If you do not have a 55’’ or larger high definition TV with surround sound you are missing out on experiencing the full impact of today’s home entertainment offerings.

Only 4 or 5 years ago a setup such as this would have cost $4,000 or more. Today you can experience unbelievable in-home theatre quality entertainment for under $2,000. For many people, this is still a lot of money to pay for a home entertainment system, but if you can afford it, you will find that it will bring you many years of enjoyment.

Bigger is Better

I purchase a 57” high definition rear projection TV and a surround sound system for around $1,500 two years ago and I can honestly say that watching movies on this system is actually better than going to a first run theatre. Forget about the hassles and expense, I am talking about the actual picture and sound quality. It is actually better than what you experience in a movie theatre. A 55 inch screen viewed from 10 feet away actually gives the same perceptual feeling as a 40 foot screen from 50 feet away. And the sound from a good surround sound system, especially if you are noticing a diminishing of your hearing acuity and want the sound level up a little louder, is far superior to what you get in almost any multiplex cinema. Add to this the impact of watching sports on a large screen in high definition. In golf you can literally see the individual blades of grass. In basketball and football you can actually see the details of all the players and their every move. Add to this the fact that the networks add the crowd noise to the rear speakers and you feel like you are literally at the game in the stands. You can actually hear individual comments and snatches of conversations going on in the background like you do when you are at a live sporting event. In fact once you hear the crowd noises coming from the rear speakers you realize what was missing from the actual experience when you watch it at home; the ambiance of the crowd. With surround sound, you are there!

Convergence of Technologies: DVD and HDTV

Two new technologies have converged to totally change the home entertainment experience. The first is DVD. The quality of the images on DVD simply put VHS tape to shame. Anyone who has experienced a DVD on a High Definition screen never wants to go back to VHS tapes again. DVDs allow us to see details and color rendition that were beyond the capabilities of VHS tapes. This detail and clarity is especially apparent when you watch a DVD on a large screen high definition TV. The picture is absolutely beautify. The impact is increase. You become part of the movie.

Rear Projection vs. LCD and Plasma

LCD and Plasma screens are the hot items. They are all the rage, and hanging a thin plasma screen on your wall makes you look pretty with it and high tech. But is it worth the extra cost to use this new technology? My personal belief is no. If you have no room to put a large TV anywhere but your wall, or if you have extra money that you hate holding on to then paying the price to be one of the early adapters of this technology may be worth it. My personal feeling is that the technology is still not totally refined yet. There are problems with smearing and pixelation during high motion scenes. There are issues of individual diodes going bad. There is the size limitation as most LCD and Plasma screens are smaller than 55 inches. Rear projection TVs have come a long way. I bought my first rear projection TV around 20 years ago. It was big and heavy. Today’s models are surprising thin, most are actually thinner than a conventional TV. They are also fairly light for their size and weight about as most as a conventional TV half their size. And most of the new rear projection TVs include good speaker systems and are very stylish in a high tech way. Why pay $5,000 for a 40 inch plasma TV when you can spend $1,500 on a 57 inch rear projection TV?

Does it pay to buy the best?

I have always been a big believer in buying high quality products especially when it comes to anything mechanical. I have for example always used high quality cameras, the results from the pictures you took were just always better and in the long run they held up well so you got to use them for a long time. Electronic equipment however seems to be following a different model. Sometimes the less expensive models actually have more features and work better. Take DVDs for example, the extremely low priced Chinese models actually work better at play a wider assortment of formats, especially DVD-Rs created on home computers then the more expensive brands. I think this is because the Chinese market is so full of pirated, home copied DVDs that they have to make machines that can handle these non professionally made discs. The bottom line though is that these machines actually work better than the high priced competition. The best way to select a large screen high def TV is to go to a large store that displays many brands side by side. Best Buy and Circuit City both have large selections. These TVs are usually showing the exact same shows so you can really compare the quality side by side. When I was buying my unit I noticed that the display of on screen text on the $1,200 one was slightly more jagged than the $3,500 model but that for general show content it was hard to tell them apart although if you really went back and forth in a side by side comparison, the more expensive model was imperceptibly better. I decided that it was worth it to same $2,300 by going with the less expensive model. I was not really sacrificing picture quality except during titling sequences. I thought the savings was well worth it and I have never regretted my decision. What I found is that once the unit was up and running in my house and I did not have another system along side it to make the comparison that it looked great. The quality of today’s systems is getting so high that even units that are not the absolute best are still excellent.

It pays to go wide

If you are going this route make sure you get a unit in the wide screen format. Almost all high definition units now come in the wide screen format but if they try and sell you an older model at a lower price which is not wide screen I would recommend turning them down. High Definition television is broadcast in the wide screen format. All movies are shot in the wide screen format. When televisions were only available in the 3:4 format feature films converted to VHS or for broadcast were rescanned so that the main action always stayed on screen. What was lost was the beauty of the cinematographers wide screen compositions. When you watch a movie in the wide screen format you are watching it like it was intended to be seen. Watching sports in the wide screen format you actually see parts of the action the traditional viewers cannot see. Wide screen is the way to go.

Don’t forget to surround yourself with sound

A good high definition TV definitely deserves the bonus of surround sound. There are a number of ways to purchase surround sound systems. Some large screen TVs have them built in, you can buy a surround sound system with a built in DVD player or you can get a separate surround sound system. My recommendation is to get a separate surround sound system. First off, very few TVs have surround sound systems built in. If they do then you need to determine how much extra are you paying for this feature and how does the sound quality compare to what a separate system can deliver. If you don’t already have a DVD player than getting a surround sound system with a built in player may seem like an extra bonus. It is also appealing as it helps cut down on the wiring and the tangle of cables that so many systems require. The downside, and what you should be aware of, is that many systems that have DVDs built in do not have the capability to receive multiple high quality audio inputs. You know you are going to want to run you TV through this system and you may find that you eventually end up buying a new DVD player for compatibility or feature issues. Can the system you buy accept high quality either optical or digital audio inputs from at least two external sources. If it cannot then I would suggest strong that you go with a unit that can. Most separate surround sound systems accept at least one high quality audio input but make sure the one you purchase can accept at least two as you want to take advantage of the surround sound broadcast with high def TV as well as that of DVDs. Good surround sound systems can be purchase for under $400. One new feature that is just starting to show itself in systems is wireless rear speakers. Running wires to rear speakers is often difficult or awkward so look for this feature. Over the next few months more companies should be offering this feature so keep your eyes open.