Using Your DVD Home Theater System
Do you remember the Betamax-VHS war? If you do, youve been around long enough to see how vastly home entertainment has changed. Betamax died a short, agonizing death and the VCR became the undisputed ruler of home theater. Its reign was long and popular, but the VCR format definitely had its drawbacks. Bulky video cartridges that took up more space than your entire bookshelf, and broken, frayed tapes that were eaten by the player are just two of these routine annoyances.
The times have turned again with the advent of the DVD home theater system. Digital video disks (DVDs) made their debut in 1995-1996. To make the transition even more palatable, some of the electronic kings Philips, Sony and Toshiba along with movie studios came to an agreement on DVD standards that brought uniformity to the technology. By the time DVD home theater systems moved into your living room, these DVDs looked just like music compact disks (CDs) and computer CD-ROMs. One important difference is that your DVD home theater systems are able to store at least seven times the amount of data that a music CD can hold. For you, this means that you can watch Gone With the Wind all three hours of it- without changing disks.
How Do I Use It?
Using your DVD home theater system isnt difficult. In fact, more than ten million American homes use this technology. Your system is further enhanced by the use of AC-3, a digital version of Dolby Surround Sound. Youll find that AC-3 uses digital compression to provide CD-quality sound in as many as five surround channels; left, center, right, and separate right and left rear channels. Theres even a sixth channel for a low-frequency subwoofer. Your DVD home theater system will deliver extraordinary sound quality as well as cinema-quality video reproduction.
Fortunately, you dont have to be an electronic genius to operate and enjoy your DVD home theater system. All the technological work has been done for you; you dont have to understand it to use and enjoy it. But you should know the industrys buzz words like AC-3 and Dolby Surround Sound when you purchase your system. This lets the electronics salesman know that youre not a techno-idiot and you want your moneys worth without a lot of sales talk. You may not know how it works, but you do know what you need.
Yes, youre going to have to read the manual. However, even these how-to guides have become more user friendly. You do need to have patience in setting up your equipment; your DVD home theater system isnt a toaster. But it is an investment for you and your family unless all you need are re-runs of inane reality shows.
Home Theater System Sale
But it is an investment for you and your family unless all you need are re-runs of inane reality shows.
You need to decide how big you want the picture to be, and whether you should use a television or a screen with a projector. En vogue now is the 60-incher to achieve the best home theater system. You can either tell them that its magic or you can let them in on your little secret, that you spent your money on wireless home theater speakers. Probably the best type of home theater system is a row of leather reclining seats with cup holders, but your family may prefer something different. Its meant to make you feel as though youre there, experiencing the action.
In your new home theater set up, you will be able to watch movies and DVDs as well as cable, in High Definition if youd like.
But for now, prepare to spend a bundle if you want high quality home theatre equipment. These systems range from simple and inexpensive to complex, expensive and high maintenance. If you have the room for a home theater, it can definitely be worth the time and expense involved. Getting out of the house for a while, meeting up with friends, and enjoying the action and sound on that huge screen and those big, booming speakers is just plain fun. They have probably heard which items are good and which ones arent by customers who have bought them.
One of the first decisions that need to be taken is where to install the home theater sound system.
Of course, you wont be able to see the same movies that are playing at the theaters, but if you have the right setup, you can enjoy it more than you would at a theater anyway. Your friends will be jealous and theyll want to know where you got them. You should set up your projectors in a surround sound type of atmosphere, so you should be sure to get all of the correct types of projectors that you will need. |
