Feb
17
Media Servers (HTPC)
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Some call them home theater PC’s, others prefer the term media server while others just curse in their general direction, whatever you call them they look a lot like the future of home theater. In some form or another it won’t be long before most home theater enthusiasts have a “box” in their living room or home theater that can: record live tv, playback local video files, stream audio and video from another connected device, play games and ultimately access the internet to bring in new content in the form of pay-per view movies and even live “TV” events.
Those of you with Xbox 360’s and Play Station 3’s and networked video devices are already at the forefront of this movement but expect to see this type of functionality to appear in other, less platform specific devices in the future. A few ways to take advantage of the networked video revolution today are the aforementioned Xbox 360’s (particularly when used on the same network as a Vista Media Center equipped PC) A Mac mini using Apples “Front Row” software and devices like the limHD200i from Tomarco.
Feb
16
Universal Remotes
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We’ve come a long way from the “clicker” of yesterday, today’s remote control systems can process complex macros, sense power and or current state and even transmit two way data in some cases, luckily they don’t have to be nearly as complex to operate as they sound. Remotes are available in more shapes, sizes, functionality levels and price points than at any other time since the products glorious invention some 50 or so years ago.
Listen this might sound a bit obvious but the best way to determine if a remote is right for you or not is to sit down and write out how many devices you need to control, what interface the individual components use for control (i.e. infra-red, line level, RF or similar) and then plot out how you’ll need to send the commands in order for your equipment to work properly. Then compare those needs to the remotes capabilities.
Like I said I know it sounds obvious but you’d be surprised how many people get caught up in a certain feature or function of a specific remote; while ignoring the fact that the remote in question may not be right for them in other respects. In a nutshell a little homework up front can save you hundreds of wasted dollars in the long run.
Feb
15
Home Theater Design Basics
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One of (if not) the most important design considerations for a dedicated home theater is choosing the right location, assuming you have a choice of rooms and or areas beforehand, you’ll want to pick a room that you have control over certain variables. Number one and most importantly you’ll want to pick a room you can control the light in and by control I mean make dark in the middle of the day, now I don’t mean pitch black can’t see your hand in front of your face dark but certainly dark enough as to not have ambient light hit the viewing surface.
Another consideration is well, the consideration of others, you may want to pick a room that’s somewhat insulated from the rest of the home for noise consideration, that is the noise both coming from and entering the home theater. Lastly and this is one of the most overlooked consideration is climate control, many rooms (basements in particular) don’t have adequate heating and or cooling capabilities to offer a comfortable environment at either of the extremes, this is worth considering before you choose which room you’ll use for your home theater.
Feb
14
Home Theater Shopping Tips
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In a nutshell try and limit yourself to major name brands but that of course comes with a few caveats. Keep in mind that what might be a “big name brand” in say televisions might not necessarily be so in front projection and vice versa. A few basic guide lines for this would be (1) have I heard of the brand before (2) is the brand sold through a reputable brick and mortar dealer network and (3) has the company been around longer than a few years, if the answer to one or more of those questions is no, at the very minimum step back and think about this potential purchase just a little longer.
That said there’s another potential pitfall to avoid when shopping for audio video equipment that’s just as important as the “major name brand “rule. Just because a company ruled the roost for 20 years with insert-product-type-here doesn’t mean they make a good insert-it-here now, they may not even make it at all anymore. Without naming names I recently had a conversation with a customer who said I’ll only buy acme widgets because their superior to omega widgets, I had to inform him that omega now manufacture all of acme’s widgets for them.
Feb
13
Digital Satellite 101
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One obvious (others exist) alternative to cable television and specifically high definition cable television is direct broadcast satellite (DBS for short) DBS comes in several flavors most notably DirecTV and DISH Network but regardless of which you pick both share many similarities. Both charge a subscription fee, anywhere from $29.99 on the low end to well over a hundred dollars a month with premium channels.
Both DISH Network and DirecTV offer DVR’s, some form of (albeit limited compared to cable) pay-per-view and most importantly high definition programming. For several years DirecTV had the edge in overall HDTV programming available but DISH took the lead back in late 2006, adding another 5-6 stations on top of what DirecTV already offered. Expect this superiority to ebb and flow between the two providers in the future.
Feb
12
What is HDTV?
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I’ll spare you the big drawn out, super technical mumbo jumbo explanation (for now) and keep it straight up. HDTV (high definition television) is generally recognized as having a minimum resolution of 1280×720 which is referred to as “720p”. 720p for many of us was our first entry into the world of high definition, most of the early high definition televisions were 1280×720 models and many of the 720p displays manufactured in the last few years are still capable of making phenomenal looking images, but make no mistake 720p is on its way out.
1920×1080, “1080i” or 1080 interlaced most often comes in the form of HDTV broadcasts and often rivals 720p in overall detail but not necessarily in motion reproduction. The best of both worlds however is accomplished 1080p or 1920×1080 progressive, 1080p is also known as Full HD but it’s all just another way of saying this is the ultimate (currently) in resolution and theoretical image quality. Even though we have different HDTV resolutions, the aspect ratio for HDTV remains a pleasantly wide 16:9.
Feb
11
The short answer to this question is obviously and unequivocally no, the long answer is of course a bit more complicated. Of course as with most things in life a home theater can be as elaborate, expensive or demure as you’d like but there are ways to make sure you wind up with the best possible system in your price range. Start off with additions to your current audio video system, no need to re-invent the wheel here.
A surround sound receiver one month, a few speakers several months later, you get the picture. Augment what you have with new equipment in your price range, don’t let anyone tell you it has to be done all at once, this is clearly sales speak and not to entertained. All equipment becomes outdated at one point or another, there’s nothing you’ll ever be able to do about this but don’t let that get in the way of taking your home entertainment to the next level today.
Feb
10
Home Theater generally consists of an entertainment system with a “big screen” television (42” or larger in many cases) multiple speakers in either a 5.1, 6.1 or 7.1 configuration and a high quality video source, generally high definition cable or satellite, DVD and or Blu-ray. More often than not the home theater environment is a dark or darkened room which ensures the image is as sharp and bright as possible.
Another thing that typically separates a home theater setting from the everyday ‘just watching TV’ is that home theater seating faces forward, directly forward and toward the screen, contrast that with our modern off-set, angled and or otherwise non symmetrical room layouts and it’s easy to see how the pinpoint accuracy of a modern surround sound system can be compromised and diluted beyond relevance.