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Display
This install posed an interesting problem. There was an existing 20" regular TV on a standard wall bracket when we arrived. We pulled that down, but we had to get the TV high enough that the tall customer wouldn't bump his head on the way into the bedroom. I had to design/build a rack mount for the satellite TV box in order to make it part of the system. |
Display is just a general term for your TV.
If you've been to any electronics store this decade,
you know there's a dizzying array of display choices.
- Plasma
- LCD flatpanel
- LCD projection
- LCD front projection
- CRT projection
- CRT front projection
- DLP projection
- DLP front projection
- Traditional CRT tube televisions
Narrowing the focus to which choices are best for your use
depends on the room. The room is the key to every system - it's the thing
which can't change. We must work within the confines of the room in determining
the proper display for any room.
First and foremost - do you like the picture? Next size
consideration. It's pretty silly to put a 60 inch projection TV in your
bedroom. Conversely, you wouldn't put a 20" screen in a large room.
The goal is balance the size of the room with the size of the display
that's comfortable to look at from main viewing positions.
Next to consider in a display - what content are you going
to be viewing. In an electronics store, the big displays are hooked up
to a $2000 DVD player. 90% of home television viewing is broadcast. The
DVD is complete digital content - all the signal comes through. Broadcast
can be interrupted resulting in partial signal - static, bad picture,
sound, etc. Digital broadcast is not tightly regulated at this time. The
'digital' signal you might be receiving may have been broadcast as analog
through much of its transmission. For right now, 480 interlaced is still
the broadcast standard. High Definition is 1080 interlaced - this is what
you see in an electronics store. There is image enhancing done by certain
manufacturer's products. Make sure you're watching the type of broadcast
in the store that you will be watching at home before you buy your display.
Know what you're getting.
We all turn our heads when a Ferrari drives by - but we
can't all afford one. Cost is not the end all and be all in most cases.
You don't want to blow your entire budget on the display and have to cut
back elsewhere in your system. The display, like the rest of your system,
should match your needs and your budget.
The goal of home theater is to translate your desires into
electronic equipment to fit your budget. Theaters can be built for almost
any budget - call Steve to discuss your desires today. |
Frequently Asked Questions
What is the difference between rear
projection, LCD, Plasma and regular TV.
Wow - huge question! I will try to answer without
getting real technical. A rear projection or front projection system is
the most cost effective way to get a very big screen. However , most of
them will have issues with ambient light. LCD and Plasma are similar in
that they are both "Flat panel" displays, they can be mounted
to the wall and have good viewing angles. For the moment the larger ones
are plasma but the LCD's are catching up quick and will most likely in
a few years be the only flat panel built. Regular TV - the big box in
the corner - is your father's Oldsmobile; Gone. Some of todays manufacturers
have already stopped making tube TV's altogether.
What equipment do you recommend?
Each room or system has different needs. I try
not to blindly recommend any gear. There are too many factors involved.
I want to see, measure and listen to the room before picking out any equipment
for it.
Is more expensive always better?
I've got to be real careful here, but the short answer
is yes. To totally answer the question for your needs, I need to meet
with you and see the room(s) you want to have the gear in. We need to
establish a budget and go from there. If you buy a $3000 flat panel you
probably don't want the $39 DVD player.
What is the minimum $$ amount for a system?
There are "home theater in a box" systems
starting at $99 but they are very limited in power and expandability.
If you already have a good display(TV) that you like, adding a surround
system can cost from $500 up to whatever you can imagine. Again, each
room is unique.
Satellite vs. cable.
I get this all the time. I can't absolutely say
one over the other. If you want local HD cable is easiest. If you want
a lot of HD sat is better but can go out in heavy weather.
I want home theater but what do I do with all the
remotes?
I recommend the harmony
remote to most of my clients. This remote is more than a universal
remote that will handle all components of your home theater system. It's
programmable so that once programmed, a single button push is all that's
required to handle each of your home theater functions. Playing a DVD
using a universal remote involves at least:
- Hit the TV function
- Select the proper TV/Video option
- Hit the DVD function
- Turn on the DVD player
- Press play
With a programmed Harmony remote, all
steps are programmed so that using your system is as easy as pressing
a button. I can custom-program a remote for your system in a few hours.
When will my stuff be outdated?
If you buy the lowest price stuff it may be slightly
outdated in 5 years but most equipment will still work fine for many years
maybe with some additional gear.
What does progressive scan mean?
You see this a lot on DVD players. To simplify,
progressive scan sends the image to the screen twice as fast. If you want
to get more technical a standard NTSC(US standard) image contains 480
vertical lines of image which is sent 240 lines in the first 1/64 of a
second and the second alternate lines sent in the second 1/64 of a second.
Hence 32 frames per second. This is called interlaced which is standard
definition TV. Progressive sends all 480 lines in the same 1/64 of a second
making a sharper picture.
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