Home theatre systems with surround sound and wide screen are rapidly narrowing this gap. They are getting closer and closer to creating that "theatre" movie experience in the comfort of your own home.

Home Theatre looks, sounds and feels like being at the movies and there are many ways to put together a home theater system to make this happen.

The Home Theater systems are a specific combination of elements that start with the television on which you will be viewing the movie. Then there is the source which sends the signal to be played, like a DVD, VCR or even cable or satellite TV transmission. Next there is the receiver which amplifies the sound being sent to the speakers, and lastly, there are the speakers themselves.

Sounding Great:
Sound enhancement is one of the key benefits to a home theater system. With the right sound, the audience can feel like the action is happening in the room around them, making the movie comes to life.

Dolby Digital ®:
One of the most interesting developments is the introduction of Dolby Digital ®. This surround sound product allows the distribution of up to 6 discreet audio channels at a time. The Dolby Digital ® is encoded onto the DVD and the DVD player or receiver decodes the information. This means that both your DVD player and your receiver need to be Dolby Digital® capable.

DTS:
Another surround sound technology, similar to Dolby Digital ® is DTS. DTS stands for Digital Theater Sound. With less compression and more bits per second than Dolby Digital ® - DTS is the audio enthusiasts choice for improved dynmanic range and sound.

THX:
THX, a sound technology developed by George Lucas (Star Wars), is basically a standard by which audio and video quality is measured. Any products, movies or theaters that boast the THX logo have been approved by THX as a superior sound and video experience, and have passed their high standards for quality.

The Speakers:
Given that there are five speakers plus a subwoofer in a common home theater system, lets start with them.

There are 2 front speakers (a left and right), 1 centre channel speaker and 2 rear speakers (also left and right), plus, of course, the sub-woofer. This combination of speakers is called a 5.1 system. Dolby Digital and DTS are capable of sending 5 discrete channels of information from a DVD player to each of these speakers individually. The result is an unbelievable surround sound experience.

For those enthusiasts who are looking for the ultimate sound - there is an enhanced option of a 6.1 format called DTS-ES & Dolby Digital EX- which stands for extended surround. The inclusion of an additional speaker - a rear center channel speaker, completes the surround sound experience.

Whether you select a 5.1 or a 6.1 system, the configuration of the speakers is an important part of putting together a home theater system.

Starting with a pair of Front Speakers placed on either side of the television. The distance between the these two speakers should be the same distance from each other as the viewing position is from the television set, essentially creating a triangle between the speakers and where you plan to sit.

The Centre Channel Speaker should be placed either directly above or below your television screen.

The two Rear Speakers are positioned to the left and right and slightly back of your viewing position. Even though they are called rear speakers, they are not actually positioned directly behind you, but instead flank you as you watch the screen.

The Rear Centre Channel Speaker that is part of the 6.1 system is placed behind your viewing position at the same elevation as your left and right rear speakers.

The Subwoofer is much more versatile due to the fact that low frequencies are omni-directional which means you can't pinpoint the origin of the sound.  Because of this, it can be positioned in a number of places. A note of caution, however, is to make sure you do not place your subwoofer too close to your television set. Some units are not shielded and could damage your television.

While proper placement of your speakers goes a long way to optimize the sound quality, many people have to deal with the reality of rooms that were not specifically designed to be home theaters. Fireplaces, doorways, room shape and even décor can make variations in placement a necessity. The rule of thumb is simply this: get as close to the ideal as you can. If proper placement just isn't possible, there are some speakers that are designed specifically to distribute great sound from off locations.

Receiver/Amplifier:
The function of the receiver is to take the sound signal from the source, amplify it and send it to the appropriate speakers in your system. The receiver is an important part of the sound quality equation and, depending on the make and quality of the unit, receivers are available at across a large price range.

Difference in price for these units generally reflect the Quality, Sound and Features offered.

Certain brands offer a higher quality product by virtue of the fact that they are well-built with established quality control practices and high quality materials. This kind of workmanship is usually priced at an optimum.

There is also a significant difference in sound quality between many receivers. The specifications of these units such as THD (total harmonic distortion) and dynamic range vary from one unit to another. These are important considerations in a receiver's ability to produce great sound quality

Dynamic range, simply put, is the difference between the quietest and the loudest part of the movie or selection of music you are playing. The greater this range, the greater the requirement of the receiver to provide enough power to play it.

Features that are standard with all receivers are the controls you need to adjust you volume, bass and treble and an AM/FM tuner. The receiver serves as the decoder for various surround sounds sound. It amplifies the signal and sends it to the 5 or 6 speakers in your home theatre.

A common question asked by consumers is whether they can send multiple video sources through the amplifier if the television only has 1 or 2 inputs. The answer is "Yes". Most receivers will allow you to feed several video inputs into, and a single output to your television set. There are 3 kinds of connections that allow this: RCA, S-Videos and Component connections. These connections are not available on all receivers, so it is important to make sure you have the right video input to suit your current and future needs.

To assess whether a receiver will work with your speakers at home, there are 2 things you need to consider. Firstly, you need to ensure that the impedance of the receiver and speakers match.  Impedance is measured in Ohms and typically is rated at 4, 6 or 8. Secondly you should make sure that your amp is not over or under powered for your speakers. Check the wattage on your speaker and try to ensure a close match to the receiver you buy.

Assessing your home theater requirements will help you decide whether you will need a receiver with additional capabilities like 6.1 sound, or even the option of using your turntable through your system. If your turntable does not come with a built in pre-amp, your receiver will need to be equipped with a phono input. Whatever your overall requirements, choosing the right receiver is an important decision when putting together your home theatre system.

Television:
Having ensured that you understand the options available to you with regards to the sound of your home theater system, the next component to assess is your television.

While many people believe that bigger is better, one of the most important considerations when selecting the size of your television is actually the size of your room. The distance you are from the screen is an important consideration. The larger the picture, the more grainy the image can be and viewing the image from too close could compromise the quality

Measuring Up:
The standard size of a television is measured diagonally from corner to corner.  Dealing with a diagonal measurement is important when one considers that a relatively small increase in the diagonal length of the screen can equal a significant increase in the total available viewing area. Upgrading from a 27" unit to a 40" set is not a 50% increase. The extra 13" actually doubles the size of the total available viewing area.

Rear Projection Television:
Currently, the most common types of large screen television sets, use rear projection technology.

The way the projection TV works is by using projection cathode ray tubes (CRT's) to project light (either red, green or blue) onto a mirror, which reflects it onto the back of the screen. The alignment of the cathode ray tubes, each of which projects a single colour, is critical to the focus and quality of the picture being projected.

Going Wide:
Whether or not you select a projection TV, a great feature for home theater is the widescreen option. Designed to re-create the in theater experience for home movie audiences, the relational dimensions of the screen are 16:9, which means that it is nearly twice as wide as it is tall. This availability of this feature is not limited to large TVs with some units as small as 30" offering it as an option.

Widescreen televisions accommodate the shape of the original movie images without having to rely totally on a letterbox format where two black lines appear on the top and bottom of the image to "rightsize" its dimensions for viewing on a standard sized television (which is almost square at 4:3).  While you will still get black bars on most movies, even when you are viewing them on a widescreen TV, the shape of the widescreenTV is still better equipped to show the image than the 4:3 alternative.

The black bars bordering the letterbox view help recreate the true movie experience, but they are also the source of one of the problems encountered by projection TVs. Projection televisions are prone to "burn in". This occurs when a static image is projected onto the screen for an extended period of time (like those bars on the letterbox view). A shadow of this image could be permanently burned onto your picture. While widescreen reduces the amount of letterbox resizing, and reduces the area that could be subject to burn in, this may still be an issue with some units.

There is an alternate type of projection TV available that uses Liquid Crystal Diodes (LCDs) to project the image. The advantage of this option is that the risk of the burn in effect is significantly reduced and the television can also double up for use as a computer monitor. LCD TV's are also far better suited for projecting digital images like the vacation pictures you took with your digital camera.

But, the state of the art rear projection TVs currently available are the ones that use digital light processing technology (DLP). This revolutionary feature has the ability to turn the red, green and blue light being projected into nearly 17 million different colours which are reflected directly onto the screens pixels, often using over a million tiny mirrors.

And the mirrors are not the only tiny part of this unit. Because of the method of projection they use, these TVs do not take up the same kind of space as their CRT cousins and can fit into far smaller places.

As technology advances, the consumer needs to consider not only the compatibility of a new purchase with his or her needs for that system, but also the compatibility of the new system with other systems currently in use.

More and more, consumers are assessing TV sets for their ability to serve as computer monitors, memory cards from camera that can be re-used in other gadgets and re-chargeable batteries that can be used in a number of devices.

Selecting the right TV for your home theatre needs to take into account similar considerations. But one of the most important areas to ensure compatibility is between your TV and your source signal.

The ability of any television set to produce a great picture rests, in a large part, with the quality of the signal it is receiving. Source signals come from cable, DVD players, VCRs and satellite.

High definition is destined to become the new broadcast standard. Currently, there are programs being broadcast that advertise high definition signal, but it is the off-air high definition signal that is important when assessing the components of  a home theater system.

Given that the most common source is DVD, HD capability is an important feature to include in selecting a television:

While many HDTVs have a built in receiver that allows them to receive and play high definition signals, the television you select for your home theater can be one of the other kinds of available HDTVs. The HDTV monitor sets display high definition signal, but do not have the built in receiver. Given that your home theater already has a receiver, the HDTV monitor is a potentially good choice.

The Source:
The most common source for a home theater system is the DVD player

Offering an exceptionally clear picture, digital sound and surround effects, the DVD player is rapidly becoming the new standard for in-home movie viewing. Since its introduction into the market in the mid 1990's, sales of DVD players have grown exponentially and the technology is poised to send the video cassette recorder (VCR) onto the same shelf as the turntable and 8-track.

Features available on DVD players includes one called progressive scan which is designed to enhance the picture on a HDTV. When one considers the lines of resolution that define picture clarity, the 450 - 500 lines of resolution produced by a DVD eclipses the 240 lines produced by a VCR and is a compelling selling feature.

While DVD players are most definitely the preferred source for home movies, VCRs are still the preferred device for recording from the TV. While the technology does exist for DVD recorders, copyright issues and the slow development of software to protect copyright material have kept these products from becoming mainstream

Making the Connection:
Perhaps the most important component of your home theater system is the cables you use to connect everything. You can have the highest quality receiver, television, speakers and DVD player, but if they are connected with poor cable, you will have defeated the potential of the system. Today's technology requires that you hook up everything with quality cable that can carry the integrity of today's digital signals.

We recommend that you select a cable that will give you the best possible performance. The other important accessory to a home theater system is line conditioning and high quality surge protection. This device is an essential add-on to your home theater system and a good investment.

Making the Right Decision:
Home theater systems are sold as complete packages or by the component part. There are advantages to both approaches. The main attraction of a pre-packed system is that the choices around compatibility and features are included. The obvious advantage of building the system yourself is that you can put together a high quality system that reflects your own unique preferences.

This guide has hopefully given you a better idea of the types of home theater systems and related features that are available. If you would like to compare models and features, you should check out our product comparison feature on this site.

If you would like to get a hands-on demonstration of the different models we carry, we encourage you to visit your local London Drugs. The experts in our Audio Video Department can help you with any questions this guide didn't answer and assist you in choosing the best home theatre solution to suit your needs.