A new home theater system is fun and exciting. Here are some tips to help you with your new purchase.
The All-Important Television
The centerpiece for your new home theater system is your television set. Several factors will affect your choice, such as the size and shape of your room. The television is going to play an important role in your home theater system; therefore you don’t want one that’s going to be too large or too small for the size of your room. Don’t forget to keep in mind what type of components you’re going to be adding to your new system, this will also make a big difference in the television you decide to purchase.
There are several factors that you want to take into account when you start looking for a good home theater projector. The picture quality of the television is very important as well as the color, contrast and sharpness of the picture. Try to envision what the television will look like with the additional components that you will be purchasing. Remember that your overall home theater design is important and all of these factors will need to be addressed prior to making your purchase.
You will find there are many options available for your home theater system. Some of the options for the television set will be, flat screen, LCD, flat panel plasma and naturally the regular tube type of television. In order to make a well-informed decision be sure that you are familiar with the different types of television sets as well as the pros and cons of each one of them. You will find a wealth of information available to help you compare the different types of televisions and brand names that will best suit your personal needs.
A Brief Look at Speakers
Your television speakers may not be adequate enough to give you the type of surround sound that you are looking for. Purchasing additional speakers for your home theater audio will help you to complement your home theater system. The market for speakers is very much like the market for televisions; there are many styles and options available to choose from. Seeking professional help will enable you to decide what type of speakers you’ll need to best suit your personal needs and the type of home theater system that you want to set up. Home theater professionals will also be able to help you with any of the additional equipment that you may need such as your receivers and any other type of items that will help pull your system together to make it effective and solid.
What about Home Theater Seating?
The arrangement for your home theater seating is extremely important for your home theater system so be sure to keep this in mind when you’re making your seating selections. With proper seating placement you will be sure to get that surround sound that you’re looking for. Comfort and style are important but remember that you should be able to hear the sound all or round you. You will find many styles and fabrics to choose from.
Finally, try to keep in mind that the system you’re putting together should make you happy and have all the features that you personally want. Professionals and salespeople can give you a lot a great advice but when it comes right down to making the choice it’s always yours. If you choose wisely and check into all of your options, you’ll have a home theater system that you and your family will enjoy for years. Learning the basics of a home theater system can be a lot of fun.
o choosing the right camera for your surveillance needs, the selection of an appropriate recording device is the second most important decision you will make. There are a lot of different options to choose from, each with their own pros and cons.
The easiest decision to make is that of the recording media. VCR type recorders that use VHS tapes to make time lapse videos are pretty much a thing of the past. They have all but been replaced with Digital Video Recorders (DVR) that store recorded video in a digital format onto a fixed storage device.
Digital Video Recorders are available as stand alone devices, or can be purchased as a card that is added to an existing PC.
Stand alone DVR devices are about the size of a DVD player and do not require additional hardware to function (other than a monitor). Be aware that some models do not include a hard drive – you must install one inside the unit yourself. If you do not want to be bothered with doing this, purchase a model with a hard drive already installed.
Stand alone DVR’s are very convenient and reliable. You simply plug your cameras into the device and configure your recording preferences and before you know it, your are done! No fuss, no mess. Some models even feature a network port that allows you to access and view your cameras from the Internet. Others have built-in USB ports and DVD burners to export video clips.
Video capture cards are used to add DVR capabilities to an existing PC. They tend to be less expensive than a dedicated DVR, but they require quite a bit of legwork to get up and running. The first issue to deal with is compatibility. Some cards only work with specific video card chipsets and operating systems – therefore it is important to be very diligent when looking over the system requirements before making your purchase. Video capture cards usually include the necessary software to monitor your cameras.
The second issue with video capture cards is the nature of their installations – your computer must stay powered on in order for the software to function, and the installation is highly dependent upon the reliability of the computer operating system. It is for these reasons that I prefer the ?install it and forget about it? nature of stand alone Digital Video Recorders.
Is is also important to take into account how many cameras you need to monitor and record. DVR prices start at about $100 for a basic video capture card and can reach up into the thousands of dollars. The more cameras you need to record, the more the unit will cost. For most residential and small business needs, a 4 or 8 camera DVR will do just fine. Expect to pay about $100 per camera port for a good stand alone DVR.
The next thing you want to verify is the recording resolution and frame rate. It is important that your DVR have the capability of recording at the same or higher resolution than your camera feeds. If you cameras transmit 480 lines of resolution, make sure your DVR can handle it. Digital video recorders now use several different video compression standards to store video. Try to get a unit that supports either H.264 or MPEG4 – they will allow you to store more video on your hard drive at higher resolutions and frame rates.
As far as storage is concerned, the bigger the hard drive, the more footage you can store. Combining motion activated recording with today’s larger hard drives should allow you to store months of footage on a 4 or 8 camera setup.
Finally, you will want to look into features such as the availability of motion based recording, scheduled recording and remote access to both real time feeds and stored video. These features are now pretty standard on newer models. Also make sure that the unit makes it easy to search and export video clips.