RALEIGH — Televisions are not just for television anymore. More people are turning them into home theatres.

Some describe it as digital chic. For others, lavish is the only description. Big screen digital receivers or projection systems anchor home theaters allowing families to cocoon.

"You can take the exterior movie-going experience and duplicate it in your own home environment, often times with far better results than you would have had at the movie theater," says Maureen Jensen, Editor of

Systems are being built into Triangle homes and apartments.

"Certainly they range anywhere from the extremely simple home theater in a box to as extravagant as they want to make it," says Brian Hagman, Home Theater Installer. Hagman says some theaters cost more than $100,000

Digital electronics -- fromHDTVreceivers to CD and DVD players and satellite receivers -- allow exhilarating visual and audio experiences.

Jensen has a number of suggestions to enhance the viewing experience.

"Big plush seats if you want, huge velour drapery that opens and closes with a tap on a LCD screen, a front-firing projector onto a 120-inch screen for example," she says. "Something like that would be quite lavish, or you could have a very, very small system in your master bedroom."

Jensen also suggests buying the best you can afford from a reputable dealer.