Home Theater Systems

Have you ever been to homes where the people have their very own home theater projectors? Why not you? Depending on your home theater design, LCD Projectors are a typically less expensive method of getting a fantastic home cinema experience! LCD is an abbreviation of 'liquid crystal diode'. These projectors contain three separate LCD glass panels, one each for red, green, and blue components of the image signal being transferred to the projector.

As the light passes through the LCD panels, individual pixels can be electronically opened to allow light to pass or closed to block the light. This activity modulates the light and produces the image that is projected onto the screen. Since the primary colors: Red Green, and Blue make up the entire color spectrum that is visible to us, effectively modulated this technology can display a very accurate image.

Home theater projectors come close to the movie theater experience by beaming the image onto a wall or screen! They offer the largest potential picture size depending on your space. Here is some useful information about this great technology for home theater systems!

Talk about providing the biggest picture with the smallest space! Home theater projectors are a great solution for those of you who want a screen size typically bigger than what todays picture tube, rear-projection, and flat screen TVs provide. The biggest tube TVs top out at about 40" diagonally. LCD and Plasma TVs currently on the open market top out at around 70 inches, although larger ones are on the horizon.

The cost of a 70" flat screen TV as of this writing is upwards of $10,000. Now if you prefer to have a flat screen TV and do not mind the cost, then enjoy it! For the rest of you, a home theater projector may be just the ticket.

There are a few different technologies available in these devices which I will explain; however, there functionality is the same. They are:

DLP , LCD , and a larger more antiquated type called CRT .

Both DLP snd LCD Projectors are a typically less expensive method of getting great home cinema. They can range in size from about the size of 3 loaves of bread side by side to a device you can place in the palm of your hand. Those on the smaller scale are designed more for business presentations and will not likely have the features to maximize the high definition movie experience.

You can mount it on your ceiling, and aim it toward a white wall, or better yet, a screen that can be fixed, retractable, or even motorized to descend on command. The best part is, depending on your room size, seating distance from the screen, and projector, your image can be larger than 200" diagonally! Just imagine a screen so big that you feel like you are actually in a theater.

Combine this technology with the spectacular image of blu ray and the cinematic experience is simply breathtaking!




How do these technologies work? Well, there are some differences to consider:

Projector Technology:

There are three principle technologies available with variances and improvements made in all of them over the years.

• LCD Projectors
• DLP Projectors
• CRT Projectors

There are advantages and disadvantages of LCD and DLP and CRT technologies when compared to each other. Color accuracy, brightness, contrast ratio, image clarity, among many other picture attributes are constantly compared between them.


When added to home theater systems, the end result for LCD, DLP, or CRT home theater projectors is a beautiful projected image that, depending on your budget, room size, screen size, and seating distance, can rival the impact of your favorite cinema.

Just a few years ago, having a flat screen television to home theater systems meant spending a large sum of money on a technology that was still in its early stages of development.

Now, prices are a fraction of what they were, and the technology has seen vast improvements over the years. So what is LCD TV? How does it work?



An LCD TV is a flat panel television containing LCD panels made of two layers of transparent material, which are polarized, and "glued" together. One of the layers is coated with a special adhesive polymer that holds the individual liquid crystals. Current is then passed through individual crystals, which allow the crystals to pass or block light to create images. LCD crystals do not produce their own light, so an external light source, such as LEDs (light emitting diode) or florescent bulb is needed for the image created by the LCD to become visible to the viewer.

Unlike standard CRT and Plasma TV, since there are no phosphors that light up, less power is need for operation and the light source in an LCD TV generates less heat than a Plasma or traditional television. Also, because of the nature of LCD technology, there is no radiation emitted from the screen itself.

In today's consumer electronics market, sizes range from 19 to 70 inches.

If you enjoy video games along with your movie watching and television viewing, then an LCD TV might be just the ticket!

Depending on your home theater design, another option to consider is a home theater projector if you need an even bigger screen presence.

No matter what technology you decided to go with, so many great options for your home theater system are available for you to choose from!

When you are watching a movie, or your favorite team play on the big screen, are you seated comfortably? Now that you are thinking about your overall home theater design, have you considered what type of home theater seating would be appropriate?

The type of seating you choose can really have an impact on your home theater experience. You may decide that your couch and/or love seat that you currently use makes for the perfect viewing experience. If that's the case, well congratulations! You do not have to worry about choosing and purchasing home theater seating.

I use a love seat for my home theater and it works just fine. For those who are considering the purchase of a new seating option,



Here are some suggestions:

A reclining love seat. This item is typically designed for one or two people and can serve in a dedicated home theater, a living room, or den with minimal design impact on the room it resides in.

The next option is a home theater recliner. This type of home theater furniture feels right at home in a more dedicated theater setting. Upon first glance, its purpose is clear: Keep you comfortable, with your feet up, and have your beverage at the ready. A convenient cup holder is common on many models and adds convenience.

These selections so far can be quite inviting, but there are those movie buffs who may long for yet another option....

Original or replica, classic or modern movie theater seats!

The choice of many home theater afficianados for their authenticity and charm, they can provide the "official movie theater feel" that many of us can appreciate.

And let us not forget this option: your existing sofa, love seat, or chair. That's right! Your existing furniture may be perfect for enjoying your home theater system exactly the way it is. You can focus your budget on other home theater furniture for your electronic gear.

A plasma TV is a flat panel television which looks very similar to an LCD TV but consists of an entirely different technology.

This type of flat TV produces a picture using a number of cells that are fed a steady stream of neon and xenon gas. The cells are contained within panels of glass and coated with electrodes. The electrodes charge the cells, which fires up the gas, transforming it into plasma. This process results in ultraviolet light. The light then sets off the phosphors in the TV, and the phosphors in turn radiate light.




A group of phosphors is known as a pixel. Depending on the size, a single plasma TV set may contain nearly 3,000,000 pixels, which are responsible for producing the television’s crystal clear picture. Each pixel consists of three cells of red, blue, and green light, which combine to form an image. By uniting these cells, these TVs have the ability to display more than 67 billion colors.

They are different from traditional TVs in that they don’t use the old-fashioned cathode ray picture tube. But, like standard sets, plasma TVs do produce heat, because they burn phosphors. Plasma TV screen sizes vary, from 32"" to 84"

The picture quality on this type of TV is terrific, but it is important to be aware of certain issues:
Because of the necessity of a glass front, glare from ambient light can be distracting and wash out the picture in a bright room.

Because of the technology used to create the detailed picture, it is possible that long standing images, i.e. channel logos, stock tickers, and video game screens can cause "burn in" in which case, the static image is permanently burned in and can detract from the viewer's enjoyment. (note that as technology improves, this has become less of an issue but the risk is still present).

If your home theater design is not in an overly bright room, and video gaming is less frequent, then a Plasma TV may be the perfect choice!

When you go to your local home theater store whether in person, or online, make sure to check out the latest features and advancements to determine which home theater screen type is best for you.

The Playstation 3 or PS3 is the home gaming system from Sony which came on the market in November 2006. This device is very unique, versatile, and, in my opinion, one of the greatest values in home entertainment today. As someone who owns one, I can tell you this, it is much more than a video game console. In fact, In comparison to its use for watching blu ray movies, I rarely play games on it. It is a highly rated blu ray player, dvd player, and has the ability (when connected to the internet) to download movies and games (prices depend on item downloaded).

It has a large hard drive which can be used to store and view photos, store and play your music, and can even store and show home videos from your video camera. It also offers free downloads of movie and game trailers, playable game demos, and more. It is a high definition powerhouse, and can be continually updated to the latest blu ray standards so it will always be able to take advantage of what blu ray technology has to offer, with 3D gaming and blu ray 3D compatibility right now!

The price is only $299 for the base model, and it is a great addition to any home theater system.

Do you need a high definition box? If you have cable and you want to receive all of the high definition TV channels offered, you will need a high definition cable box from your provider. There will often be an additional charge for it, but many of these boxes also act as a high definition video recorder which can help justify the monthly fee increase.

Another important type of HD box comes in the form of an high definition tuner or set top box. If you have an HD ready TV or a video monitor capable of displaying a high definition picture, then this device will enable the reception of free, local, over the air HD broadcasts.

Most of the HDTVs sold in the last few years have these tuners built in; however,there are those sold in the past decade that are called 'HD ready'. These TV's had the technology to display the resolution necessary to show HD, but lacked the built in tuner to receive the signal and decode it. Another name for them is 'HD monitor'. By adding a high definition tuner and a high definition TV antenna, you'll be watching your favorite local high definition television stations free and clear.