Home Theater Fundamentals: Part 2

So here we are, after a week of consolidation. Just to keep mentally up to speed, let’s recap what we covered earlier. For the uninitiated, this is a sequel to the Home Theater Fundamentals article, where basic points about home theater are touched upon in an absolutely simple way; devoid of any technical spiel, except where I feel necessary.

We had touched upon the source of your AV data – the DVD, which is played by the optical drive unit or what's commonly known as the DVD player. Next up we had the connections and their various avatars, after which AV receivers were introduced. From the AV receiver let's go on to the sound system and the video display.

The Display
What you see is what you get. The most common and oldest display device is the CRT (cathode ray tube) television, the one with the huge footprint and curved screens. Many (including yours truly) feel that picture quality is best on a CRT; the levels of saturation and color tones are very good, so is the brightness and clarity. Contrary to popular belief there are large screens available in CRTs too, even 50-inch ones. After all, analog is better than digital in the realms of sound and video. Their price tags can humble the savviest flat screens, but otherwise the smaller sizes are the cheapest choice.

Nowadays the market is abuzz with everyone’s envy and everyone’s pride: flat panels. These are of two types – LCD (liquid crystal display) and plasma. Which one is better is an age-old debate – it will be covered in a future feature; right now it must be understood that the two are very different digital video technologies.

Whatever TV you have, it will have these connections: Component video, HDMI (High Definition Multimedia Interface), Composite and S-video for the video from the DVD players. For connections refer to part one of this feature. Besides the video connections, there are audio outputs and inputs – not so important unless you want to take the audio out from the cable reception and connect it to your sound system. You can play it in surround sound, even though it is in simple stereo (we'll look at that in a moment). A PC input is also provided so that you can use the screen as your monitor if required.

Projectors
Projectors are the other side of the coin in the display section of your home theater. Prices can vary widely, but there are mainly two types, viz. DLP (digital light processing) and LCD. DLP is considered to have more saturation and contrast. Projectors come with a burden of something known as 'lamp life', which means the lamp is going to go off, maybe sooner than you think if you don’t maintain your projector. Another thing is you need to be in a dark room for most of the models.

But all said and done, it’s the ultimate style of viewing, as the screen size can be larger than your wildest expectations. If set correctly, the image quality is brilliant too.