Most people characterize home entertainment as both audio and video components that can play a variety of media in a comfortable and convenient home setting. Some people might say that a home theater system is synonymous with home entertainment. A home theater system is where both audio and video work together to produce a cinema experience in the comfort of your own home.

Home Theaters Systems

Most home theater systems have two components; an audio component and a video component. In a home theater system, both of these components work together in concert with one another to produce a cinema experience.

Home theaters usually come in either individual components or in prepackaged integrated home theater systems. If you are buying separate components, you will probably need to choose a large widescreen TV set, DVD player, a receiver with digital surround sound processing and surround sound speakers.home entertainment

When choosing a TV, you will probably want to go with a widescreen, HDTV set. These TV sets offer the highest quality picture in a format (widescreen) that is the same as the format used in cinemas. The screen shape at most movie theaters has an aspect ratio of 16:9, the same aspect ratio that many widescreen HDTV sets use. This way you can watch a film the way the director intended it to be viewed.

Another important component needed for a home theater system is a DVD player. Today, you can view DVD's on a standard DVD player or on high definition players such as HD-DVD or Blu-ray DVD. While most consumers agree that the quality of movies on standard DVD is excellent, high definition DVD's although new to the market, promise even higher quality video and audio signals.

Now that you have a TV set and a way to play your favorite movie, you will need to focus on the audio components. You should first start with a receiver that can process digital surround sound. Practically all DVD's and some CD's have encoded data that specifically tells the receiver where the sound should be sent. For instance, most surround receivers have 5 types of speakers and the encoded data tells which of these speakers the sound should be sent to. There are many types of surround sound processing formats. Some of the more common formats are Dolby Pro Logic, DTS, Dolby EX and THX Surround EX.

Most of these surround sound formats are either 5.1 or 6.1. A 5.1 format means that there are five separate channels and 1 subwoofer. The 5 channels include one front right and one front left speaker, one center channel speaker and one set of rear speakers. A 6.1 requires the same speakers as a 5.1, except that you can also add a set of rear speakers that are in stereo, meaning one rear right speaker and one rear left speaker.

Besides a component home theater system, where you purchase each piece separately to create your individual home theater system, you can also purchase an integrated home theater system.

Integrated Home Theater System

Integrated home theater systems are great for budget conscious consumers, non technical home theater consumers and for people that want to purchase an out of the box home theater solution. Most integrated home theater systems come complete with a DVD player, surround sound receiver, 5 surround speakers and 1 subwoofer. For the most part, you will still have to purchase your TV set on your own or use an existing TV set.

Integrated home theater systems are extremely easy to set up and can fit almost any type of budget. For instance, there are usually 3 separate levels for integrated home theater systems; budget, mid level and high end integrated home theater systems.

Budget Level Integrated Home Theater Systems

You can easily find many budget level home theater systems at prices less than $100. These systems include a DVD player, 5 speakers and an amplifier that has a form of digital signal processing. Many of these systems also come with a subwoofer. While you should not expect anything earth shattering from these suer low budget systems, they are great for people that live in very small dorms or apartments and are usually very easy to set up.

Mid Level Integrated Home Theater Systems

Mid Level systems are usually priced from about $300 to $1,000. They usually produce a satisfactory home theater experience. They include a DVD player usually with progressive scan technology, 6 speakers including a subwoofer and a powerful amplifier with name brand digital signal processing such as Dolby DTS or THX Surround EX. These systems are for people that are not audiophiles, but would like to have a great sounding home theater system with most of the bells and whistles. Since these systems are integrated, set up is a breeze and can take only a few minutes.

High End Integrated Home Theater Systems

While most audiophiles will usually spend lots of money on separate components, for people that want a complete set, there are extremely high quality integrated home theater systems. These systems usually cost more than $1,000 and deliver great sound and quality for large rooms. These systems can include high definition DVD players, top of the line surround speakers and a powerful receiver with enough power to give you an over the top home theater experience.

Brad Waite is a home theater enginee with Integrity Home Theater