Stop Saying Home Cinema Systems Are As Good As Real Cinemas
Here’s why your home set-up can’t beat the real thing.
Amid the ongoing debate around cinema versus streaming, I often read comments to the effect that old-school fuddy-duddy cineastes like me should accept that cinemas are a dinosaur because home cinema systems are just as good. These dismissive comments irritate me, as they fail to take into consideration multiple complicating factors.
For a start, whilst most people can afford a movie ticket, many cannot afford state of the art screens and sound systems. Even if they can, they might not have the space or acoustic requirements to install them. Then there are many other potential problems: noise nuisance to neighbours, for instance. Not everyone lives in a fully detached home with sufficient proximity to other residences to ensure they won’t be bombarded with IMAX Atmos style sonic waves. Of course, I doubt anyone has a home cinema set-up the size of an IMAX screen, which again underlines why claims that the home cinema experience is just as good are misguided.
I do accept cinemas have had a rough twelve months. Covid related closures have massively dented box office takings, and even when cinemas reopened, audiences have so far been reluctant to return. As a result many high-profile features made their…
