Home Theater

A home theater or home theatre is a theater built in a home, designed to mimic (or exceed) commercial theater performance and feeling, more commonly known as a home cinema. Today, home cinema implies a real "cinema experience" at a private home.

Home cinema, commonly referred to as home theater or home theatre, are home entertainment set-ups that seek to reproduce movie theater video and audio feeling in a private home.
Backyard theater, home theater in the backyard. Depending on the space available, it may simply be a temporary version with foldable screen, a projector and couple of speakers, or a permanent fixture with huge screens and dedicated audio set up poolside. Due to the outdoor nature, it is quite popular with BBQ parties and pool parties.
Home theater in a box, HTIB is an integrated home theater package which "bundles" together a combination DVD-Video or Blu-ray Disc player and multi-channel amplifier (which includes a surround sound decoder, a radio tuner, and other features), speaker wires, connection cables, a remote control, a set of five or more surround sound speakers (or more rarely, just left and right speakers) and a low-frequency subwoofer.
AV receiver, often referred to as home theater systems or home entertainment system.
Front video projector and projector screen, often refered to as a home theatre or Home cinema.
Home theater PC, HTPC or media PC is a convergence device that combines the functions of a personal computer and a media center software which feature video and music playback.
Media center, refers either to a dedicated computer appliance (like a Home theater PC) or to a specialized personal computer software, both of which are adapted for playing various kinds of media (music, movies, photos etc.), and it usually has a 10-foot user interface design to be used in living-room TV with a remote control.

Home cinema, also commonly called home theater, are home entertainment set-ups that seek to reproduce the movie theater going experience and mood with the help of video and audio equipment in a private home.

In the 1950s, playing home movies became popular in the United States with Kodak 8 mm film projector equipment becoming affordable. The development of multi-channel audio systems and later LaserDisc in the 1980s created a new paradigm for home cinema. In the early to mid 1990s, a typical home cinema in the United States would have a LaserDisc or VHS player fed to a large rear-projection television. In the late 1990s, home theatre technology progressed with the development of the DVD-Video format, Dolby Digital 5.1-channel audio ("surround sound") speaker systems, and high-definition television.

In the 2000s, the term "home cinema" encompasses a range of systems meant for movie playback at home. The most basic and common system could be a DVD player, a standard large-screen television, and a "home theater in a box" surround sound speaker system with a subwoofer. While a decent common home cinema set-up might more likely include a Blu-ray player or media center appliance/computer with a 10-foot user interface, a video projector and projection screen with a "widescreen" 16:9 aspect-ratio format, and a several thousand-watt home theatre receiver with five to seven surround sound speakers plus a powerfull subwoofer.

The most expensive home theater set-ups, which can cost up to and over $100,000 (US), have expensive digital projectors and projection screens, and maybe even a custom-built screening rooms which include cinema-style chairs and audiophile-grade sound equipment designed to mimic (or sometimes even exceed) commercial theater performance.

Today, Home Cinema implies a real "cinema experience" and therefore a higher quality set of components than an average television with only built-in speakers provides. A typical home theater includes the following parts:

Video and Audio Input Devices: One or more video/audio sources. High quality movie media format such as example Blu-ray are normally preferred, though they often also include a DVD, VHS player, or video game console systems. Quite a few home theatres today include a HTPC (Home Theater PC) with a media center software application to act as the main library for video and music content using a 10-foot user interface and remote control.
Audio Processing Devices: Input devices are processed by either a standalone AV receiver or a Preamplifier and Sound Processor for complex surround sound formats. The user selects the input at this point before it is forwarded to the output.
Audio Output: Systems consist of at least 2 speakers, however most common today is 5.1 or 7.1 surround sound system, but it is possible to have up to 11 speakers with additional subwoofers.
Video Output: A large-screen HDTV display. Options include Liquid crystal display television (LCD), plasma TV, rear-projection TV, a traditional CRT TV, or a front video projector and projector screen.
Atmosphere: Comfortable seating and organization to improve the cinema feel. Higher-end home theaters commonly also have sound insulation to prevent noise from escaping the room, and a specialized wall treatment to balance the sound within the room.