Home Cinema Solutions

What is Home Cinema? In reality it is something more than the basic television and DVD combo. The range of Home Cinema Solutions is vast; many Electrical stores now sell a wide selection of simple Home Cinema solutions through to quite complicated ones however if you want more you can go to the specialist suppliers who can create bespoke solutions not only using the latest boxes but can also address the whole ergonomics of your room.

There are a number of components that go together to make a good Home Cinema system:

Picture Delivery

 Let's start with the basics, assuming the main reason you want a Home Cinema solution is to increase your viewing pleasure then often simply changing the way you receive your pictures can improve this. If you do not have a digital receiver yet then you get one with any solution you install. The improvement in quality coupled with the ability to receive true Widescreen pictures plus CD quality sound will truly enhance your viewing pleasure.

Explore a good Broadband connection with high speed, this will open up the ability to receive digital movies over the internet. A word of warning comes with this however, some suppliers insist you install their software which effectively turns your PC into a file sharing solution where films you have downloaded are then made available to their other customers from you PC. this saves the supplier the expense of having lots of file servers as all their customers PCs are the servers.

What Does Digital TV Offer:

More channels

As well as the five main channels, Digital TV offers lots of new free channels as well as others you can pay for. Different digital options offer different channel choices.

Better picture quality

Digital pictures less prone to interference. If you can receive a digital signal, then picture quality should always be good.

True Widescreen

Many Digital TV programmes are broadcast in 'true' widescreen, which means the picture isn't stretched. The result of this is great looking television, especially when you're watching films.

Easier to find out what's on

Instead of searching the TV listings in newspapers or magazines, digital viewers use an electronic programme guide, which works with a remote control. It lets you choose what to watch and record, just by clicking on programmes from the guide displayed on your TV screen. This does of course depend upon the facilities that your TV/Recorder has.

Interactive TV

Some programmes have an interactive element, often indicated by a red logo on the screen. For example, during Wimbledon fortnight, the BBC offers all digital viewers coverage from a choice of courts, so you can choose which match to watch.

Digital radio

You can listen to dozens of digital radio stations (also called DAB radio stations) through your TV. We think this is probably one of the best things about Digital transmission, One aerial to receive all services.

Better sound quality

Digital broadcasting means purer sound, often up to CD quality.

Picture Display

Any solution ideally should have a High Definition TV (HDTV) and whilst you should look to get as large as possible screen size this should also be tempered with consideration of the size of room you will have it in. e.g. If you turn your box room bedroom into a Home Cinema then you may not need a 50 inch plasma screen!

Movie Storage

The most popular choice of storage for movies currently is DVD however new solutions are coming along all the time. Delivery via the Internet is now possible and hence you can do away with storage although it also opens up the possibility of needing to record off the internet.

Sound Delivery

A good sound system will go a long way to reproducing the experience you get when in the Cinema. This should match in with the Storage and delivery solution you choose.

Ambience (Ergonomics)

Often overlooked however if you plan a room where the screen has the sun reflecting off it in the middle of winter then the experience will not be great.