Transform your living room into a home entertainment center with the right equipment. Home theater setups include surround sound and other components to deliver a cinematic experience.A standard home entertainment system for home includes a large-screen television, a DVD player and a surround sound receiver. The most elaborate systems may also feature smart TVs, intelligent lighting and more.

Televisions

Whether delivering movie content, streaming movies, playing games or providing information, modern TVs provide many options for your home entertainment system. They are also a great way to display artwork and photos, as well as enhancing your home’s interior design.

The ideal screen size depends on your viewing distance. A good rule of thumb is to sit 1.5 to 2.5 times the diagonal size of the screen for an immersive experience.

Speaker placement is key for the best home theater audio experience. Front and center speakers should be positioned at ear level when seated for optimal sound localization and clarity.

Consumer Electronics Control (CEC) technology enables your TV and other compatible devices to communicate with each other. This allows your AV components to share a single remote, and can even support voice assistants like Alexa or Google Assistant for added convenience.

DVD players

The DVD player is a central part of many home theater systems. It plays DVDs containing movies or other media content, and it can also play CDs. It may have the ability to decode MP3 files from USB devices as well.

Most DVD players use standard composite-video cables to connect to a television, but some have HDMI connections. These support 1080p upscaling, so the images look sharper and clearer on a high-definition TV.

A few models offer an ARC HDMI output, which sends the audio associated with a video source to another device that can play it (such as a soundbar or AV receiver). Some feature progressive scan technology, which reduces flicker and improves picture quality. Other features include aspect control, which allows you to match the movie’s format to your TV’s screen size.

Storage and media servers

In addition to streaming, media servers can also help you organize and access your media files from a centralized location. This saves storage space on devices and allows people to easily share content.

Some media servers are self-hosted, meaning they are stored on your own hardware like a home server or network-attached storage (NAS). Other options are cloud-based and are hosted by a third party service like Plex or Jellyfin.

Personal or self-hosted media servers are a great choice for people with large digital libraries. They offer privacy and no monthly subscription fees. They also allow you to customize the software and hardware to suit your specific needs. However, they can be more expensive than other pre-built systems. This may be especially true for high-resolution media files, such as those used for HD or 4K video streaming.

Sound systems

With the right audio devices, you can turn your home into an immersive entertainment center. Whether you want to digitize your vinyl collection and play digital files or stream music through popular services, there is an audio solution for you.

From the mono sound system to the 5.1 surround sound format, the options are endless. AV receivers are the key component to any surround sound system as they receive and process audio and visual signals to drive speakers and displays.

Line array hangs are a great choice for concerts as they provide wide and even sound distribution across the venue. Stage monitors are small speakers that are placed on the front of a stage to project the sound toward the performers and help them hear their own voice and music.

Intelligent lighting

The benefits of smart lighting are many, from cost and energy savings to enhanced safety and convenience. They can also provide a wealth of information, including usage data that can be used to make informed decisions.

Integrating smart lights into your home theater is simple with a few key components. A smart LED light bulb, a compatible hub and an automation scene are all that is needed to get started. For an added level of convenience, consider adding voice assistant integration for effortless control of your entertainment system.

Smart lighting can even be used to highlight movie posters in your home cinema. You can use Philips Hue color-capable lights such as a Play light bar around your TV or a Go gradient strip and then set an automation scene to turn them on at the same time as you start your movie.