Home-theater systems becoming an affordable luxury

Owning a home-theater system is rapidly becoming an affordable luxury. You'll find big savings on big screens; a 50-inch plasma set now costs $2,000, and prices are still falling. An audio/video receiver and a set of surround-sound speakers go for $600 to $1,000, bringing the price tag for your personal cinematic experience to less than $3,000.

Plus, to assemble many systems, you no longer need to be an audio engineer. As prices have dropped, so has the degree of setup difficulty — especially for speakers.

How large a screen do you need? You want it to be big, but you don't want it to be overwhelming — as if you were sitting in the front row of an IMAX theater. The proper screen size depends on how far you sit from the TV, which in turn depends on sofa placement and room size.

Guidelines vary for the ratio of screen size to viewing distance for high-definition TVs. Hewlett-Packard's formula is the easiest to remember: Divide the screen size by five. The answer is the approximate number of feet you should sit from the screen.

This isn't a hard-and-fast rule, though. According to Envisioneering Group research director Richard Doherty, you should sit within 8 feet of a 52-inch HDTV set that can display the highest-definition images in order to appreciate the full detail of its resolution.

And now our take on the eternal question: plasma or LCD? Either screen type measures only a few inches thick and is wall-mountable. Plasma is currently the better value, with many 50-inch sets selling for $1,000 less than comparable-size LCDs. Plasma's vibrant colors and deeper blacks make it the favorite for watching movies in a dark room.

KIP PICK: The Panasonic TH-50PX6U ($2,000), with a built-in HDTV tuner. Panasonic says a new model is due out soon.

An LCD has a brighter screen and reflects considerably less light than a plasma, so it's best for daytime watching in a sunlit room.

KIP PICK: The Sharp Aquos LC-52D62U ($2,600), also with a built-in HDTV tuner. Plus, for an LCD, it delivers unusually deep black levels.

If you want a really big image — say, 100 inches or larger — a front projector is the right call. It's best for a dedicated theater room, particularly one with an uninterrupted white wall that can double as a movie screen.

KIP PICK: The Mitsubishi HD1000U ($1,000).