Japanese consumer electronics companies have a tendency to devise concepts for the future development of products, especially in an integrated or convergent sense. This is more to focus their own thinking about the presentation of technology to buyers than an inflexible attempt to provide a take-it-or-leave-it package. Hence, alongside the audio-video integration of component units, which links various hi-fi and television elements in unified product ranges, there is now emerging the idea of 'home theatre'.

This is generally defined as a 'large' television display with stereo sound. At a basic level this can be any television set with a screen diagonal over 20 inches and a ...