Home theaters can quickly bury a room in wires. Even if the wires connecting the television to the video equipment are well-hidden, surround-sound speakers need to be placed all around the room for a full home-theater experience. These speakers all require separate wires, which can quickly make for a mess. Thankfully, converting a home theater to wireless sound is quite easy. Wireless video is another story, with technology still being developed. With a few investments in transmitters, you can get rid of many of the wires in your home theater space.
Wireless Home Theater Audio
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Step 1
Convert your existing speakers to wireless. This can be done by purchasing powered transmitters and receivers. Disconnect the speaker wires and use shorter ones to connect your home theater's audio output to a transmitter. The receiver is a small unit that sits next to the speakers on the other side of the room. These speakers must be plugged into the receiver with short audio cables, and the receiver still needs to be plugged into the wall, making this option not 100 percent wireless.
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Step 2
Buy purpose-built wireless speakers. These will still need to be connected to a wall outlet for power, but have the receiver built in to eliminate clutter. Some also offer more flexible adjustment of sound delay settings, which can make for a more realistic surround sound effect.
Step 3
Place battery-powered speakers around the room. Battery-powered wireless speakers do exist, and eliminate the need for a power outlet connection. They function in the same way as other wireless systems, with a transmitter connected by audio cables to your system's sound output. Most home theater enthusiasts regard these as an ineffective solution, as the limited power provided by batteries doesn't give the speakers enough volume to be truly effective in a home theater context. If you can tolerate quiet and the need to change batteries, though, they can make the system fully wireless.
Home Theater Over Wi-Fi
Step 1
Buy a device that can stream television signals over Wi-Fi to and from a computer, such as a Slingbox or Apple TV.
Step 2
Buy a television input card that gives your computer standard audio and video input jacks.
Step 3
Connect the streaming receiver to your television using the included A/V cables.
Step 4
Connect all your other input hardware, such as DVD players and TV cable, to your computer's A/V inputs
Step 5
Play your television or video content on the computer screen and stream it to the set-top box. You can also connect the computer's audio to wireless speakers to create a fully wireless home theater set-up. While awkward, this is the only way to send video wirelessly in the home until new technological standards are developed.