A theater in the home: high-end technology is about to get even better.

Reclining in the techno-womb of a high-end home theater with remote control in hand, it's hard to imagine how things could get any more cutting-edge.

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With tens of thousands of DVDs and a wide array of HDTV broadcasts to choose from, home theater buffs can enjoy the same riveting performances they've come to expect at their local movie theaters, all from the comfort of their homes--assuming, of course, that they've got the requisite gear. But as the consumer electronics industry has proved over and over again, the high end can always get higher and cool things can always get cooler.

Even consumer-grade home theater components bought at Best Buy can deliver relatively impressive results, but today's state-of-the-art home theater is a far more extraordinary--and expensive--beast. A high-end home theater, flexing seven channels of high-powered audio (at least 200 watts per channel), matched speakers, a top-notch, stand-alone surround sound processor, an outboard video processor, numerous source components, top quality interconnects, and comfy seating--installed by a certified professional--can drag you well into six figures. But don't flinch at the price, because in this exalted range you can expect to get what you pay for.

Engineers are constantly at work on the "next big thing." Most of the time their efforts result in much ado about nothing--think SACD--but when real breakthroughs occur, it's time to take notice. Now is such a time.

The Best Picture

If you've been thinking of upgrading or purchasing a high-end display, the technology is about to get a lot better. Sure, tomorrow's esoteric technologies (rolled, sheet-like nanotubes and organic liquid emitting diode displays) have sci-fi chic geeks slobbering all over their Star Trek uniforms, but here on planet Earth changes are coming that will turn one of two display technologies into a clear leader.

The current leader is Liquid Crystal On Silicon (LCOS), which reflects light off of red, green and blue elements through a lens, providing dramatically better picture resolution than its liquid crystal display forerunner LCD (which transmits light through those colored elements). The current follower is Digital Light Processing (DLP), a Texas Instruments technology using silicon chips to control hundreds of thousands of micro-mirrors that reflect light through a lens onto your screen.

Both display technologies can produce a sumptuous, high-definition picture, but LCOS has thrived based on a perceived advantage of its resolution (which many people wrongly believe is the key to overall picture quality). Sony and JVC currently offer LCOS projectors that boast true HDTV resolution (1,920 X 1,080 pixels); DLP projectors only offer lower HDTV resolution (1,280 X 720 pixels) format. But it turns out that contrast ratio and color saturation (the actual amount of color in a picture) are the two most important aspects of picture quality as far as the eye is concerned. Color accuracy--what is commonly known as grayscale--is the third most important element, leaving resolution in fourth place.

Despite consumer bias for higher resolution, DLP is far superior when it comes to contrast ratio and color saturation of picture quality, meaning that DLP projectors with half the resolution of LCOS projectors deliver a better picture. In September, manufacturers demonstrated prototypes of next-generation DLP projectors that offer 1,920 X 1,080, effectively doubling resolution while providing better black level and color saturation.

When these products become available in the coming months, DLP picture quality will surpass LCOS in performance and picture quality. Manufacturers include Runco, SIM2, Marantz, InFocus, and Digital Projection.

What will these new projection systems cost? Between $30,000 for an entry-level system and $100,000 for the cream of the crop.

Achieving a commercial-level cinematic experience in the home requires an ample budget and the know-how to select the components. But make sure to hire a professional to do the installation rather than trying to do it alone, because calibrating the components can be tricky.

If you're going to splurge, you might as well do it right.