The ‘Ultimate’ Home Cinema consists of hdmi cables, but what else exactly?

Let’s be blunt: Hdmi cables are only the best because they are 1. A digital signal. 2. Deliver the highest resolution. 3. Make the a home cinema system the most -”user friendly” (with the right equipment).

But besides the cables – What else!? Here is an over the top set up with the latest jig jags. (Mind you this will only be the latest for about 2 weeks @ the rate new technology hits Australia! But never the less, this will still be quite some system for 10 years to come.

Frankly, this system has everything.

Firstly, The ultimate system has a Blu-Ray Projector connected by a long hdmi cable to a Powerful 7.1 or 7.2 AV receiver

Secondly, 7.2 In-Ceiling Speaker system (yes 2x sub woofers – 10inch or larger cone)

Thirdly, Motorised curtains. (yes I did say ultimate!)

Fourthly, A Blu-Ray DVD recorder with twin tuner, large hard-drive – for tv watching, tv recording

A Ps3 for Hi-Resolution Games, plays dvds and surf the net, youtube, watch downloaded material on the big screen etc

Foxtel IQ2 – large variety of channels and recording capabilities

Extra Hdmi cable for connecting laptop/PC

The ultimate cinema needs – A good, well-programmed universal remote control with macros that ‘turn everything ON’ with one button (must be well programmed in order to be fool proof).

Lastly in this system – Some Comfy chairs! Pop-corn machine haha (Like I said – This system is the ultimate system designed to be the Ultimate Functioning and “Bang-for-your-Buck” Home Cinema you can get. And to be honest this list could be put together in different combinations that fluctuate the overall costing from between $4000 – $10,000 (excl. installation and accessories etc).

Everything should be hooked up with Hdmi cables to the hdmi switching amplifier – this will make the universal remote and entire setup extremely user-friendly. What good is the system if only one person in the house knows how to operate everything!?

Recommended: 15 AWG premium speaker able (this stuff is cheap to medium range) – Honestly save your money on speaker cable unless you are running lengths longer than the colesseum!

That’s really it! – No mention to brands has been made because deals are made from brand to brand depending ON WHERE YOU BUY IT FROM AND WHAT TIME OF YEAR! If a store only sells plasma then of course “plasma is best” – funny that isn’t it? Or my favourite: “This tv had a better picture than the rest” – Well they probably had the colour and brightness turned up on that tv and hooked up with the hdmi cable and not the 80s cable! Gotten! The best general advice for equipment that can be given is to stick with brand names (or your budget) – brand names are more reliable, they do have those cosmetic features and better quality components that make everything run smoothly and in the long run will be worth it. For cables it can be quite a different story. The type of cable is important not the quality as such. This doesn’t mean you can use electrical cable from your digital antenna but yes you could use it for speaker cable! Just remember this saying – ‘Copper is copper’. and advertised “Gold Connections” are actually shiny bits of brass! plus if you look on the inside of the connection on your equipment its not “gold”!! I could really talk about this forever but to be blunt get a $10-$20 hdmi cable rather than $120 – they perform EXACTLY THE SAME!!!

A good place for instance to get a Hdmi Cable is here.

6 Basic Facts About DVI Cables

In the world of the future, we might not all have a fridge with self-assessing capabilities and an internet connection to order your milk to be home-delivered before it runs out… but it seems increasingly likely that many of us will connect our computers to our televisions to receive content over the internet, but viewed on our television. DVI will likely be one of the first technologies used for connecting your computer too your HDTV – today we introduce you to DVI cable technology and how it could be bringing the future to your loungeroom!

What is DVI?

DVI stands for Digital Video Interface, although some people list it as Digital Visual Interface. It was one of the first all digital methods of transferring a video signal, so allowed digital-capable devices to receive a much less lossy (compressed or reduced) form of video, compared to analog VGA cables. It wasn’t until the advent of digital televisions that using DVI on anything pother than computer monitors became widespread, and we started needing DVI cables for the television, and DVI to VGA converters.

What are DVI cables used for?

DVI was used everywhere that HDMI was, before HDMI became the new standard in digital cabling. If you have a television or other piece of AV equipment from that short period, it may need DVI cables. They are also commonly used for computer monitors.

DVI has single and dual links

As you might expect, DVI cables that have dual links can provide increased picture quality. The ‘dual link’ specification for DVI cables refers to the TMDS transmitter (transition minimized differential signaling). If you have a dual link DVI cable, there will be two 165Hz transmitters; single link cables have one.

What a DVI cable/plug looks like

A DVI cable/plug has nineteen pins, and frequently has little screws on the side to help keep it steady in its plug. This is what the end of a DVI cable looks like:

DVI is compatible with VGA with a converter

VGA is an analog signal type, but is compatible with DVI. There are three types of DVI cables – DVI-D, DVI-A, and DVI-I. At the end of each acronym, the ‘D’ stands for digital, the ‘A’ for analog, and the ‘I’ for integrated. You can get a DVI to VGA converter so that you can use DVI and other analog items together- however you will always be constrained by the signal quality of the analog appliance.

HDCP is used with DVI

HDCP stands for High-definition Digital Content Protection, a technology which aims to help eliminate movie and music piracy. HDCP is an integral part of HDMI, and DVI connected items can also be HDCP compliant. If you use HDMI cables anywhere in your home theater setup, any single non-HDCP compliant appliance will cut out the signal.

Audio Troubleshooting Guide: Static, Hum and Bass

It’s something that we all do at least a few times in our lives – setting up a new stereo or home theater system. It’s one of those things that are much too expensive to outsource, but far enough outside the realms of our everyday life that problems often arise! Today we help you troubleshoot several common problems with new speaker setup, from speaker cable issues to power switches!

Why does my sound have static?

Static problems usually originate at the connection or speaker cable level. It is a simple process of elimination to find out which connection or cable is causing trouble:

• Check whether the static only occurs when the source is from one particular item. Does it only happen when watching DVDs? When listening to the stereo? When watching cable? This is a big clue as to what is causing it.
• If you get static no matter what you are listening to, check the cables and connections between the AVR (Audio Visual Receiver) and your amplifier
• If the static only comes from one speaker (or even if the previous tips fail to give you any hints), check the speaker cables and connections between the amplifier or the AVR itself and the speakers.
• If the static is still coming from all speakers and you have never had static-free listening, check that your speaker cables are the correct width for their length.

Why are my speakers humming?

Not quite the same as static, hum is more constant and less acutely annoying. It still has the potential to wreck your listening experience, though! Hum coming from your speakers is not usually a speaker cable issue, but to do with ground loops. These occur when two devices in a circuit or system are grounded through different paths. Noise voltage can occur with the difference between the two grounds.

You need to identify which appliances are running at a slightly different voltage – look for a label on the appliance itself, or in the manufacturer’s information. A simple solution is to plug the two differently volted items into separate power sockets if possible. If this isn’t possible, an item called an isolation transformer can help.

What’s wrong with my bass?

I swear I used to have more bass than I do now – am I imagining things?

• There are several common reasons why your bass might have dropped out completely or become weak. Some people don’t realize that subwoofers have their own separate power switch, just like a television. Once you plug in the subwoofer speaker cable, you still need to switch the unit on to have it work. Check this first up, as the button can be easily bumped off even after it has been turned on.
• Also, your subwoofer needs its own power source as well as being connected by speaker cables to the stereo. If the power cable is loose, you won’t get bass.
• Another obvious one – just check the master volume level or control level on the back of the unit. They sometimes get ‘accidentally’ moved!
• Failing this, check in your AVR that the bass output is set to go to the subwoofer.
• If you have bass, but performance is an issue, set all of your speakers to ’small’ in your AVR with fixed global crossover of 80Hz. Defeat the low pass filter (LPF), or set it to its highest setting or you’ll get cascading effects.
• Check that the seating position is still optimal – if your furniture has moved, you may need to redo your auto-EQ calibration process.

Speaker Placement in Home Theatre Setups

People often laugh off the obsession that some people have with home theater perfection … it isn’t uncommon for people to build entire new rooms, move furniture, make their baby sleep in the garage, etc (well, maybe for a minute), in their quest to get the perfect home theater experience. It all seems a bit pointless to most of us … until we sit down to finally watch our brand new HDTV, and the actors seem to be speaking two seconds after their lips have moved! Here we go back to the drawing board of setting up your speakers and speaker cables to ensure you get the most out of all the cash sitting inside your television!

Left and Right Channel Placement

These are the most important speakers to have placed optimally, to get realistic and enveloping sound. You should:

• Keep these speakers equidistant from your TV, ideally at least 6 feet apart
• Keep them the same distance from your usual seating position
• Keep them parallel with the front row of seats for group viewing
• If you drew a line from the center viewing position to the left speaker, and then did the same for the right speaker, the angle formed should be around 45 degrees for movie watching, and 60 degrees for listening to music. These are general guidelines only though, and differ with different models of speaker.

Centre channel placement

The center channel is the third-most important speaker to have placed correctly. When placing the centre channel speaker and running the speaker cable, try to:

• Place it further away from you than the left and right speakers are, to avoid unbalancing the sound.
• The center channel tweeter should determine the placement of the left and right channel tweeters – if you move one, the others should move also.

Speaker toe-in

We touched on this when talking about the left and right channel speakers – some people say that a toe in of 45 degrees is best for watching movies, while 60 degrees is best for listening to music. However, not every speaker has the same mechanics. Check out the literature from your speaker manufacturer first; if there are no hints here then simply experiment with the positioning that sounds better to you. If there is no discernible difference – rejoice in your flexibility!

Surround Sound for home theater

Surround sound speakers aim to create a diffuse, enveloping sound environment that makes it seem that you are right in the middle of the action on television. Not always ideal for horror films … but effective, nonetheless! Your surround sound speakers and speaker cables should be:

• Placed slightly to the rear of the usual seating position
• Placed on the walls, if possible
• Two to three feet above ear level when you are seated

Subwoofer placement

Subwoofer placement is the least critical of all of the speaker placements, because the low frequency sounds should not be ‘directional’. If you can tell where you subwoofer is without looking, the volume is set too high. Place your subwoofer directly on the floor for best effect, and try to keep it away from walls or corners. This may mean a little more speaker cable is needed, but will improve the sound quality.

8 Basic Facts About HDMI

It can be pretty difficult to keep up with all the new acronyms coming out these days! Upgrading your technology is one of the few times that you will be forced to learn all of the new ones, if only to make sure that you know what you are buying! HDMI is one that is definitely worth learning about though. The technology is the new gold standard in multimedia connections, and is here to stay. Today we are looking at what that little length of copper and plastic known as a HDMI cable opens your home theater system up to, with a few basic facts about HDMI.

1. What is HDMI?

HDMI utilizes digital technology, rather than analog video signals, to get a picture from its source, to your television … and from there to your eyes! The letters stand for High Definition Multimedia Interface.

2. The advantages of HDMI lots

There are tons of advantages to HDMI technology – one of the reasons that the HDMI cable you buy today will be a solid decades-long investment. The advantages include:

• Gives better picture and sound quality by eliminating the need to convert a signal from digital, to analog (in the S-Video or other cable), back to digital
• Compresses up to 8 channels of audio into a single cable.
• No data is ‘thrown away’ in order to fit an audio or visual signal into the cable – this occurs with Toslink optical and digital coax connectors.
• Upgrades to the technology don’t mean you have to replace your cables (more on that later)

3. HDMI and DVI are not the same

HDMI is capable of carrying both audio and video signals – DVI is capable of carrying video signals only. However, both DVI and HDMI cables are all-digital interfaces and have the same high definition capacity.

4. HDMI and DVI are compatible with a converter

HDMI technology is actually based on the DVI concept, and HDMI cables are fully backwards compatible with DVI. You just need a converter to make the plugs fit together. There are a couple of HDMI-specific features that you lose with this method – automatic screen size conversion and universal remote control applicability are two.

5. HDMI has different technology versions

HDMI has undergone several upgrades since 2002, when it was released. Upgrades have included adding Dolby TrueHD and DTS-HD Master Audio support and DVD-audio support, adding Super Audio CD support, etc – basically doing away with ever more cables.

6. Upgrades do not render HDMI cables obsolete

However, an important thing to note is that future upgrades will not render your HDMI cables obsolete.

7. Different cable lengths require different thicknesses

Just as with traditional speaker cables, the longer distance you intend to run your HDMI cable over, the thicker the internal wire gauge needs to be. Joining two thinner cables together with a connector doesn’t give optimal sound or video – and in some cases gives no sound or video!

8. HDMI and HDCP go hand in hand

HDMI cables will only connect your devices provided they are compliant with the High-def Digital Content Protection (HDCP) scheme. HDMI and HDCP go hand in hand – and non-HDCP compliant devices won’t be able to ‘talk’ through HDMI cables.

How a speaker cable affects sound quality

If you’re outfitting your home theater, then most likely, you’ve spent a great deal of care selecting the speakers to go with it. You want your surround sound to be just as crisp and clear as the image on your new hi def television set, so you’ve gone out of your way to get the best quality speakers and arrange them perfectly to get the full surround sound experience.

So now you’re shopping for speaker cables, and you want to make sure you’re getting the good cables so as not to render that investment on the speakers moot. After all, you don’t spend a thousand bucks setting up your surround sound system only to use the cheapest speaker cables available right?

Wrong.

Trust us, get the one dollar speaker cables.

When you go into an electronics store to get your speaker cables, you always bump into a pushy sales clerk who insists that with a gold plated, oxygen free, fifty dollar speaker cable, you’re going to get fifty times better sound than you would out of the one dollar cable.

The only thing you’re going to get out of the fifty dollar cable is an empty wallet. If you’re outfitting a full surround system, you might wind up spending well over another thousand bucks trying to go all out on the fancy cables, where you could’ve had the same setup for ten bucks if you’d gotten the cheaper cables. But don’t worry, when you have it all installed, you’ll find out where that extra thousand bucks went: Into the store’s cash register, because it sure didn’t go into improving your sound quality.

A CD or an MP3 is really nothing but a bunch of computer data. It’s just digital information, really. Now of course, if you’re playing a vinyl-record, that’s a different story. Likewise if you’re running over one hundred meters of wire, or have done some scientific tests in your listening area and discovered this or that cable to be far superior to any other. Otherwise, don’t waste a bunch of time worrying about the quality of a speaker wire.

Setting up the full “entertainment zone” in your living room can be a lot of fun, and you do want it to be as good as it can be, or why bother spending so much? So, when it comes to speakers, go ahead and splurge on a top brand. When it comes to your HDTV, get the biggest, most hi-def TV you can safely afford. When it comes to the cables… go scrounge some change from your couch cushions and get the cheapest stuff available, because it’s going to do exactly what the fifty dollar cable will do, minus, of course, making you fifty dollars poorer.

And of course, if you’re that eager to be parted from your hard earned money, you can always buy the one dollar cable and drop forty nine in the charity bucket on the way out. Hey, if you insist on spending an extra forty nine dollars for no good reason, it may as well be for a good cause, because no matter what anyone tells you, the one dollar cables will give you the exact same sound as the fifty dollar speaker cables.

Troubleshooting HDMI cables

HDMI cables are great. Almost anyone with a personal computer will likely have hours and hours and hours of MP3 music in their Windows Media Player or iTunes library, and maybe a few (or a few dozen) movies we’ve downloaded from Netflix, as well as some home movies we’ve kept for posterity. The problem is that it’s not always enjoyable to listen to that music on low-end computer speakers or watch those movies on your monitor.

So the HDMI cable couldn’t have come along at a better time, allowing us to run media directly from the computer right into the TV, without having to bother burning a bunch of CDs or DVDs to enjoy our music and flicks on something better than our laptop display.

Of course, as with any device first making its way into the homes of consumers, there’s always a learning curve. There are people who bought a VCR back in the 1980’s and who are only now figuring out how to program them. Likewise, a lot of people come home with an HDMI cable and have a tricky time figuring out how to get it to work.

When people break out their first HDMI cable, there can be some difficulties getting it to display correctly. You might get a flickering, scrolling picture, or improper aspect ratio, or any number of other problems. You can plug a coaxial cable into the back of any TV and have it perform just as it would with the next, but television sets these days are built in a variety of types, as are the sources from which you’ll be sending the information. As such, it’s actually not a “one size fits all” undertaking.

It helps if you know your TV’s maximum settings, but if you don’t, here’s what you need to do when your HDMI cable isn’t doing what you bought it to do…

1- Access the menu on your TV, box, or DVD player, and look for the HDMI settings.

2- Honestly, the rest should be self explanatory. Set video out to HDMI, set HDMI audio out to on, etcetera.

3- Set the maximum HDMI resolution that your TV will allow. You’ll know when you pass the maximum resolution because the picture will likely be scrambled or cut off. The settings should be listed something like 576, 720, 1080, etc. Most TV sets these days go up to 1080, but if you don’t know, then you won’t until you check.

And there you go, it’s as simple as that. Like most new entertainment gadgets, gear and gizmos, using an HDMI cable properly is actually quite a bit simpler than it seems to be at first, it’s just a matter of learning how it works.

Now, if you’re still having troubles after adjusting all the settings properly, then the trouble is most likely a defective product. Either your TV can’t accept HDMI for some reason, there’s an issue with your source’s HDMI port, or the cable itself is damaged. Try changing the cable out to see if that’s the problem, and then simply return the defective cable.

What makes a Monster cable so great?

The reason Monster Cables are called Monster Cables is their size. Simply put, they come in thicker gauges than most audio cables.

There’s a misconception floating around that the wider gauge of a Monster cable actually improves on sound quality, or otherwise offers better performance… that’s not exactly why they’re made so thick… Sound quality really has nothing to do with how thick a cable is or what it’s made of or anything like that. The wider gauge of a Monster cable is simply for the sake of durability.

So if you’re working outdoors, or if you intend to run the cables through a wall and are worried that a rat might chew a smaller cable in half, Monster cables can be quite handy.

Because of the thicker gauge, Monster cables tend to bend, snap and break less often than thinner cables. However, all that sturdiness also has a drawback; many customers report that Monster cables are so incredibly strong and durable that yanking it out of the back of your TV might actually yank the cable socket out with it!

Now, this makes them ideal for permanent-fixtures, going back to the example of running a cable behind your drywall, but you may want to buy with caution if you plan on moving these cables around a lot.

The durability is well appreciated in certain situations, but it’s not always necessary. If you know the cable is going to be undergoing the tests of outdoor weather, Monster cables can be a great investment.

On the other hand, if you just want to plug your TV into your DVD player, you might want to go with a cheap cable. And if you do go with a Monster cable, at least make sure you get it for a cheap cable price by shopping around online.

Monster cables are certainly a good, reliable brand, just make sure you’re investing in them for the right reason, that being their durability. In any tests ever conducted on the matter, thicker, more expensive cables have never outperformed cheaper cables in terms of audio or video quality.

The truth is that all cables really are created equally on that front. Whether it’s a one dollar audio cable or a fifty dollar, oxygen free, gold plated, diamond encrusted cable, as long as it’s not frayed, it’s not broken, and it’s plugged in to both ends, it’s going to work as well as any other cable.

How an audio cable affects sound quality

In the majority of stores that sell electronics and components such as audio cables, the clerks are employed on commission. The fact is, their pay largely comes from a percentage of their sales. Therefore, it’s often in their best interests to sell you the priciest item in the store, whether you need it or not.

We bring this up only to give some context to this next statement: There’s really no such thing as a “best” audio cable, or even a “better” audio cable, or in fact, even a “low quality” audio cable or “high quality” audio cable.

The truth is that that a gold plated cable doesn’t give you any better sound quality than a standard one dollar cable. If you want to get the best possible setup for your sound system, then what you should be thinking about rather than the quality or value of the cable itself is whether or not it fits in with your setup.
Getting the best sound is really just about how you want to set up. You have a number of options, here. In terms of technical quality, it essentially comes down to how many channels the cables deliver.

For example, a stereo RCA cable gives you two channels, while six channel analog gives you three sets of stereo RCA (hence, six channels). So really it comes down to what type of cable you need more so than how much you’re willing to spend.
Once you’ve determined what sort of setup you want, here’s a short list of everything else you need to consider before buying your audio cables…

1) The price

That’s it. That’s all you need to consider. And on that subject, you might as well save yourself a little extra on the side and shop online for cables.

Okay, it can be a little more complex if you’re, say, running a sound source outdoors, like if you’re connecting speaker cables for a live concert or something. In which case, you might want something that won’t bend and break when it’s being stepped on, moved about, and subjected to the weather. In that case, it might not be a bad idea to get a thicker audio cable. However, don’t kid yourself for even a second that it’s affecting sound quality.

In short; if it’s of the right type, if it’s not frayed, if it’s not snapped in two, and if you can plug both ends in where they need to go, then any audio cable is as good as the next one.

So, in other words, just don’t get hoodwinked by fast talking electronics store clerks. Save your money and get cheaper audio cables, because when it comes down to the quality of sound, there’s really no difference at all from one audio cable to the next. Just so long as you’re using the right cable for the right task, you should get clear, quality sound no matter what company made the cable or how much you spent on it.

What makes for the best HDMI cables?

A question that gets asked quite often when you’re dealing in HDMI cables: What makes this or that HDMI cable better than the next?

Well, the truth is that it doesn’t really matter what HDMI cable you’re using. If it works, it works, and no matter what a sales clerk looking for a big commission might tell you, picture quality isn’t really affected at all by using one brand or another, or by grabbing the expensive gold plated cable, or, really, by much at all.

All that matters is that you get a cable that works. That’s it. As long as you’re not buying an HDMI cable that’s been patched back together with electrical tape, then you can probably rely on it to give you as good a picture quality as any other. No matter what you might hear from some so-called experts, that really is the truth of the matter.

That’s not to say that you can invariably grab just any old cable, but if you are shopping around for a specific cable, then it should be for reasons beyond the myth of “better picture quality”.

For example, some of the more expensive cables do have a thicker gauge. Again, this has absolutely no effect whatsoever on picture quality, but it can help in other regards.

Say you’re running your HDMI cable through a wall so as not to have to worry about a big tangle of cables and wires surrounding your beautiful new HDTV. A thicker cable will, of course, be more durable, and therefore less likely to bend, break and fray. This can save you a lot of hassle regarding the inconvenience of having to replace less durable cables every time they get damaged.

But on the other hand, let’s be entirely honest: How often do you really expect an HDMI cable safely installed into a wall or ceiling to suffer enough damage to necessitate replacement? Maybe if you have a problem with rats, sure, but if that’s the case, it may actually be wiser to take the extra cash you were going to spend on a fancy HDMI cable and split it between a less expensive cable and some rat traps.

Now, again, when you’re buying HDMI cables in an electronics store, you’re probably going to meet a sales clerk from time to time trying to push you towards the more expensive products. In most electronic stores, the sales clerks work for commission rather than strictly on hourly wages, so of course, they’re hoping you’ll by the big gauge gold plated HDMI. Don’t buy into that. The idea that this or that cable will affect picture quality really is a myth. As long as all the pins are connected, as long as the cable itself is intact, you’re going to get the best picture quality available no matter the brand name printed on your HDMI cable.

To be entirely frank, the only situation where you might absolutely, positively need a more expensive, more durable HDMI cable is if you keep your TV set or HDMI source outdoors. Perhaps, for example, if you’re in charge of the audio-visual aspect of a live event. For the home user, though, we advise you just make sure the HDMI cable you’re buying is long enough to reach from your source to your TV. Beyond that, you don’t have anything to worry about.