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SILICON
CHIP
www.siliconchip.com.au
Publisher & Editor-in-Chief
Leo Simpson, B.Bus., FAICD
Production Manager
Greg Swain, B.Sc.(Hons.)
Technical Editor
Peter Smith
Technical Staff
John Clarke, B.E.(Elec.)
Ross Tester
Jim Rowe, B.A., B.Sc, VK2ZLO
Reader Services
Ann Jenkinson
Publisher’s Letter
Most home theatre systems
are not worth watching
There is no doubt that if it wasn’t for the booming sales of plasma TV sets and home theatre
systems, most electrical retailers would be having a difficult time. But while plasma and rear
projection TV sales are going through the roof,
one has to wonder whether the buyers realise
that they are getting an inferior result; they are
spending many thousands of dollars in setting
up home theatre systems but the “home theatre”
experience is anything but. For a start, how many cinemas have you been
to where you could obscure the entire screen by holding your hand 30cm
in front of your face?
Advertising Enquiries
Lawrence Smith
Benedictus Smith Pty Ltd
Phone (02) 9211 8035
Fax: (02) 9211 0068
lawrence<at>benedictus-smith.com
For a real home cinema experience, you must have a large screen, not
something only a metre or so wide. By large, I mean a screen three or four
metres wide. If the picture occupies most of one end of your viewing room,
so much the better. You want a BIG picture; nothing else will give you the
visual impact that you get in a real theatre. Have a look at page 8 of this
issue – that’s a reasonably large picture in an admittedly very large room.
Regular Contributors
Brendan Akhurst
Rodney Champness, VK3UG
Julian Edgar, Dip.T.(Sec.), B.Ed,
Grad.Dip.Jnl
Mike Sheriff, B.Sc, VK2YFK
Stan Swan
You cannot get that sort of picture from any current plasma or LCD TV,
either now and probably never. The only way to get it is to purchase an
LCD or DLP projector. Now you might think that is impractical but the fact
is that you can buy one of the best currently available high-definition LCD
projectors, the Panasonic PT-AE900E, for substantially less than the price
of many standard definition plasma and rear projection TV sets.
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This sort of projector will provide a visual experience and picture quality
which is even better than your local cinema. In fact, let’s not beat around the
bush; the picture quality in many cinemas is downright poor compared with
the picture quality that can already be obtained from the above projector and
a good-quality DVD player with a “component video” or HDMI (high definition multimedia interface) connection. When high-definition DVD players
arrive within the next year or so, the picture quality will be even better.
Admittedly, there are some drawbacks. Typically, LCD and DLP projectors
can only be used in a darkened room (we used our “photographer’s licence”
in taking the photo on page 8 – the room was not that well-lit). And replacing
the special high pressure mercury lamp in a typical LCD projector is very
expensive – something you will need to do every couple of thousand hours
or so. Nor would you want to watch normal TV programs with such a setup.
In truth though, most TV programs are not worth watching in any format!
So when you wander past all those fancy bright plasma and LCD TV
sets in your local electrical retailer, don’t be tempted to buy or at least, not
yet. Remember, they will continue to get cheaper and high-definition DVD
players are coming soon, to render any standard definition set obsolete. But
if you hanker for a real home-theatre experience, go to a retailer who can
demonstrate high-definition LCD and DLP projectors right now. Anything
else is going to be forgettable.
Leo Simpson
ISSN 1030-2662
* Recommended and maximum price only.
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