Should it be Home Cinema or Home Theatre (Australia)??

[StereoNET]

This one has always bugged me. When we go to see a movie, we say, "we are going to the cinema", or "we're going to the movies", at least in Australia anyway. 

If we're going to see a musical, a ballet or a play, for example, we often say, "we are going to the theatre". 

 

So why in Australia does the industry call it home theatre (sometimes even with US spelling)? I've been fighting against this, almost always referring to 'home cinema' (except in the case of this subforum, which may change pending the outcome of this thread). 

 

Users across this site and FB post info about their home cinemas, which often include a CINEMA sign above or on the entrance door. Yet they will still refer to it as a home theatre in the written text on the same post.

 

I've always believed it should be Home Cinema myself. What do you think?

[andyr]

What a very good question, Marc!  

 

To fall in line with the concept that a hifi is a 'system which plays music' ... it falls in line (well, to me, anyway) that a system which plays pictures - is a (home) cinema system.

 

After all - you can go to a 'theatre' (like the Princess Theatre) to listen to music ... but you don't have musical performances taking place in a cinema!

 

[blonk]

Good point! I remember my grandparents used to refer to a Movie Theatre. Perhaps the term theatre covers a more mixed use, as some of us use our rooms for? A quick google definition of cinema is “ a motion-picture theatre” from Miriam-Webster, so technically either is correct. It’s pretty ingrained in me to say Theatre Room, so I’d struggle to change now, but I’ll give it a try.

 

Blonk

[Guest]

https://aureabylw.com/news/difference-between-a-home-theatre-and-home-cinema/

 

Home cinema is a dedicated room. Many of us do not have (nor want) one.  

[muon*]

Home Talkies.

 

Old school

[daviddsailor]

Just to be different... A friend gave it to me.

 

 

[Guest]

1 hour ago, Snoopy8 said:

https://aureabylw.com/news/difference-between-a-home-theatre-and-home-cinema/

 

Home cinema is a dedicated room. Many of us do not have (nor want) one.  

 

Yeah Nah. That was just one person's opinion with a vague (in my opinion) differentiation between the two.

Media Room - I can understand this terminology, but technically that could encompass both a Home Cinema and Home Theatre. Is it an umbrella term that covers both, really?

 

Still no closer to understanding (yet) why as an industry, the predominant term is Home Theatre.

 

[TheBlackDisc]

What about “The Pictures - at Home”?

[hopefullguy]

sorry but the important thing is not if you call it a home theatre or cinema at all, its if you have a projector and screen. thats  because in the history of the world no person has ever paid money to go to the cinema/theatre to watch a tv.

 

so you may have $50,000 of stuff in a room but if its watching a tv , no matter the size, its a TV ROOM..

 

we use to just say "going to the movies" only rich people used the term "theatre or cinemas"  when we were growing up.

Edited December 11, 2022 by hopefullguy

[Guest]

Let's assume, for the purpose of this discussion, that said room (whether referred to as a cinema or a theatre) uses a projector.

[rocky500]

25 minutes ago, Marc said:

Let's assume, for the purpose of this discussion, that said room (whether referred to as a cinema or a theatre) uses a projector.

When I first went to a projector was because of the size difference. Large TV's of any substance where super expensive.

When TV's where not that big, a projector was a massive change!

 

Now days TV's have become a lot larger and affordable. So have since switched back to just using a TV in my Movie/Theatre or what ever you want to call it room.

 

ADDED: Just looked it up and gave my last projector, a BenQ W5000 to friend in 2011. Have used TV's ever since.

Edited December 11, 2022 by rocky500

[Guest]

2 minutes ago, Marc said:

Let's assume, for the purpose of this discussion, that said room (whether referred to as a cinema or a theatre) uses a projector.

Putting a projector is almost a waste in a non dedicated room. And not everyone has a projector.  

 

Shouldn't we be more inclusive to encompass anyone who enjoys movies and has an audio visual setup? Audio = at least a sound bar, video = at least a TV.  

[Guest]

OK, let's forget about whether it has a BIG TV or a projector and assume it has one or the other, or BOTH in some cases.
Is it a Home Cinema or a Home Theatre?

[Synodontis]

 

Cinema - viewing playback of recorded media or a live perfomance being held remote from your location on a screen.

 

Theatre - viewing a live performance held in the same area you are located in.

[SGS]

Mine is neither. It's my lounge room, it just has a big TV, a good 7.2.4 setup, recliners and a very convenient rectangular shape

 

If I had to pick a term, cinema.

[metal beat]

It's called a TV room 

[Guest]

23 minutes ago, SGS said:

Mine is neither. It's my lounge room, it just has a big TV, a good 7.2.4 setup, recliners and a very convenient rectangular shape

 

If I had to pick a term, cinema.

 

20 minutes ago, metal beat said:

It's called a TV room 

 

Yep, that's a loungeroom, family room, or TV room but not what is being referred to here, really. 

 

A home cinema (or home theatre) is a room that is set up for and predominantly used for viewing movies (or sports etc).

A space that is for this purpose - rather than sitting around having coffee, talking with friends, or reading something etc.
I don't think we need to get too caught up on what the room is - as I think that is clear. It's more about which of the two terms is best suited to such a space.

[Pigpen]

9 hours ago, andyr said:

What a very good question, Marc!  

 

To fall in line with the concept that a hifi is a 'system which plays music' ... it falls in line (well, to me, anyway) that a system which plays pictures - is a (home) cinema system.

 

After all - you can go to a 'theatre' (like the Princess Theatre) to listen to music ... but you don't have musical performances taking place in a cinema!

 

I think andyr summed it up nicely - Home Cinema seems more accurate noting andyr’s comments re theatre.

 

Does not mean there is no “theatre” at the house of Pigpen - you should have seen the live, in house performance from Mrs Pigpen when I used to come home 3 sheets to the wind after being sent to Woolworths for milk and bread……

[rantan]

 

Home Cinema as voted.

 

 

Edited:  removed peripheral frippery

Edited December 12, 2022 by rantan

[Guest crankit]

First World Problems...

 

Too much goat cheese in salad

Edited December 11, 2022 by crankit

[Grant Slack]

14 hours ago, Marc said:

I don't think we need to get too caught up on what the room is - as I think that is clear. It's more about which of the two terms is best suited to such a space.

Hi Marc,

 

thanks for caring about things that few would care about!  

 

To me, the fact that you are thinking of changing the forum name based on this poll and discussion, tells me that this discussion should be about the best name for the SNA forum currently named “Home Theatre”, not so much about what people call a room in their house.

 

But, is it really about naming the forum after the name best suited for the space? (Your words above)

 

After all, the discussion within the HT forum is dominated by gear. SNA’s Hifi and Stereo Forum is named after the gear. It is not named Audio Room, or Stereo Room.

 

(BTW I think the forum structure of SNA is antithetical to multichannel music listening. It has a long history but is a big emergent thing now, since Dolby Atmos Music was announced in 2019 and the music streaming platforms picked it up. Yet where to look on SNA? A forum called Stereo? A forum called Theatre? To me, that’s a bigger issue than the issue driving this thread.)

 

Anyway, back to the choice of words Cinema or Theatre for the SNA forum title. Wikipedia’s entry for Movie Theater says that North America uses Theater/Theatre and “most” other English-speaking countries use Cinema. Does ‘most’ include Australia? Maybe, and if so, Cinema could be the way to go.

 

So why did I vote for Theatre, despite my typical antipathy to all things culturally American? Because of the words themselves. Cinema derives from the Greek kinema for movement or motion — but the only movement is simulated, and on a static screen. Whereas Theatre is derived from the Greek theatron or literally, “place for viewing”. Now that’s what we are doing and our purpose. So it gets my vote. A Home Theatre is a place for viewing, whereas a place for motion is a Workout Room.  

 

Or you could cop out entirely and call the forum AV Room.  

 

cheers

Grant

Edited December 11, 2022 by Grant Slack

[Guest]

58 minutes ago, Grant Slack said:

To me, the fact that you are thinking of changing the forum name based on this poll and discussion, tells me that this discussion should be about the best name for the SNA forum currently named “Home Theatre”, not so much about what people call a room in their house.

 

But, is it really about naming the forum after the name best suited for the space? (Your words above)

 

Actually, no it's much bigger than that.  There is a whole lot more going on here than just a forum name. 

 

If we were to change it and push what would be considered the right terminology - it applies to not only this subforum name, but also the category on StereoNET, the terminology used within our editorial, the category for many of our awards, the marketing for our shows, and of course the reach we have to the wider industry. I've always believed home theatre was the wrong term, and if the wider community does agree, then we can start fixing that.

 

58 minutes ago, Grant Slack said:

After all, the discussion within the HT forum is dominated by gear. SNA’s Hifi and Stereo Forum is named after the gear. It is not named Audio Room, or Stereo Room.

 

Everyone knows what 'hi-fi' is and it's not often confused (to my knowledge) with some other term.

 

58 minutes ago, Grant Slack said:

(BTW I think the forum structure of SNA is antithetical to multichannel music listening. It has a long history but is a big emergent thing now, since Dolby Atmos Music was announced in 2019 and the music streaming platforms picked it up. Yet where to look on SNA? A forum called Stereo? A forum called Theatre? To me, that’s a bigger issue than the issue driving this thread.)

 

Fair point. Sounds like a discussion for StereoNET News. I suspect there's not quite enough interest still in multi-channel music just yet to justify its own space, but I do reach out and ask the community from time to time for any suggestions on changes to the forum/sub-forum structure. Happy to explore that seperately.

 

58 minutes ago, Grant Slack said:

Anyway, back to the choice of words Cinema or Theatre for the SNA forum title. Wikipedia’s entry for Movie Theater says that North America uses Theater/Theatre and “most” other English-speaking countries use Cinema. Does ‘most’ include Australia? Maybe, and if so, Cinema could be the way to go.

 

I think that's bang-on. I would say that Aussies just adopted whatever the US did early on when it comes to terminology (at least we spelt it the right way, though). I should point out that not everyone in the (AU) industry is guilty of this. I do see some retailers referring to it as Home Cinema and some marketing as 'Real Cinema at Home' and variations of that. I guess I just wanted to clear it up once and for all, and stick to just one term going forward.

 

58 minutes ago, Grant Slack said:

Or you could cop out entirely and call the forum AV Room.  

 

 

That's another even bigger can of worms. I've slipped "and AV" into the name of our show a few times. The reality is, 'AV' is actually more commonly used to encompass the professional side of the industry with things like broadcast, lighting, video switching (big scale), conferencing products, etc. Let's solve this one first, then start on whether AV Receivers are incorrectly named next  

 

When we did change the name of the show to 'Hi-Fi & AV', we started getting all these exhibitor enquiries from screen/panel makers (and distributors), staging suppliers, and more from the pro-audio side of things. Let's leave that one for another discussion!

 

Thanks for your comprehensive input. 

[Guest]

10 hours ago, crankit said:

First World Problems...

 

Too much goat cheese in salad

 

One could argue that this whole forum is for first-world problems. But thanks for your input.

[ENIGMA]

If i recall right, home theatre really got its name from having a TV & surround sound system to watch movies and this followed America trends in AV as it evolved from the 80's..

 

In America they call them theatres and movies.

 

Here we call them cinemas and films. which is really a British thing.

 

 So, the Poll here would be Cinema, if you did the poll in the US it would be Theatre.

 

 

 

 

[Hi-Fi Whipped]

I think the horse has bolted, although I agree that in theory Home Cinema is more relative to us, Home Theatre is more widely used in any terminology relating to our Home Theatres/Cinemas and always have been, we have been programmed this way since the 90's. HTIB for example, most retailers also use the term Home Theatre to advertise products.

 

The only brand I see trying to buck the trend is Krix with thier "REAL CINEMA AT HOME" marketing angle for the MX series.