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DVD: A Guide to Home Theaters

J

JHowse

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For those of you who are considering getting DVD, you need to consider the following elements of a home theater. These consist of your TV, your video devices, and your sound system. The simplest of the home theaters is any TV coupled with a VCR. When purchasing just these two parts, any TV will do, and a decent quality VCR is fine. For quality audio, you need a stereo system. One that can decode Dolby Pro Logic is even better. Things change when you get to DVD.

Why is this, you ask? DVD is basically an extremely compressed CD capable of holding up a few gigabytes of data, each. A movie stored in DVD format uses MPEG2 compression. What this means is one can store higher resolution video and digital audio on the disk.

So what makes for a quality home theater? The very best thing to do is to go completely digital. This means a home theater stereo system capable of DTS and Dolby Digital 5.1 connected via the 6 channel inputs and an HDTV digitally connected to your DVD player.

Wow!!! This is majorly expensive, you say. That is correct. So, for those of you wanting quality DVD without having to get the most expensive components should consider the following:

-A 27" or greater TV capable of displaying 700 or more lines of resolution with component video in (or at the very bare minimum, S-Video in).
-A DVD player with component video out or S-Video out at the very least.
-A home theater package with a complete set of speakers and sub all capable of Dolby Digital 5.1 at the very minimum.

TV's capable of this are usually in the $400-$600 range. A home theater can be had for $500-$1000. A nice DVD player can be had for a few hundred. In total, you end up spending a little over $1000 for a decent setup when the HDTV alone costs you twice as much.

Just something to think about. Please share your opinions.

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Does driving a car from Saturn make me an alien?

I'm just a quick pee. - liltaz, fastest pee in the West!
 
Nice work, JHowse.
When I first started off with DVD...I thought I just needed the player, but as you correctly stated I had to slowly upgrade my 2 year old system to new components.
First upgrade was to the TV from a 25" A(udio)V(ideo)/Composite TV to a 27" S-video with 800-lines Horizontal.
Second upgrade was a purchase of a new Dolby-Digital(DD) Ready Receiver with a later purchase of a DD/DTS decoder
Third upgrade was to upgrade my VCR from VHS to S-VHS.
All this upgrade cost within $750 since I kept my speakers and I'm now watching more movies at home than at the theaters.

cool.gif


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" I'll take 'the-rapist' for $200, Alex "
 
Don't forget cables!
wink.gif
A digital audio cable (coax or fiber-optic [aka: TOSlink]) is usually $15-80 (depending on quality). Plus, speaker wire (again depending on the quality you use) will run you another $30-100.

p.s. - whatever you do, try to stay away from Bose speakers!

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"May those who love us love us. And those who don't love us-- may God turn their hearts. And if He cannot turn their hearts, may He turn their ankles, so that we may know them by their limping." -- Keeping the Faith
 
Here's a quick question:
Which is better: component or S-Video?

I'm pretty sure I know the answer, but my manual for my DVD player says that S-Video will give the best quality, while the manual for my TV says component.

Which is it, and will there be that significant a difference?

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spidergoolash: "heh, a cup of diesel dan - mwahhha"
me: "heh, a cup of me is like a cup of heaven!"
 
DD: I believe the quality "noticeability" chart goes something like this (where the longer arrow means the quality difference is more noticable):

coax -----> composite (RCA) -> S-Video --> Component ----> BNC (though most reasonably priced televisions don't support this)

(sorry, for the lame estimated "arrow" model, but I couldn't think of a better way, and I didn't want to give you numerical ratios since I don't know the actual values)

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"May those who love us love us. And those who don't love us-- may God turn their hearts. And if He cannot turn their hearts, may He turn their ankles, so that we may know them by their limping." -- Keeping the Faith

<font color="#000000">[Edited by nootch on December 12, 2000 (edited 1 time)]</font>
 
So, going by that, there's almost no difference between a typical RCA composite connection and S-Video?

BNC would be a typical coax connection, but the player (VCR or DVD) would need to have a coax out, correct?

Also, since component connections use standard RCA connectors, would any RCA cables be sufficient?


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spidergoolash: "heh, a cup of diesel dan - mwahhha"
me: "heh, a cup of me is like a cup of heaven!"
 
In my opinion, I saw a rather noticeable increase from RCA to component video (the 3 cables). Dan, component video is the next step to S-Video. What you do is instead of having several wires in the cable...you split the cables and run each of the three primary color components through each. Interference in the line is greatly reduced and you have less color bleeding.

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Does driving a car from Saturn make me an alien?

I'm just a quick pee. - liltaz, fastest pee in the West!
 
I know what the difference is. I'm just wondering if it's worth it to go from S-Video to component. I can't say I really notice any color bleeding right now with S-Video.
At the same time, I have the triple RCA cable that came with my DVD player, which was originally designed to carry composite video and stereo audio. Considering that it's essentially 3 RCA cables bundled into one, would I be able to use this cable and get an accurate feeling for what component video would be like vs. S-Video, or is there something markedly special about component video cables?


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spidergoolash: "heh, a cup of diesel dan - mwahhha"
me: "heh, a cup of me is like a cup of heaven!"
 
From what I read somewhere Component Video cables are pretty much the RCA cables but a little bit of a heavier gauge wire.

Component video is the native format for DVD recording so if you want the near-truest picture quality without any of the effects of color separation you'd want to go with Component. But, that all depends on you too...if you go to a store and don't notice any difference between the TV you have or want with S-Video and a TV with Component video then go with what you like.

Dan&gt; Why no Bose? I have Cerwin Vega's but Bose seems like a pretty good brand that my buddy has.

Does anybody have the Toshiba HDTV Widescreen TV? I'm getting one next year and want to know how you feel about it the thing? I just love the picture quality and of course the widescreen for movies.

cool.gif





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" I'll take 'the-rapist' for $200, Alex "
 
Al&gt; nootch was the one who said no Bose, but I do agree with him. There are better quality speakers out there that don't carry the hefty premium pricetag that the Bose name has.
While Bose has those nice in-store displays and presentations, I've found that they're usually aimed at people who don't know any better. They really don't sound as good when you get them home as they do in that room in the back of the Bose store.

There are audiophile-quality speakers out there that blow anything Bose makes out of the water, but for the typical home enthusiast, I would say Infinity, Klipsch, and B&W.

Check out www.audioreview.com for excellent info on any home theater equipment.


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spidergoolash: "heh, a cup of diesel dan - mwahhha"
me: "heh, a cup of me is like a cup of heaven!"
 
Well about a year ago, I bought a nice Toshiba DVD player, and boy what a difference. The picture quality is crisp and stable, and the audio is crystal clear. Back then, I was using normal RCA connections to my 27" crappy TV and a regular stereo reciever. Even with this inexpensive hardware, the difference between VHS and DVD is still very noticeable. (Not to mention that some have great xtra features on them).

But now, I have a Playstation2 that I have been diagnosing as a possible replacement for my Toshiba. So far, it seems that the PS2 has comparable image quality, slightly better audio output, and it is MUCH FASTER in the interactive menus.

Needless to say, I think I am going to sell my Toshiba to a friend. The only downfall of using the PS2 for playing DVD's is that you have to remove your game from the PS2 to put the DVD in. Which isn't really that bad, unless you don't have a memory card.

All in all, I absolutly love DVD's and have been spoiled too much to go back to VHS. And just like JHowse said- the best way to do it is to go completely digital. It gets pricey, but if you are an electronics/entertainment geek like me, it is worth it.

-May the Pick be with you.
 
ADR, I haven't been able to get my hands on a PS2 and really thought about replacing my DVD and playstation with it. One question though, does the PS2 have the ability to go component out or is it strictly S-Video at the highest?

cool.gif


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" I'll take 'the-rapist' for $200, Alex "
 
the sad news is that the PS2 is not the monster machine it was hyped to be. It does not have a composite out as of yet (that I know of), but the s-video cable is available.

the good news is that for people who are not total geeks like me, and can wait a few months to get a PS2, you will get a better deal. There will be tons more games, and lots of accessories, like the essential broadband connector, hard drive and tons of other things to spend money on. Hopefully Sony plans to include a composite output in their Expansion Bay add-on.

Who knows... I hear that people in asia are not so happy with the selection of games available. I have enjoyed playing SSX, Tekken, Madden, Sim Theme Park, and Ridge Racer so far, and look forward to a few of the big games that are on their way.
 
Can anyone tell me if this would be what I'd need to hook up my component video to my TV?

I'm so used to buying the cabling in the store, but it's much cheaper at this place.


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spidergoolash: "heh, a cup of diesel dan - mwahhha"
me: "heh, a cup of me is like a cup of heaven!"
 
Dan,

I used the MonsterVideo 2 2M cable. It's specifically a component video set, but I am pretty sure that would do the job for you, too. The tag on my cable shows MV2CV-2M, so try and look for that one.

EDIT: I didn't see that cable at your site, but it does appear that what you pointed out will work for you. Thanks for pointing that out. Those are good prices for Monster Cable.

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Does driving a car from Saturn make me an alien?

I'm just a quick pee. - liltaz, fastest pee in the West!

<font color="#000000">[Edited by JHowse on December 13, 2000 (edited 1 time)]</font>
 
nootch-- y do you say to stay away from bose speakers. i've tested them out and come to find them very good. the lifestyles series. your thoughts

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"When do u no ur ready 4 1 thing or anything?"
 
zoopy&gt; Basically, you're paying a lot extra for the Bose name, and in comparison to a lot of speakers that cost less, they don't sound as good.
Ask any audiophile, and they'll laugh when you mention 'Bose' and 'sound' in the same sentence.

Yes, they sound okay. But are they worth the extra money? Absolutely not.

Now, when you say that you tested them out, do you mean that you used them with your setup, or you sat in on their little in-store demo?


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"It's always funny until someone gets hurt, and then it's just hilarious."
 
Ddan mostly its been instore setup... and i know about those where they set it up so that it sounds better than they actually are. but I've also heard few setup that was setup at home and it sounds pretty darn good. but as far as the price goes...hmmmm

do you know bongalusa or something of that spelling and macintosh...those are some high end prices but **** do they sound good...

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"When do u no ur ready 4 1 thing or anything?"
 
In all seriousness, on the consumer level, nothing beats Infinity, IMHO.

I have a set of Infinity bookshelves that sound as good as they did when I bought them 6 years ago. They're now powering my home theater as the main front speakers, and I couldn't ask for better sound, especiall considering that I got the pair for about $130.

My dad has a pair of high-end Infinity's, and they sound even incredible. Of course, he paid about $1500 for the pair for floor models, but they are on the very high-end, and might even qualify for audiophile quality.

Of course, neither Infinity, nor Bose, really qualify for the audiophile category, but I would say you get much more for your money with Infinity, or just about anything else, than you do with Bose.

Their in-store demos are set up so that they sound better than anything you've heard, but any speaker would sound great if you could custom-construct a room with acoustics and sound dampening designed to enhance the effects of speaker placement.

As I said: Do Bose speakers sound good? Within reason. Are they worth the money? Hardly.

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"It's always funny until someone gets hurt, and then it's just hilarious."
 
hmmmm something for me to think about. Thanks for the info..

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"When do u no ur ready 4 1 thing or anything?"
 
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