Home theater lighting is something you should consider once you've got the basics \r of your home theater set-up, and want to go a bit further and create an atmosphere \r in your theater.

One of the best ways to create the right atmosphere in any room is by using \r lighting, and home theater lighting has the added advantage that it actually \r improves the quality of the image on a screen.

Most of us are used to watching movies in darkness, and its generally agreed that \r all displays are at their best when the room is dark. So you just switch all the lights \r off, right? Well, yes and no. You need the lights on to get yourself set-up and \r operate the remote control before the movie starts, the last thing you want is to \r have to get up and cross the room to switch the lights off. The answer is to have a \r remote control home theater lighting system with which you can dim or switch-off \r the lights from the comfort of your sofa. This can either be bult-in if you're starting \r from scratch, or retro-fitted to an existing setup.

Going a stage further, you could install motorized drapes which are also controlled \r via the remote.

Some of the more sophisticated systems allow you to create pre-sets, so at the \r touch of a button on the remote you can create, say a pre-show atmosphere, which \r draws the drapes and has low lights highlighting the seating area only. Then you \r can switch to the show setting where all the lights are switched off.

Using an X10 system, you can even integrate controlloing the lights and drapes with \r the other components of your home theater. So for example, in Pre-show, some \r music plays and when you hit the Show, as well as the lights going off, the DVD \r player starts the movie and the receiver flips to movie mode.

The level of sophistication you're able to introduce to your home theater lighting \r will depend on your budget. Five dollars will get you a dimmer switch froma \r hardware store, a few hundred dollars will be a you a remote controlled lighting \r system. But for the full works with total integration, you can expect to pay several \r thousand dollars.

Robert Armstrong is a contributor to Master Home Theater Design - an essential guide to \r designing and setting up your own home theater.