Home Theater | Audio | Video | Remote Control | Lighting

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What is a home theater?
A home theater is an audio/video playback system that approximates in your home the experience of seeing—and hearing—a film in a cinema. Setting up a home theater can be as simple as adding a compact surround sound system to the TV set in your family room, or as complex as building a dedicated viewing room equipped with elaborate built-in speakers, massive amplifiers, and a big-screen front-projection TV system.

Surround sound makes the difference
Surround sound, which is what turns conventional TV viewing into home theater, originates from program material such as DVDs that have multichannel soundtracks. The multiple channels are reproduced by three speakers across the front of the viewing area, and surround speakers to either side (Figure 1). The result is sound that transports you into the world you're watching; you feel less like a passive viewer and more like an active participant.

Soundtracks encoded in Dolby Digital come to you via DVDs, digital television (DTV) broadcasts, and digital satellite and cable transmissions. Dolby Digital decoding is licensed by Dolby Laboratories to manufacturers of home playback equipment.

Your home theater: it's as easy as 1, 2, 3

1. To play Dolby Digital programming, you need one or more program sources equipped with a Dolby Digital output, such as a DVD player, digital television (DTV) receiver, digital satellite set-top box, and/or a digital cable set-top box. To play Dolby Surround programming, all you need are regular analog stereo sources, such as a conventional TV receiver, VHS deck, satellite receiver, or cable box.
   
2. To decode surround sound programming, you need an A/V receiver or other playback electronics that incorporates a 5.1-channel Dolby Digital decoder for programming with Dolby Digital soundtracks, and a Dolby Surround Pro Logic or Pro Logic II decoder for analog Dolby Surround soundtracks.
   
3. To hear Dolby Digital and Dolby Surround soundtracks, you need five speakers (six, if you use a subwoofer), and the same number of amplifier channels in the playback electronics.

About home theater speakers
Satellite/subwoofer systems take advantage of the fact that the lowest bass frequencies are non-directional, which means the ear cannot readily detect where bass sounds are coming from. As a result, these systems channel the low bass to a dedicated bass speaker called a subwoofer. The subwoofer can usually be tucked out of the way, because its placement is not critical to reproducing the directionality of the original sound.

Because they are not required to reproduce low bass, the satellite speakers can be compact, making them less intrusive and easier to place. Many systems use identical satellites for the left, center, right, and surround channels. This means that all speakers have the same timbre, or tonal characteristic, which is desirable in a home theater system. Other systems provide identical satellites for left, center, and right, but the surround units may be somewhat different, usually with respect to their radiating characteristic. Nevertheless, the surround speakers should still be timbre-matched to the front speakers.

Of course, there are excellent alternatives to satellite systems. For example, you can create a home theater system using larger, full-range tower speakers for the front left and right channels, or for both the front and the surround channels. Their manufacturers usually provide well-matched center and surround speaker options. Some of today's tower speakers have built-in powered subwoofers, making them particularly suitable for a home theater.

If you do assemble a home theater speaker system from individual speaker units, as opposed to a satellite system, it is best to use models from the same manufacturer for the sake of timbre-matching, and to follow the manufacturer's advice for mixing and matching their models. Also, be sure that all front speakers are magnetically shielded to prevent interference with the television's picture (in general, speakers designated specifically for the front channels of a home theater are shielded).

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