home theater

updated 2012-04-07

simple wiring diagrams

basic home theater
basic home theater with VCR recording capability

external links

TV power consumption: CNet's Quick Guide to TV power consumption. Who would have thought that LCD TVs could consume so much electricity?

definitions

Search for these terms on Wikipedia for an in-depth/technically correct explanation.

video equipment

CRT: Catohde Ray Tube
LCD: Liquid Crystal Display
plasma

aspect ratio

4:3: Square picture.
16:9: Rectangular picture.

To gain a better understanding think of a piece of graph paper. For the aspect ratio X:Y, count X number of blocks right then Y number of blocks down. This will result in the top-left and bottom-right corners of your box. 16:9 is actually the square of 4:3. 4² = 16 and 3² = 9

defintion modes

HD: High Definition. Picture displayed contains more lines than the standard 484 lines.
SD: Standard Definition. 29.97 interlaced frames per second. Each frame consists of 484 out of 525 lines. Extra lines are used for other data.
interlaced: Displaying all the odd numbered lines (1,3,5,7) then displaying the even numbered lines (2,4,6,8) to form the picture.
progressive: Displaying lines sequentially (1,2,3,4). This method reduces blur during moments of action.
480p: 480 lines displayed in progressive fashion. Standard defintion since it does not exceed the standard 525 lines.
720p: 720 lines displayed in progressive fashion. High defintion.
1080i: 1080 lines displayed in interlaced fashion. High defintion.
1080p: 1080 lines displayed in progressive fashion. High defintion.

To gain an understanding here's how an interlaced CRT would work. Use a pocket/pen laser pointer and a piece of graph paper.

Point the laser at the first (top) row of blocks and move from the left end to right end.
Skip the next row and move to the third row. Run the laser point from the left end to the right end.
Continue skipping a row and tracing left to right. You should now be tracing the odd numbered rows.
Go back to the top of the graph paper and trace across each of the rows you skipped (the even numbered rows).
When you reach the bottom of the graph paper you've completed a frame.
Repeat from the first step. Do this roughly 30 times within a second.
Call the doctor. One for your wrist and one for your mental health.

connection types

HDMI: High-Definition Multimedia Interface; Carries both video and audio signal.
component / YPbPr: Breaks the video down via three cables.; Y carries the luma (brightness) information.; Pb carries the difference between blue and luma.; Pr carries the difference between red and luma.
S-video: Separates the intensity and color into two separate channels.
composite: Video data is transmitted via one cable with RCA connectors.
RF: Uses coaxial cable to carry both audio and video.
TOSlink / optical: TOShiba-LINK; Fiber optic cable used for transmitting digital audio signals like those used with Dolby Digital or DTS.

best to worst for video quality

HDMI
component / YPbPr
S-video
composite
RF

best to worst for audio quality

HDMI - for systems beyond 5.1 surround
optical / TOSlink - can handle up to 5.1 surround (5 channels plus 1 subwoofer)
composite - stereo (left and right channel)
RF - mono or stereo

miscellaneous

HDCP: High-bandwidth Digital Content Protection; Designed with the content provider in mind so the viewer cannot make copies of the transmitted material. Analog cables bypass this hinderance.

viewing distance

Wikipedia: Optimum HDTV viewing distance