You’ve just renovated your apartment the way you’ve always wanted it… or maybe you finally bought that nice little villa outside (but not too far outside) of Prague… but something is still missing. What could it be? Well, if you’re like most people who demand complete control over their environment, you’ll soon be shopping for a home entertainment system, better known these days as a “home cinema”.

Box office revenues have seen a marked decline in recent years (calculated against inflation) due not only to the downloading of feature films and pirating of DVDs, but also owing to the ability of would-be movie-goers to create a near-cinematic experience in their own homes. Far be it from us to advocate any illegal activity like copyright infringement, but we can offer some insight about new products on the market that can help you turn your living room into the most comfortable kino in town.

The Sound of Music

Your home cinema experience, much like that in a commercial cinema, consists essentially of audio and video (and popcorn). With a high-definition (HD) set up – HDTV, HD DVD player and digital surround-sound speaker system – the quality of sound and image you’ll get will actually exceed that in most local kinos. A 5.1 surround-sound system consists of two front speakers, two rear speakers, a center speaker and a sub-woofer.

Although such systems are available from just about every electronics manufacturer you can think of (and some from Southeast Asia you probably can’t even pronounce), it’s best to spend the extra crowns for products made by longestablished names in the audio arena.

It appears as if Onkyo may have struck a balance between cost and performance with their recently introduced S990THX, touted as the world’s first home theater package system to carry THX certification. The system consists of: 7.1 THX certified A/V receiver, with Dolby Digital EX, DTS-ES, and DTS 96/24 decoding and XM Satellite Radio capability; front and center channel speakers with 1-inch soft-dome tweeter and dual 5-inch woofers; side and rear surround speakers with 5-1/8 inch a-OMF woofers and the same tweeter found in the front channels; and a 12-inch subwoofer with built-in 230-watt power amplifier. Onkyo’s Wide Range Amplifier Technology (WRAT) brings out the full potential of surround sound for all entertainment options.

Two manufacturers have recently chosen to defy “tradition”, and create single-unit surround systems, thus reducing clutter while still delivering the cinematic experience. The new DHT-FS3 X-SPACE Surround from Denon gives a wide “sweet-spot” with wrap-around surround that works well in any room. Just plug in a DVD Player or suitable satellite box to get digital surround sound, or use the Dolby Pro Logic II decoder to generate convincing surround from the audio of almost any TV, VCR or PVR. The cabinet contains six precision speaker drivers, six digital amplifiers and advanced DSP signal processing, with total output of 150 watts. The ARC-FS3 cabinet has been especially designed by Alphason Designs in the UK. A matching TV cabinet will be available from Denon retailers.

Yamaha’s YSP-900 is part of a series of digital sound projectors designed for use with specific sized televisions – the YSP-900, for example, is ideal for 32-inch screens – but you’ll still benefit from the unit’s capabilities even if you’re not using the recommended size. The YSP is a slimline shielded speaker unit housing two woofers and 21 full range speakers (there’s also an option to add a separate sub-woofer), and is designed to sit just above or below your television projecting audio out into the room. To simplify set up, Yamaha supplies a microphone that you can place in the optimum listening position and use an auto-setup process to optimize sound for that particular spot in the room.

The Big Picture

Appearances can be deceiving when it comes to comparing LCD and Plasma televisions. Although both are flat and thin, and both deliver high-definition images, they employ different technologies and have their own pros and cons. Rather than describe the science behind them, we’ve opted for a breakdown of what each technology offers the end-user.

Pros and cons:
• Plasma offers larger screen size than LCD (for the time being).
• Plasma offers better contrast ratio and ability to render deeper blacks.
• Plasma offers better color accuracy and saturation.
• Plasma offers better motion tracking (little or no motion lag in fast moving images).
• LCD avoids burn-in of static images (though individual pixels may burn out).
• LCD has a cooler running temperature (no radiation from screen).
• LCD offers increased image brightness.
• LCD screens have a longer display life (about 60,000 hours, compared to 30,000 for plasma – at which time all you may need to do is replace the light source, not the entire set).
• At comparable screen sizes, LCD screens weigh less than plasma counterparts

As the image is so crucial to the enjoyment of your home cinema, nothing will do except personally checking out some of the LCD and plasma screens on offer. Among those ranking high with reviewers and consumers these days include Panasonic’s 80-cm LCD TX-32LXD700, an LCD from Toshiba, the 107-cm 42 WL67Z, and from Samsung either the PS-50Q97HD plasma at 107 cm, or the LE37R86BD, a 94-cm LCD TV. Those with very large walls or big couches may want to go for the 127-cm plasma expanse offered by LG’s 50PC1RR or the Pioneer PDP-508XD.

Into the Blue

This demanding market segment of hi-fi and video connoisseurs has recently been pacified (although perhaps only momentarily) by the advent of the Blu-ray DVD player. While there continues to be debate regarding the advantages of Blu-ray versus HD-DVD, both types of player use blue laser technology and offer significantly enhanced images on HD-compatible TVs.

The name Blu-ray is derived from the blue-violet laser used to read and write this type of disc. Because of its shorter wavelength, substantially more data can be stored on a Blu-ray Disc than on the DVD format, which uses a red laser. A single layer Blu-ray Disc can store 25 gigabytes (GB), over five times the size of a single layer DVD at 4.7 GB. What this essentially translates to in terms of the movie you’re watching is five to six times the resolution as standard digital encoding. However, it’s important to keep in mind that, for the time being, Blu-ray DVDs are less widespread (fewer titles available) and more expensive than regular DVDs.

In addition to offering Full HD 1080p from highdefinition discs, the BH100 Super Multi Blue Player from LG incorporates interactive functions based on BDJava, which allows advanced menus and functions to be displayed over the video of Blu-ray discs.The unit supports various A/V formats, including MPEG-2, VC-1, H.264 video, MPEG1/2 audio, Dolby Digital, Dolby Digital+, DTS and DTS-HD audio, and includes all the requisite inputs/outputs.

Pioneer’s debut Blu-ray player, the BDP-LX70, features the 1080-line progressive scan 24Hz format most movies are encoded in when they’re put on Blu-ray discs. Using the Ethernet port on the back of the unit, you can plug into a home network PC and run Windows Media Connect (free software), which allows the unit to play back various photo, movie and music formats. Plus you get upscaling of standard DVDs to 1080p; CD playback; support for the Dolby TrueHD lossless audio format; and CEC compliancy on the High-Definition Multimedia Interface (HDMI) for one-remote control of the player and a compatible TV.

Visually, Panasonic’s DMP-BD10 is slickly minimalist, with a length-wide transparent flap, which drops to reveal a disc tray and transport control face. Rear connectivity offers ample scope for hooking up to both high- and standard-def displays (ideal in a multi-screen environment). Panasonic has made much of the player’s ability to spruce up both CD and DVD, via either up-scaling or re-mastering, both of which use smart interpolation techniques to guild their respective lilies. This Blu-ray player also utilizes the HDMI connection to offer full system control between other HDenabled Panasonic products.

The Full Monty

Not many companies offer the entire home cinema package, as each firm tends to stress it’s strongest product line – either DVD players, amplifiers, speakers or largeformat HDTVs. Sony is an exception. One of the firm’s latest designs is the TAV-L1 all-in-one home theater system, which has one heck of a swish party trick up its sleeve. In audio mode the unit looks like a stylish singlestand speaker, but tap the touch-sensitive front panel and the speaker grill slides down to the floor to reveal a 32- inch 1366 x 768 resolution Bravia LCD display. The audio unit of the TAV-L1 houses an integrated slot loading DVD player (Dolby Pro Logic II and DTS processing), two vibration canceling subwoofers, a digital amplifier and front speaker virtual surround sound processing.

The TAV-L1 comes standard with a black or white speaker grill. Optional grill color choices – gray, burgundy, green, orange and silver – add even more flair to the unit’s seductive design.