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Home Theater Component Basics Elements of a Surround Sound System
Home Theater Basics Flat Screens, A/V Receivers, DVD Players, Speakers, and Subwoofers. What do all of these terms have to do with each other? More importantly: what are they? A "Home Theater" system does not need to be complicated and require a PhD in Home Audio and Video to set up and operate. One thing to keep in mind, is that "Home Theater" systems are not only for movies anymore. These systems can become a very important part of an individual or family lifestyle. Movies in 5.1 Surround Sound (which we will get to) are just one of the many great experiences a Home Theater system can provide. Video Games are now designed with 5.1 Surround Sound information as well. Imagine playing a video game and hearing someone sneak up behind you. When you turn around (in the video game) all of the audio reacts with you to bring you into the game! Remember Stereo? Well, that's old news with the introduction of Surround Sound Music formats such as DVD-A, SACD,and Dual Disk. Now, the same music that you have been listening to for years in your car or on your home stereo system, has been re-engineered for surround sound systems! You are literally immersed in the music! With Stereo, there is audio information that is specifically engineered for the Left and Right Speakers(or Channels). Often the same information is coming out of both, but sometimes you will notice that maybe you can hear a guitar line coming more out of your left speaker than your right. 5.1 Surround Sound uses this same idea of distributing audio information between speakers. However, instead of using just the Left and Right channels, surround sound uses a total of 5 Channels for audio information and 1 more channel for Bass information (often referred to as Low Frequency Effects, LFE), which is reproduced using a Subwoofer. In order to reproduce surround sound audio information you will need 5 Speakers (2 Fronts, 1 Center, and 2 Surrounds), 1 Subwoofer, an AV Receiver and a source. I hope you are still with me here... An A/V Receiver is the piece of equipment many people often refer to as their "Stereo." It is the hub of your whole home entertainment system. This unit is what "receives" all of the Audio and Video (A/V) information from your sources (DVD Player, Video Game Console, TIVO, Satellite Receiver, etc.). Your AV Receiver then processes the information it receives, amplifies the audio information and sends it to your speakers. As for the "TV" - which is another term that is thrown around a lot today, but is not necessarily accurate - there are many options. A traditional TV is known as a Tube TV or CRT TV with a Glass Screen. Very big and heavy. In the past few years, the introduction of Flat Screens, which are made up of Plasmas, LCDs, and DLPs, are becoming the next "must have" for all video needs. These flat screens can be mounted and look very clean. However, it typically takes a professional installer to properly mount the flat screen and run the cables through the walls. There are other options for "TV" such as projectors. These allow you to have "Movie" like screen sizes with video information projected from behind you. All of the proper cables are also necessary. There are many ways that these systems can be hooked up, but they are not as complicated as you might think. Modern technology is now allowing all digital video and digital audio information to be sent over ONE cable! This not only minimizes confusion, but also keeps things looking nice and clean. 5.1 Surround Sound, pretty easy right? Well, maybe not to everyone, but the benefits are definitely worth the education and understanding of how they work. |