Buying a Home Theater Receiver
Buying a receiver is one of the most important decisions you're going to have to make when building your home theater. The receiver has a number of functions including; connecting and switching audio sources; connecting and switching video sources; decoding surround sound formats; amplifying an audio signal and sending it to your speakers; tuning in to radio stations; and acting as the interface between you and your home theater.The first thing to think about is whether you want a receiver at all or would you be better off buying a separate decoder, amplifier, and tuner?Despite being a more expensive route - not to mention the extra space needed - separates do have some advantages. You can pick and choose your own combination of components, can upgrade each component individually and won't lose all the functions if one piece develops a fault. On top of that, having each electronic component in a separate box does improve sound quality when compared with having them all on one circuit board.However, the separates route is more expensive, more complicated and needs more space than buying a receiver. And for most people its uneccessary.
Today's receivers do a very good job in all of their functions.So what should should you look out for when buying a receiver? The first thing is to make sure that it has ll the inputs you need for the equipment you need to connect to it. Sounds obvious, but its very easy to overlook. As a mimimum it should have digital audio inputs (optical and co-axial) for Dolby Digital and/or DTS. It should also have analogue audio inputs for CD player, set-top box and possibly DVD-Audio or Super Audio CD player (the last two currently don't have digital outputs in order to make it less easy to pirate CDs). You should also consider whether you want to route all your video sources such as TV, DVD player, and games console through your receiver.
Doing so means you can switch between sources from one controller, very easily. But if you want to do this you'll need to make sure the receiver you're interested in has enough video inputs. These could be S-Video or component inputs are best, or if you're in Europe, Scart. You should also make sure the video output from the receiver is of high quality, so again, it should be S-Video, component or Scart. If you can test a receiver before you buy, its worth comparing the quality of a video signal from a DVD player when its connected directly to a display and comparing it with when its connected via the receiver.
There shouldn't be any noticeable difference in quality.The power rating of the amplifier is also important. The bigger the room you have for your home theater, the more power you'll need. And makes sure that the power rating is quoted in Watts per channel - the last thing you want is to get home with your 100Watt receiver and discover that its power is split between eight speakers in you 7.1 set-up. It's impossible to specify how powerful your amplifier should be, but if your home theater is in a reasonable-sized room, as opposed to an aircraft hanger, 100Watts per channel should be fine.Finally, don't forget the remote control. It's the key interface between you and the reciever and you'll spend a lot of time using it.
So make sure it's comfortable and straightforward to use. The last thing you want is to have to spend ages wading through on-screen menus to get what you want..
Kenny Hemphill is the editor and publisher of The HDTV TunerCineClix Digital Film Download Service Signs Strategic Alliance Agreement with Urban Cinefile.
CineClix Distribution Inc. (www.CineClix.com) and Urban Cinefile (www.UrbanCinefile.com.au) have teamed-up to bring film fans across the globe independent "festival films" through high quality digital downloads."This is a great opportunity for us to help pioneer online distribution for Australian films on the one hand, and to provide an easy and familiar access point for our readers to independent films from around the world via the Internet on the other," says Andrew L. Urban, Editor of Urban Cinefile. "As Australia's most experienced online publisher of movie related editorial content (now in our 8th year), this is a natural progression for us, and an extension of our role as a window to the world of film for Australians - and vice versa."Urban Cinefile will review films and link directly to them from the Urban web site. Urban will also circulate...
CineClix Digital Film Download Service Signs Strategic Alliance Agreement with Urban Cinefile.
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Zen Baby Praised As Recommended Family Entertainment by The Dove Foundation
Zen Baby, LLC is pleased to announce that its unique video & DVD for babies, Zen Baby, was awarded the Dove Family Approved Seal by The Dove Foundation.
The Dove Foundation awards its seal to a video that is rated "family-friendly" by its film review board. Zen Baby was awarded a "Four Dove" rating.Zen Baby is beneficial for families with infants and toddlers.
It: (1) Helps to create peace and well-being in the home; (2) Fosters bonding between parents and babies; (3) Encourages childlike wonder and a love of learning; (4) Inspires discovery of the beauty in nature; and (5) Helps young children unwind at the end of the day.Created to promote a sense of peace and well-being in the home so that baby and caregiver can become receptive to the beauty and inspiration in life, Zen Baby offers a naturalistic alternative to the toy-oriented baby videos that have saturated the marketplace.
For additional information or review copies of Zen Baby, contact: Miki Shaler...
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Downloadable Videos to Enhance Game Guide Industry
Game Xplain has announced the launch of a new series of low cost, downloadable, game guide videos. These videos demonstrate to the viewer, both visually and audibly, strategies for the most popular video games.Prior to Game Xplain's launch, gamers typically purchased expensive guides or tried to make sense of complicated FAQs for help. Game Xplain's narrated videos ensure an accurate and entertaining portrayal of strategies that are priced with the average gamer in mind. "Game Xplain strives to redefine the game guide industry," said Andre Segers, founder of Game Xplain,"?and our latest venture - low cost, downloadable videos to provide the clearest strategies available anywhere - advances this objective."About Game XplainGame Xplain, founded in 2003 by Andre Segers, is the only gaming website solely dedicated to video strategies. Before transitioning to its new downloadable video format, the company produced DVD game guides that Planet GameCube called "a great product with impressive...
Downloadable Videos to Enhance Game Guide Industry
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CD/DVD Master Preparation Tips
"CD/DVD Master" is the disc you provide to your CD/DVD vendor for replication or duplication of that media.
Here are some helpful tips for creating a high quality master:
- Always use high quality media.
All media is not the same.
Do your research and choose a brand that will produce a high quality disc consistently.
- Avoid burning from a network source.
If your source files are on a network drive, copy the files to your local hard drive before burning a disc.
If you cannot move the files to your local drive, please use the "Copy To Hard Drive First" feature.
Your burning software will create a temporary image file during the burning process.
When the burn is complete, the temporary file is deleted.
- Avoid burning on a laptop computer running on battery power.
Fluctuations in available power may yield poor results.
- Always "Finalize" your disc.
If you use the drag and drop...
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Natural Solutions Foundation Expands Global Health Freedom Campaign: Prof. B. M. Hegde to Head Natural Solutions Foundation - India
Mangalore, India (ContentDesk) July 13, 2006 -- The Natural Solutions Foundation announced today at a Press Conference at the Mangalore Press Club that Professor B. M. Hegde, MD, one of the world's leading experts and advocates on Whole Person Healing and natural health, has agreed to chair its Indian organization.
Dr. Hegde's commitments and contribution to natural health, http://www.bmhegde.com/, span more than 40 years so his involvement with the Natural Solutions Foundation, http://www.HealthFreedomUSA.org, was only natural.
At a press conference at the Mangalore Press Club Professor Hegde introduced the Mangalore press corps to both the work of the Natural Solutions Foundation in their crusade for natural health and health freedom around the world and to their President and Director who are visiting India in order to meet with consumer leaders and decision...
Natural Solutions Foundation Expands Global Health Freedom Campaign: Prof. B. M. Hegde to Head Natural Solutions Foundation - India
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Don't Use Markers to Label CDs and DVDs
Many people use markers to write on the surface of their CDs and DVDs when labeling their media.
What most people do not know is that using markers, such as Sharpies, ballpoint pens, or any other sharp object can be very damaging to the media.
Most markers contain chemicals that create oxidation, which can deteriorate the CD or DVD.
The oxidation can ruin the aluminum, which covers the surface of the media and ultimately can destroy the data on the disc.
Additionally, these types of markers can damage the physical structure of the disc.There are a couple of ways to avoid these problems.
Special pens are now sold which are made specifically for writing on media.
One brand is called Staedtler Lumocolor CD/DVD Markers (pictured to the right).
Another tip to keep in mind is that off the shelf markers can be used on media that has been screen printed because the screen printing protects the data from chemical destruction..
Don't Use Markers to Label CDs and DVDs
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