How to Buy a Home Theater System

The Big Picture

A home theater can do a remarkable job of mimicking the multiplex experience. DVD players and newer televisions can produce detailed high-resolution pictures, offering realistic portrayals of everything from the largest explosion to the smallest teardrop. And thanks to a high-quality surround-sound speaker system, you'll almost feel the rotor blades whirring by as you watch a helicopter pass overhead. With the right setup, your living room will become a movie-watching cocoon.

To get the crisp picture, you'll need a DVD player or one of the new high-definition HD DVD or Blu-ray Disc players. DVD video outputs up to 540 horizontal lines of resolution, compared with about 200 lines on the VHS tapes your VCR plays. And you can see the difference, as the higher resolution produces a noticeably smoother and clearer picture. Most major consumer electronics companies, including Panasonic, Pioneer, Sony, and Toshiba, make DVD players. These same companies also make the newer high-definition players that are capable of more than four times the resolution of standard DVD models when playing high-definition discs.

Prices for basic players range from $50 to $150, but you can pay a lot more for DVD players with lots of features. The overall picture quality, however, will usually be just as good on a current low-cost model as on an ultra-deluxe one. All DVD players can read music CDs; most can play MP3 music on recordable CDs, and video on one or more of the various recordable DVD formats (such as DVD-R and DVD+R). Some high-end models can also play one or both of the high-resolution, multichannel audio formats, DVD-Audio (DVD-A) and Super Audio CD (SACD). At the top of the heap are players for the new high-definition videodisc formats, Blu-ray Disc and HD DVD, which currently sell for $300 or more; you'll need a high-definition television to take full advantage of them, though.

Picking the Right TV

While you can watch DVD movies on any television, wide-screen TVs work especially well because most DVD movies use the wide-screen format. Wide-screen televisions have a 16:9 (width:height) aspect ratio, which is closer to the shape of theater screens than the 4:3 aspect ratio of normal TVs is. In addition, the 16:9 aspect ratio is standard for high-definition television, which produces much sharper and clearer pictures than does conventional (NTSC) television. As a result, almost all TVs available today with a diagonal screen measurement greater than 27 inches are wide-screen models, and most (though not all) of them are capable of displaying high-definition images. For your home theater, you probably don't want to consider anything other than a wide-screen TV.

For the first 50 years of television's history, essentially all sets used cathode-ray tubes to display the picture. Today, other display technologies dominate at screen sizes larger than 26 inches, and CRT-based TVs will likely disappear from the market within the next decade. TVs appropriate for home theaters now divide into roughly three categories: flat-panel TVs, rear-projection TVs, and front projectors.

Flat-panel TVs are just a few inches thick and can be either wall- or stand-mounted. LCD (liquid crystal display) panels are available in sizes ranging from portable units of a few inches diagonal to wide-screen models measuring as large as 65 inches diagonal. Plasma panels start at about 42 inches, and models measuring more than 100 inches diagonal are available. Except for small LCD TVs (usually 20 inches or less), almost all flat-panel TVs are wide-screen models, and most have HDTV inputs and resolutions. Where plasma and LCD screen sizes overlap, the LCDs tend to be more expensive. Generally speaking, LCDs are more suitable than plasmas for brightly lit rooms, but plasmas typically can produce deeper blacks and truer colors and thus a more pleasing overall picture. (Both technologies are evolving rapidly, however.) Most flat-panel TVs suitable for home theater use sell for between $700 and $10,000.

Rear-projection TVs cast a video image onto the inside of a translucent screen by means of internal mirrors and lenses. All rear-projection TVs (or RPTVs) available today are wide-screen HDTV designs. Some budget models still use CRTs to create the projected images, but most now rely on more compact DLP (Digital Light Projection), LCoS (liquid crystal on silicon), or LCD light engines in which a high-intensity lamp shines on or through one or more display chips or panels. Although bulkier than flat-panel TVs, rear-projection sets using these new technologies are usually no more than 16 to 18 inches deep and weigh only about 100 pounds; most are designed to be placed on a shelf or stand, something hard to achieve with traditional CRT designs. Screen sizes for rear-projection TVs range from about 42 inches to more than 70 inches diagonal, with prices typically between $1000 and $5000.

Originally developed primarily for business presentations on computers, compact front projectors (most using DLP or LCD technology) have become increasingly popular for home theater. Low-noise, high-definition models start at about $1000, and can produce extremely large, clear pictures. You will need a good-quality reflective cinema screen to project onto, however, and you will need to darken the room to get decent picture quality.

The Sound of Movies

While the visual element is at the forefront of a movie's appeal, sound is what really immerses you in the experience. To achieve theater-quality audio, you'll need more than the speakers built into your TV or the two bookshelf speakers that came with your mini stereo system. A complete surround-sound system from a company such as Bose, JBL, or Paradigm includes center, left, and right speakers, as well as two satellite speakers (intended for placement at the sides or somewhat behind the seating area) and a subwoofer for rumbling bass.

These six speakers work together with audio formats such as Dolby Digital and DTS to create the sensation of bullets whizzing by your head and thunderstorms rolling through your house and rattling your teeth. You don't need all the elements to enjoy a good listening experience, but at a minimum you should have center, left, and right speakers.

Most home theater systems also include an A/V receiver--a box that acts as the hub for all audio input from the various components of the system, decodes surround-sound signals, and amplifies and balances sound before sending it to the speakers.

As more people decide to set up a home theater, vendors are making the task easier. Many companies now offer "home theater in a box" setups that include a DVD player integrated with a receiver, plus a full set of six speakers.