With the cost of cinema tickets going up and up it can easily cost you the best part of £20 to go and see a film. Add to that people talking, throwing popcorn, and playing on their mobile phones, going to the cinema becomes a less and less appealing experience. So what are the other options? With new developments in home entertainment technology it is now possible to get that cinema experience at home, and whilst this requires some initial investment in the equipment, you will have a peaceful and private cinema experience you can enjoy with friends and family. This article summarises some of the home cinema items currently available, providing you with ideas of how you can create the cinema experience at home.

The screen

There are two main screen options that you can use for home cinema viewing; a large flat screen TV or a projected screen. If it is the authentic cinema experience you want you might like to go for the projector option, as this will allow you to project the film onto a wall and achieve a larger picture size than you can with a LCD or Plasma screen. Most projectors can take input from a variety of sources including computers, set top boxes and games consoles so you will not need to purchase a TV in addition to the projector. If you want a smaller but higher quality picture then a Plasma TV would be a good option as these can be purchased at sizes up to 65 inches, and therefore still providing you with a big screen viewing experience.

Surround Sound

You won’t achieve the cinema experience at home if your sound is coming out of speakers attached to your TV. To be fully enveloped in the film soundtrack in the way you are at the cinema, you need to invest in some surround sound speakers which you can place at various points in your living room. With surround sound you will feel part of the action, as the sounds of helicopters or spaceships can be heard travelling across your room rather than just sounding like they are trapped in a tinny box.

The chairs

Part of the cinema experience is sitting back in rows of flip down chairs which have drink rests in the arm and are placed in cuddling distance of your loved one. To achieve this at home you can purchase home cinema chairs which have speakers built into the arms and a reclining action so that you can lie back and watch the film. To get the full cinema experience these chairs can be purchased in rows, with three or four chairs attached together so you can recreate the communal experience of watching a film. These chairs are expensive so if you are looking out for a bargain, keep an eye on salvage yards and clearance sales as sometimes cinemas have refurbishments so they get rid of and sell their old rows of chairs.