Corey Greenberg doesn’t have to look as far back as 1975 — the year the $2,295 Betamax videocassette player came out — to recall the antiquated home entertainment center.

“The home theater was what we used to call the living room,” says Greenberg, host of DIY Network’s “Home Theater” (check local listings), a guide to help consumers choose home theater options and designs. “The TV was in the corner and that was it. A home entertainment center would be where you would have a VCR where you could tape shows.”

In “Home Theater,” Greenberg leads a group of knowledgeable insiders in the world of home theater through the design and building of a home theater system. Along the way, in every episode, digital television is discussed in great detail.

The weeklong series gives viewers a chance to formulate the best choices for a range of options on sound quality, program selection and setting up a system so that it fits in with the proper environment. Greenberg also zeroes in on a sometimes-overlooked piece of furniture: the home entertainment center and the many options it provides.

According to the Consumer Electronics Association (CEA), 32 percent of U.S. households owned a home theater system in January 2004, up from 21 percent in January 2000. Moreover, home-theater-in-a-box (HTiB) sales — all-in-one systems — rose for the fifth consecutive year in 2003 (the most recent CEA figure).

The basic components to a home theater system are the television, DVD player, CD player and sound system. Greenberg says there’s plenty to consider when looking at home theater technology: acoustics, digital television needs, preferences in programming delivery and even engineering, since the system has so many components for providing quality.

Finally, there’s the display. Think about the room, the uses for the entertainment center, and the other members of the household when you consider how much of the electronic gear needs to be exposed. Displaying the screen is one thing — that’s a given — but, as for the sound system, the family may have different needs than someone who’s single.

“When I was single, I was one of those who worshipped the gear,” Greenberg says. “Not only for the good equipment, but because I could show it off.”

Now, with a wife and two children, he says the “gear” needs to be unobtrusive, not just for aesthetics, but also for safety concerns. The excess of plugs and cords are hardly child-friendly. That, Greenberg adds, puts even more emphasis on the screen: It must be fully functional, but also pleasing to the eye, because surely it will be prominently displayed.

“People are continuing their march toward bigger and better screens,” says Greenberg. The explosion in popularity for the plasma screens “defied predictions,” he adds. “Families are making decisions to forego other things to have that luxury. Prices have come down on plasma LCDs, but people are still willing to spend a lot on the screen. It’s the biggest status item.”

For more information about home theater products, go to:

— Cambridge: www.cambridgesoundworks.com

— JVC: www.jvc.com

— Onkyo: www.onkyousa.com

— Panasonic: www.panasonic.com

— Samsung: www.samsung.com

— Sharp: www.sharpusa.com

— Consumer Electronics Association: www.ce.org

For broadcast dates and times of “Home Theater,” check DIY Network’s Web site, www.DIYnetwork.com.