Painting a small media room black or some other dark color?

[Kain]

I've been told that painting a small room black or some other similar dark color makes the room feel/look even smaller. What if the purpose of the room is to be a home theater or media room? Even if the room is small, won't black or some other dark colored walls enhance the experience of the content on the TV screen?

 

[alvigg]

For my theater (14x17') painting the ceiling black made a big difference in picture quality. The walls are a moderately dark brown. My ISF friend didn't recommend painting those black but strongly encouraged the ceiling painting. He was right.

 

[Brian Hall]

I've been told that painting a small room black or some other similar dark color makes the room feel/look even smaller. What if the purpose of the room is to be a home theater or media room? Even if the room is small, won't black or some other dark colored walls enhance the experience of the content on the TV screen?

I went with dark blue paint for both ceiling and walls. I like it. I have four Alexa controlled lights in there that can be adjusted for light level and color. When watching movies or listening to music I usually turn off the rear lights and change the light level of the ones closest to the TV to 50% and blue. The lights are about 6 feet from the TV on the left and the right, with the right one being by the turntable so I can see it on the rare occasions when I play a record.

 

[IPunchCholla]

The reason black walls look close, is that they are not really black, but dark grey. They become large dark objects in your field of view. Without any hue, people can find that opressive. I don’t know how people would react to a truly black space (think Vantablack of one of its non-licensed equivalents that reflect so little light we tend to read them as voids). Vantablack walls with stars painted on it might feel like stepping into the void of space.

 

[Cbdb2]

If the only thing you do in there is watch video, black. If not a medium shade of grey.

 

[DVDdoug]

Traditionally, it's to get the best contrast (the blackest black). And with your eyes adjusted to the darkness the picture looks brighter. And it's important with projection because you can't project black onto a white or silver screen.

 

[alvigg]

My room was medium brown and my friend/calibrator asked/begged me to paint the ceiling black. That was enough. Big difference!

 

[Brian Hall]

I went with a very dark blue for walls and ceiling. It works for me. I don't use a projector, just a 75 inch LG OLED TV.