Disclaimer & Attributions

Trademark Attributions

The following brand names, product names, and trademarks referenced on this website are the property of their respective owners:

• Dolby and Dolby Atmos are registered trademarks of Dolby Laboratories, Inc.
• THX is a registered trademark of THX Ltd.
• SMPTE is a registered trademark of the Society of Motion Picture and Television Engineers.
• Owens Corning is a registered trademark of Owens Corning Intellectual Capital, LLC.
• Rockwool is a registered trademark of ROCKWOOL International A/S.

No Affiliation

Home Theater Visualizer is not affiliated with, endorsed by, or sponsored by Dolby Laboratories, THX Ltd., SMPTE, Owens Corning, ROCKWOOL International, or any other company whose products or standards are referenced on this site. All brand names and trademarks are used solely for reference and identification purposes to help users understand the industry standards their designs are being compared against.

Referenced Standards and Sources

Dolby Atmos Speaker Placement

Speaker placement angles and configurations referenced in this tool are based on the Dolby Atmos Home Theater Installation Guidelines, which are publicly available from Dolby Laboratories. These guidelines specify recommended speaker angles for various surround sound configurations (5.1, 7.1, 5.1.2, 7.1.4, etc.).

THX Viewing Angle Standards

THX viewing angle recommendations referenced in this tool are derived from publicly available THX certification standards. THX recommends a minimum viewing angle of 36 degrees for an optimal cinematic experience.

Acoustic Calculations (Sabine Equation)

Reverberation time (RT60) calculations in this tool use the Sabine equation, developed by Wallace Clement Sabine in 1898. The Sabine equation is in the public domain and is the standard method for estimating room reverberation time based on room volume and total sound absorption. The formula is: RT60 = 0.161 × V / A, where V is the room volume in cubic meters and A is the total absorption in sabins.

SMPTE Brightness Standards

Projector brightness recommendations reference publicly available SMPTE engineering guidelines, including the SMPTE 196M standard which recommends a screen luminance of 12 to 22 foot-lamberts for cinema presentations. These values are used as reference targets for home theater projector setup calculations.

Calculation Accuracy

All calculations, measurements, and recommendations provided by Home Theater Visualizer are approximations intended for planning purposes only. Real-world acoustic performance, projector behavior, and speaker characteristics are influenced by many factors that cannot be fully modeled in a web-based tool, including but not limited to: room construction materials, HVAC systems, furniture placement, speaker dispersion patterns, and environmental conditions.

Professional Consultation Recommended

This tool is designed to assist with preliminary planning and visualization. For actual home theater installations, especially those involving structural modifications, electrical work, or significant financial investment, we strongly recommend consulting with a qualified professional AV integrator, acoustician, or home theater installer. The results from this tool should not be used as a substitute for professional advice.

Original Content

All educational content on our guide pages, including articles on speaker placement, acoustic treatment, projector setup, screen sizing, seating layout, and Dolby Atmos configuration, is original content written for this website. While this content references publicly available industry standards and well-established acoustic principles, the explanations, recommendations, and presentation are our own.