Buzz
No need for elaborate setups, here are some tips to enhance your cinematic experience at home and make staying in more enjoyable.
1. Guide to Enhance Your Movie Experience with Laptops and Smartphones
No need for elaborate setups, here are some tips to enhance your cinematic experience at home and make staying in more enjoyable.
Optimal Display Device Selection
The bigger the screen, the better the movie experience. If you have a desktop monitor or TV, that's ideal. Here, I'll mainly focus on two commonly used devices: laptops and smartphones.
Using a laptop to watch movies is nothing new; the screen is relatively simple because there's usually not much to adjust. The average screen size of most laptops today ranges from 13 to 15 inches, perfect for solo or dual viewing.
Smartphones also offer unique advantages for many of us, like myself, choosing them as our preferred movie-watching device. One notable advantage is the superior display quality. Most mid-range to high-end phones nowadays cover 100% of the sRGB color gamut, not to mention AMOLED screens which excel in color reproduction and contrast. If you own a high-end smartphone, it's even more impressive with features like 100% DCI-P3 color gamut, HDR10 support, as seen in my OPPO Find X2, specs often found in expensive TVs.
Unlike laptops, phone manufacturers always have a myriad of screen-related settings. To optimize for movie viewing, a little effort in setting up is required. Most settings can be found in the Display section of your phone's Settings. If there are options related to movie viewing, simply activate them.
The OPPO Find X2 I use has an ideal DCI-P3 color gamut option for movie viewing, although your phone may have a different name for it.
If your smartphone's screen supports HDR, there might be an option for 'HDR video enhancement'. Honestly, it's a gimmicky feature that converts regular video content (or SDR) to HDR. However, my colleagues at GenK have proven its effectiveness, so why not enable it for slightly better visuals?
For smartphones that support HDR, there's usually an option to upgrade SDR content to HDR like this
If you're as lazy as I am, stacking a few books like this is enough
Sound: Optimize with the best solution available
Besides visuals, sound plays an equally crucial role in the movie-watching experience. Built-in speakers on phones and laptops, even if they are stereo, tend to fall short. Consider the best audio device you have at home or invest in additional ones like headphones or external speakers for a significantly different experience.
Besides hardware solutions, on a laptop, you can enhance the audio further through software. Some laptop models come with built-in audio adjustment apps like my Waves MaxxAudio Pro. If not, you can download third-party apps like Dolby Access, FXSound Enhancer (formerly known as DFX Audio Enhancer), SRS Audio Sanbox, etc., to fine-tune the equalizer and virtual surround sound options.
For phones, similar to the screen, most manufacturers integrate various audio tuning options. Dig into the settings; my OPPO Find X2 has Dolby Atmos options for external speakers/headphones, including presets for movies. Phones from Samsung or Xiaomi that I've used also offer similar settings for you to customize.
To make yourself comfortable with food, drinks, and seating while watching
If you miss the comfortable cushioned seat, popcorn, and cold drink at the movie theater, you're not alone, I do too. Of course, until the pandemic is over and things return to normal, enjoy watching movies at home. Spend hours in one spot watching movies; for maximum comfort, choose your favorite corner. Everyone has their own style; I utilize a small home office desk to sit back and watch movies because it has two backrests: the wall + the chair back.
To lessen the longing for popcorn and soda at the theater, consider buying similar snacks to enjoy while watching movies at home. This part depends on each person's taste; whatever you like to eat or drink, just get it or make it yourself.
Here are a few tips hoping you and I will stay healthy through this stay-at-home season with some good movies.
