This was a question I was asked after one of my colleagues came back from visiting a friends house. His friend had a 50" plasma and a 5.1 system set up in his living room, and he called it his "hometheater". I said jokingly "no, that is a television and a 5.1 speaker system, not a hometheater". This started a discussion about just what constitutes a hometheater system, and a great topic to discuss.

To me, a hometheater system really is a shrunken professional movie theater. It has to have a projector and screen, or a 65"+ RPTV if the room is smaller. The room must be dedicated to getting the best out of the audio and video(so it must be a dedicated room). It can have a 5.1 or 7.1 system. I think any television smaller than 65" is not sufficient enough to make the system a hometheater. I don't think a system in a living room is a hometheater - as it cannot be optimized in that space.

So, what is a hometheater to you?