A home cinema, also called home theater, is an audio-visual system that seeks to reproduce a movie theater experience and mood in private homes using consumer grade electronic video and audio equipment for watching home video or streaming. In the 1980s, home cinemas typically consisted of a movie pre-recorded on a LaserDisc or VHS tape; a LaserDisc Player or VCR; and a large-screen cathode-ray tube TV set, although sometimes CRT projectors were used instead. In the 2000s, technological innovations in sound systems, video player equipment, TV screens and video projectors changed the equipment used in home cinema set-ups and enabled home users to experience a higher-resolution screen image, improved sound quality and components that offer users more options (e.g., many Blu-ray players can also stream movies and TV shows over the Internet using subscription services such as Netflix). The development of Internet-based subscription services means that 2020s-era home theatre users do not have to commute to a video rental store as was common in the 1980s and 1990s. In the 2020s, a home cinema system typically uses a large projected video image or a large flatscreen high-resolution HDTV system, a movie or other high-definition video content, with multi-channel audio and anywhere from two speakers to five or more surround sound speaker cabinets and at least one low-frequency subwoofer speaker cabinet to amplify low-frequency effects from movie soundtracks and reproduce the deep pitches from musical soundtracks.
Introduction
Introduced in 1912, the Edison Home Projecting Kinetoscope was one of the first home theater devices. Although it used a 22 mm film format, the image size was nearer to 6 mm, the smallest ever to be commercially released. The film was perforated not only on the edges, but also in two interior rows, dividing each frame into three separate images. The film was run through once for the first set of outside images; the gate was shifted over and the film run backwards for the interior row of images; then the gate was shifted once more to project the other outside row. The value was that an entire motion picture could be projected from one reel of film. However, its high cost - $175 on introduction - its distribution through Edison phonograph dealers who resented having to sell it, the difficulty of working the machine properly, and the graininess of the early safety film stock (made even more visible when projecting the 6 mm image) made it a commercial failure. Production stopped after the disastrous fire at Edison's West Orange, New Jersey factory complex in December 1914. Home theater systems were made in the 1920s with 16 mm projectors. Technological improvements led to 8 mm and sound 16 mm in the 1930s. In the 1950s, playing home movies became popular in the United States with middle-class and upper-class families as Kodak 8 mm film projector equipment became more affordable. In the mid-1980s to the mid-1990s, a typical home cinema in the United States would have a LaserDisc or VHS player playing a movie, with the signal fed to a large rear-projection television set, with the audio output through a stereo system. Some people used expensive front projectors in a darkened viewing room. During the 1980s, watching movies on VHS at home became a popular leisure activity. Beginning in the late 1990s and continuing throughout much of the 2000s, home-theater technology progressed with the development of the DVD-Video format, surround sound speaker systems, and high-definition television (HDTV), which initially included bulky, heavy cathode-ray tube HDTVs and flatscreen TVs. The 2010s saw the introduction of affordable large HDTV flatscreen TVs, high resolution video projectors (e.g., DLP), 3D television technology and the high resolution Blu-ray (1080p). Some studies show that films are rated better and generate more intense emotions when watched in a movie theater, but convenience is a major appeal for home cinemas. The term home cinema encompasses a range of systems meant for movie playback at home. The most basic and economical system could be a digital media player, with large-screen television or a smart TV, and an inexpensive home theater in a box surround sound amplifier and speaker system with a subwoofer. A more expensive home cinema set-up might include a Blu-ray disc player, home theater PC (HTPC) computer or digital media receiver streaming devices with a 10-foot user interface, an event larger screen or projector and projection screen, and a several-hundred-watt home theater receiver with five or more surround-sound speakers plus one or two powerful subwoofers. Home cinema designs and layouts are a personal choice, and the type of home cinema a user can set up depends on their budget and the space that is available within the home. The minimum set of requirements for a home theater are: a large television set or good quality video projector, an AV receiver and amplifier combination capable of supporting surround sound, and something that plays movies such as a Blu-ray disc player, cable or satellite receiver, video game console, etc. Finally, a soundbar or a set of speakers, at least two, are needed but more common are anywhere from six to eight with a subwoofer for bass or low-frequency effects. The most expensive home cinema set-ups, which can cost over US$100,000, have large, high-resolution digital projectors and projection screens, custom-built screening rooms that include cinema-style chairs and audiophile-grade sound equipment designed to mimic or exceed commercial cinema performance.
Design
Many home cinema enthusiasts aim to replicate, to the degree that is possible, the cinema experience. A typical home cinema includes the following components:
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