What is High Definition? HDTV Digital and Analog TV Upconverting DVD, HD-DVD and Blu-Ray

High Quality Sound Understanding Cables What Can I Do For You? Informative Links

You've probably been hearing a lot about High Definition Television (HDTV) and Movies (HD-DVD, Blu-Ray). These new technologies have slowly replaced the traditional bulky and low-quality image television sets, which are Standard Definition TV (SDTV). Even some of the smallest LCD or Plasma TV's today are capable of producing High Definition images.

Unfortunately there is a lot of confusion about what HD really means. There are many standards and even more devices that support them. www.HowStuffWorks.com has an easy to read introduction to how HDTV works, and Wikipedia has highly detailed explanations of the different High Defintion standards and equipment.

One thing is for certain: If things are not hooked up properly you're not going to get a good picture at all!

An HDTV ready Television is one that supports a higher resolution of picture from cable or satellite broadcasts. This means more detail can be packed into every square inch of TV screen to improve the overall quality. Some recent TV's are described as EDTV (Enhanced Definition TV), which is a description of the level of picture quality the set can produce. An EDTV set can produce better quality than SDTV (Standard Definition TV), but it's not an HDTV set.

To receive a proper HDTV picture, you will need a high-definition source, and a digital connector from the source box to your TV. This cable can be HDMI (High-Definition Multimedia Interface) or DVI-D (Digital Visual Interface). Some TV's have a tuner built-in but most require an external source. The source box can be an HDTV tuner, such as the Rogers/Cogeco HDTV box or a Bell ExpressVu HDTV Satellite Receiver. Once your tuner is connected properly, you will notice especially on the HD channels that the picture is crisper and well-defined, the colors are sharper, and the overall image has been improved from "regular TV". Your HDTV-ready TV can also be used to view DVD's, HD-DVD or Blu-Ray movies, and the newest video games in high-resolution. There is a huge difference in quality even when viewing standard DVD's on a properly connected HDTV.

DVI-D HDMI

I'll connect your HDTV to the Tuner source so you will receive the best picture possible for your TV set. Even if you don't order HD channels, you should still see an improvement in visual quality with the "regular" channels.

Average Time: 1 hour

Analog TV is the old television broadcast standard which is sent in SDTV over a coaxial cable. Generally you would plug in the round cable connector to the back of your TV and would be able to change channels and view different stations, as most older TV's have analog tuners built in. This is a one-way service which does not offer interactive features or special broadcast standards

Digital TV is a new standard that relies on digital signals over coaxial for the image and audio. It requires that you plug the coaxial cable directly in to your set-top box such as the Rogers/Cogeco Digital TV box, or a Satellite TV Box to translate the signals and communicate with your service provider. Since the signal is digital, it can be "compressed" which offers many more channels as well as interactive services and programs.

Digital TV does not mean HDTV!
You will need to order HDTV channels from your cable or satellite provider.

Upconverting DVD players take the original DVD video image, which is recorded at a lower resolution (meaning less detail per square inch), and convert it into a higher resolution HD signal for viewing on a HD capable TV. The DVD player should be connected to the HDTV with a HDMI or DVI-D. Although it's not quite the same visual quality as an HD-DVD or Blu-Ray disk, it will still look better than watching TV over a regular RCA, S-Video or Component connection. HD-DVD and Blu-Ray discs hold more information than regular DVD, and so they output higher resolution picture and sound, and don't need to be converted to play in HD. This results in a much higher quality picture as well as better sound if you have a surround sound system. Though the two standards both ouput the same quality of picture and sound, they are not compatible with each other. I'll connect your player to your TV and Stereo for the best quality picture and sound, and adjust the image levels on the TV to optimize the picture quality. If you've been running your old DVD player over RCA cable to a 52" plasma TV, be prepared to be blown away when you upgrade to HD!

Average Time: 1 hour

Sure you can hear the movie from the small speakers built in to your TV, but you can't *feel* the action on-screen, and you won't hear the helicopter floating above you or the car rushing by behind you. A proper 5.1 sound system (5 directional speakers and 1 sub-woofer for bass) will give you a whole new experience when watching movies, playing games, or even watching TV shows. Even a 2.1 (Two speakers, usually with sub-woofers built in) system will make a huge difference in your viewing.

When I set up your speakers and amplifier to the sound source, we'll tune your system together for the best sound for your space and for your ears. A good tuning by focusing the speakers and equalizing the sound frequency levels will improve your audio quality and enjoyment.

Average Time: 1.5 hours

Almost all of your new equipment will require special connectors. If you use the standard RCA cables or coaxial cables for video output, there won't be much of an improvement in picture. New home entertainment hardware benefits from using digital cabling to provide an exact high quality signal. The larger the TV, the more noticable analog distortion and digital crispness becomes. There are many different kinds of connectors, which provide different levels of quality.

Analog Cables:
Analog connections send the information to your equipment via signals of varying frequencies. This information is then reconstructed by your TV to provide a picture or sound. When sending analog data, there will always be slight variation in the frequencies and the reproduced picture will never be exactly the same as the source. A bad signal from a faulty analog cable or source will not always be very noticable, as it may just distort the picture or sound slightly. There are many types of analog connectors you may be familiar with.

Analog Connectors
Coaxial	RCA	S-Video	Component	VGA	Speaker Wire

Digital Cables:
Digital information is sent as a 1 or a 0, meaning ON or OFF. When data is sent digitally it arrives in the same way that it was sent, meaning no loss of picture or sound quality. The data either arrives as it was sent, or it doesn't. A faulty digital signal is noticable right away as the information will be jumbled when it is displayed on your screen.

Digital Connectors
DVI-D	HDMI	TOSLINK	Ethernet

Whether you just want to hook up a new HD receiver, or you want to kit out your system with your new surround sound and a 52" Plasma HDTV, I will set everything up for a high quality viewing and listening experience. Even something as small as changing a cable and adjusting the TV image settings can result in a brighter and crisper picture.

In regards to wiring, all wiring in your entertainment center will be kept neat and as hidden as possible. I can hide speaker wires underneath baseboards and behind objects in the room, but I will not be able to run hidden wires throughout your entire house, or hide them inside walls and air ducts. Drilling through your walls is not a service provided by me.

Please refer to the images above and have an inventory of your available cables ready when you contact me. A list of your equipment model numbers (usually found on the unit itself, on the box, or in the instruction manuals) will help as well, so I can do some background research to find out what cables you'll need for your equipment and where they should go.

Average Time: 1-3 hours

Below you will find links explaining in detail the different concepts discussed on this page.

Analog Cables VS. Digital Cables

Lord of the Rings Standard DVD and HD-DVD Quality Comparison Images

www.HowStuffWorks.com has an easy to read introduction to how HDTV works.

Wikipedia has an in-depth detailed explanation of HD sources and signals.