This may seem like a silly question to some, but there are many people out there who hear the words “home theater” thrown around without really understanding what they mean. While there is no one definition of what really makes a home theater (is it a mini-movie theater in your basement? or just a TV and a sound system?), there are some basic components that most home theaters have, as well as a few extras that many home theaters should have.
In order to determine what your ideal home theater would be, ask yourself a few questions. What kind of entertainment do you like? Movies? CDs? TV? How many people are going to use your home theater? Just the family? Friends and neighbors? What features would you most like to see? Great video? Mind-blowing sound? How much are you willing to spend? Are you a DIY-type, or would you get a professional installation service? By going through a mental checklist of what you’ll use your home theater for, who will be most active in using it, and how you want to approach creating it, you will be able to choose components and design the layout with confidence.
There are three basic components that the majority of home theaters have in one form or another: a video display, audio sound system, and DVD or Blu-Ray player. Beyond this, many home theaters go the extra mile: they include theater seating, dimming lights, a frame for a flat screen TV, tuners, receivers, amps and more. But let’s stick with the basics for now.
Your video display can be the TV that you currently own, or you can upgrade to a flat screen TV or high definition TV. These terms basically mean an LCD or plasma TV that can produce high definition video, such as 1080p resolution. This is the top-of-the-line technology that, in combination with a good quality Blu-Ray player and the right cables, will get you a nearly true-to-life image. The size of your TV depends on the size of your room and the distance to your home theater seating. You can learn about the difference between flat panel TV and projector technology if you’re curious, or you can read about the display technologies known as interlaced and progressive scan. Your video display is the central aspect of your home theater, so be sure to do adequate research before upgrading.
Next comes the audio. Most people prefer surround sound for their home theaters, either 5.1 or 7.1. You can learn about home theater speaker layouts in more detail, but the basic thing to remember is that whichever brand and type of speaker you choose will depend on what you’re going to use it for. Listening to classic vinyl records will require a different audio setup than the audio from Hollywood’s latest blockbuster, so take your home theater’s main usage into account when purchasing speakers.
The last basic component of a home theater is some sort of movie player. This can be a DVD player or a Blu-Ray player, or even an HD DVD player if you’ve got one (but, because the discs are discontinued, you’ll probably want to upgrade to Blu-Ray soon). The differences between these players is huge – some offer just basic movie playback, others offer HD audio and video, and still others offer extras like Internet connectivity. Again, be sure to evaluate your needs to prevent yourself from spending money on extras that you will never use.
So now that you understand the basic components in a home theater, you can start incorporating the extras. For style, why not match your couch to a custom TV frame from HD Envy? Or you can think about adding a gaming console, a home theater PC, or play around with your speaker layout. Ultimately, you want your home theater to reflect you, so get creative and make a home theater that is as unique as you are.
Tags: Home Theater
