Buying Audio/Video devices for Home Theater
The home theater system with its multiple speakers is just a part of a home theater setup and for the best home theater experience you need high quality audio video sources and some display unit to provide theater like visual experience. Most people still use a standard CD/DVD player or a flat screen, CRT TV for a basic home theater setup. However, there are a lot many options available today while prices of these components have become affordable.
First let’s consider the input devices:
DVD Player
 High end DVD Player from Samsung |
DVD players have many advantages over other devices. In the first place, they are cost effective and are the better replacement for the old CD players which can play only CDs. As you can find most of the popular titles in DVD format, it provides the best home entertainment. Although DVD can not support high definition video material, it provides digital surround sound features and can offer picture is wide screen aspect which is essential for home theater experience.
When you choose a DVD player for the home theater, make sure it uses progressive scan. This feature removes the interlaced scan lines of the standard definition image and provides better, sharper picture on HDTV sets like plasma TV or LCD TV. A Home theater-in-a-box sometimes includes a DVD player and can save your money. However, you need to test the picture quality before you buy such in-built units.
Blu-ray disc player
 Sony BDPS-500 Blu-ray Player |
A blu-ray disc player can play both high definition material like blu-ray discs and DVDs and even CDs. Expensive, though, it is an excellent addition to the home theater setup even if you have a high end DVD player. You can also connect it to HDTV broadcasting channels and record and playback HDTV programmes with home theater sound effects.
Other audio/video sources
VCR is still being used to record and playback TV programmes and although its quality may not be as good as a DVD Recorder. A few DVD recorders also include VCR so you can record and playback both the formats.
For larger storage, there is DVR or Digital Video Recorder which comes with a hard disk as storage medium and can store plenty of videos in digital format.
Another important element in a home theater setup is a TV set or a video projector. Like input devices, there are many choices ranging between older CRT TV and the latest, high end HDTV sets.
Flat screen CRT TV sets
CRT TVs are cheaper, however offers fewer choices when you go for larger screen size. A 26" or 30"CRT TV is available for affordable price and is suitable for basic home theater setup which includes a standard DVD player. Currently, the largest screen available with CRT TV is 36" and has a disadvantage of occupying more room space.
Plasma TV
 63" Plasma TV from Samsung |
Plasma TVs come with larger screens (42" and above) and thickness of just a few inches. They can offer picture with excellent black levels and wider viewing angles. The colour quality is vivid, vibrant and life-like. Prices go up with the screen size. However, their HDTV capabilities and larger screens make a huge difference, when it comes to rendering truly home theater experience.
LCD TV
Samsung LE40S86BD |
LCD TV is another flat panel TV with high definition capabilities. Like Plasma TV, it comes with sleek design and can be hanged on a wall or takes much less space. A LCD TV is much more expensive than a similar sized plasma TV while LCD TVs with larger screen (above 42”) are rare in the market due to high cost factors. For a home theater, it is a great option as it offers picture with more details or resolution. However, larger picture experience, you need to go for other options like rear projection TVs or video projectors.
Rear projection TV
There are two types of rear projection TVs available - rear projection CRT TVs and LCD rear projection TV sets. These sets have HD capabilities, larger screens and also come with affordable prices. However, they render inferior picture quality in bright rooms and also suffer from narrow viewing angles.
HD Video projector
 Mitsubishi FL7000U XGA Projector |
This is an excellent option for real movie lovers. You can install the projector in a cabinet behind you and it projects the video on a screen that can be as big as 100". Projector is suitable for larger rooms and for outdoor home theater setup as larger screen is needed while the ambient room conditions have also to be considered.
