Don't Buy That 60-Inch Plasma TV!

Why shouldn't you buy a 60-inch plasma TV? Because there's a much better, affordable solution. How would you like to be able to look at an 8 FOOT screen with quality comparable to 16mm film projection? What if I said you could get it for under $1200? Well, you can with a projection TV.

Projection TV

If you're going low-budget, one well-reviewed option is the Mitsubishi HC3000U High Definition 720p DLP Home Theater Projector. PC World, the computer magazine, honored the HC3000U with a 2006 PC World Innovations Award after comparing it to hundreds of other products. Compared to other projectors, the midtones are much brighter, which results in richer blacks and a more vivid image overall. It's even a cinch to install. As of this writing, it's run you about 950 bucks.

Mounting Hardware

If you're planning on mounting the projector in the ceiling, you could go with the Atdec TH-WH-PJ-FM Telehook Universal Projector Flush Mount. The mount allows the projector to be rotated a full 360 degrees, and has a quick release for easy installation. That'll run you about 50 bucks.

Projection Screen

You'll want a screen to go along with your home theater projector. You could project it on a bare white wall, but you won't get the best possible performance out of your projector. The budget option is to get a manual screen, as opposed to an electronically operated one. One highly-rated manual screen is the Draper Screen Luma 106" Diameter. That's about 130 bucks.

Audio

If you're hooking your equipment up to your stereo, you'll already have excellent sound. That's the budget solution anyway.

Summary

Did I keep my promise to get you a killer home theater system for 1200 bucks? Let's see -- $950 for the projection TV, $50 for the mounting hardware, and $130 for the screen. Happy viewing!

Mike Kydonieus is a certified movie freak with a special interest in genre movies from the United States, France, Italy, Japan, Korea, and especially Hong Kong. He publishes the Trash Cinema Club blog at http://trashcinemaclub.com/ which mostly consists of movie reviews and articles like this one. Mike has also written several screenplays and directed a short movie.

Samsung Cleaning System

Power Interference on an Audio Cable

I get asked questions quite often during an installation for advise about cabling techniques. One of the most often asked questions is 'Can't I just run my speaker cables right beside my power cables' or 'can speaker wires run next to electrical cables?' The quick short answer is 'No', with a quick explanation of noise. I want to cover why running speaker wires next to electrical cables is a bad idea.

Inductance is an audible transfer of a hum, buzz, noise or interference transferred from one cable to another cable. In quite simple terms, noise on one cable goes to another within a certain distance.

Electrical cables have A/C (alternating current) running through them. A typical home in America has 110 Volts A/C at 60Hz (hertz). Some A/C outlets (used for Dryers, Stoves and other limited devices) have 220 Volts A/C at 60Hz. Some countries use 110 at 50Hz or 220 at 50Hz. It the Hertz that provides the buzz or noise.

Hertz is the amount of times A/C switches polarity in a second. 60Hz means that 60 times a second, the A/C switches polarity. This when played audibly is a low buzz noise. The closer an audio receiver is placed to the 110/220 VAC (Volts Alternating Current) the more prominent the noise will be.

Imagine a power cable with an invisible field around it encompassing 18 inches or so in either direction. Anything within that 18 inches will get a buzz, the closer to the center of that field the louder the Buzz will be. This field is the inductance field of the cable. 18 inches is the approximate area that the inductance will occur.

Speaker cable are wires that usually are encompassed by a clear plastic insulator running parallel to each other. There is usually no twisting of the pair involved. This makes the cable a perfect antenna and will easily pick up noise or interference from another cable. Thus, when a speaker cable is placed too close to an Electrical or power cable, the 60 Hz signal easily transfers to the antenna that a speaker cable operates like. Your speakers when powered by an amplifier will play this constant buzz from the electrical circuit.

The closest that I would recommend running a speaker cable to an electrical power cable is around 18 inches or so, though there is a good success rate at 12 inches or so. Any closer than that inductance will occur and then your speakers will have a 60 Hz hum play on them any time the amplifier is turned on.

Possible solutions if you cannot separate your speaker cables from your power cable by 18 inches vary, I will cover the three most often used.

Shielded cable. A cable covered in a foil shield, this type of cable will have a grounding strip running along the entire length of the cable. Run the cable trying to keep as much distance as possible from the power cable, strip at the ends only the length that you need to splice. At the amplifier strap or twist the the grounds together and tape off or tie to earth ground. You may have to experiment with the last step to see what works best for you. Try twisting the grounds all together first. Try keeping the grounds separate. Finally tie all grounds together and tie to the ground in the amplifier.

Twisted Pair. If at all possible find a twisted pair shielded cable. The more twists per inch, the less likely that it will pick up inductance or interference. If you can find it, purchase a category 5 twisted pair, shielded cable (a shielded computer network cable).

Ferrite collar. Ferrite is made out of a brittle metal allow, the come in the form of rings or collars. Get collars for both ends of a cable run, at the speaker end and the amplifier end. For a 5.1 surround sound system, you will need 12. At each end of the cable, wrap the cable around the inside diameter of the collar several time and snap it close.

Your best solution to reducing or eliminating inductance if you cannot be 18 inches away from a power cable is to use all three methods. Run a twisted pair shielded cable, with the shields grounded to another and place ferrite collars at both ends of the cable run. Doing this seems the be the best solution, though it is not always foolproof.

Remember only do these if you have no other choice for routing the cable.

Best of luck!

Nature Sounds CDs and DVDs

Samsung Compartment Case

HDTV and Bluray HD Player - Should I Wait Or Should I Buy?

If you have purchased a newer HDTV, Blu-Ray HD player models previewed, may be just what you are looking for. The HDTV-Blu-Ray HD player models previewed will include looks at Panasonic, Samsung and Pioneer brands. These three companies are planning on using the new Blu-Ray technology to make DVD watching on HDTV a lot better. Initially these models may be a bit pricey, but the competition and demand will lower the prices pretty quickly.

The first thing to look at in HDTV-Blu-Ray HD player models previewed is a closer look at the technology and how it works. A lot of the newer HDTV's use 1080p resolution, while some use 1080i. The 'i' and 'p' stand for interlaced and progressive. Interlaced uses two passes to get the picture, while progressive uses only one pass. Generally progressive gives better picture quality. This is where Blu-Ray comes in.

When looking at HDTV-Blu-Ray HD player models previewed, a closer look at Blu-Ray technology is in order as well. The way it works is with a blue light laser. This laser reads or illuminates what are called pits on the disc. The wavelength in this technology is shorter, which means that the pits can be spaced closer together. This then means that the pits can be spaced closer together. This then means that more information can fit in a smaller amount of space. When it comes to HDTV-Blu-Ray HD player models previewed, you will also want to know that they are able to output a 1080p signal. This is done with what is known as High Definition Multimedia Interface or HDMI, via a jack. This resolution in HDTV's is becoming more and more common and with Blu-Ray you can correspond this to get excellent quality.

Taking an even closer look at HDTV and Blu-Ray HD player models, a better look at each brand is warranted. One of the three that are planning to release with Blu-Ray technology is Samsung. Some of the features of Samsung's Blu-Ray will include 9-in-2 Multi Memory Card Slot. This will enable viewing of digital photos on your television screen. This brand will also have the ability to set an alarm. Besides these features it will cost around a thousand dollars initially, but the price will probably drop fast. This brand is slim and very full of quality and rated fairly high.

The next model that will be releasing with Blu-Ray technology is Pioneer. This brand has what is called Home Media Gallery software that will let you view pictures, listen to music or watch movies that may be stored on a computer. This can all be done at 1080p resolution if you have the right HDTV to do so. This brand is highly reliable and rated consistently. This one will cost around $1,800 but may also drop as well.

The last brand that will be using Blu-Ray technology is Panasonic. This will also be in conjunction with Panasonic's HDTV that is plasma like with 1080p resolution. This one will cost around $1,500 but may also come down with time as well. This one will have what is called EZ-Sync HDAV1 technology. This let's the user use multiple HDMI units with just one remote. HDMI stands for High Definition Multimedia Interface.

With all these options to choose from and the great new technology, it should be fairly easy to find one that will suit your needs and budget. With the full amount of information you should be ready to go out and take a closer look at each model. This then will allow you to get the best deal in the end.

Check out http://www.hdtvland.org/ for articles on lcd vs plasma and hdtv review.

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