Home Cinema

Home Cinema (a.k.a. Home Theatre) is basically an entertainment system that reproduces movie-theatre quality video and audio at homes. The first home cinema systems were 8mm film projector equipment which was replaced by laser discs. In mid 1990's, a typical home cinema would have been a laser disc or VHS videocassette player fed to a large rear-projection television. In late 1990's, DVD players with Dolby Digital (5.1 channel audio) were introduced along with high definition televisions. Nowadays the term home cinema includes a wide range of systems. The display might be a 60" HDTV and for audio, several thousand watts of power fed into a 12" (or more) subwoofer with five or seven surround sound speakers. The price on these equipments can go as high as $100,000.

Basically a home cinema is composed of the following components:

1. Input Device: Any audio/video source that can include high quality formats such as blu-ray. Others include VHS player or video game systems. Some of the newer models include a home theatre PC that acts as a library for video and music content.
2. Processing Device: Input devices must be processed for complex surround sound output.
3. Audio Output: Normally systems come with two speakers but can have up to 10 speakers and an additional subwoofer.
4. Video Output: A large High Definition display that can be LCD, plasma, video projector, rear-projection television or a traditional CRT television.
5. Atmosphere: High-end home theatres have sound insulation to prevent noise from escaping the room and a specialized wall treatment to balance the sound within the room.
   

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Television Buying Guide 8

Things to Consider

• Every floor model television is set its brightness to maximum. Try and ask the salesperson to reduce the brightness of the television you are comparing.
• Display floors are well-lit. Few living rooms are lit that much. See if you can ask them to reduce the light shedding on the picture.
  
• Blu-ray. If you have a disc that you are familiar with, see if you can use it instead of the TV signal that is normally shown. Blu-ray provides the best picture a television can display, so it makes for the best reference from which to judge. And if you are used to the look of a particular DVD, use it instead.
• Televisions come with many picture presets such as movie, sports, etc. Try all of them to see which is best.
  
• It is strongly recommended to protect your television with some sort of surge protection. Do not believe the hype that a better protector will somehow improve video quality, but do choose a model with coaxial inputs and outputs for your cable or antenna.

This concludes the series on television buying guide.

Television Buying Guide 7

Television Sound
Almost every new television has MTS (Multichannel Television Sound) stereo speakers, which is much better than a single mono speaker. MTS is a standard that allows the encoding of 3 channels of audio within a standard NTSC (analog) video signal to a television. A television that is able to receive MTS Stereo allows you to watch television with stereo sound. Usually 5 watts per channel or higher provides a decent audio system for a television. Some sets can simulate surround sound to provide semblance of rear speakers.

Of course no television can compete with a dedicated audio system. You can consider a home-theatre audio system for maximum impact.

Television Buying Guide 6

Inputs and Outputs
One of the most confusing items on a television spec sheet is the types of inputs and outputs the television can accommodate to get connected to other equipments. The following is a snapshot of different types of connections and their quality.



Name: RF (Radio Frequency)
Sources: Antennae, VCRs, cable and satellite boxes
Quality: Lowest, highest for HDTV tuners



Name: Composite Video
Sources: Cable and satellite boxes, VCRs, DVD players, game consoles
Quality: Low



Name: Component-video
Sources: HD cable and satellite boxes, DVD players, HDTV tuners, Blu-ray and HD DVD players, game consoles, other HD sources
Quality: High



Name: RGB
Sources: Computers, video processors
Quality: High



Name: FireWire
Sources: Some HDTV tuners, D-VHS VCRs
Quality: Highest (digital)



Name: DVI-D with HDCP
Sources: Computers; older HD cable and satellite boxes, HDTV tuners and DVD players
Quality: Highest (digital)



Name: HDMI
Quality: HD cable and satellite boxes, DVD players, HDTV tuners, Blu-ray and HD DVD players, game consoles, computers, other HD sources
Quality: Highest (digital)

Television Buying Guide 5

Almost all HDTVs sold nowadays are wide-screen televisions, which means the aspect ratio of the television is 16:9 compared to standard definition televisions which are 4:3.


Black Bars and Unused Screen
The problem with the aspect ratio is that most of the television shows are still broadcasted in 4:3 format. To view them on a wide-screen television without stretching or cropping the picture, you have to waste a portion of the screen by putting bars on either side of the image. Conversely, if you have an old 4:3 television, to watch a wide-screen show you will have to tolerate two bars above and below the picture.


Wide-screen Televisions and 4:3 programmes
If you do not want to waste your wide-screen space on empty bars, listen to a good piece of news. All wide-screen televisions can stretch, crop, or zoom 4:3 programmes to fit the screen. These methods distort the image to some extent, but it is a lot better than having two bars on either side of the screen.

Television Buying Guide 4

Regular Television Programmes on an HDTV
You may be disappointed in your HDTV the first time you see a programme on it. That may be because you are watching a standard definition channel. Regular television programmes can look very bad on an HDTV compared to high definition programmes. An HDTV is larger and sharper and shows more of the flaws of standard definition broadcasting.

DVD Programmes on an HDTV
Regular DVD programmes look very high-quality and spectacular on an HDTV and most people are quite satisfied with them. Many DVD players and all Blu-ray players have a built-in upconversion unit that converts DVD programmes to high-definition. However, in most cases the difference would be subtle.

HDTV is Tomorrow
Buying an HDTV is a smart move, as you can be fairly sure that they will not become obsolete at least for a few years. Of course, new technologies emerge every now and then but nothing on the scale of shift from SDTV to HDTV is likely to happen for a long time. Almost every HDTV is equipped with an HDMI input that can accept copy-protected signals.

Television Buying Guide 3

Air Antenna Receivers
The law requires most television sets sold after March 2007 to include a built-in tuner that can receive high-definition programmes broadcasted on air by a simple antenna. If the television is not equipped with such a tuner, an external tuner or box is required to watch these programmes. So most televisions (not monitors) sold after that date, must comply with the aforementioned law to accommodate DTV (Digital Television) transition.

Digital Television Transition
A bill has been passed by the congress that requires over-the-air stations to switch to digital broadcasting between 17 February and 12 June 2009. After the final date, televisions with old NTSC tuners will be unable to receive over-the-air programmes. So many people who use “rabbit ears” or rooftop antenna and their televisions do not have a tuner, will stop receiving broadcasts. As a result, a subsidy program has been created which provides $40 coupons (limit of 2 per household), that can be used toward a digital converter box.

Television Buying Guide 2

Television Types
Televisions can be categorized into four different groups according to what type of signal they can accept and what picture quality they can show:

1. Analog
2. SDTV (Standard Definition Television)
   
3. EDTV (Enhanced Definition Television)
4. HDTV (High Definition Television)

Analog
This type of television can not display HDTV programmes. It can only show standard definition programmes found on regular television, cable, or satellite channels.

SDTV
This type of television (standard-definition) is basically an analog television plus a built-in ATSC tuner. Therefore, it can receive digital television broadcasts. It will display a picture from these broadcasts, but HDTV shows will not look nearly as detailed as they would on a true HDTV.

EDTV
This type of television (enhanced-definition) is usually a type of television that can display HDTV signals but doesn't have enough resolution to really do them justice. Most often it applies to plasma televisions and denotes 852×480 resolution.

HDTV
High-definition televisions, or HDTV, can display standard television, progressive-scan DVD, and HDTV signals. They are by far the most common type of digital television. Nearly every plasma, LCD, and rear-projection television is an HDTV.