4 ways I make movie night at home better than the cinema

Summary

The most important aspect is finding a 4K TV that’s large enough to fill your field of view while also supporting the latest standards.
You can enhance immersion further with reactive lighting and a smart soundbar.
Setting up smart home automations can switch your living room into movie mode in a matter of moments, but choose your platform carefully.

Before anyone jumps on me, I’m a big believer that if you’ve got the time, money, and opportunity, you should always support

movies in the theater
if you can. It’s not just about rewarding good work, though that is important. It’s also like the late David Lynch said — you’ll never get the full effect of a movie by watching it on your

iPhone
. A massive picture, booming sound, and the reaction of the crowd can transform a movie from a fun distraction to something life-changing. Just ask someone who saw Star Wars, Jurassic Park, or Lord of the Rings: The Fellowship of the Ring on opening weekend.

Realistically, though, it’s often easier and less stressful to watch a movie at home on your TV, especially now that you can stream titles mere weeks after they hit the big screen. You can make your home feel as good as the theater, or even better — but that often involves taking advantage of specific tech, including

smart home
platforms.

4 pricey TV add-ons and extras no one really needs

Some of these features are relatively common, but others aren’t intended for us plebes.

1

The right TV set (in the right place)

Immersion is essential

A desert scene on a Samsung QN900D 8K TV.

It’s surprisingly easy to find a quality TV these days — even a $400 model will blow away many TVs released just five years ago. But it’s still worth putting some thought into your purchase if you want a set that can duplicate a theater’s immersion.

Since most TVs deliver 4K now, size is your first consideration. I wouldn’t buy anything less than 55 inches for a home theater, and my current TV is a 65-inch model (the Hisense U68KM). That seems to be a sweet spot for price versus filling your field of view, though your own mileage will depend on how far away you’re sitting. Even a 55-inch TV is going to feel gigantic if you’re three feet away — but the more distant your couch is, the more screen you’ll need. You probably shouldn’t buy anything over 80 inches unless you’re swimming in cash, as it’s hard to get something affordable at that size without sacrificing features or quality. You shouldn’t have to crane your head around to see the whole frame, either.

You’ll additionally want to choose a TV with

HDR10+ and Dolby Vision
, and at least one HDMI 2.1 port, preferably two or more so you don’t have to sacrifice high refresh rates for connected peripherals. I’d also suggest skipping TVs with Amazon’s Fire TV platform in favor of Roku or Google TV, though even then you may prefer buying an

Apple TV 4K
as an add-on streamer.

5 things you can do to keep your 4K TV in tip-top shape

Prolong your TV’s lifespan with a few simple tactics.

2

Reactive lighting

Simulate that theater glow

Philips Hue

One of the subtler things missing from home viewing is the ambient color glow from a theater. It might not seem that important, initially, but those colors can further heighten immersion, making it feel as if the movie is seeping into your space. You’ll get some of that from a TV on its own, but not very much, due to inherent design limitations. Reactive lighting systems detect onscreen content and mirror it in your room.

If you’re interested, the gold standard for reactive lighting is Phillips Hue, specifically one of its HDMI Sync Boxes (or the Hue Sync app on compatible TVs) paired with one of more of the company’s lighting products. You’ll probably want a gradient lightstrip on the back of your TV, at least, but you can expand from there if you want truly room-filling effects.

Since Philips Hue charges an absurd amount for Sync Boxes, it’s also worth looking into less expensive brands like

Nanoleaf
and

Govee
. Bear in mind, however, that most of these use a camera mounted on (or in front) of your TV to mirror colors, which you may find distracting.

Making these 4 easy lighting changes drastically improved my TV watching experience

If your TV lighting feels off, you’re probably right.

3

A smart soundbar

Don’t blow your budget on one, though

One thing that makes me a bit of a heathen among cinephiles is that I don’t really care about surround sound. It’s nice, certainly — but I’m most concerned about clarity and bass, and if you are too, you can probably get away with a simple, well-reviewed 2.1-channel soundbar system. It’s not as if people watching Raiders of the Lost Ark in 1981 complained that the boulder didn’t sound like it was rolling behind them.

If you want modern theatrical sound, and you’re not prepared to spend huge amounts on a 5.1- or 7.1-channel system with independent speakers, it’s worth looking into the various smart soundbars on the market. Many of these use special technology to simulate

Dolby Atmos
, and they often include other perks as well, such as dialogue enhancement or automatic room calibration. My own recommendation would be the Sonos Beam Gen 2

, which additionally integrates with Amazon Alexa and Google Assistant. That’s potentially handy when you want to listen to music, radio, or podcasts without your TV on. It’s also handy for automations — as I’ll explain next.

Alexa+ is exactly why I want Apple Intelligence on my Apple TV

I need Apple Intelligence to match Alexa+.

4

Scene-setting automations

Make it movie night in seconds

If you’ve got both a smart TV and an assortment of smart home accessories, it’s worth setting up a “movie night” automation that triggers on command. In my own case, telling a Google Assistant device “Hey Google, it’s movie night” not only turns on my TV, but makes an announcement before dimming the living room lights and changing their colors. Naturally, the more accessories you have, the more elaborate routines can get — you might, for instance, have blinds close, doors lock, and your soundbar adjust to your preferred volume level. Depending on the platform your TV (or add-on streamer) is running, you can also have it switch inputs, open a specific app, and/or search for specific content. Adding “show me action movies on [TV name]” to a Google Home routine will highlight action movies across your available services.

A Google TV is my preferred centerpiece, since it can integrate into Google Home/Google Assistant without the need for a separate accessory, but many TVs should support at least one automation platform — the other options being Alexa, Apple HomeKit, or Samsung SmartThings. If you don’t like a particular platform, you can usually buy an add-on streamer for everything except SmartThings.