really maximise the Home Cinema experience, seating should in fact be the first element considered, to match how the room will be used and how many guests need to be accommodated. A cosy family room might need a totally different seating plan to a room used for watching sports with friends.

Seating Capacity

Getting the number of seats in the room right can be tricky and clients often want as many seats as possible. This can reduce the experience for everybody though, because every seat will be compromised if the seating doesn’t correctly fit the space.

There are many styles of seating available to match your room use and capacity requirements. When the cinema will be used for different events, a creative seating plan makes sure the room always works, a great example would be a large daybed with a bar and bar stools behind. This provides a cosy space for a Sunday afternoon movie with the family and separate space to have a drink and watch sport with friends.

Video Quality

The correct screen size should always suit the distance and viewing angle from the seats, which means it is impossible to decide the screen size until after the seating plan has been finalised.

When the room has a single row of seats it is easy to select a screen size, to suit your preference. This can be found during a demonstration by simply moving nearer or farther away from a fixed screen until it feels immersive, but comfortable.

When there are multiple rows of seating, we suggest the middle row has the screen size that you find most comfortable. In a large room, with several rows there will be a seat where everybody can find their ideal position. In a small room, multiple rows could mean the screen is uncomfortably close in the front and underwhelming from the back, so nobody has the most enjoyable experience.

Using industry standards we can guide this decision, making sure all of your guests have the same amazing experience. Aim for no seats closer than a 62 degree viewing angle or further than a 35degree angle, with the best seats in the house around 48-52 degrees, to ensure everybody has a great view.

 If the layout will place your guests outside of this range, we can look at other options to maximise capacity without ruining the experience. This could mean rotating the room 90 degrees to make wider rows or using alternative seating such as Bar stools or floor cushions / Beanbags.

Effect on Audio Quality

The way sound waves interact with the walls in the room has a large effect on the sound quality. These room interactions are easily predictable in rectangular rooms, where we know certain areas of the room will receive reduced sound quality. Most notably, at 1/3rd or 2/3rds of the depth or width of the room the bass will often suffer, becoming boomy at some frequencies and non-existent at others.

When the room is large enough, we recommended that no seat is within 1m from any wall or any speaker, especially speakers on the rear wall. If seats must be placed against the rear wall, removing the Surround Back channels will prevent them from overpowering the more important front speakers.  

The seating design will also tell us the distance from each speaker to the listener. We need 4 times as much power output from the speakers every time the distance doubles to create the same volume. Speakers which can provide a dynamic and impactful performance for seats 3m away, may be totally unsuitable for seats 6m away. If you choose the speakers before confirming the seating layout, it’s a guess at best whether they will provide the performance you expect.

If you are planing a Home Cinema, get in touch with a Home Cinema Alliance member early, to allow us to guide the most important decisions.