There has been a revolution in home entertainment with leaps in technology that has brought home theater options within the budget of most people. Simply put, a home theater is any combination of video and audio which create an immersive experience.
Two factors come into play immediately: space and budget. The size and configuration of the room chosen for your home theater will impact your range of options. Secondly, your available budget for your home theater will determine a bottom line expenditure and point you toward different portions of the market for both basics and embellishments.
The center of any home theater is the screen size and quality. The gold standard is the projector-screen combination which works best in a dedicated theater room where the lighting can be controlled. Screens come in a wide variety of materials and configurations. You have options for motorized screens which integrate with décor when not in use, pull-up or down screens, or fixed frame structures.
With a massive drop in screen prices, flat panel screens of 50” to 75” are now available at reasonable prices and can form the basis for a very enjoyable home theater experience.
The immersive experience requires sound which creates a multi-dimensional sound source. Sound systems come in a variety of configurations such as 5.1 or 7.1. The first number refers to the speakers in front left, center, front right, rear right and rear left, and the 1 identifies a subwoofer that emphasizes the bass. 7.1 configurations add additional speakers front and rear to increase the surround sound experience. If the presence of speakers around the room is unworkable, a sound bar can be substituted. It is a bar of speakers which uses the acoustics of the room to bounce sound off walls to mimic the effects of surround sound.
Home theater components fall into two categories: AV receivers and separates. An AV receiver contains all the inputs, amplifier, and outputs to connect the source of the signal to the video and sound devices. Higher end systems are more likely to utilize separates – one box for input and another for processing and amplification. For the true enthusiast, separate receivers provide greater control over the signal at each step.
There are a range of signal sources for the variety of signals to be presented. Blu-ray players offer high quality images and wrap around sound. At the upper end are dedicated video servers. Streaming video players such as Amazon, Roku, Apple and Amazon provide video on demand.
With today’s technology home theater is within reach for every movie fan. Just bring the popcorn and settle in!
Recent Comments