Best Home Theater Solutions

Before you begin your home theater installation, you'll need to decide on the item that will probably be the centerpiece of the entire theater; the television. When it comes to large screen TVs, the two main choices seem to be either LCD or plasma. Each kind has its own strengths and weaknesses, and any of these could affect your viewing experience. So you'll need to know what primary types of viewing you'll be doing before you can choose either of these televisions for your home video needs.

Plasma TVs are brighter, yet have such a reflective surface that most of your home video experiences will need to be in a darker room. On the other hand, LCD televisions can handle all sorts of different video situations and lighting. Yet LCD TVs also experience slight blurring and even a potential trail stemming from quick movements on the screen. But plasma televisions can experience image burn if an image stays on the screen too long. As you compare home theater systems, you see how dependent your choices are on what type of viewing you'll be doing, and in what conditions.

Other choices will involve video players, gaming boxes and other home theater accessories. For example, you may want to get a Blu-ray player to plug into your television. If you were thinking of getting one of the in-a-box home theater packages, you may find one that includes a Blu-ray device, while others include DVD players.

But you can also connect with standalone players. Many Blu-ray players, as well as playing videos, can also connect to streaming video services like Netflix or Pandora. So you'll want to read a lot of reviews before you buy one of these video devices.

Then come all the extras. The home video experience doesn't just include movies and television watching any more. The kids can plug gaming boxes in, and when they've gone to bed, you can turn on your TiVo or other Digital Video Recorder, catching up on programs you've missed. If you hire a home theater installer, then this person can set up the room so you'd hardly need to leave except to go to work and eat and sleep, and even then you might connect to the internet and work from home. The world has come a long way since the invention of the television, and your home theater is a means of experiencing all of that.

If you enjoyed this article, you might be interested in my recent series of pocket camcorder reviews, like my recent JVC Picsio GC-WP10 review.