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Alarm Systems
Entertainment Systems
Q. What Is Home
Theater and What Does It Do for Me?
A. Home theater refers to a setup of audio
and video equipment in your home that tries to duplicate
the movie theater experience. The application of this
definition can vary widely, however. Many consumers are
intimidated by the term "Home Theater" as they think
this means a lot of money, equipment, and cables running
all over the place.
At its most complex, you can indeed have a custom built
home theater with a high end video projector, high end
DVD player(s), separate amplifiers for each channel
controlled by a master preamp or controller, in-wall
speakers, and a couple of subwoofers that can just about
shake down the entire neighborhood.
In reality, home theater, as actually applied in most
homes, does not consist of an expensive custom
installation, or a lot of money. A home theater can be
something as simple as a 27-inch TV, a basic DVD player
and/or HiFi VCR, inexpensive stereo or AV receiver, and
speakers. Whatever type of system you end up with, as
long as it provides the entertainment options you need
and like, then it is your "Home Theater". You can have a
home theater in just about any room of the house, a
small apartment, office, dorm, or even outside. The
options you choose are up to you.
The application of home theater is intended to provide
the consumer with an entertainment option that is
suitable for watching television and movies at home with
a little extra excitement than you normally get just
watching a plain-old TV by itself.
By borrowing from both the image and sound technology of
the movie theater and adapting it to the home
environment, the consumer can actually approximate the
movie theater experience at home, based on the options
he/she chooses.
Q. Should I Get a Video Projector or a
Television for my Home Theater?
A. The size of the television or video display
device you get really depends on the size of the room
environment you will be using it in and how close you
will be sitting to the screen.
However, the decision as to what type of television you
get is a little more complex. No matter what type of
television or video display device you purchase, make
sure it is high definition compatible, even if you don't
have access to high definition programming yet; this
will change very soon.
With specific reference as to whether one should get a
television-type video display vs. a video projector, the
main factor you have to take into consideration is
whether you intend to watch a lot of television programs
vs. DVD movies.
Important factors to take note of when considering a
video projector vs. a television-type video display
include:
• Video projectors do not have RF cable or antenna
connections like a television has. However, if your
cable or satellite box has either S-Video, component,
and/or DVI (for HD components) connections you would be
able to hook them up to a video projector.
• Video projectors have a very limited bulb life. In
other words, if you are watching TV on your video
projector about 3-4 hours every night, you would have to
replace the light source bulb about once a year at
200-400 dollars a pop.
• Due to the very large screen sizes used in video
projection, standard TV or satellite do not look as good
as they do on standard large screen television. In
addition, VHS looks very poor, due to its low
resolution. If you have HDTV-cable or HDTV-satellite,
you would get much better results.
Ideally, video projection really best for viewing DVD
movies and, if you desire longer bulb life, limit your
viewing to about 10 hours a week and your projection
bulb will last about two years.
If you are looking for a replacement for nightly TV
watching, it would be more cost effective to buy a large
screen rear projection television, LCD, or Plasma set
rather than a video projector.
Q. What is the Difference Between an LCD TV and a
Plasma TV?
A. Outward appearances are definitely deceiving when it
comes to LCD and Plasma televisions. Although both types
of televisions are flat and thin, they employ different
technology in an attempt to deliver similar results.
Plasma television
technology is based loosely on the fluorescent light
bulb. The display itself consists of cells. Within each
cell two glass panels are separated by a narrow gap in
which neon-xenon gas is injected and sealed in plasma
form during the manufacturing process. The gas is
electrically charged at specific intervals when the
Plasma set is in use. The charged gas then strikes red,
green, and blue phosphors, thus creating a television
image. Each group of red, green, and blue phosphors is
called a pixel (picture element).
Although Plasma
television technology eliminate the need for the bulky
picture tube and electron beam scanning of traditional
televisions, because it still employs the burning of
phosphors to generate an image, Plasma televisions still
suffer from some of the drawbacks of traditional
televisions, such as heat generation and screen-burn of
static images.
LCD televisions, on the other hand, use a different
technology.
Basically, LCD panels are
made of two layers of transparent material, which are
polarized, and are "glued" together. One of the layers
is coated with a special polymer that holds the
individual liquid crystals. Current is then passed
through individual crystals, which allow the crystals to
pass or block light to create images. LCD crystals do
not produce their own light, so an external light
source, such as florescent bulb is needed for the image
created by the LCD to become visible to the viewer.
Unlike standard CRT and
Plasma televisions, since there are no phosphors that
light up, less power is needed for operation and the
light source in an LCD television generates less heat
than a Plasma or traditional television. Also, because
of the nature of LCD technology, there is no radiation
emitted from the screen itself.
Plasma vs. LCD
The ADVANTAGES of Plasma over LCD are:
• Larger screen size availability.
• Better contrast ratio and ability to render deeper
blacks.
• Better color accuracy and saturation.
• Better motion tracking (little or no motion lag in
fast moving images).
The DISADVANTAGES of Plasma vs. LCD include:
• Plasma TVs are more susceptible to burn-in of static
images.
• Plasma TVs generate more heat than LCDs, due to the
need to light of phosphors to create the images.
• Does not perform as well at higher altitudes.
• Shorter display life span (about 30,000 hours or 8 hrs
of viewing a day for 9 years) than LCD. However, screen
life span is improving to as high as 60,000 hours. due
to technology improvements.
LCD television
ADVANTAGES over Plasma include:
• No burn-in of static images.
• Cooler running temperature.
• No high altitude use issues.
• Increased image brightness over Plasma.
• Longer display life (about 60,000 hours - at which
time all you may need to do is replace the light source,
not the entire set). This can vary according other
environmental and use factors.
• Lighter weight (when comparing same screen sizes) than
Plasma counterparts.
DISADVANTAGES of
LCD vs. Plasma televisions include:
• Lower contrast ratio, not as good rendering deep
blacks.
• Not as good at tracking motion (fast moving objects
may exhibit lag artifacts) - However, this is improving.
• Not as common in large screen sizes above 42-inches as
Plasma. However, the number is growing fast, with some
LCD sets having a screen size as large as 65-inches now
available to the general public.
• Although LCD televisions do not suffer from burn-in
susceptibility, it is possible that individual pixels on
an LCD televisions can burn out, causing small, visible,
black or white dots to appear on the screen. Individual
pixels cannot be repaired; the whole screen would need
to be replaced at that point, if the individual pixel
burnout becomes annoying to you.
• LCD televisions are typically more expensive than
equivalent-sized Plasma televisions (although this is
changing), especially when comparing EDTV Plasmas to
HDTV-LCD Televisions.
Q. How Do I Build a
Custom Home Theater System and Room?
A. The best way to evaluate the potential of your room
is to have someone knowledgeable in the field actually
come in, assess the environment in person, and take note
of any good points and bad points, as well as suggesting
options on where to place your components for maximum
benefit and ease of use.
In addition, you will get a much more accurate budget
picture of the whole project as the installer/contractor
will not overlook small details that you may have
overlooked, that could end up being significant.
Factors to Take Into Consideration
Some of the factors that a professional will consider
when installing a home theater include:
• The size of the room.
• Where your audience will sit in relation to the
screen.
• Acoustical properties of the room.
• Ambient light issues that may affect the type of video
display system to be used.
• Whether a projection system or large screen television
will work best.
• Whether In-wall or standalone speakers would be most
effective.
• Where your components will be located.
• Room Ventilation for both the viewers and home theater
components.
These, and other, factors can be determined best by an
on-site inspection of the actual room or by looking a
architectural plans for a home to be constructed with
home theater in mind.
Q. How Much Do I Really Need to Spend on a Home
Theater?
The cost of your home
theater depends on three factors:
• What you have already that you intend to use.
• What you need or want to buy to add to what you
already have.
• What you need or want if you end up starting from
scratch.
In order have a functioning home theater system you need
the following at a minimum:
• A TV or Video Display
• A DVD player and/or VCR
• A surround sound capable Receiver
• Loudspeakers (usually five satellite speakers and a
subwoofer)
• All the cables and connectors
• A surge protector (a good way of centralizing and
protection your equipment).
In the end, what you spend really depends on what you
want and where it is to be used. Advances in technology
and the downward price spiral of components are
constantly changing what to expect in terms of a
potential home theater budget.
Home theater is something that can be tailored to your
individual needs. There is no single best home theater
system or type of system, everyone has their own
individual way on how to integrate the movie theater
experience into their own home environment, and that is
the way it should be. After all, it is YOUR home
theater!
Contact us for FREE ESTIMATES!
Contact us at
asesecurity@cox.net
Local
Phone/Fax: 520.623.2595
ASE Security
Services has teamed up with
ONQ home
to provide the ultimate
automated solutions in
entertainment, comfort, and communications for your home.
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