Home theatre Explained

SACWA Explains Home Theatre

3DTV 

To watch in 3D you’ll need a 3D TV, a pair of 3DTV glasses and some 3D content to watch.  Many Blu-ray players are compatible with 3D Blu-ray discs. 

5.1 Surround Sound

5.1 An arrangement of six speakers, one of which is a low-frequency subwoofer speaker, used to create surround sound.

Hz Frequency or ” FPS”Frames Per Second

Most TV pictures are broadcast or recorded at 50Hz. That’s 50 fields or 25 frames per second. In an attempt to manipulate the picture and create the illusion of smoother motion, many TVs feature 100Hz processing software. 

This doubles the number of frames on screen, making motion appear smoother. 

Some brands claim even higher-sounding processing (200Hz, 400Hz etc), but this is often measured in a different way and our expert viewing panel has not reported any significant improvements in motion performance.

High Def – HD – HDTV – High Definition

There are two main types of high-definition (HD) picture – 1080i and 1080p. 

HD TV is broadcast in 1080i, but high-definition Blu-ray discs are recorded in 1080p, which is marginally more detailed and realistic. 

This is because on 1080p, the 1,080 horizontal lines are scanned progressively, or one after another. 

With 1080i, even lines then odd lines are scanned alternately to make up the picture, although the difference is really quite subtle.

Aspect Ratio – 16:9 – Letterbox Wide Screen

Aspect ratio is the shape of the screen (width:height). 

Most TVs are now widescreen with an aspect ratio of 16:9. 

Older TVs have an aspect ratio of 4:3. Digital TV is broadcast in a widescreen format.

 It’s a good idea to choose a TV that automatically alters how different broadcasts are displayed – for example, showing standard (4:3) broadcasts with black bands on either side so the images aren’t stretched out of proportion. Virtually all widescreen TVs will do this.

Blu-ray – BR

Blu-ray is A high-definition DVD format developed by Sony. A Blu-ray disc can hold nine hours of high-definition (HD) video and around 23 hours of standard-definition (SD) video on a 50GB disc. Blu-ray pictures are recorded in 1080p, which is subtly more detailed and realistic than the 1080i HD broadcast signal.

Contrast Ratio

Contrast ratio The difference between how dark and bright the picture on a TV will go. 

A higher contrast ratio should mean deeper blacks and whiter whites, with a good range of subtle colour in between. However, it’s not a linear value – so 12,000:1 is not ‘twice as good’ as 6,000:1

Freeview – Free to Air

Freeview is A subscription-free digital TV service that provides television through an aerial. 

Virtually all new digital TVs and recievers support Freeview.

HDMI

An HDMI cable is used to connect high definition equipment, an HD camcorder to a TV, for example. 

A HDMI High-definition socket for connecting your TV to other HD equipment such as a Foxtel HD box, HD games console or Blu-ray player. 

Some standard DVD players and DVD recorders also feature an HDMI output. 

This is a high-definition video socket that will enhance standard-definition DVD pictures when connected to an HD TV. 

HD Ready

‘HD ready’ is a labelling scheme introduced by the TV manufacturers’.

The label means the TV has the minimum screen resolution and digital sockets to receive and display a broadcast HD picture. TVs labelled HD ready tend to have 768 horizontal on-screen lines.

High-definition television (HD TV) HD TV transmits a high-definition TV signal with roughly twice the standard picture resolution as normal standard-definition television.