The Ultimate HD DVD Home Entertainment Setup

The home entertainment market was created when the VHS was invented; it brought entertainment to people?s living rooms and bedrooms. The VHS progressed to VCDs and DVDs which became the latest in the home entertainment. The cinema theaters, meanwhile, still had their hold on audiences due to certain unique characteristics such as a big screen, digital sound effects, high amplified sounds, and the entire theater experience. There has been a constant effort to bridge this gap between the theater movie experience and that of the home entertainment system. There have been great technological advancements in this field, and the present home theater systems have brought theater quality of entertainment into people?s home with the invention of high definition technology.

High Definition Technology

The HD or High Definition technology comprises of HD Televisions, HD DVD players, and HD DVDs, which when combined with accessories like high quality amplifiers and speaker systems, provide for an exceptional quality of home theater system. The HD technology is relatively new, but has become very popular among consumers. HD equipment may seem to be expensive to the average consumer at first, but with time, as is true with all other types of technologies, these prices will come down as the usage becomes widespread and more advanced technologies emerge.

High definition televisions have already been around in the markets for some time. HD DVD players were rolled-out in Japan in March 2006 by the Japanese electronics giant, Toshiba Corp. This was followed by their inauguration in the U.S. a few days later, and they are scheduled to hit the UK market by the end of April. There is a lot of excitement regarding this technology, and people are expecting to see a revolution in home theater quality.

HD DVD Players and DVDs

The HD DVD or High Definition DVD was introduced in 2005 and was an adaptation of the existing basic structure of the DVD. The HD DVD has a greater storage capacity and can provide better audio and video quality as compared to a DVD. The HD DVDs are integrated with a state-of-the-art content protection technology which is unique to this medium. The storage capacity is 15 GB for a single layer, 30GB for a dual layer, and 45GB for a triple layer HD DVD. It uses the highly sophisticated compression techniques of MPEG-4 for increased capacity. At the core of the DVD format is a blue laser, having a shorter wavelength (405nm) that allows discs to store data at higher densities that are needed for high-definition movies and television. Toshiba has brought into the market two models of HD DVD players, the HD-XA1 and HD-A1, in the United States, priced at $799 and $499 respectively. The new machines are expected to breathe new life into the home video market and change the way people perceive home theater.

HD TV

The large screen plasma TVs and the LCD TVs have already been in the markets for some time and are widely acclaimed to have achieved high levels of quality. These are TVs that have a wide, flat screen that minimizes visual distortions dramatically. A large variety of screen sizes are available in display sizes ranging from 20? to 65?. They come with very high resolutions varying from 1024x768 pixels, 1280x768 pixels, 1366x768 pixels, and 1024x1024 pixels. The HD TVs are equipped to provide higher levels of brightness and contrast ratios. Brightness can vary from 450cd/m2 to 1,200cd/m2, while contrast ratios are 400:1 to as high as and 10,000:1. All these attributes provide for a greater picture resolution and result in very clear and well defined visual quality.

The audio quality is as important in the audio-visual medium as the picture quality. There are a lot of options available in the market that can constantly cater to high quality listening experience. There are three main systems used in the surround sound system; Virtual Surround, Dolby Digital, and the DTS system. For televisions that are not HD compatible, provisions can be made to make them HD-compliant by minor modifications.

The major brands selling HD TVs in the market are Sharp, Panasonic, Samsung, Sony, Pioneer, Philips, Toshiba, and several others. HD TVs are available in a wide price range of $2000 to $5000, depending on the technology, brand, and features available.

Amplifiers or Home Theater Receivers

The amplifiers or home theater receivers are the hub of a home entertainment system and provide high quality digital-to-analog conversions. They decode and process any type of program material or surround mode of audio. They are capable of passing HD signals by converting all S-video and composite video inputs to the component video. Certain receivers also provide features like digital video recorders that enable viewers to watch and record programs in HD picture quality. The price range of digital amplifiers can vary from $300 to $750.

The Dolby system and the DTS (Digital Theater System) are currently very popular in both the home theater and the movie recordings. The first Dolby digital format (AC-1) was used in 1984, followed by the AC-2 improvement that was used for cinema. The latest, Dolby Digital (AC3) arrived in the cinemas in the year 1992. With the advancements made in the digital technologies, Dolby was later introduced in home theatre systems.

At present there are Dolby 5.1, 6.1 and the latest Dolby 7.1. These names are based on the number of channels provided. These also come with a great variety of speaker systems that include home theater subwoofers, speaker kits, in ceiling, in wall, book shelf speakers, center channel speakers, and floor standing speakers. They are available in a price range of $350 to $1500.

The overall effect of a home theater system is greatly influenced by the type and placement of speakers and the acoustic quality of the room in use. The right equipment combined with the right type of room make for the ultimate home entertainment theater.

Where to get REGION FREE DVD players/recorders and High Definition, HD DVD players, Blu-ray,Advanced Optical players/recorders in Blu-Ray DVD players/recorders. A multi region (aka codefree) DVD player or recorders is capable of playing DVD discs from anywhere in the world, that is all 8 regions and both PAL and NTSC standards. That's every DVD movie on earth! Many can not only play them but convert from one standard to the other for showing movies on any TV on earth. There are also PAL-NTSC 110-220 volts DVD/VCR Combos for use worldwide. CODEFREE DVD / PAL-NTSC VCR combos and MULTISTANDARD VCRs will play 100% all known DVD discs including FRENCH DVDs. You can buy region free and region free converting DVD players and region free DVD recorders from http://www.mindlogic.com in California. They give you a LIFETIME Warranty and ship worldwide. They also carry PAL-SECAM-NTSC TVs, PAL plasma, PAL LCD and PAL DLP multisystem TVs and multisystem converting and non-converting VCRs, voltage transformers, video standards converters and more than 140,000 products. Tel.800-514-2984 or tel. 925-686-9945

Do You Need a Subwoofer?

Since it is tough for small-sized loudspeakers to reproduce frequencies under 40 Hz, and really tough for under 100 dB, people often choose to use a loudspeaker just for this purpose. Hence the subwoofer, a kind of loudspeaker that reproduces bass frequencies ranging most generally from roughly 20 Hz to around 200 Hz. DO you need one? Depends upon how well you want to hear, if your sound is reproduced under 40 Hz.

Subwoofers? drivers, known as woofers, average between 8 and 15, and can run 34 even. And drivers begin at 4; those under 8 generally don?t reproduce lower frequencies with good quality.

Use high-powered amps with subwoofers and an electronic crossover and low-pass filter. There are two types of subwoofers; those with an amp in the subwoofer cabinet (active), and those without the amplifier (passive).

Home Theater

With regards to the use of subwoofers in home theater systems, they come mounted in a sealed enclosure. Some people like to focus attention of their systems around satellite speakers, hiding their subwoofer; hence it may be packaged within the system. Others build the subwoofer into the theater cabinet.

Why the separation? To keep them out of site, for one thing. Plus for sensitivity issues dealing with the areas? sound compatibility and mode. Some people prefer to place the subwoofer near the listener.

Bottom line is, if you want to be able to hear low frequencies, you need a subwoofer. If you don?t care, don?t? worry about it then.

When will this come into play? Lower frequencies are needed with older sound formats, like with vinyl records replaced with digital formats, like CDs, mainly with 5.1 formats Dolby Digital and DTS (where the .1 channel is for the bass frequencies, for the subwoofer), common choice of mixed artists.

Hyun Kim is a freelance writer who writes about loudspeakers, home audio and home theater related topics. He loves to visit Stereo411 to discuss home theater stores and read about bose home theater systems.

Building A Home Theater

Building a home theater is a great way for families who enjoy watching movies on a big screen to save money and provide entertainment at the same time all in the comfort of there home.

A big misconception when you mention the words home theater are they cost to much, but you can have one out of the box for a very reasonable price that in the long run will cost you less than taking the family to the movies every week.

A home theater consists of a big screen TV, surround speakers, DVD, or VCR that duplicate the same experience you would get out of going to the movies.

There a couple ways you can have a home theater. One type home theater is the Out Of Box and the other way is to build your own.

Home Theater In A Box:

This home theater system comes with speakers, surround sound receiver, DVD player, or VCR and some with a DVD/VCR recorder and all you need is the big screen TV, preferably a 27 inch, or larger to create your home theater.

The biggest factor you will notice with In A Box home theater systems is the cost. Some systems you can get for as little as $200.00 which is a great savings when compared to the cost of going out the movies and spending $50.00 plus.

When purchasing one of these systems do not worry about the technical stuff because all the instructions come with easy to follow directions for setting up your home theater.

Although In A Box home theaters are very affordable do not expect perfection in the sound department if you want top quality sound. If this is the case you may want to go a different direction and select your home theater parts separately.

Another factor to consider is that In A Box home theater are not that versatile when it comes to adding plug in components, making multiple connections, or changing the speakers later if you decide you want better quality sound.

Creating A Home Theater Separately:

By creating your home theater with separate components you will save money in the long run and be closer to your expectations of quality and what your needs are.

Start by noting what is the most important to you in a home theater then shop around for bargains and select each piece according to your needs and price you can afford.

Better home theaters have a DVD player with channel programming with special recording features, come with five speakers in the 100 watt range that deliver good sound, sub woofers to pick up bass tones and an amplifier.

When shopping for a quality home theater system do not assume that a high price home theater system is always the best system to buy. For around $700.00 you can get a quality brand name system with DVD and speakers with good quality sound.

When purchasing separately you may want to hire someone to install your system because it can be quite complex for the novice to install.

With either type home theater you can get as extravagant as you want by building a complete theater room, or converting a garage with seating and vending machine, pop corn maker or whatever you desire that is within your budget.

The important thing to remember in selecting a home theater system is your needs. Know what you want in a home theater system and what you are willing to spend for quality and always get a good warranty from the dealer.

About The Author

Chet Holcomb of Home Improvement Handyman is an accomplished carpenter, cabinet maker and building contractor and provides the public with home improvement tips, ideas for the home owner handyman.

You may reprint this article freely if the content is not altered and the author's resource box is displayed.

Accessorizing And Decorating Your Home Theater

So, you?ve bought the big screen TV, the surround sound speakers and various home theater equipment and you have them installed and ready to go. But what?s missing?

If you?re installing a home theater, you need to think beyond the system components and consider the furniture and accessories you want to add to the room to create a really cool environment for your entertainment pleasure.

Just like decorating any other room, the accessories are what will make your home theater stand out from the crowd. Here?s some things to think about when considering your home theater decor:

1. Think about what kind of look you want in your home theater. If the room is a dedicated home theater, you can pretty much pick whatever look you want. If you want to go with a movie theme, you can do that. If you want Old World elegant with a big screen and speakers thrown in, you can do that too. If the room is serving a double purpose, such as an office/home theater or living room/home theater, then you need to keep that in mind when decorating. Most people wouldn?t want giant, framed movie posters for horror flicks within eyesight of their dining room. And if the room is also used for children?s play, safety considerations might dictate decorating.

2. Choose your theme first - maybe you already have a collection of old movie posters and you want to work around that. Or perhaps, you always wanted an indoor garden of sorts. Either way, picking your theme should be the first thing you do before you rush out to the store to buy accessories. Knowing the theme in advance will help guide the rest of your decisions from colors and wall hangings to furniture and lighting.

3. Start a collection. A popular theme for decorating home theaters is to fill it with old movie memorabilia. This can be really fun to collect and it could even be considered an investment as the items you use may well go up in value. Some things you can collect for your home theater include: movie posters, autographed photos of movie stars, an old fashioned movie popcorn maker, movie props and other memorabilia from old movie ticket stubs to real movie theater seats. One thing to keep in mind when collecting anything is that condition is of the utmost importance so buy the best condition items you can afford. It is better to get 1 item in excellent condition, then to get 10 that are in fair condition.

4. Don?t forget the rooms real purpose when selecting furniture and lighting. Make sure lighting enhances the movie experience. If the room is used for another purpose too, think about a combination of lights to make it work for both instances. Low lighting is ideal for movies, but it?s not so hot for kids trying to do homework on a coffee table. You also want your furniture to be of the utmost in comfort. It wouldn?t be much fun to watch a movie on your expensive new home theater system if you are not comfortable, would it? Luckily, with the selections today, you can get both comfort and style in your home theater furniture.

5. Make your home theater feng shui friendly. Keeping some basic principals of feng shui in mind when designing your room can help you attain a relaxing atmosphere. Don?t put seating with the backs to the doors. Try to set the room up with a nice flow and workable space for walking. Don?t try to cram things into the room that won?t fit properly. Make sure to keep your home theater organized, a room that is filled with piles of junk and a mess will not create a relaxing atmosphere. Instead, it will serve to remind viewers who live in the home of any and all work and projects they need to do. Keep the room decorated and nice, but don?t over pack it with junk. Make sure you hide the wires and have plenty of storage cabinets to put your DVD?s in.

Lee Dobbins writes for http://www.home-theater.home-webzone.com where you can find out more about home theater design and installation.

The Top 5 Home Theater Wiring Installation Tips

So now you have your brand new home theater system components sitting in their boxes in front of you and it's go time. You have to somehow connect all of these foreign objects together and make it all work. For many people this is a really intimidating scenario, but actually if you follow a few simple guidelines it doesn't have to be all that difficult. So here are the top 5 tips for home theater wiring installation.

1. This may sound corny but read the manual. I know that there are lots of you folks that prefer to just pick up a screwdriver and dive in, but you cannot believe how much you can mess up by not taking the time here to read the installation instructions through and get a good feel for what you need to do in advance. In fact, you may somehow get the system to work without doing that, but odds are that it will never perform as well as it should simply because a few steps were left out while it was being installed. So save your self the extra grief and just read the wiring installation instruction manual before you get started.

2. Use the correct gauge wire for your installation. Remember that when you have to run wire for longer distances it requires a heavier gauge to be able to successfully transmit the signal. Here is a simple general guideline that you can use: for lengths under 100 feet 16 gauge wire should be adequate, up to 200 feet 14 gauge wire will work and over that you will probably need 12 gauge wire to make sure things work properly.

3. Whenever you are making any kind of home theater wiring installation whether it be from one component to another or from a component to the speakers, make sure that both components are powered off when you connect them. Many is the heartache caused by someone turning on components before making the connections and experiencing high sudden power loads that damage their brand new equipment. Avoid that by always keeping the components powered off as you make wiring connections.

4. Gather your cables and wires together in advance and make sure that they will stretch far enough from each installed component before you begin installation. It's really frustrating to find out that one of your wires or cables isn't long enough after you already have everything else set up.

5. A common mistake that many people make when installing their own home theater setup is stacking the components like the receiver, dvd player, cable box and so on, so closely together that they have no room to breathe. Often they will even put them inside a closed cabinet too, which only compounds the problem. So before laying out your system try to think of a way to provide plenty of air flow between each component which will allow it to run more efficiently, last longer, and perform better.

If you plan ahead to set aside plenty of time for your home theater wiring installation, you should be able to get it done with little problem and frustration if you use the tips provided above.

Thad Pickering writes on many consumer related topics including audio and video. You can find out more about surround sound setup and surround sound installation by visiting our Home Theater website.

Can I Afford A Home Theater System?

A lot of us view a home theater system as being something for only the people with lots of money. We see the fun times at the theater, with tiered seating, plush chairs, curtains over the screen and popcorn, hot dogs and drinks in the lobby.

It?s true that only those with plenty of cash (and space) can build their own version of the downtown theater in their home, but that doesn?t mean the rest of us have to suffer with a either going downtown to the theater or making do with the little television in the corner.

Home theater was once exclusively available only to the affluent is now readily available for almost anyone who wants to experience the thrills of the latest movie in the comfort of their own home.

When a person thinks about a home theater, a lot of different ideas might pass through their minds. The fun of watching great flicks at home, the rumble of perfect bass, breathtaking visuals and fun with family and friends.

The one thing that usually doesn?t cross the mind is the idea of saving their hard earned money. Home theaters, after all, can be a very high-priced proposal. When a person contemplates the reality that they are an unnecessary luxury in the home, the outlay seems to be even more awry.

A closer look shows that a home theater system can save a person a large amount of money. It may not always recover its full price tag in savings, but a look at the savings show that a home theater is anything but a extravagant investment.

Did you know that a good quality home theater system can now be had for well under a thousand dollars? If we already have a large enough television, it will cost even less!

You may have to make your popcorn in the microwave, get your cold drink out of the fridge and settle for your favorite recliner chair instead of an uncomfortable cinema seat. You won?t have to put up with the chatting or cell phones of you fellow theater goers, but you can have all the fun and excitement of the home theater experience even if you are not yet one of the income earners.

Home theater isn?t just for the rich and famous, it?s easily within reach for almost anyone!

Consider the price of gas to get to a movie theater. Then consider the price per ticket of each movie. Add to that the probable expenses incurred by purchasing popcorn and soda, or if you are in one of the lucky areas, a cold beer. Tack on the extra cost of some candy to munch on in the movie too.

Now, consider the time you spend going to and returning from the movie and how much you value it. Take that number and multiply it by the number of movies you usually like to see in a year. That is a pretty startling amount isn?t it!

The one time purchase of a home theater system will eliminate most of those expenses. It may also require that you to buy a better quality television or stereo equipment than what you currently have. These better quality products will last longer; not requiring expensive replacement soon will be another area of savings.

The purchase of a home theater system will not only save you money over the long run, but you will be able to watch those favorite movies with theater quality right from the comfort of your own home.

No more going out into blustery weather or blistering heat just to go to the theater.

Randy Rowles is an author and researcher with Sorcerer Publishing. A complete guide to selecting and setting up a home theater system can be found at http://www.buy-a-home-theater-now.com

HDTV? You Aint Seen Nothing Yet!

Remember the Osborn? Or was it the Osborne? Actually, I knew it existed, but didn?t care. This thing was a personal computer. Like we?d ever need one of those? Those new electric typewriters with memory were the rage. THAT was something!

Flash forward and we are upon the reverse engineered UFO goodies. Oh, wait, no, that?s not exactly right.

It?s the dawning of the age of Aquarius, age of Aquarius, Ah QUAR EEEE USSS. Um, no, that was some time ago.

It?s the age of $3 US Gas. Not a good milestone.

The age of HDTV!!! Remember when ?high definition? included the terms ?stems and seeds?? You do? You rascal.

No, this is about High Definition TELEVISION. Personally, I feel the word TELEVISON is so?. Fifties. We need a new one there. So did you jump for the Plasma? Or the LCD projector? The DLP? Have you got the home theater with all the tricked out electronics?

Don?t put your ear directly on the high tech train tracks, then, because there?s another train coming, and you?ll hear it down the line.

UHDV is in the pipeline. On the track. In the lab. In the electron wind. Want to guess? Time?s up. ULTRA HIGH DEFINITION.

Remember the movie where they invent this skull cap that would capture your emotions and immediately the bad guy looped someone having how shall we say ? some very intense happy times? and turned himself into peak experience broccoli? Is that where all this is headed? Not for a while, if ever. HOWEVER: UHDV is close to the detail of 35mm film. With 7680 x 4320 pixels, this isn?t far from the 4K (4,000 scan line) digital projection systems for big-screen movie theaters.

Donald Trump will be able to see how bad his hair looks like never before.

UHDV features 33 million pixels with a 60 frame-per-second (fps) progressive scan format.

NHK, the Japanese broadcasting giant who had HDTV in the 1980s? is behind the UHDV format, but reassures us it may be a long time before home theater UHDV becomes reality. That?s corporate talk for, ?Don?t let the competition know how close we really are!?

With 32 times the bandwidth demands of HDTV, UHDV would be prohibitive for today?s broadcast, cable and satellite technology. NHK?s demo required a data rate of 24 Gbps. That was a few years back in Amsterdam where some people were close to hurling lunch because the moving car video hi-jinx was that real.

How real?

NHK cobbled together a custom camera of four CCD image sensors; then to show the output built a LCoS projector combining four eight-megapixel panels. Data storage, using 16 synchronized HDTV recorders, provided roughly 18 minutes of recording time, using 3.5 terabytes of total capacity and a screen about 12 feet high and 22 feet wide. NHK researchers called this ?the sensation of reality saturation point,? in the hopes of providing a completely immersive experience: 100 degrees of visual field angle, viewing from a distance of three-quarters of the height of the screen (about nine feet) with at least 60 pixels required for each one degree of visual field angle.

And speakers? UHDV offers 24-channel sound, or 22.2, containing vertically arrayed surround sound speakers: nine above ear level, 10 at ear level, three below ear level and two low-frequency subwoofer channels.

The format, according to NHK, is not so much intended for home use as for museums, public spaces and theaters. You tell The Donald.

Once upon a time there was SHOWSCAN. Special effects pioneer Douglas Trumbull had his demo unit in a suburb of Dallas, behind a Chucky Cheese, if memory serves. I saw the demo.

The equipment and the Showscan Film Process of producing and projecting Showscan films are justifiably proprietary and patented. At the time, Showscan?s discovery was hailed as the most significant advancement in film technology since the introduction of sound in the 1929 film ?The Jazz Singer?. (Not the one with Neil Diamond.) However, it remained as little more than a technological curiosity until the company developed new camera, high speed projectors, and built special theaters to showcase the revolutionary Showscan images. There was a catch-22 at work. Theaters weren't equipped for this state of the art projection so they couldn't convince investors to make films in that format. Solution: do it all in house.

I can?t remember the specs but it was scarily real, 3-D, multi channel and way ahead of multi channel? or HDTV. I do remember it ran film through the gate much faster than normal projection speeds.

Today the company?s simulation and specialty theatres are open or under construction in 24 countries around the world, located in theme parks, motion picture multiplexes, expos, world?s fairs, resorts, shopping centers, casinos, museums, and other tourist destinations where somebody wants a rush.

If NHK can even come close, well?

Enjoy your puny HDTV now while you can, citizen.

Bob Wood's website, http://www.GreatHomeTheater.com, covers the video and audio fields as they apply to home theater and home entertainment. Bob spent many years in the US and Canada at popular radio stations and recording studios as programmer, producer, and talent.

Buying a Home Theater Receiver

Buying a receiver is one of the most important decisions you're going to have to make when building your home theater. The receiver has a number of functions including; connecting and switching audio sources; connecting and switching video sources; decoding surround sound formats; amplifying an audio signal and sending it to your speakers; tuning in to radio stations; and acting as the interface between you and your home theater.

The first thing to think about is whether you want a receiver at all or would you be better off buying a separate decoder, amplifier, and tuner?

Despite being a more expensive route - not to mention the extra space needed - separates do have some advantages. You can pick and choose your own combination of components, can upgrade each component individually and won't lose all the functions if one piece develops a fault. On top of that, having each electronic component in a separate box does improve sound quality when compared with having them all on one circuit board.

However, the separates route is more expensive, more complicated and needs more space than buying a receiver. And for most people its uneccessary. Today's receivers do a very good job in all of their functions.

So what should should you look out for when buying a receiver? The first thing is to make sure that it has ll the inputs you need for the equipment you need to connect to it. Sounds obvious, but its very easy to overlook. As a mimimum it should have digital audio inputs (optical and co-axial) for Dolby Digital and/or DTS. It should also have analogue audio inputs for CD player, set-top box and possibly DVD-Audio or Super Audio CD player (the last two currently don't have digital outputs in order to make it less easy to pirate CDs).

You should also consider whether you want to route all your video sources such as TV, DVD player, and games console through your receiver. Doing so means you can switch between sources from one controller, very easily. But if you want to do this you'll need to make sure the receiver you're interested in has enough video inputs. These could be S-Video or component inputs are best, or if you're in Europe, Scart. You should also make sure the video output from the receiver is of high quality, so again, it should be S-Video, component or Scart.

If you can test a receiver before you buy, its worth comparing the quality of a video signal from a DVD player when its connected directly to a display and comparing it with when its connected via the receiver. There shouldn't be any noticeable difference in quality.

The power rating of the amplifier is also important. The bigger the room you have for your home theater, the more power you'll need. And makes sure that the power rating is quoted in Watts per channel - the last thing you want is to get home with your 100Watt receiver and discover that its power is split between eight speakers in you 7.1 set-up. It's impossible to specify how powerful your amplifier should be, but if your home theater is in a reasonable-sized room, as opposed to an aircraft hanger, 100Watts per channel should be fine.

Finally, don't forget the remote control. It's the key interface between you and the reciever and you'll spend a lot of time using it. So make sure it's comfortable and straightforward to use. The last thing you want is to have to spend ages wading through on-screen menus to get what you want.

Kenny Hemphill is the editor and publisher of The HDTV Tuner, a site which aims to cut through the confusion surrounding HDTV and provide surfers with up to date, accurate and easy to read information on HDTV.

Getting Great Sound From Your Home Theater

One of the most important pieces of a home theater is the sound system. A good sound system can greatly enhance your movie watching experience and a good home sound system can replicate the movie-theater sound effects on a smaller scale.

When installing a sound system in your home theater, you need to think about the size and shape of the room as well as where the viewers will be seated. Placing the speakers - especially the center speaker, in the optimum position for every seat in the house will ensure a good movie experience for everyone!

Here?s some things to think about when choosing and installing the sound system for your home theater:

1. A good home theater should have at least five speakers. You should have three in the front positioned at the right of the viewers, the left and the center. There are two surrounds also which are generally in the back on either side. If you really want super duper realistic sounds, you can add more but five will do the trick on a budget.

2. The center speaker is the key speaker and the best location for it is either on top of the television itself, in the center, or just below it. Some televisions will allow for placement behind the screen as well, as is the case with some projection set ups.

3. When placing your center speaker, remember that the tweeter is in an optimum position when it is at ear level for the viewers. If the speaker is mounted on top or below the screen, line up the front with the television?s front for best sound quality and aim the speaker at the seating area. Try to keep the center speaker an equal distance from the listening position as the left and right speakers.

4. Set a realistic budget for your sound system before you go out shopping. Remember, a really top notch system can cost a lot so be sure to set an honest yet reasonable amount for the purchase limit and remember good is often more than sufficient.

5. Don?t just buy the first system you come across. Sure, you want to have your new sound system installed today, but it can pay to shop around. Compare the available options within your budget. Read reviews from consumer groups and even past customers. Find out which sound systems offer great clarity and hold up well, too.

6. Once you?ve listened to a few different systems within your price range, pick the system that is right for you. This means the one you like that is in your price range. Then make sure it?s installed correctly. Make sure speaker placement is right for sound optimization. Surround sound doesn?t work so well if the speakers are all lined up in a row without rhyme or reason.

7. You can have the system installed by a professional or do it yourself, but either way you need to think about safety and take care to hide wires for the speakers under carpets or run them professionally through the walls. There?s nothing worse than tripping on a speaker wire and yanking it out to mess up the system, not to mention that exposed wires don?t look that great. If you hate dealing with wires - consider going with wireless speakers.

Creating a great sound system for your home theater doesn?t have to be a huge and costly venture either. But it is an investment that makes all the difference in the world.

Lee Dobbins writes for http://www.home-theater.home-webzone.com where you can learn more about Home Theater installation and design.

HDTV And The Future OF DVD Players

The HDTV revolution has changed the home electronics landscape for good already, but the real benefits of this advanced technology will soon be apparent in the next few years as it becomes more accepted and established. For the last half century television entertainment remained pretty much the same as far as the video and audio capabilities are concerned. There were some advances along the way including large screen TVs and VHS recorders/players, but essentially the viewing experience was unchanged.

Much of the staleness of TV entertainment was due to the limitations of the analog system of broadcasting a TV signal. Only so much information could be sent over the air by analog format so no real advances in TV electronics were needed. But when satellite and cable TV entered the picture and introduced digital broadcasting, things began to change, and soon the DVD format just completely took over as the preferred medium for viewing movies at home on TV. The success of these digital format technologies has spurred the changeover from analog to fully digital entertainment and HDTV is the realization of that dream.

However, current DVD players are unable to display movies in high definition format even though their picture and sound is much improved than what has been available in the past. So there will be a need for dvd players to be taken to the next level now too as HDTV becomes an accepted standard for TV entertainment.

Already two of the largest manufacturers, Sony and Toshiba are set to introduce two competing technologies for displaying DVD entertainment in high definition format on a HDTV. Sony's version is called Blu-Ray, and Toshiba's is called HD DVD. Interestingly they are incompatible, so expect an electronics war to see which format gets accepted as the standard in coming years. As with all new technologies the initial models will be very expensive and the early DVDs that take advantage of this technology will be very limited, but if the meteoric rise of the initial DVD format is any clue, they can be expected to sell fast and become accepted very quickly.

DVRs(digital video recorders) will still be in their current format for the foreseeable future, but somewhere along the line you can expect to see units that record in high definition format to start showing up too. A lot probably depends on how quickly the new technologies are widely accepted.

As the switch to HDTV continues you can expect almost all new analog equipment to totally disappear in the next few years, perhaps as soon as 2010, so make your buying choices today with that well in mind. The future of TV entertainment is in high definition and dvd players and recorders will eventually meet those standards as well.

Thad Pickering writes on many consumer related topics including audio and video. You can find out more about best portable dvd player and portable dvd player reviews by visiting our Home Theater website.

Home Theaters

When people talk about a home theater system, they are talking about many different aspects of the home's entertainment system, including the video and the audio system you are using. In most cases, people only concentrate on the video aspect of the home theater, not realizing that the audio part is just as important as the video.

Beginning in the 1990s, video inputs were added to stereo receivers and amplifiers. Today, almost all companies that produce entertainment systems make combination audio/video equipment for home theater listening and viewing.

To have an entertainment system that is considered a home theater, you need to have a large-screen television connected to a hi-fi sound system. Most homes with home theaters use a large-screen projection system rather than a television set.

Types of Products Available

The purpose of having a home theater system is to reproduce cinema-quality picture and sound in your home. The video aspect is usually a large-screen, high-definition television or a projection system with a movie screen to project the image on. The audio system is usually provided by a hi-fidelity surround sound system.

In the past, a television, VCR, and a set of speakers were the only form of home theater system available for people. Today, the technology has advanced to the point that it is no longer necessary to go to a movie house to enjoy a theater-quality movie experience.

Cost

The cost of these products depends on which products you wish to use in your home theater. A large, widescreen, hi-definition television can cost around $2,500, and the sound system can cost approximately $500 to $800, depending on the quality of sound and the brand you intend to purchase. The cost of these systems will also vary among different department stores. It will be your responsibility to find the good brands at the lowest prices. Do not just look into one store, shop around in other stores.

Home Theaters provides detailed information on Home Theaters, Home Theater Systems, Home Theater Projectors, Home Theater Speakers and more. Home Theaters is affiliated with HDTV Antennas.

Curtains For Home Theater Screens

Curtains are one of the most important accessories for a home theater and work in the same way as for windows. They add that beautiful look to the room and also hide the screen. They are ideal when the room is being used for some other purpose and the screen cannot be moved out. Besides, curtains also give the feel of a real theater. The curtains can be classified as blackout lined curtains and unlined curtains. They are available in many different sizes: 28 inch, 48 inch, 68 inch, 88 inch, 108 inch, 128 inch, 148 inch, 168 inch, and 188 inch. They can also be classified in the way they open or the way they are drawn, like center opening, two-way draw and one-way draw.

Home theater curtains are available in an extensive range of colors to match the d?cor of the room. These colors include avocado, blue, pink, sage, yellow, birch, bordeaux, camel, cherry, cloud, eggplant, forest, gold, herb, hunter, indigo, leaf, melon, mink, noir, sand, scarlet, sequin, and taupe.

Suppliers are also offering custom-designed home theater curtains that can be made to specific requirements in terms of height, width, color, type etc. The ideal way is to provide measurement of the rod length, to which the manufacturer would add another 6 or 12 inches, depending on the kind of draw.

The prices of home theater curtains start from $100. They vary depending upon the size and the material used. The minimum price of a 1-20 inch height curtain with a two-way draw would cost around $130 while that of a 91-108 inch height curtain with a 2-way draw would cost around $320 or even more. A 188-inch curtain would be priced at $700 or more. Some interesting options are also available, like manual or electrical curtain rods with or without curtains.

Home Theater Screens provides detailed information on Home Theater Screens, Home Theater Projector Screens, Curtains For Home Theater Screens, Discount Home Theater Screens and more. Home Theater Screens is affiliated with Home Theater LCD Projectors

Details of a Custom Home Theater

A custom home theater is a great way to improve the interior of any home. If you are interested in this option, you will have hundreds of choices available to you. You can make your home media center into anything you want it to be and by customizing your home theater, you will have a unique space to occupy and entertain family and friends.

When you are customizing your home theater, you will need to buy several pieces of equipment and furniture.

The centerpiece of any home theater system is usually the television. If you are looking to customize your space, you will want to get a television that goes above and beyond normal duty. There are many options available to you, and you can choose your television based on size, model, and features. As a basic rule of thumb, if your room can handle it, bigger is always better. But remember, if you have a small space, you do not want to wedge a 60 inch television into it. This will only make the room seem small and cramped.

Another option to consider is the stereo system and speaker set up. A fully customized home theater system almost always has a surround sound speaker set up that brings top quality sound to your room. You can buy these pre packaged and they are not that difficult to set up. Be sure to get one with at least 5 speakers. If you really hate dealing with all those wires, consider getting a wireless sound system for your home theater.

Finally, when you are customizing your home theater, be sure to check into the different furniture options that are available. Your furniture can make or break your home theater, and you will want to be careful when making this decision. Of course, you want something that will be comfortable so that you can watch your movies and sporting events in luxury but at the same time you want something that looks good. Some people like to buy furniture that looks like movie house furniture while others opt for cushy sectionals that you can lounge out in. In the end it comes down to your preferences, your budget and what other purposes you use the room for.

When setting up your home theater, you want to be sure that every seat in the house has a great view as well as good sound. Place the television so that each seat has a good unobstructed view and your guests don?t have to keep their heads turned to see the action. You also want to be sure the speakers are placed so that the side, center and back speakers are in the right position for every place you can sit.

Overall, a custom home theater can be set up in a number of different ways. When you are setting up your theater make sure you are creative. This will help to ensure that nobody else has a theater set up that looks like yours. And isn?t that what customization is all about!

Lee Dobbins writes for http://www.home-theater.home-webzone.com where you can find out more about home theater components and creating a custom home theater.

Home Theater Video Projectors

A home theater enables us to view films in the comfortable ambience of our homes. The unique ambience of movie halls can be recreated completely, minus the crowds, and favorite movies can be watched with friends and relatives in comfort. Home theater video projectors are the main component around which the home theater system runs.

At present, there are three kinds of video projector technology in use. They are CRT, LCD, and DLP. Apart from these, there are certain modifications also available based on the technology used for the above three.

During the early years of video projectors, television expertise was centered on Cathode Ray Tube technology, or CRT. Cathode ray tubes are used for the generation of a television image. Three small CRTs with a single unit meant for every principal color, and a light-magnifying lens, helps in the projection of a color representation against a big screen in a dimly lit room. A CRT projector is capable of creating superior high-resolution images. This can be achieved with the help of the right combination of video processing circuitry, CRT size, and lens combination.

The second sort of video projector is the LCD projector, or Liquid Crystal Display. This is different from a CRT projector in the sense that it is not based on the conventional projection tube. An LCD projector primarily operates by delivering a strong light source through a transparent LCD chip comprising of individual pixels, which exhibits the moving video image. This image is subsequently projected through a lens to a big screen.

The rapid developing sort of video projector with respect to sales is the DLP, or Digital Light Processing projector. This type of projector is very similar to the LCD as in this also the real image is exhibited on a chip.

Home Theater Projectors provides detailed information on Home Theater Video Projectors, Home Theater LCD Projectors, Home Theater Projector Packages, Home Theater Front Projectors and more. Home Theater Projectors is affiliated with Curtains For Home Theater Screens.

Home Theater: 4 More Ugly Secrets Revealed

Secret #4: EVEN IF YOU GET A DEAL ON THE TV FOR YOUR HOME THEATER, THEY WILL HOSE YOU ON THE STAND. MOST ARE WAY OVERPRICED!

What you should do about it:

Shop around. Find one that isn't the one that is designed to put more money into the dealer's pants. Look off brand (not the same manufacturer as the TV.)

This obviously assumes you are looking at a Hi-Def TV that goes on a wall, or more likely, on a stand. Big CRT rear screen projectors are all in one box.

You want something that brings the set to seated eye level. Stand in front of a TV and move up and down and side to side. The picture will change some. Try to approximate the angle you'll sit and see how it looks to you.

Don't forget you can also shop at a furniture store.

Stands are usually overpriced.

Secret #5: IF YOU BUY A PLASMA OR OTHER HANG ON THE WALL SET, YOU STILL HAVE WIRES THAT WILL DANGLE UNLESS YOU RUN THEM IN THE WALL.

The ads all show the screen, but not the wire. At minimum you have power and signal wires (cable or satellite). By the way, these babies are heavy. It's not at all like hanging a picture.

What you should do about it:

Plan ahead.

Secret #6: IF YOU SEE A TV THAT SAYS ...READY THAT MEANS IT DOESN'T HAVE A TUNER. YOU NEED A TUNER. THEY WILL SELL YOU A SEPARATE TUNER. YOU ARE BUYING A MONITOR.

Monitors don't have tuners. Since so many sets were being sold in a way that may be politely called MISLEADING, somebody changed the regulations - now it has to be disclosed. The picture may not suck, but just know a monitor should be a lot cheaper than a true complete TV.

What you should do about it:

Just know this. It can save you money and SHOULD.

Secret #7: SOME PLASMAS AND LCD DIRECT VIEWS LOOK LIKE HI-DEF BUT AREN'T.

The PICTURES don't look like High Definition because they aren't. The screens, when OFF, look the same. What they ARE are wide screen EDTVs - Enhanced Definition - better than old analog sets but not HIGH Definition.

What you should do about it:

IF YOU WANT HDTV, Pass.

These sets were put out into the market as bait. Often thousands less than the original run of HDTVs, their pictures were better than you had been used to, but can't stun you like true HDTV can.

There. Now you know 4 more Ugly Home Theater secrets.

But, it isn?t quite that simple. At www.GreatHomeTheater.com there are more secrets revealed. I promise you won?t get neurotic or your hands dirty, and I won?t talk you out of what can be a tremendous and highly enjoyable leap forward in home entertainment.

Bob Wood, for over 30 years, served in front of, and behind the microphone, at popular radio stations across the United States and Canada. Throughout that journey he developed a passion for great sound and was an early adopter of many of the video toys and tools that have evolved into today's state of the art.

Bob also became known as a voice-actor at that time, leading him to literally hundreds of recording studios where again he would work with top equipment. In the mid 80s, he was able to examine and demo the early high definition broadcast quality equipment out of Japan.

Consider Your Home Theater Seating Carefully

After you have your home theater set up, you will want to look into your options as far as seating is concerned. If you do not have a comfortable place to enjoy your system, what is the point in having one in the first place? When you are searching for home theater system you will have many options available. Choosing your set up is nothing more than personal preference built around the size of your room.

Most people that set up a home theater area stick with regular couches or chairs that you can buy at any furniture store. These are great ways to bring comfort to your room. If you go this route, you will also have hundreds of options to choose from so you should never find a hard time getting what you need.

If you want to take your home theater to the next level, you might want to consider buying theater seating. Even though there are not a lot of traditional stores that sell these items, you should still be able to find them with a little bit of determination. The best way to find home theater seating is by going online. You should have no problems finding a couple of stores that offer a variety of seating options. If you decide to go this route, it is important that you room can accommodate them. Trying to stick home theater seating into a small room that is used for other purposes can be difficult.

Comfortable seating is one of the most important aspects of a top notch home theater. If you do not have enough seating, your home theater will be obsolete when it comes to entertaining.

Finding home theater seating is possible. You can get started today by searching the internet for available options that suit your needs.

Lee Dobbins writes for http://home-theater.home-webzone.com where you can learn more about setting up your home theater and how to pick out home theater furniture.

What's The Right Home Theater System?

If you are new to home theaters you may not have a definite idea of what the term home theater means. The term home theater to many may give the impression of spending a lot of money and getting setup features you do not understand.

Do not get overwhelmed by home theater systems. There are several ways to approach buying the right home theater system.

You can choose to have a more elaborate system which may include adding a special room for your home theater, or you may prefer to go more simple with just the basics combined with what you already have. Whatever your choice you will be getting the benefits of a movie theater experience in the comfort of your home.

A more elaborate system can cost thousands of dollars for top performing equipment like projectors, DVD, amplifiers and controllers for channels, speakers and sub woofers with awesome sound effects.

For most of us a sensible approach may be a more basic system costing only a few hundred dollars which includes a 27 to 32 inch television, DVD, or VCR, and stereo and speakers.

The goal here is to replicate the movie experience as close as possible and within your budget. The home theater essentials should have a large viewing area with surround sound experience.

A home theater In A Box is an affordable way to have a home theater costing anywhere from $200 to a couple thousand which include the basic items such as DVD player, several compact speakers. The In A Box home theater system is designed to be used with your existing television and comes with easy to follow directions to setup. The only addition may be to upgrade to a big screen TV.

The drawback to these systems is that the speakers are not of the highest quality and power. However you can always upgrade with additional speakers, sub woofers and amplifiers when you are ready.

Home theater In A Box is probably the best way to a home theater if you are on a tight budget and looking for a inexpensive system that will suffice this is your best option.

Whether you choose a more elaborate system, or choose the home theater In A Box always shop around for the best price and be sure that your system has a good guarantee.

Chet Holcomb of Home Theater Options an expert in home improvement and home theaters offers information and guides to buying home theater systems.

Home Theater Project Options Abound

There used to be a time when a home theater was a reserved experience for only the most wealthy - those who could afford private reels of movies and who had the space to dedicate an entire room to the effort. Now, home theater projector models have become more and more affordable, providing a new option for watching not only movies, but also regular television, cable and even computer presentations.

Deciding to turn a room into a home theater is a big decision, but one that can pay off for those who are seriously into entertainment. Nothing other than an actual movie theater can compare to a home theater that's properly set up. Surround sound, good seating, a huge screen and other amenities can make this room a home's centerpiece.

With this in mind, many people choose to go for projectors for their home theaters. The reasons behind the choice are many, but are most certainly not limited to the fact the screen can be huge. Up to 300 inches of huge, in fact.

When choosing a projector, a consumer will quickly find out the options are staggering. In general, there are two types of projector systems. The first is LCD, which means it operates using three crystal display devices and a series of mirrors and lenses. The second is DLP, which uses a silicon chip instead of three LDCs. These projectors have become very compact and lightweight, providing buyers the ability to conceal them in out of the way locations. The screens themselves can be very thin and placed directly on a wall. This saves the space a big-screen television will take up.

The basic advantages to projector over television include:

Portability. A projector can be taken anywhere.

Picture size. With many offering great visibility on screens up to 300 inches, this can't be beat by a regular television.

Bright image. New technology has enabled the use of projectors in bright rooms. Even if the lights are on, the image should still be clear and crisp.

Movie theater experience. These screens really help bring the theater experience home.

When choosing a home theater projection system, the most important things to look for are quality, guarantees and formatting sizes. Since most people who shop for projectors want the real theater experience in their home, the widescreen or 16:9 format is the most sought after. This is the format that's meant for HDTV and it comes in three basic resolutions - 854x480, 1025x576 and 1280x720. These are more commonly known as 480p, 576p and 720p.

When dealing with modern technology, any of the resolutions should provide some incredible viewing opportunities. Since DVDs generally only provide 480 lines of resolution, the lower setting should work fine. The other options do provide for great viewing as well, especially when you'll be sitting closer to the screen. Detail on the higher resolutions doesn't break up as much when viewed from a closer distance.

No matter the projector make or model you end up with, remember a home theater is an investment in some quality movie watching. A room set up correctly can become the primary spot for family living.

#1 Resource

Home theaters.

http://www.overheadprojectorinfo.com

Home Theater Buyers Guide

Having your own Home Theater is something for the entire family to enjoy that can be rather fun while shopping for your home theater and setting up your system. The biggest problem is most people do not understand the terms used and so born is our Home Theater Buyers Guide.

I will honestly say that most people are overwhelmed by the terms used in electronic equipment like AC3, Aspect Ratio, Bridging and the list goes on. Most of the term relating to home electronics are baffling to the majority and really intended for technical purposes...So do not get discouraged and give up. You can see our Home Theater Dictionary for an explanation of the terms used in home theater electronics.

The two most important thing in your home theater is to know what viewing quality you want and what sound you desire. By visiting your local Electronics store you can get a good idea from viewing the equipment up close for picture and sound quality and most sales people have the knowledge of there equipment that can convey to you in laymen terms.

Once you have decided on a practical system you can buy from the Electronic store, or go online where the best deals are made.

The items listed below are what you should be concerned with in selecting a home theater system.

Video Selection #1 in Level Of Importance

1. Choose a TV at least 27 inches, preferably the bigger the better that will fit in your home theater area with plenty of room left over for comfort and a screen size that you do not have to strain to view. Most larger TVs are as cheap as the smaller Tvs today...so get what you want the first time around.

The items listed below are what you should be concerned with in selecting a home theater system.

2. Flat screen TVs are the most common for good non glare viewing and are LCD (liquid crystal display) and have optional Plasma screens which is a display technology that you may not notice unless you have the two side by side.

3. Some TVs have built in DVD/VCR and we recommend purchasing a DVD/VCR as a separate component in case of failure.

4. Rear projection TVs are available in TVs with larger screen size of 42 inch and above and is not a advantage in viewing quality.

5. DLP (Digital Light Processing) projection system bring more light from lamp to screen. It also features better color uniformity over time--no burn-in, screen aging or color-shifting possible and is recommended feature for crisp, clear picture viewing.

6. HDTV (High Definition TV) is on the way is and will be the future of TV and is recommended as a must have.

7. HD Ready (High Definition Ready) is a TV that supports high definition signal when using a separate set box.

8. AVR Receivers(see audio section)for TVs relate more to audio, but do play a role in the refresh rate of the screen, provide video input for games, other devices and synchronizes the sound to the picture. Other type receivers are satellite and HDTV.

9. DVD player/recorder/VCR play and or, record from DVD disks and can be separate components, or all in one unit called combo units. Some DVDs support Windows media such as CD/CD-RW for playing music and, or showing your stored pictures and music.

Sound Selection #2 In Level Of Importance.

Sound is not as important to some as related to the core of the home theater....which is the picture they see. TVs have speakers built in that will suffice for the better part of us, but add a few good speakers and you have quality sound.

Your home theater room, or area plays a major part in how the sound is interpreted in relation to the acoustics of the room,size, furniture, walls, curtains, carpet etc that absorb the signal. As an example a long rectangle room with carpet will have better acoustics than a square room with hardwood floors. Really do not expect exact movie theater sound from your existing rooms because a theater is designed especially for this purpose, unless you plan to build a special room. Whatever you decide you will experience better sound with the right components.

1. AVR Receivers control every aspect of your sound system and video and is the brain that takes the video portion then transmits signals into sound. AVR Receivers come in various watts that have separate channels to control and balance speakers.

2. Speakers come in all sizes and shapes and are a good investment if you want the most out of sound . The quality of sound is determined by the watts of power they produce..ie a 100W will produce more sound quality than a 50W. The receiver is matched in wattage to correspond with the wattage of the speaker. Of all the audio components below, speakers are the most important of all so get the best you can.

3. Sub woofers increase the bass capabilities of your sound system. Not a necessity unless you like the sound of thundering explosions in an action movie.

4. Surround Sound will deliver a cinematic sound quality to your home theater, but is not an essential component.

Home Theatre Mini System (In A Box)

With a mini system all you need is the TV and installation is much easier than using separate components which may require you hiring a professional. You can get a mini system with just about any feature you want to include DVD/DVR/VCR/AVR/CD, speakers, sub woofers, surround sound etc...The systems are much cheaper in cost than purchasing separate components and the drawbacks are you may be limited on what you can output if you want additional add-on such as video games,extra speakers etc. The mini home theater is basically to run the components provided in the kit and if you want to add on you may not be able to. Another drawback is you may be sacrificing superior video and sound quality for lower a price. Just like anything else there are good mini home theaters and better ones...So get the best if you go this route.

Chet Holcomb of Home Theater Options an expert in home improvement and home theaters offers information and guides to buying home theater systems.

How To Properly Design Your Own Home Theater System

When it comes to designing your home theater system, you certainly have plenty of options to choose from. With the recent boom in home theaters, more manufacturers are producing a wide range of options. Technology is always improving and developing, which means that it's possible to have all the newest and most innovative products available, right in your own home theater. Nowadays home theaters aren't just for the movie stars in Hollywood - they're affordable and can be enjoyed by a large range of homeowners.

The good thing about choosing a theater system is that you can basically make it into whatever you want it to be. It's possible to really get enthused about it and put together a full-scale, state of the art system with projector, receiver and the works. Or you can start at the simpler end of the scale with a good quality television, DVD player and perhaps surround sound speakers. In the end, it's all about choosing a home theater system that suits your needs and doesn't break the budget. If your funds are limited, though, don't let that limit your imagination. It's surprising just what you can achieve if you shop around.

Reality is, technology is always moving forward. Once a product is released into the marketplace, it's often only months before the latest, greatest, equipment comes along and replaces it. This has two advantages for you, as a homeowner. One, technology in general is becoming much more affordable, so as time passes you can get more bang for your buck. Two, if you shop carefully, it's possible that a newly superseded system may be available at a fraction of its original price. It will be close enough to cutting edge to impress your friends, but won't cost you a fortune.

In the end, it's all about getting the best possible home theater system for the money you have available. Think about your watching and listening needs. Work out if you prefer a particular brand. Then spend the time shopping around, to see what sort of deal you can come up with. After all that, take the time to enjoy your theater to the fullest. You deserve it!

Timothy Gorman is a successful Webmaster and publisher of Shopping For Home Theater Systems. He provides more money saving information on buying the best home theater systems at http://www.shoppingforhometheatersystems.com that you can research in your pajamas on his website.

Home Theatre What Difference Do Cables Make?

If you go to your local home theater store, you may be confronted by a variety of ?extreme? sounding names for cabling: Mega Cables, Monster Cables, Uber Cables? the proliferation of ?boutique? cabling is always a source of controversy in home theater and audiophile circles. The question is, how much difference do they make, and are they worth it? Well despite the perils involved in even mentioning this topic, I?m going to attempt to add something to the discussion.

The most important thing to recognize is that a cable cannot improve the sound of a home stereo system any more than an electrical wire can create extra electricity when you plug it into the wall. That?s actually a very good example, because when you?re listening to audio for instance, what we?re hearing is an electronic representation of acoustic sounds ? that is to say, the actual sounds have not been captured and stuffed into a compact disc like fireflies in a child?s jar ? they have been copied, imitated, and a representation stored on the disc as a series of numbers.

These numbers are then read and translated into electronic signals, which are sent to the speakers in order to approximate the actual sounds. With that in mind, it makes sense that poor quality wires don?t physically change the sound ? instead it?s like a game of ?telephone?, in which the band tells the CD, the CD tells the player, the player tells the wires, and the wires tell the speakers, with something being lost at every step so that the message ?Aunt Betty baked a pie? is altered to ?Fat Eddy wants to cry? or what should be a great live recording sounds tinny, distant, or otherwise just plain wrong.

A good cable will change the signal as little as possible, but all cables do damage your signal a bit ? it?s simply a matter of degree. As far as which cables are the best? That?s up to you or your local audio guru to decide ? much is up to personal preference, with the rest probably being left up to your budget to decide.

Warren Thompson is fanatic about his new home theater system. He is also a contributing writer for hometheaterfocus.com ? an immensely informative guide to home theater technology, with information about speaker positioning, home theater lighting, projection systems and more.

Different Types of Loudspeakers

There are four major types of speakers to look for with home theater systems.

The four focus on (a) sound reproduction, (b) physical qualities ? appearance and size (c) sound volume (d) compatibility and budget. Let?s take a look at each.

(a) Sound Reproduction ? short and sweet, your speakers need to reproduce the original soundtrack in a consistent, error-free manor.

(b) Physical Qualities ? It?s no secret that you can get all sizes of speakers from huge monster-size ones to micro-speakers. Check your specs and find what works best with your system, but ones that also work best with your other equipment and home theater area. In other words, let?s say they?re in the way of the projector, no good. So check first and keep receipts until you plug everything in and check them out.

(c) Sound Volume ? Speakers may sound wonderful in the store setting. But check them out at home. Are they playing loud enough for your home theater environment? The room?s acoustics and overall area / size pretty much dictate your sound parameters. Tiny speakers aren?t going to work well for a very large entire floor area. So again, hold on to receipts and check everything out first.

(d) Compatibility and Budget ? Find compatible components, matching comparably priced speakers with equipment it similar ranges. In other words, you don?t want cheap, used, trashed, worthless tires on your brand new 5-digit (with no decimal points) sports car!

So before you fine tune your speaker choice for your home theater system, consider the facts and types of speakers. Make sure to check out the types; (a) sound reproduction, (b) physical qualities ? appearance and size (c) sound volume (d) compatibility and budget?and not get stuck with a typo. Crisp, quality sound that?s loud enough for everyone to hear throughout your home theater area is what you want. Not garbled, whispers.

Hyun Kim is a freelance writer who writes about loudspeakers, home audio and home theater related topics. He loves to visit Stereo411 to discuss topics about home theater and reads their home theater forum.

How to Get Great Bass Throughout Your Home Theater

It?s one of the hallmarks of a fantastic home theater; great bass. Everyone wants the kind of bass you can feel, that slams you back against the seat when it has to, and makes your pant legs flap. What too many people get is either weak, anemic bass or boomy bass that sounds like mud. In many cases you?ll have pretty good bass at one seat and little or no bass at other seats. Sometimes you try to crank up the subwoofer level to compensate for these deficiencies. Usually that makes the bass even more bloated and boomy. Sometimes it makes your subwoofer run out of gas and it?s amp clips, the cone starts bottoming, or both.

What can you do? How can you get that great bass you?re looking for, not just at one seat, but everywhere in your home theater? How can you get bass that sounds great for slam-bam action movies and also for music? Is that $800.00 subwoofer you got a total loss?

The good news is that you can get great bass in your home theater, and probably at every seat too! It usually comes down to two things; subwoofer selection and placement. Your sub needs to be appropriately sized for its intended duty. If your home theater is larger, say 27? x 17? x 10?, especially if it is a multi use room that is open to the rest of the house on one or more sides, you?ll need a larger sub than if your room is small. It comes down to basic physics. To make bass you need to move the air in the room. To make a lot of bass you need to move a lot of air. If your room is larger, your sub must move more air to get the same effect as it would in a smaller room.

In the old days, when comparing subs from good manufacturers, you could just look at the size of the subwoofer cone and the power of its amp. This would give you a general idea of the output. Most subwoofers used similar designs, either a bass reflex (ported) or acoustic suspension (sealed) box. Most quality subwoofer drivers had somewhat similar excursion specifications. Now, with the advent of high power digital amplification and super long throw drivers, things are a bit more difficult.

There are 10? subs on the market now that move as much air as some of the old 15? units. This is because the cone has a very large peak to peak excursion specification. It is important that the driver is designed correctly so that it stays in it?s linear range when moving this far. This is probably nothing you need be concerned about if you are buying a sub from a quality manufacturer. That is what their design engineers are for.

The main advantage to this is that, using the high power digital amplifiers, a long throw driver can get very good performance in an undersized box. A small box has many more placement options and does not intrude so much on the room?s aesthetics. Two of the notable companies producing these types of very small subwoofers are Sunfire and Velodyne. Most manufacturers will have recommendations about which of their subs to use in a given room size.

Now for the biggest key to getting great bass in your home theater; use multiple subwoofers. According to some of the latest research, the way multiple subwoofers interact with the room is the single biggest factor in being able to get great bass in every seat of your home theater. One of the biggest problems in small room acoustics is caused by standing waves. These are created when the wavelengths (or ? or ? wavelengths) of certain frequencies coincide with one or more room dimensions.

For example, a 49Hz tone has a wavelength of almost exactly 23 feet. Standing waves cause certain frequencies to be reinforced and cancelled at different locations throughout the room. These problem frequencies are known as room modes. The effect of standing waves is to have areas of the room where bass is very boomy and others where there is no bass at all. An equalizer will do nothing to fix these problems and can even make them worse!

You should use either two or four subs. There is not too much benefit from using more than four. When using two subs, they should be placed on the floor, in the front corners of the room. For even better bass and smoother frequency response throughout your home theater, use four subwoofers. These should be located on the floor, at the midpoints of each wall.

You will still have some peaks but they can be taken care of with a good parametric equalizer. You can use a graphic equalizer but the equalizer should have better than 1/3 octave resolution. This will help to ensure you are able to target the precise peak frequencies. If you can, however, use a parametric.

Using the correct subwoofers for your room and using multiple subwoofers with a good equalizer will help you get that spectacular bass your home theater has been missing.

Steve has 15 yrs in the consumer electronics industry. He is a CEDIA certified designer with ISF and THX certificates. His experience includes: installer and programmer; system designer; business unit director for a specialty A/V importer; sales rep for a CE distributor; and principal of a $1.5M+ CEDIA firm. He's now senior sales engineer for Digital Cinema Design in Redmond, WA. For more information about getting the most out of your home theater and speakers go to Home Theater Speakers and Subwoofers.

About Home Theater Systems

Home theater systems are a setup in homes installed for the purpose of providing cinema quality video and audio reproductions. It includes television and video equipment with special audio systems incorporated - like surround sound. The objective of recreating the feel of being in a movie theater is actualized by placement of a movie screen across the wall, use of projectors and speakers having surround sound and special furnishings like upholstered seats and couches. For a standard home theater system the video display unit should be at least 40 inches and the number of speakers involved in the surround sound system should be at least five.

Features and utility of home theater systems

The home theater provides much better movie viewing experience than typical television screens. Television screens are typically square shaped and fail to provide the realism observed in movie screens. Home theater systems are designed to take care of this and provides a worthwhile re-creation of the movie house.

Home theater arrangements may comprise of a simple setup involving a DVD player fed through a stereo system and a larger, specially designed television set. Again, it may also constitute an elaborate arrangement whereby an entire room is professionally wired involving multiple speakers and projectors are set up together with a projection screen.

The home theater room housing the home theater system is usually a room without windows - much like a cinema. Such rooms are to be found in sophisticated, plush homes. Home theater system installation gives a touch of class, refinement and taste to the room and the home. You too may be looking for securing a home theater system for your home and want to settle down for nothing less than the ultimate in home theater experience. In this case you need to commission professional installers who will design the entire movie viewing room and gear it up for delivering the cinema experience.

Use of wireless home theater systems

The home theater setup involves considerable wiring. This is needed to connect the multiple speakers placed at various locations and the projectors and other equipment. However, wireless home theater systems have also come up now to ease out the trouble of setting up wiring networks. Though these are more expensive they often prove to be worth their value by being free from the numerous wires and the associated hassles.

Richard Dornell for http://www.hometheater-information.com.

Features You Can Expect To Find In The Best Stereo Receivers

Stereo receivers are the unsung heroes of the entertainment electronics and home theater field. They aren't flashy or in your face, and yet most of the other components have to connect to the receiver in order to function best. Stereo receivers are expected to tune in FM/AM broadcasts, provide surround sound, and switch between home theater components, so as you can see it's a very important piece of equipment. So what features should you look for when you want to buy a stereo receiver? Here are a few:

* If you plan on using your receiver in a home theater setup, check to be sure that it has all of the correct connections for the components that you have. There are still several stereo receivers that only have audio connections, but if you wish to include video as well, the receiver should have enough connections for your DVD player and any other video sources that you want to send to your TV including either cable or satellite. Regular composite connections will work for video, but if you want better, sharper color and detail opt for an S-video connection instead as this cable separates the black-and-white portion of the video from the color portion and produces a better overall picture.

* Make sure that you have enough connections for your audio needs as well. If you are getting into digital surround sound you will need at least 6 speakers with their appropriate connections on your receiver. If it's a digital receiver it should support both Dolby and DTS 5.1 surround sound at least, which employs separate channels for 5 speakers and a subwoofer. If you choose to use the more recent 6.1 or 7.1 format, you will have to have the extra necessary speakers and connections for that.

* Make sure that the controls on the stereo digital receiver are easy to read and understand. That also goes for the remote control. It's amazing how many great electronics equipment comes with an awful remote control that is hard to understand and use. Some digital receivers now have the ability to display their controls on the TV screen making it even easier to operate, and if you don't like squinting at small knobs and LED readouts this could be just what you need.

* A graphics equalizer is a nice feature on many stereo receivers and digital receivers. It allows you to control specific parts of the audio spectrum including mid-range, bass and treble separately from each other. Quite often receivers will provide a simple solution and give you preset selections to choose from instead of total control, and for most people this will be just fine.

The work of a stereo receiver has grown considerably from the days when it was just a hub for the audio components of your home stereo. Today it is a multi-tasking powerhouse and entertainment nerve center. Hopefully the suggestions mentioned above will help you find the best stereo receiver for your needs.

Thad Pickering writes on many consumer related topics including audio and video. You can find free stereo receiver reviews and the best stereo receivers by visiting our Home Theater website.

Home Theater Furniture Do you know what you need?

When you are buying home theater furniture there are a lot of criteria that you will need to consider. Luckily, if you are in this situation you should not have any problems finding what you need because this industry has taken off over the past five years. More people than ever before are interested in a top notch home theater. In turn, this means that more companies are manufacturing furniture options for every possible setup imaginable.

The first piece of home theater furniture that you may need to buy is an entertainment stand that can house all of your equipment. With an entertainment stand you will be able to set up your television, DVD player, and stereo in the same place. This is an essential piece of furniture to have if you are dealing with space constraints. An entertainment stand will afford you the ability to put all of your equipment in one place without cluttering up the rest of your room.

Next, you will want to buy comfortable furniture to lounge in. After all, who wants to watch a movie or two on furniture that is uncomfortable? When it comes to picking out couches and chairs, you will have thousands of options available. Your buying decision will come down to personal preference, as well as what fits and looks best in your room. By shopping around at one of the many department or furniture stores, you should not have any problems finding something that nicely compliments your room.

When looking at home theater furniture you want to consider the room your home theater is in. Do you have a separate room just for media entertainment? Then you might want to get movie theater style seats or something very plush and cushy that you might not want in your living room. If your home theater is also your living room, then consider the other uses you might put the room to such as entertaining guests for conversation and parties. You won?t want the furniture to take over the room or be too big and bulky if you need to move around it for special occasions.

Of course, you can buy special furniture made especially for home theater needs such as home theater loungers that have individual arm rests with cup holders and foot rests that can slide in or out. These are a more comfy version of your standard movie theater seats and also look great as living room set too.

The home theater furniture business is booming right now. All over the world people are looking for a way to take their home theater setup to the next level. With the amount of home theater furniture that is available, you should not have to look too hard to find what you have been dreaming of!

Lee Dobbins writes for http://home-theater.home-webzone.com where you can learn more about setting up your home theater and how to pick out home theater furniture.

Home Theater Projector Screens

Home theater projection screens are one of the hottest home accessories today. They not only give that lavish look, but they also make watching TV a memorable experience.

The projection screen is one of the most important parts of a home theater system, apart from the projector. Home theater projection screens also can be of various types. The most basic classification is the front projection screen vs. the rear projection screen. Front projection screens can be further divided into curved screens and fixed flat screens. Each of these has certain advantages; for example, curved screens are lightweight and hence easy to install. The image is also much brighter, with better resolution and contrast since the curve can reject the lighting in the room.

On the other hand, flat screens are ideal for front projection. They give the look of a real theater. There are also retractable flat screens that can be simply rolled up when not in use. Another interesting option is the motorized roll-down screen, which can be rolled up or down using a simple ?switch? mechanism. Tab-tensioned motorized roll-down screens have external suspension cables that make the screen very taut. Then there is the floor-mounted motorized screen, which fits into a small square box when retracted. However, rear-projection screens provide more image clarity and sharpness. Moreover, the projector is completely hidden from view.

Most screens these days are covered with velvet trim to absorb any light from the projector. They have a 3-inch wide and 1?-inch deep frame that keeps the screen strong and smooth.

The common screen size ratios are 4:3 and 16:9. Projection screens are available in a wide range of sizes: 30, 34, 42, 50, 56, 62 and 70. The ideal type and size depends on the kind of projector being used, seating distance of the audience, the size of the room, the placement of the screen and the projector, and the ambient room light. Home theater projection screens also have several advanced features such as three levels of contrast, variable gain, non-interference pigments to reduce color shift, and a broader reflected light spectrum. They are also very easy to install. Some manufacturers are also offering customized screens.

Prices of home theater projection screens start from $700. Some of the top brands in Home theater projection screens are: Carada, Da-Lite, Draper, Dukane, Elite Screens, Goo Systems, Grandview Crystal Screen Canada, Large Screen Displays, Optoma, Stewart Filmscreen and Vutec.

Home Theater Screens provides detailed information on Home Theater Screens, Home Theater Projector Screens, Curtains For Home Theater Screens, Discount Home Theater Screens and more. Home Theater Screens is affiliated with Home Theater LCD Projectors.

Features To look For When You Buy A DVD Player

It's not hard to see why DVD players have taken the video world by storm. All you have to do is watch a movie on DVD and then watch that same movie on VHS tape instead. The difference can be startling. So just as CDs took over the audio world, DVDs are dominant in the video world, and DVD players are a staple of the home entertainment center, and certainly of a home theater setup too.

So what should you know when you shop for DVD players? Well, as with everything a lot depends on your budget but here are some of the features to look for when you buy a DVD player:

* In the electronics world, cable connections are very important and it's no different with DVD players. Almost all DVD players come with a standard composite-video cable to connect the player to the TV, and this kind of cable can produce a decent picture. But it's also very limiting because the black and white, and color video signals are all sent together through this cable and it's easy for the colors to bleed over into other colors and lose detail and sharpness. If your DVD p[layer comes with a S-video cable this can dramatically improve the video as this cable can separate out the black and white from the color signals resulting in greater clarity. Finally if you get a DVD player that can use a component-video cable that can be the best yet because it also splits the color signal too, allowing even greater color range and detail.

* It's good to have an aspect control feature on a DVD player too. Many DVD movies are coming now in different formats to fit whatever TV you have. The aspect control lets you take advantage of this and tune the movie to the specific ratio that best fits the size of your television screen.

* Some DVD players have multi-angle capability built in and that can be useful at times too. It doesn't work with all DVDs, but with those that are compatible, it's pretty cool. It actually allows you to adjust the picture angle so that you can view the action from different perspectives.

* Having surround sound decoding built into your DVD players can be very useful too, especially if you have a Dolby Digital receiver and at least six speakers to achieve the 5.1 surround sound effect. If your receiver does not have the Dolby 5.1 decoder built into it then you need to have it decoded by the DVD player before it is sent to the receiver. Once at the receiver the signal is amplified and distributed to the appropriate speakers in the room. If you wish to use the more recent 6.1 and 7.1 surround sound systems you will need to have the decoder for that on your DVD player too, and either 7 or 8 speakers to match.

These are some of the features that can be most useful when you are playing DVDs, so look for them the next time you want to buy a DVD player.

Thad Pickering writes on many consumer related topics including audio and video. You can find out more about best portable dvd player and portable dvd player reviews by visiting our Home Theater website.

The Home Theater Receiver The Core of Your System

No question, the home theater receiver is the heart of every home theater. A home theater receiver is the piece of equipment that interprets audio and video information and then sends them out to your screen and speakers, respectively. Without it, you would never come close to emulating an actual theater experience.

Sound is effected more so than video by a home theater receiver. On a DVD that?s been optimized for Dolby 5.1 surround sound, for example, the audio signals for each different channel are properly amplified and distributed to the proper speakers. The low, booming sounds get sent to the subwoofer, while background noises go to the rear speakers, and the actors? dialogue is heard from the front speakers. Having a high quality home theater receiver and matching speakers is the only way to achieve the best home theater experience. This is what creates the sensation of being in the middle of the action.

A home theater receiver can range in price from about $250 on the low end and $2500 for the really high quality varieties. For budget minded people, it may please you to know that the actual sound quality difference between a $500 home theater receiver and a $700 or $800 one are barely perceptible. On the other hand, if you truly have the need for your room to shake when there?s an explosion on-screen, the more money you shell out, the louder you?ll be able to turn the volume up without distorting the sound.

How many watts a home theater receiver has is a good indication of how loud you?ll be able get the sound. 500 watts is adequate for any home theater, as it is many times the power of the small speakers found in an ordinary television. In fact, 500 watts is much more than what most factory installed car audio systems have. If you have a large room or if you just love to make your ears ring after watching a movie, there are home theater receivers that boast 1000 or more watts.

Keep in mind that most home theater receivers are packaged with speakers that match the performance of the receiver. If you wish to buy a receiver and speakers separately, it?s of the utmost importance to make certain that the speakers can handle the wattage that the home theater receiver will put out. Indeed, the proper selection and installation of a home theater receiver combined with the surround sound affect is crucial to being able to really immerse yourself in a movie.

Nick Crane is a successful Webmaster and publisher of MyHomeTheaterZone.com. Visit his site at http://www.myhometheaterzone.com for more articles and valuable resources for everything you need to start building your own home theater system.

B&W Home Theater Speakers

About Bowers & Wilkins

Founded by John Bower in 1966, Bowers & Wilkins is a pioneer British brand in high-end home theater speakers market. Their product and quality is considered to be the best in the market. This is often pronounced as simply B&W. Their flagship product includes Prestige, Nautilus speaker, 800 series, custom theater 700, 600 Series 3, XT Series etc. Most of the classical music label uses 800 series to monitor their recordings.

Other than home theater speakers. B&W have vast range of Floor standing speakers, Bookshelf speakers, Subwoofer with satellite and in wall, in ceiling or outdoor speakers.

Bowers & Wilkins Home Theater Speakers

Bowers & Wilkins home theater system is more than just watching a nice TV. The full movie experience can only be enjoyed with multiple speaker setups to experience the audio output from all audio channels.

Like an excellent home theater system Bowers & Wilkins Home Theater Speakers generally consist of five or more speakers known as 5.1 speaker system which includes 5 satellite speakers and one subwoofer. Other option is 7.1 speaker systems which includes 7 satellite speakers with one central subwoofer. The satellite speakers are positions all round the room to create full theater like experience. Sub woofer places on the ground to feel the low frequency notes.

Normally Bowers & Wilkins Home Theater Speakers can be bought in a set called ?home theater in a box? or HTiB. This HTiB sets consists of all the speakers needed to create theater like experience. These Htib systems are without amplification or control unit but all the speakers in Htib are pre matched to produced best sound and comes in single box which also saves on buying individual speakers.

Positioning of Bowers & Wilkins Home Theater Speakers

Since response of frequency and audio signals are deeply effected by their position. So in home theater system all the speakers must be positions at designated position.

Floor-standing speakers

Floor-standing home theater speakers create more lively sound with positioning on above the ground and everybody is well accepts their positioning these are called tower speakers. Here comes the role of speaker?s stands. Tower speakers are costlier than other bookshelf speakers but since home theater system needs them and their wide range of frequency with deep bass give you more lively sound per watt of amplifier power.

In fact it looks very passionate to sit between the middle like in theaters any view the movies when sound comes to you from all around the corners.

Pricing of Bowers & Wilkins Home Theater Speakers

Bowers & Wilkins Home Theater Speakers impressive range is available in almost every size and price category. You can find the lowest price Bowers & Wilkins Home Theater 5.1 Speakers which includes left front, left surround, right front, right surround, center front and one sub woofer to create theater like sound systems can be bought spending couple of 100?s bucks.

Hyun Kim is a freelance writeer who writes about loudspeakers, home audio and home theater related topics. He loves to visit Stereo 411 and he loves to talk about B&W Speakers.

Tips On Choosing The Best Home Theater System

Defining the best home theater system is a matter of personal choice. Does a system worth $250,000 offer better quality than one that cost just $3000 to put together? Probably, but how many people can afford to spend a quarter of a million dollars on home entertainment?

Take my case for example. I'm a home theater nut who loves nothing better than being engrossed in my favorite movies in the confines of my own home. In my spare time it's my relaxation. My home theater system which includes the basics such as a television, DVD and speakers as well a a few optional extras set me back about $6000. I love it! My two closest friends who happen to be my next door neighbors are also home theater nuts with rather deep pockets. Their interpretation of the best home theater system includes the best that Bang And Olufsen have to offer and they are happy to fork out a six figure sum to get the best quality. What's my point? It's personal choice!

Satisfying Your Budget

Setting a budget you can afford and then doing a little due diligence is your first step towards finding your best home theater system. Is your budget $3000? Do you realise that for this amount you can get yourself a very reliable and neat little system. A television, either plasma or LCD, a DVD player, speaker system and projection system plus accompanying cables for between $3-4000 is achievable. You simply need to spend a little time researching the options available.

The entry level home theater market is cut throat so bargains are there to be had. The majority of people searching for systems are usually looking at this end of the scale. Comparison shopping should be your number one priority. Spend some time checking out the various local stores. Don't even consider making a decision until you've sniffed out each one. Once you've done this, then it's time to get online. Why? Because this is where you will in all probability, find the best buys.

Home Theater Online

A search for best home theater systems will get you a myriad of results. Some sites are extensions of the major stores repeating many of the deals you checked out physically however, many aren't and this gives you extra choice flexibility. Other sites offer any amount of information with some going the extra mile and offering mix'n'match alternatives or reviews on the best bang for your buck available. The message here is don't be hasty and purchase the first television or DVD combination from the first salesperson you come across.

Personal choice is what it's all about. The best home theater system on the market, taken literally, will set you back thousands upon thousands of dollars however, choose what's best for you and your budget. Let me assure you, for just a few thousand dollars you can experience some pretty serious home theater pleasure!

Dean Caporella is a professional broadcaster. Do you know what the best home theater system is? Get the latest home theater news and reviews at: http://www.hometheaterinfoline.com