How the technology of home entertainment is changing the home

Published December 3, 2005 at midnight

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* Flat growth: Architects have begun to incorporate niches for flat-screen, wall-mounted TVs into their design plans. "The wall takes on a liveliness with flat-screen TVs," says Boulder architect Jerry Gloss of Knudson Gloss Architects. "High-definition TV and flat panels are driving our business," says Phil Murray, marketing manager of ListenUp Audio/Video. "People are putting big-screen TVs in rooms where they couldn't fit them before. It's amazing to me how quickly the picture-tube TV has become a dinosaur." Falling prices are helping the trend. A 42-inch flat-panel set that sold for $4,000 two years ago now sells for about half as much.

* Sound ideas: "More people are putting speakers throughout their home now," Murray says. So rather than be tied to a family room or home theater, music lovers can roam from room to room with built-in volume controls at the ready. Multizone receivers enable different signals - from radio, cable or satellite TV, disc player, MP3 player - to play in different rooms simultaneously.

* Invisible gear: Those giant stereo cabinets of yesteryear are being absorbed into the architecture, too. Wireless remotes can control home-entertainment equipment that's tucked out of sight in a closet or built-in cabinet - not even necessarily in the same room as your TV and speakers.

* Cutting ties: Structured wiring - which ties TV, music, telephone, home computer and security system into one central location in the home - remains hot in the new-home industry.

According to the Consumer Electronics Association, nearly three out of five new homes built in the country today have structured wiring. But the next big thing? No wiring at all. "Wiring is starting to disappear," Gloss says. "We're seeing more wireless systems being bought, where you control your music and video from your computer," Murray says. "We'll see more people taking advantage of this, and we won't even be concerned with running wires in houses."

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