A home cinema, also called home theater, is an audio-visual system that seeks to reproduce a movie theater experience and mood in private homes using consumer grade electronic video and audio equipment for watching home video or streaming.
In the 1980s, home cinemas typically consisted of a movie pre-recorded on a LaserDisc or VHS tape; a LaserDisc Player or VCR; and a large-screen cathode-ray tube TV set, although sometimes CRT projectors were used instead. In the 2000s, technological innovations in sound systems, video player equipment, TV screens and video projectors changed the equipment used in home cinema set-ups and enabled home users to experience a higher-resolution screen image, improved sound quality and components that offer users more options (e.g., many Blu-ray players can also stream movies and TV shows over the Internet using subscription services such as Netflix). The development of Internet-based subscription services means that 2020s-era home theatre users do not have to commute to a video rental store as was common in the 1980s and 1990s.