Home theatre has come a long way over the last few years. The drop in prices of AV products including projectors, LCD and Plasma, Surround Packages, etc has brought high quality entertainment in the comfort of your own home more accessible. No more strangers commentating the ending or rustling chips packets, now you can watch movies on beautiful screens and with fantastic surround sound when you want in your own environment.
SURROUND SOUND
People think surround sound is always sound around.
The basic surround is Pro Logic but we are presently at 5.1 Dolby digital or AC3 surround sound. That’s four speakers at the front – left, right, centre and subwoofer and two rear speakers. Some movies have been recorded in 6.1 Dolby Digital, letting those with newer amps being able to send separate sound to a centre rear speaker. This gives more defined and positioned sound effects. Both 5.1 and 6.1 are also available in DTS. This is a high fidelity surround sound better than Dolby Digital 5.1 DTSES or 6.1 DTS EX Dolby digital 6.1 is often referred to as EX. More speakers don’t mean louder sound, they mean more realistic detailed sound. There are other sound formats like THX but these only work on certain equipment.
Soon 7.1 channel surround sound where two surround backs are at the rear of the room and two surround speakers sit at the side will be available. Rear Speakers just like the front speakers, should be positioned as close to head height as possible for the best sound.
7.1 channel Dolby digital and DTS are going to be available to us as soon as Blue Ray Laser DVD and HD DVD titles start coming out with it.
What is Blue ray laser DVD and HD DVD I hear you ask. Many of us will remember the VHS v’s Beta Video format war. People had to choose which camp to support and in the end with VHS winning (thanks to better marketing and availability of titles), people who had invested in Beta machines and Beta video collections found their system without a future. Soon you couldn’t get movies on Beta from the video store and later even not able to get blank tapes, forcing them to start over with VHS and tossing out the useless Beta.
Welcome to the new format war
* NEWS : 19 Feb 08, The Format War is now over, Sony Blu Ray has won. Toshiba HD DVD has conceded defeat in the battle over formats for next-generation video. "We concluded that a swift decision would be best," Toshiba President Atsutoshi Nishida told reporters at his company's Tokyo office.
Some movie houses have gone with one format, others with the other format. This means that until there is a winner and one format prevails leaving only one, people who like to collect movies will only get certain titles on their chosen format. Why isn’t your DVD good enough? It is for a lot of people, but for a lot of people who have newer, higher definition AV products, these new formats have picture and sound better than you have ever seen at home.
Blue Ray Laser DVD and HD DVD fit more information because the laser is smaller which allows more on the disc. With high definition movies and the need for multiple, more complex audio information to be stored means that a conventional DVD doesn’t have enough room.
That leads me on the High Definition, and what it really means TV as we know it is beamed to our homes as an analogue broadcast.
For the last five or so years we have been lucky to be offered digital TV broadcast. Just like the transition from analogue to digital mobile phones, the difference is greater quality all round. Digital TV is a beautiful crisp picture and better clearer sound, as well as extra channels and greater options including High Definition. Normal TV as we traditionally know it is called Standard Definition, also known as 576i. All TV’s can display Standard Definition TV and it’s about the quality of DVD. Not all TV’s can display HD.
WHAT IS HIGH DEFINITION?
It is higher resolution or in other words better definition and Dolby digital 5.1 surround sound. TV pictures look more crisp, with greater colour and bolder more detailed characters. You can see finer detail like blades of grass or individual skin pores on people’s faces. The sound is like watching a DVD. This resolution High Definition is known as 1080i. High Definition is also available in a higher quality known as true HD or 1080p. This is the resolution that will be displayed on the latest plasma, LCD and projectors, as well as Blue ray laser and HD DVD. This is the highest resolution available at the moment to the AV industry/world. TV broadcast is displaying 1080i as it’s highest resolution at the moment. High definition TV doesn’t just mean better picture and sound. Recently both channel 7 and 10 have started running alternate programs on their HD channels. You might have “friends” on SD 10 and HD 10, a HD presented “World Around Us” program.
To get HD you need a TV with a HD tuner built in or a HD ready TV with a separate HD set top box.
Digital TV also offers extra channels like ABC2 and program guides, as well as multiple angles for selected programs.
Click here to get my helpful Dig TV guide to download. All my customers get this and find it great!
IS LCD OR PLASMA BETTER?
A year ago I wouldn’t have suggested buying LCD. However, now I think that you can’t go past a good quality 1080p LCD like the Sony Brava X series. It’s awesome.
Plasma has gotten a bad rap in the media lately about high power usage. I’m no expert in these matters but from what I understand the better brands are generally as good as LCD in terms of power usage. Plasma still has it’s place and is sometimes better for certain situations.
LCD is getting better by the day and surely will soon dominate the market. Bigger LCD’s still have a ways to go, particularly above 60”.
WHAT ABOUT WIRELESS SURROUND SOUND?
This is a technology that hasn’t yet reached maturity.
I know that they sell systems claiming to be wireless, but like most wireless systems, they are very restricted and are often more frustrating than need be.
Generally, the back speakers need power points and often a speaker wire connects the speakers to each other or a box that sits at the back of the room, also needing power.
If someone walks in the path of the transmitter at the front and the receiver at the back, the signal is interrupted and surround sound stops temporarily. Even high end products don’t perform great.
I’ve even seen systems that are interfered with when the microwave is on or a cordless phone rings.
The wired solution is always the better option, unless other options aren’t available, avoid wireless systems at this stage.
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