5 Things You Should Know About Home Theaters

With flat-screen, high-definition TVS skyrocketing in popularity, home theaters are within reach of more home buyers than ever before.

Source: DIGITAL HOME MAGAZINE
Publication date: 2007-07-01

By Dan Daley

THE TIME IS COMING quickly when new home buyers will sit down with their builders with an eye not only toward the kitchen layout, but also the location of the home theater. Whether it's a dedicated room with theater seating and acoustically treated walls, or a multipurpose media room with intelligently integrated audio/video systems and surround sound, the home theater is fast becoming a must-have in new construction. Here are five things to keep in mind as builders and installers hone their offerings.

1: Bone up on the next TV technology. Flat-panel televisions likely will become the norm by the end of this year. In fact, the flat-panel, high-definition TV market is growing by 40 percent, according to some estimates, eclipsing sales of those quaint cathode-ray tube models. More specifically, as LCD TVs continue to improve in their ability to display HDTV, they're zooming past plasma TVs, in part because LCD prices keep dropping even as their screens get bigger.

The rise in flat-screen TVs is notable because these big screens, which can hang on the wall, spell home theater for the masses. For homes and budgets not suited to a dedicated home theater, the intelligently incorporated flat-screen with in-wall speakers and home theater A/V hardware is the way to go.

But look just over the horizon: Builders and installers soon will need to evaluate the suitability of something called OLED. Organic light-emitting diode displays use light discharging through the self-luminescent properties of certain organic materials. As such, they could be less expensive than LCD technology. Sony, which is leading the charge, expects to have an OLED TV out by year's end. Samsung, LG Electronics, Philips, Toshiba and Matsushita are all planning similar products soon.

Early models will be small and probably costly at first, because of the complex manufacturing processes. Once they attain economies of scale, prices should drop quickly. Market researcher iSuppli says OLED TVs will be a miniscule fraction of the 97 million OLED screens made this year (most go into cell phones and other portable devices), but will account for $690 million in sales by 2012.

AWESOME: CEDIA member Electronic Systems Consultants LLC of Aspen, Colo., knows what to put into a home theater.

2: Theaters: Not just for movies anymore. As mentioned, the notion of a home theater is changing. “A home theater used to be a dedicated room, often with stadium-style seating, a fixed screen, and a projector, and typically found only in high-end custom homes,” says Robert Noble, chief technology officer at AMX. “Today, what many people call a home theater is actually a multipurpose room that doubles as a living and entertainment area.”

While in many cases, that means a flat-screen TV, some home buyers will opt for projection theaters anyway. Smaller, more affordable theater projectors that hide away when not in use and motorized screens that don't take up wall space 24/7 will enable this trend. The Runco Reflection Series CL-610 ($5,995) and RS-1100 ($11,995) projectors (www.runco.com), as well as the Vidikron Vision Model 50 ($7,995, www.vidikron.com), display cost-effective “hidden” value.

3: The HD picture is murky. Few doubt that the future of video is in high definition. The battle royal remains over how to deliver it. In this corner is Sony-backed Blu-ray technology. In that corner is HD DVD, championed by a Toshiba-led consortium. The struggle is as much perception as it is reality, which makes it impossible to pick a winner amidst the propaganda and conflicting information.

For example, if you want to hazard a choice based on what others are buying, tread carefully. Earlier this year, Adams Media Research reported combined Blu-ray and HD DVD player sales of 695,000 units—and 425,000 of them were Blu-ray drives. Do we have a leader? Not so fast. At the time, only 25,000 of the Blu-ray sales were standalone players; the rest were Blu-ray-based Sony PlayStation 3 game consoles. And even though HD DVD drives go into Microsoft's Xbox 360 game machine, the format still outsold Blu-ray standalone players by nearly 100,000.

Here is the good news: While HD player sales are still infinitesimal by consumer electronics standards, the format battle is prompting price drops. Toshiba now sells an HD DVD player for $400. And companies such as LG Electronics have begun selling new (albeit pricey) players that handle both HD formats, so all your bases are covered.

4: Sound keeps up with HD video. The low-quality, MP3 digital music era is fading. That's because with the rise of high-definition video comes increased interest in rich, high-def sounds. (Folks will always want MP3-type music files for their iPods, but keep an eye on high-quality download Web sites, such as MusicGiants.com.)

It's a serendipitous turn of events, what with the proliferation of whole-house integrated audio systems that look more and more like standalone audiophile systems, with extra attention paid to sound quality. Axiom Audio's Architectural in-wall speakers ($440/pair, www. axiomaudio.com) are isolated from the wall cavity, ensuring performance consistency and minimal sound leakage.

Moreover, bass is back, and subwoofers have it. “Once you can viably hide subs in the wall, they are no longer a ‘wife acceptance factor' issue, and the category is going to take off,” says Eric Harper, director of marketing at Sunfire Corp., makers of high-end home cinema electronics (www.sunfire.com). The company's new in-wall/on-wall $3,000 SubRosa subwoofer is thin the way flat-screen TVs are thin. Its mere 3.75-inch transducer can be wall-mounted without shaking the rafters by using a reciprocal-action technology.

5: Beware of connectile dysfunction. There's a diversity of A/V connection formats out there, driven not only by proprietary systems and manufacturer alliances, but also by the content owners who want to protect their entertainment products with formats such as HDMI and HDCP.

“High-bandwidth digital content protection (HDCP) is quickly becoming the de facto standard for digital video content protection,” says Jeff Singer at Crestron. “Any display device or digital processor that is not HDCP-compliant will not be able to display protected digital content from DVD players, cable, satellite receivers, multimedia computers, and projectors.” Crestron's new DVPHD-PRO high-definition digital video processor is one of the first to be inherently HDCP-compliant and can accept HDMI input using an external adapter.

But content formats aren't the only thing that will drive builders and installers to pay special attention to the A/V connections they use. Melody Chalaban at Belkin says aesthetics also will have a role in home cabling.

“People are no longer looking to have their A/V systems stand out,” she says. “They want them to blend in.” Chalaban and others believe this will help drive connections such as HDMI, because the format can combine video and audio into a single cable.

<i>Dan Daley is a frequent contributor to Hanley Wood's</i> DIGITAL HOME.

• Samsung's latest soldier in the HD format war is the Duo HD, which plays both Blu-ray and HD DVD discs (www.samsung.com). It also supports Blu-ray's BD-Java interactivity technology, which all Blu-ray players sold after October 31 will be required to do. The Duo HD should be out in time for the 2007 holiday season; pricing hasn't been announced.
• Paradigm's (www.paradigm.com) multidriver Millenia 20 speaker system, which supports three to nine speakers, encloses left-center-right-array functions in a single, slender unit that runs $499 to $799.
• The Harman Kardon AVR series of home theater receivers features HDMI connectivity (www.harmankardon.com). The products are capable of automatic room equalization and system calibration in order to achieve optimal sonic accuracy. Models can include XM Satellite Radio and iPod support, and range from $349 to $899.
• Belkin's 16-foot PureAV AV52300-16 HDMI Interface cabling is long enough for most HD system connections, although it's pricey at $160 (www.belkin.com).
• JVC's new Sophisti DD-3 and DD-8 home theater audio systems ($1,000 and $1,995, respectively) come with tabletop DirectDrive speakers that look like short, slim cylinders (www.jvc.com). The speakers can be wall-mounted or set on stands.
• The $999 Mitsubishi HD1000U 720p widescreen DLP projector has builtin technology that boosts whites and midtones, delivering vivid images (www.mitsubishi-presentations.com). It shines bright and crisp at 1,500 lumens and a 2,500:1 contrast ratio.
• The “Q” in SLS' QS1000 Surround Sound Home Listening System stands for 26-time Grammy winner Quincy Jones, who helped develop the system (www.slsloudspeakers.com). The speakers use ribbon technology, a favorite of audiophiles, to reproduce high-frequency sounds with extraordinary precision. The QS1000 lists for $800.