Home Theater, On a Budget Like Mine - part 4

ACT IV (The Finale): Make the Most of Your System Well if you've read the three previous posts I'd like to thank you for getting this far. Think of this as the bonus features on a DVD. We've traveled through the environment of a great home theater, looked closely at the projector, and hopefully you we're listening during the ramblings on about the surround sound. What more could we possibly talk about? Glad you asked, because there is more. This is a rundown of a few items that enhance the use of your system and ensure that you squeeze the most of your investment. Then we'll finish with a full list of all items pictured and noted in this 4 part post.(Before you continue, it's wise to read this.)

*The DVD player - I noted earlier that I opted for a 400 disc DVD player. The unit I use at home features HDMI and Component output for high quality and features an upconverter. Upconversion helps crispen up the video output before getting to your HD projector or display. Your HD capable unit has a higher resolution than a standard DVD and when a lower resolution signal is displayed it often takes on a fuzzier or less detailed look since its 'spreading' that image and upconverting DVD players help cut down on that effect. Also the other benefit of a 400 disc player is the elimination of the need for a DVD rack, keeping the clutter down to a minimum. Also on that not the projector setup also allowed me to have a home theater with no need for an entertainment center again freeing up a lot of space in the mixed-use room of mine.

*High Definition - With digital broadcasts coming and the latest format war between HDDVD and Bluray ended its time to prepare yourself. First digital does not mean HD. Did you catch that? If not, read that line again. I'm sure that's eventually where its all headed, but when over the air (good ol' rabbit ears) goes digital it only affects those not currently with cable or satellite TV. HD media will be present in select digital broadcasts, and certain satellite and cable channels and programs. Slowly more and more programming will move toward HD. Home movie viewing changing quite a lot actually due to Bluray and internet streaming/downloadable content. Bluray is simple and in my opinion going to be the most common for some time. You buy a Bluray player or PS3 gaming console a Bluray movie disc, pop it in and enjoy. For internet content there are subscription based services streaming to your PC, latest gen gaming console, and a few more services in the works.

*Media Centers - Truly add another dimension to your home theater by combining the best of PC entertainment as well. PCs designed to fit into your array of home theater components are PCs featuring TV tuners, music and video libraries, the internet and so on. With wireless keyboard and mice sets designed for use while lounging on the couch its the best of both worlds. In my list of favorite things article I mentioned XBMC (Xbox Media Center) which in my case is a software modified Xbox that can play games, and manage my media, check weather, watch movie trailers just for starts, and so much more, it's all the PC without the PC.

*The Other Rooms - Don't let your other rooms feel left out just 'cause one of them has been graced with a sublime home theater. Most A/V receivers come with Room B or Room 2 speaker outputs. It's just like it sounds, it'll play to either the main room and a secondary (or outside on the patio) or both. With my 2.4GHz wireless (think cordless phone) Xbox controllers I can go any where in my house adjusting volume and changing songs as I am cleaning up or just relaxing. I put two floor speakers in my front room to fill my whole house with music of my choosing.

*Home Networking - Take your mother's advice and be sure to share. Share your internet connection and media storage to all PCs, media center PCs, or XBMC units throughout your home. Again, in my favorite things article I mentioned another fabulous device the Linksys NSLU2 Network Attached Storage (NAS) adapter. Basically it converts an external Hard Drive's USB connector to work through a network cable. This allows 24hr access to your files from any device in the home, without a dedicated PC to be on all the time in order to share your data. It's not the only adapter out there, but it's a great flexible small device that can hook up to two hard drives and has a lot of features.

*Well that about does it, 'cuz I'm sick of all this typing. So as promised I'll sign off with a few more pics and a full list of all that I use in the home theater I put together (on a budget like mine).

Projector: Mitsubishi HC1500 DLP (720p)

Screen: Optoma Panoview 92" Grey Wolf, pull down

A/V receiver: Sony STR-DE695 6.1 Channel Receiver

DVD Player: Sony DVP-CX995V 400 Disc DVD/CD player

Speakers: Harman Kardon HKTS 8 (6.1) Home Cinema System

Speakers (room B): Infinity Reference 2000.4 Floor Speakers

Console: Xbox, soft-modded with XBMC (Media Center)

Data Storage: Linksys NSLU2 2-port USB 2.0 HDD network storage adapter

-and the last 3 pics:


Screenshot of the main XBMC menu screen
Though not particularly pleasing to the eye, this closet hidden mess stores nearly 1TB of information. The NSLU2 is the small furthest to the rear.
Infinity Reference 2000.4 floor speaker, classy looking unit I think, looks at home in my front room.

Home Theater, On a Budget Like Mine - Part 3

Act III: The Sound The room is prepped, the stage set, the projector mounted and dialed in, you pop in your favorite flick loaded with great special effects. Everything looks great, but how does it sound? That's the question we'll answer in this segment. It is said that the great and almighty George Lucas stated that the sound was 50% of a movie. Well I think he is right. A lot of time and effort is spent tweaking the audio just so on any movie no matter how basic, but the fun sets in when there is at least 5.1 audio channels synchronized and adjusted to immerse you in movie land.
*First things first, lets follow the flow from its source. We won't go into too much detail between Dolby Digital, DTS, etc., but touch upon technical data as it is necessary. So whats on that disc anyways and what are you missing by not taking advantage? Well most movies are Dolby Digital 5.1 encoded. So here is the break down: 1. Center, 2. left front, 3. right front, 4. left rear, 5. right rear, and 6. subwoofer (yes 5.1 actually means SIX speakers). So if the disc contains all that info lets take advantage of it and stop using a simple 2 channel setup, its bad for the karma and makes audiophiles (name adopted by those with an obsession to all things audio) angry enough to make you swallow a tweeter.
*Decode, amplify, and distribute. The reason most movies are Dolby Digital 5.1 is because it will work with both 2 channel and 5.1 home configurations with no action required on your part. DTS and other similar 'advanced' encodings require that you choose that option on a movie's language or audio menu. This is because the DTS signal is purely a data signal that needs to be decoded by another source. 5.1 audio requires a receiver and for DTS a compatible decoder must also be present. The more advanced audio signals can only be transmitted through a true digital cable (sometimes called a SPDIF), such as a digital coax cable (looks like a regular RCA style plug but there is just one for all channels) or an optical (toslink) cable. Then your receiver decodes the digital goodness and amplifies the signal and sends it to your speakers. Pretty simple really, but to make it work you need to have the digital output enabled, the right cable and of course a receiver and all the speakers.
*Lets assume you have your DVD player setup for digital output and you have the right cable in hand, now onto the receiver and speakers. These need to be considered together. You can use either a HTIB (Home Theater In a Box), or a component set where you piece it together. First lets talk about the most popular choice the HTIB. Usually chosen for cost savings but also for simplifying things. They can come with or without a DVD player. A lot of audiophiles will consider you filthy and unclean for going this route but I am not quite so against it. A decent set will usually save you money and sound pretty darn good, bang for buck speaking. A component set gives you much greater flexibility but will often times set you back a few more clams. For most folks going this route it is recommended to use a A/V receiver. A/V receivers will be the central component in your home theater. All audio and video signals will route first to the receiver then to your display and speakers.
Sony STR-DE695 6.1 Channel A/V Receiver
Rear connection panel, it's not as complex as it looks
For speakers it is usually recommended you buy the same series of speakers or a matched speaker set. This ensures that you get speakers that work in harmony so your audio output has no odd spikes at certain frequencies and conversely holes in other areas.

HARMAN KARDON HKTS 8 6.1 HOME CINEMA SYSTEM
*Speaking of speakers......the basic loudspeaker design has been the same for probably 100 years or more. Manufacturers really have dedicated most of their efforts into perfecting the design. So one might think that after a century of redesigns that things are calm in that industry but that's just not the case. It seems every year someone comes up with some other new way of perfecting the output. Moving along to the number of speakers needed (or desired). Again 5.1 being the standard so 6 total are needed. 5 satellite or surround speakers and one subwoofer. There are 7.1 encodings coming up on Bluray High Definition so be prepared if you absolutely have to be up to date. The difference is in the rear, (thank you for noticing , I've been working out) instead of simply having 2 rear speakers there are four, 2 to the side/rear and 2 more behind the listener, but lets stick with the 5.1 since the principles are the same. 1.The Center Chanel: this is the most important since the majority of all sound comes from this little beast, so make sure yours is up to the task.
Front wall mounted center channel speaker
2/3. The Left and Right Front Speakers: these also see a lot action. Another aspect that is overlooked in home theater design is music. If you plan on also using your audio system for music listening, and you take your music listening seriously, get a good pair of front speakers. 4/5. The Rear Speakers: these don't see as much action as the rest but are absolutely critical in adding depth and transform a sound system into a surround sound system. 6. The Subwoofer: probably the most fun of them all. No home theater is complete without it (since that streaming data signal dedicates a complete channel to it alone). Your smaller speakers are just not capable of producing the lower end of the sound spectrum. These require their own amplifier (usually built in) and are larger than the other speakers.

10" Subwoofer in current location (Yes in a corner but properly tuned works well in this location)
*Location, location, location. Speaker placement is as important as going through the effort of buying all those in the first place. Nothing gets under my skin quicker than to visit someones TV room and seeing all 6 speakers next to or around the TV facing out to the listeners. Whats the point?, just box up those rear speakers, it'll save you the clutter. So lets start with the Center. This needs to be as close and centered (whoa, is that where it gets it's name from?) to the TV or screen as possible, just below or above is the usual. The two front speakers should be within 12"MAX height difference compared to the center channel and wide enough to create a sense of space and width. The rear speakers should be slightly higher than the listening level and usually a bit more directly facing the listener. The Sub, well that's a different story. Bass or low frequencies are not very directional, you've just got to play with it a little before settling on a good spot. Most experts recommend the front. Also be aware that corners will amplify certain low frequencies, so in general experts say to avoid them since they alter the designed sound output. A good spot lets you get rumbled pretty good with out being able to pinpoint the sub's location with your eyes closed.
*SO with these principles in place you should now be able to add fantastic sound to match your fantastic picture!

Home Theater, On a Budget Like Mine - Part 2

Act II: The Projector
This is where we get into the heart of home theatre. The projector is a very different animal from its cousins the big screen TVs. A projector set up creates a much more genuine theatre feel and is the way most movies were meant to be enjoyed. Understanding the design factors and the advantages and disadvantages of certain models and how they apply to your situation is unfortunately a bit more complex than buying a TV. Also we'll examine the least discussed and understood, yet ever so vital 'liver' of home theatres; the projector screen.

*Projectors come in two main flavors; 1. DLP and 2. LCD. Each come in a variety of resolutions, brightness, and single and triple image processor setups. DLP uses a bulb shinning through a spinning color wheel then onto a chip made up of tiny mirrors which move according the the image its trying to portray. An LCD projector is not very different than your flat screen computer monitor. A light shines through a thin crystal panel that adjusts the color of the grid system according to the image as needed. I won't go much into the history or technical nuts and bolts but give some more insight as the market is at this moment (Spring 2008). DLP usually has the contrast advantage, or difference between the projectors brightest white and darkest black. (You'll see this listed as a ratio of something like 2500:1) Because the DLP mirrors are either reflecting or not, its easy to switch between full brightness and 'off'. Because LCDs have to try and block that very bright and hot bulb from shinning through the very thin film its harder to completely block it. A lot of people will be heard saying that DLP projectors have better black levels than their LCD brothers. LCD technology is more established and traditionally DLP with their color wheel, has struggled a little bit with color accurateness. The newest and more expensive models from either side of the camp have better technology to deal with these issues. There used to be a big price difference but as it stands right now they are pretty close (excluding the highest end triple DLP 1080p projectors which costs more than you would like to know).

*Moving along to resolution. This will determine the price range faster than any other spec. Since this is all for the home theatre application we will leave the 4:3 full screen (think old square TV) resolution units out of this, and focus on 16:9 widescreen resolutions. With HD on the move, the primary resolutions are as follows: 480p, 720p, 1080i, and 1080p (also referred to as full HD). ***mind your P's and I's: p= progressive scan, means that the horizontal resolution is , for all intents and purposes, doubled compared to the i which means interlaced.*** 480p is 720x480 and the resolution of the majority of regular DVD movies. 720p is 1280x720 and 1080p is 1920x1080 (1080i is pretty much a worthless resolution since due to the interlacing of the horizontal resolution it is no better than 720p). So its actually pretty simple the bigger the number of pixels or dots the better the resolution and therefor a better picture, all else being equal.

*Brightness, briefly discussed in part 1 of this post, is also very important. The brighter the projector the more flexible it is with the lighting conditions. A dim projector requires you to black out the whole room while a very bright projector can be used in a variety of light conditions.

*Bulbs. A big difference than most display types is that projector bulbs are like most any other light bulb, they need to be replaced. Most last between 2,000 - 5,000 hours and cost $300 - $400. You have to keep that cost in mind when buying one. Also check with the company you're purchasing your unit from, most have 1-4 yr service plans that will replace the bulb 1-2 times during that period, saving you hundreds of dollars.

*Installation, another big consideration is whether or not the projector you desire will work in your desired location. Check with the manufacturer or use a online projector calculator.

*-*Ok so lets get down to a few other details people will come across that I think need a little more attention. You need to realize that projectors do not have TV tuners built in. As long as you are using satellite or the equivalent you're ok. Another tid bit is the cost. People assume that because its not a TV it should be cheaper, but lets take a glance at that. These home theatre units usually have complex video processing brains to compensate for a myriad of resolutions and fast moving video that they have to deal with. Projectors are also extremely PC friendly, making it easy to hook up your laptop or home theatre PC. Finally the resolutions of the main LCD or DLP image processors are quite amazing. Lets simplify things for our mathematical comparisons. Lets say that a DLP mirror chip is 1 square inch. So a 1080p of 1920x1080 pixels equals 2,073,600 dots per square inch! Now a 50" 1080p plasma uses the same number of pixels or cells with just over 1,000 square inches dividing 2,073,600 pixels by that is 'only' a hair under 2,000 pixels per square inch. So as you can see by our very simplified mathematics we're talking about some serious hardware.

*Onto the the screen. This ultimately determines the size of your image, and like the rest of using a projector isn't as simple as you might think. The screens use different materials and can be portable and mounted on an easel, permanently exposed, manual pull downs, and automatic as your projector either turns on or off. The biggest misunderstanding is a term called 'gain'.

*Gain - a number system used to measure the reflectiveness of the material of the screen. A gain of 1.0 is considered the base or neutral gain amount. Think of it as a plain white sheet of paper. A gain of 0 is like the black hole of your dryer that eats socks and a gain of 2.0+ is like the reflective lettering used on a street sign. Low gain screens will require a brighter projector but usually help balance extreme color contrasts like a movie scene with fluffy white clouds on the top and a dark forest in view below. A screen with high gain helps with projectors with lower native contrasts ratios and help compensate for a dimmer unit. They have another disadvantage if they go too high, and that's called hot spotting. Meaning they are brighter when viewed at the same angle as the projector than view that are more extreme, low and neutral gain screens help even the image at all angles. Most screens fall between .8 and 1.2 gain and are great for most applications.

*So for my setup I ended up going with the Mistubishi HC1500 DLP 720p projector. It combines a lot of great fetures at a great price. I mainly used two online resources to come to the conclusion in purchasing the unit. Projector Central and Projector People
Both sites are great, Projector Central is more like a projector magazine while Projector People is a fantastic online store.
The Hc1500 in its natural habitat (I haven't yet hid the cables)
*HC1500 specs:
Resolution:WXGA-H (1280 x 720)
Display Type:DLP®; 0.62" 1-Chip DMD, 12deg. LVDS DarkChip2™ with DDP3020 Brilliant Color and 7-segment (RGBWRGB) color wheel.
Brightness:1600 lumens
Contrast:2500:1
Weight:6.5 lbs.
Warranty:1 year(s)
Lamp Life: 2000 - 3000 hours

*Optoma Panoview Grey Wolf 92" Screen
92" diagonal screen with 16:9 aspect ratio
Gain: 1.8 screen gain
Material: High-contrast, gray-base with pearl glass-beaded screen enhances black levels and shadow details
Dimensions: Height 87" Width 100" Depth 4" Weight 26 lbs.