Perhaps no home-improvement craze has grown more popular in recent years than home theater installation. As technology has become more advanced and more affordable, a number of people have opted to turn a room in their homes into their own private theater, complete with big screen, comfortable seating and anything else the heart desires.
For those homeowners who have yet to embark on their own home theater, the process can prove intimidating, especially for those unsure of just where to get started. The following guide should help homeowners understand just what it is they're going to need to make their dream home theater a reality.
Television
First and foremost, no home theater is complete without a television (unless, of course, there's room for an actual movie screen). When it comes to televisions, it's genuinely amazing just how far technology has come in such a relatively small amount of time. As recently as 20 years ago, most television viewers did not even have cable television, and the programming they did watch was on TVs with rabbit ear antennae that often received poor reception. Nowadays, a consumer's television options are seemingly endless, with plasma, LCD, DLP, LED, and even 3D televisions available.
While it might be tempting to be the first in the family to buy a 3D television, it's important to note 3D televisions are very expensive, and most channels do not even broadcast in 3D yet. Savvy homeowners might want to put 3D on hold for now, choosing instead the relatively new yet affordable LED option instead. Plasma and DLP, while still a bargain and still capable of providing stunningly clear images, are also becoming harder to find in favor of LCD and LED televisions. Remember, harder to find televisions may also prove harder to fix should something go wrong.
DVD Player
Today's consumers are increasingly looking to Blu-ray players as their video source of choice. Homeowners with high-definition televisions will likely prefer a Blu-ray player, which provides the clearest picture. Homeowners who double as gamers or have children who play video games might already have a high-definition DVD player at home, as many of the latest gaming system models pull double-duty as high-definition DVD players.
Home Theater Receiver
This is the point when many homeowners grow confused. Surround sound is often what amazes most about home theaters, and that surround sound is only possible with a home theater receiver. The receiver will process and amplify audio signals and send them to the speakers. Home theater receivers all boast surround sound decoding, and many even make the entire process of home entertainment much easier because homeowners can connect multiple sources, including a cable or satellite box, a DVD player and a gaming console, to the system itself. This makes it possible to simply push one button on the remote and change the television's input, making it easy to switch from a DVD to a video game to a television show.
Speakers
Speakers play a significant role when attempting to recreate that movie theater experience at home. One essential element when choosing speakers is voice-matching. With voice-matched speakers, sound flows easily around viewers. Without voice-matched speakers, the speakers might not all share the same harmonic characteristics, leading to disjointed sound as the sound travels from speaker to speaker. Though "voice-matching" might sound complicated, it's actually quite easy. Simply choose speakers from the same family of speakers, meaning the same manufacturer and model of speakers. Many speaker systems are even pre-matched.
A home theater system also requires the use of a center channel speaker, front left and right speakers, surround speakers, and a subwoofer. Oftentimes, these systems can be bought all in one.
Cables
Which cables to purchase is often another area that proves confusing. The basics that are necessary are audio cables, video cables and speaker cables. While incredibly expensive HD or speaker cables might not be necessary, it's important to note the sound produced by cheap speaker cables tends to reflect their price. And the standard audio and video cables that come with a television or DVD player often produce lower quality sound and picture. So while the appliance might have come with all the necessary cables, these complementary cables often impede viewers from getting the most out of their home theater systems.
Protection
The cost of a dream home theater system will not be cheap. Therefore, it makes sense to protect that system as much as possible. A power protection unit safeguards the home theater from power surges, outages and even lightning strikes. Such units are a small price to pay for protecting a much larger investment.
CAPTION: Movie theater magic is being enjoyed at home more and more, as home theater technology continues to advance, much to many homeowners' delight.
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