Secret #1: WHAT YOU BUY TODAY WILL BE
OBSOLETE TOMORROW, IF IT ISN'T ALREADY.
What you should do about it:
Don't sweat it. Just read what you can
before you buy to educate yourself so
you don't make a terrible mistake. If
you shop wisely, you can get a tremendous
leap over what you have come to know as
television. The good news is the better
stuff coming down the pipe is knocking
prices down on the stuff out now.
Plus, consumer surveys SCREAM to the
electronics companies that people WANT
these new, slim, high resolution Home
Theater setups. There are billions of
dollars to be made. Those surveys snapped
the head of every exec in the biz. They
geared up to make more. "Make more" equals
"economies of scale" equals "make MORE
money," even at lower price points! The
first one costs a bazillion dollars: research,
tooling up, marketing. Then, with volume,
the cost per unit plummets. The guys who
want to have very latest get to pay the
most. Why be that person?
If you've already purchased a particular
technology - Plasma, DLP, LCD, front or
rear projector, whatever, ENJOY it. It
IS important to realize that wide screen
aspect ratio does not equal high-definition
TV, though. Some think if the picture
is wide, they're there. That might be
FAR from there. I hate to say this because
I'm a guy and guys hate this - you might
want to read the instructions.
Secret #2. And this is really, really
big: YOU CAN'T TELL WHAT THE PICTURE LOOKS
LIKE FROM WHAT YOU SEE IN THE STORE.
What you should do about it:
What you are doing now. Research. The
hard part is cutting through the opinions
of weenies who want to see a feather clearly,
blowing in the wind at 50 yards. I'll
help you there. Read on.
There are three reasons why Home Theater
Ugly Secret #2 is true.
1- The sets aren't adjusted right. They
are turned way up to dazzle you. The dazzle
will bother you when you get home. Worse,
it drives the set to what you'd call distortion.
The better picture happens when the picture
is turned down in brightness, sharpness,
contrast, and whatever else has been goosed.
Why do they let this happen? It's like
a conspiracy that everyone is in on -
except you. Because when they are all
lined up, 40 sets in a row, the manufacturers
know you might think theirs is different
and better. But they ALL do it, so it's
a wipe. And if a store is a little bit
shady, with some hi-def sets to move at
a higher profit margin, well, now, those
might have been "optimized" to look better
than the others.
Yes, most of the hi-def sets CAN be adjusted
correctly for you in your home. MAYBE
by you.
Did I mention that Bubba the shopper-doofus
was there, just before you browsed in,
that he found the remote control and screwed
up all the settings anyway?
So, you can't trust what you see in most
stores. But wait, there's more.
2- Many of the sets are being fed video
poorly. A distribution amp or humungous
splitter shares the picture among the
displays. That hurts the picture. A store
might have 40 sets on one distribution,
but the ones they really want to move
on a purer source, showing a better picture.
You'll never know.
3- What you see may or may not be high
definition or even good quality. Just
as bad, it might be super fidelity you
won't likely ever see again. Because,
what you watch at home might not be broadcast
or cablecast with a good picture. So,
you can see misaligned sets fed bad pictures
that bear little resemblance to anything
you'd see at home. Ready to drop several
THOUSAND on that? Didn't think so. But
tens of thousands of people do. Probably
WILL this weekend. Eager commissioned
salespeople will confide that THIS unit
is the superior one. No hidden agenda
there, do you think, huh?!
Secret #3. THERE'S SOMETHING WRONG WITH
EVERYTHING.
What you should do about it:
Relax. Don't obsess. It's more a matter
of things being done different ways by
different designers. For example, on this
set, the colors are spot on, but the resolution
is a little off. On that set over there,
the resolution is incredible, but the
red... You are still going to love the
setup you buy - and remember - you just
might have it for 10 years or MORE! You'll
look at it more than you look at your
wife, husband or kids. I'm talking face
time. Relax. We'll get you through this.
A personal note to THE OBSESSIVES:
If you haven't already left this article,
I want you to think about the fact that
there are millions of screen dots to go
wrong. Not that they will, but the 317th
one from the left and 119th from the bottom
IS a little shaky, don't you think? Time
to take a deep breath. One, two, three.
Exhale. Even though there's something
wrong with everything, if you embrace
that thought and LET IT GO you'll be able
to enjoy the - uh - big picture. The state
of the Home Theater art - even if it IS
yesterday's art, is very very nice.
Relax.
Why a Home Theater? And what's it MEAN
anyway? Good questions. A Home Theater
is simply the natural; evolution of the
TV experience. Now that we can, we do.
It's how it goes. Basically, you get a
shorter, wider picture (more like a movie
in a... theater) and the picture is much
clearer than the TV you sat too close
to as a kid - remember Mom yelling? And
you can have better sound too. It can
be all around you, or just in the front.
You choose. You can have a box that plays
the deep notes - fun things like car crashes,
earthquakes, whale farts, cannons. You
get to experience them like never before.
It's not essential, but it's there if
you want it.
A Home Theater is just like going to
the movies. Except the screen isn't that
big, but you can get a good seat. You
don't have to endure advertisements in
the 'pre-show entertainment' if you don't
want to. You can go to the bathroom and
touch the door handle on the way out.
No paying $5.75 for a bag of stale popcorn.
No popcorn bagging zomboid teenagers.
No lines. No sticky floors (unless that's
the way you live, not that there's anything
wrong with that.)
There. Now you know the top 3 Ugly Home
Theater secrets.
But, it isn't quite that simple. At http://www.GreatHomeTheater.com/
there are 9 more secrets revealed. I promise
you won't get neurotic or your hands dirty,
and I won't talk you out of what can be
a tremendous and highly enjoyable leap
forward in home entertainment.
| About The Author
Bob Wood, for over 30 years, served
in front of, and behind the microphone,
at popular radio stations across
the United States and Canada. Throughout
that journey he developed a passion
for great sound and was an early
adopter of many of the video toys
and tools that have evolved into
today's state of the art.
Bob also became known as a voice-actor
at that time, leading him to literally
hundreds of recording studios where
again he would work with top equipment.
In the mid 80s, he was able to examine
and demo the early high definition
broadcast quality equipment out
of Japan.
Copyright 2005, Bob Wood
|
This article was posted on October
02, 2005
