There is no doubt that if it wasn’t for the booming sales of plasma TV sets and home theatre systems, most electrical retailers would be having a difficult time. But while plasma and rear projection TV sales are going through the roof, one has to wonder whether the buyers realise that they are getting an inferior result; they are spending many thousands of dollars in setting up home theatre systems but the "home theatre" experience is anything but. For a start, how many cinemas have you been to where you could obscure the entire screen by holding your hand 30cm in front of your face?

For a real home cinema experience, you must have a large screen, not something only a metre or so wide. By large, I mean a screen three or four metres wide. If the picture occupies most of one end of your viewing room, so much the better. You want a BIG picture; nothing else will give you the visual impact that you get in a real theatre. Have a look at page 8 of this issue – that’s a reasonably large picture in an admittedly very large room.

You cannot get that sort of picture from any current plasma or LCD TV, either now and probably never. The only way to get it is to purchase an LCD or DLP projector. Now you might think that is impractical but the fact is that you can buy one of the best currently available high-definition LCD projectors, the Panasonic PT-AE900E, for substantially less than the price of many standard definition plasma and rear projection TV sets.

This sort of projector will provide a visual experience and picture quality which is even better than your local cinema. In fact, let’s not beat around the bush; the picture quality in many cinemas is downright poor compared with the picture quality that can already be obtained from the above projector and a good-quality DVD player with a "component video" or HDMI (high definition multimedia interface) connection. When high-definition DVD players arrive within the next year or so, the picture quality will be even better.

Admittedly, there are some drawbacks. Typically, LCD and DLP projectors can only be used in a darkened room (we used our "photographer’s licence" in taking the photo on page 8 – the room was not that well-lit). And replacing the special high pressure mercury lamp in a typical LCD projector is very expensive – something you will need to do every couple of thousand hours or so. Nor would you want to watch normal TV programs with such a setup. In truth though, most TV programs are not worth watching in any format!

So when you wander past all those fancy bright plasma and LCD TV sets in your local electrical retailer, don’t be tempted to buy or at least, not yet. Remember, they will continue to get cheaper and high-definition DVD players are coming soon, to render any standard definition set obsolete. But if you hanker for a real home-theatre experience, go to a retailer who can demonstrate high-definition LCD and DLP projectors right now. Anything else is going to be forgettable.

Leo Simpson