TEK’s Definitive HD Home Theater Setup Guide

So it finally happened. You (or someone close to you) finally picked up an HDTV. I know why you did it. Maybe you saw one at a relative or friend’s house, running true high-definition content and were amazed by it. Maybe you were out shopping at an electronics store and one of the display models caught your eye. You might have seen Jeff Rivera’s HDTV Buying Guide and got enough information to make up your mind. Or maybe you just heard about how wonderful HDTVs are. Whatever you bought one for, there’s no wrong reason to get one, and no wrong “type” to get. HDTVs are most certainly the way of the future, and whatever you purchase now is more than good enough to last many years into the future.

But buying an HDTV presents a few new challenges that the average user of an HDTV isn’t familiar with. Suddenly, you’re confronted with aspect ratios, screen resolutions, and 5.1 (or beyond) digital audio. HD-DVD and Blu-ray Disc, HDMI, and so on also aren’t helping matters. The days of plugging in a television and turning it on are all but over, and it’s at the expense of ease of use for the end consumer. Hopefully, that’s where we come in. This guide is designed to give you all the information that you need in the easiest, most understandable way possible.

Table of Contents
1. The HDTV
2. HD Programming
3. Inputs
4. HDTV Resolutions
5. Visual Components/Game Consoles
6. Connecting Your Audio
7. Closure
8. Special Thanks

Step One: The HDTV

Unfortunately, this is the part of the article that we can’t really help you out with. Ultimately, it’s up to you to determine what your needs and price range are in terms of your TV. However, here at TEK, we have an excellent and informative HDTV buying guide that should really help you out if you’re confused about this part. If you haven’t read it, and you’re considering buying an HDTV, please go read it. It’s one of the best decisions you’ll make all day - I promise. Don’t worry about it, we’ll wait.

Step Two: HD Programming

If you’re buying an HDTV or have bought one, you probably did so expecting to actually watch high definition content on it. Hang on there, Mario Andretti. Don’t go gallivanting off to get an HDTV, expecting it to enter you into a magical world of beautiful women (or guys. We don’t judge here) and beer, rendered in 720 progressive the instant you turn it on. You’re going to have to get ahold of HD programming somehow. Don’t fall into the trap that most Americans do. It’s assumed by far too many that when you buy an HDTV you automatically get HD programming, and that everything viewed is in HD. That is not the case. The two most common ways to get HD programming are over the air and through a cable company. Wouldn’t you know it? Each has advantages and disadvantages.

Over The Air

Over the air programming works much like it did in decades past with good old rabbit ears. Exactly as the name implies, it uses a built-in or external ATSC tuner to receive high-definition broadcasts from local stations over the air. Beyond the cost of an HDTV with a built-in tuner or buying a tuner separately, this method gives you free HD programming from your local stations. The downsides of over the air can be lack of channels or difficulty receiving the broadcast signals. Weather, distance and obstructions all affect over the air broadcasting. The difference between digital and analog broadcasts however is that reception is all or nothing. If you get the signal, the picture quality will be perfect. If you don’t, you simply won’t see anything at all. Another thing to remember is that regardless of what the salesman at Best Buy tries to tell you, there is no such thing as an HDTV antenna. All ATSC broadcasts use UHF, which any regular antenna can pick up. Depending on your location and the broadcast you are trying to pick up, you might need a directional or amplified antenna, but don’t be duped into spending extra money on a special HDTV antenna. If you are interested in what channels are available in your area, head over to AntennaWeb where you can enter your address and get the distance and direction of all OTA HDTV broadcasts in your region, along with advice on what type of antenna you will need to receive those channels.

Cable Programming

The vast majority of people in the United States who have HD programming get it from a cable company. Cable prices depend from provider to provider, just as the programming you receive for that money will. The one certainty in regards to cable programming is that the selection in HD is much better than over-the-air. Typically, you’ll get channels like ESPN HD, Discovery HD Theater, HBO HD, and Showtime HD in addition to your local HD channels at a basic cable HD package tier. It’s up to you to decide what you’re looking for in terms of HD programming and make selections from there. The negatives for HD programming in this method are price, selection (which is still a bit lacking due to not that many HD channels yet), and occasionally the broadcasts won’t be as sharp as they should be thanks to the cable company. More frequently than not, cable programming is the way to go in terms of getting HD programming.

Wait a Minute!

-I thought that buying an HDTV and getting HD programming means that everything I watch on those channels is in HD, all the time! Why are there horizontal black bars on my picture?

Well, you’ve run into a fatal flaw with the way HD programming works right now. On a lot of HD channels (particularly local ones), not everything you watch will be in HD. For example, your morning and evening news programs on those stations will most likely not be. The reason for this is because HD programming is much more expensive than regular SD programming, and most local stations lack the money to upgrade their equipment to handle that kind of programming. Some of the cable channels you get won’t broadcast 100% HD content, either. Most notably, ESPN adds their own custom vertical bars on the side of their screen while broadcasting standard content, and TNT HD has recently come under fire for having a different opinion of what constitutes “high-definition” than the rest of us. Certainly, the trend is moving towards everything being broadcasted in HD, but we aren’t there yet.

-Is HD programming the absolute best picture quality that’s available?

In a word, no. You’ll notice that the quality of the programming (as in picture quality) differs from channel to channel. For instance, from personal experience, I can tell you that Discovery HD blows away HD Net in terms of picture quality. However, the highest resolution that any channel broadcasts that I know of is 1080i, whereas a television and game console or other source of HD input may be capable of displaying 1080p, which is the highest standard out there right now. Obviously, broadcasting in 1080i is still light years ahead of 480i, though.

Step Three: Inputs

Before we get into add-on components and all of that good stuff, you’re definitely going to have to understand how these things get connected. HDTVs have more inputs on them than the average standard definition television, some of which are not possible on those televisions.

Composite:

These cables are the most common and basic input method, usually referred to as “audio/visual cables” (AV, AV-1, so on). They’re extremely an inexpensive way to connect other A/V devices, but they provide the lowest picture quality and are also incapable of broadcasting an image resolution higher than 480i. (In short, you ain’t getting high-definition with these.) The yellow cable outputs the picture, while the white and red cable provides a left sound channel and a right sound channel respectively.

S-video:

S-video by default only comes with a video connection. It looks much different than the standard composite cable, but provides a slightly better picture. Some s-video cables also have white and red audio cables with them. Like composite cables, s-video is incapable of displaying a resolution higher than 480i and cannot do high definition. They exist primarily to serve as an independent video input source as well as provide a sharper picture than composite.

Component:

Component is the cable choice that you’ll need as a minimum for high definition video. They feature three video cables by default, and often have a white and red audio cable alongside them. The good news about component is that they’re inexpensive and are capable of every television resolution in the book, from 480i all the way up to 1080p. The negative is that they aren’t a digital signal, and the picture quality isn’t as good as digital alternatives.

DVI:

DVI is a very good connection that you may also be familiar with. Many PCs and Macs feature this port to connect monitors to. DVI is a digital video signal, but requires analog (white and red) for audio, as the DVI cable itself does not transmit audio. DVI is capable of transmitting every television resolution, and looks very sharp. It’s also generally inexpensive. DVI is pretty good, but a little annoying that the audio is left separate.

HDMI:

HDMI represents the current best standard in the way of audio/video connections. One cable transmits both up to 5.1 audio and HD video in a digital transmission. The simplicity is virtually unmatched. The only downside to HDMI is the price, as most retail stores charge outrageous prices for the cables. HDMI is a new inclusion for HDTVs, but I have yet to find a new HDTV on the market that does not have at least one HDMI input. Stay away from an HDTV with no HDMI port, and try to hold out for two or more. They’ll be important in the future.

Wait a Minute!

- I thought coaxial cable would plug into my HDTV. How come I have to use component or better to get HD visuals?

Contrary to popular belief, coaxial cable cannot display a high definition signal. It can certainly transmit the data to your cable box which can output high definition, but running a coaxial cable from the box to your TV will not display HD programming.

- I’ve had my HDTV for a while. There’s no HDMI port on it at all. What gives?

HDMI is a newer standard for HDTVs. Older ones probably won’t have any. Fortunately, you should still have DVI, or at the very least component input. Finding cables that connect an HDMI output to DVI or component inputs isn’t that hard or expensive, fortunately.

- I really want to use HDMI to connect stuff to my HDTV, but it’s so expensive! What gives?

HDMI cables are extremely expensive ““ in retail stores. There are much, much better deals to be found online, particularly at stores like Monoprice. You’ll find that a little searching can get you HDMI cables that are just as good as name brands for a fraction of the cost. Unlike analog connections, there won’t be a whole lot of difference between digital signals. Using cheaper cables is fine, if they’re digital.

- I’ve got some redundant inputs on this television, does it matter which ones I use?

Well, you’ll have to check one thing first. Make sure that they’re actually inputs and not outputs. Beyond that difference, it does not matter which ones you use. However, outputs typically look very similar to inputs, and they do exactly the reverse of each other. So if you wanted to plug in a yellow video cable to make a picture display on your screen, you would connect one yellow cable to a matching input of the television you want to display the video on, and a matching output of the device that has the video on it. If you wanted to get sound through a receiver, you would take a set of white/red cables in the input of the receiver, and the output of whatever was making the sound.

Step Four: HDTV Resolutions

Easily, one of the biggest headaches you’ll encounter if you’re unfamiliar with HDTVs is screen resolution. Standard definition television always outputs in 4:3, 640×480, and nothing else, which is why you’ve never had this issue before. HDTVs are capable of displaying a multitude of television resolutions. We’ll go through the most common ones, including two that you should have if you’ve purchased an HDTV.

480i: 480i is the most basic, standard resolution out there. Every television in existence is capable of displaying this resolution. It is also the resolution of DVD movies.

480p: This resolution is commonly referred to as “progressive scan“. Progressive scan is not high definition, despite what some may tell you. It’s slightly sharper than 480i and is available on those rip-off “EDTVs” as well. You will need component cables as a minimum to achieve this resolution.

720p: 720p is the most common resolution for high definition these days. You’ll find it on LCD and plasma screens (basically “slim” monitors). 720p is best used for fast HD action, such as sports and videogames, although you can use it for virtually any HD source. A very versatile resolution.

1080i: This is basically the interlaced version of 720p. When you watch movies in high definition, this is more often than not the resolution you’ll want to watch it in. It’s available on LCD and plasma televisions, as well as rear-projection HDTVs as well. Sometimes, it’s the only HD resolution available (primarily on older HDTVs), so be careful. If you’re buying a new HDTV, try to avoid models with only 1080i.

1080p: Essentially, 1080p is the highest resolution standard available. It’s so high, in fact, that almost all HDTV stations don’t use it yet. This resolution is becoming more commonly available, but is featured in the upper-mid tier and high tier price-ranged models as of this writing. Primarily, HD-DVD and Blu-ray Disc movies come in this resolution by default. Some PlayStation 3 and Xbox 360 games (to a limited extent) feature this resolution as well. Many HD enthusiasts warn that you may not be able to tell a difference between 1080i and 1080p on “smaller” screens, so this may play a factor in your decision in purchasing your HDTV.

480i and 480p may be featured in either full screen or widescreen angles. 720p and higher will always be in widescreen.

Wait a Minute!

How come when I watch regular television or 4:3 movies on my HDTV, it adds those vertical black bars to the sides of the picture?

A lot of people tend to use their television’s zoom functionality when watching standard, 4:3 content. The reason is because they hate viewing standard definition content in its native resolution because it adds two vertical black bars on both sides of the screen, and they view stretching out the image as the lesser of two evils. Your TV adds those black bars because naturally, it displays the signal as it’s originally received, which is as a 4:3 square image instead of the 16:9 rectangular image that your television is.

Why is it that the widescreen versions of DVDs still have horizontal black bars at the top and bottom of the screen? I thought that a widescreen TV would display that correctly.

Oddly enough, your HDTV is displaying it correctly. It’s actually similar to the situation that your 4:3 content has with the vertical black bars. The screen itself is bigger than the content vertically, instead of horizontally in this case. Many widescreen versions of DVDs are actually encoded specifically to “fill up” widescreen televisions. Animated movies in particular follow this trend, as well as a lot of live-action motion pictures. Many DVDs come with what’s called “anamorphic widescreen“ which you can use your TV’s zoom mode to fill up the entire screen without sacrificing resolution. You should definitely use a progressive scan mode when you use those features, though. You’ll get the best picture possible as well as fill up the screen a lot of times.

If I get a Blu-ray Disc or HD-DVD player capable of 1080p and use it on my 720p/1080i set, will it still look good?

Absolutely it will. Both Blu-ray and HD-DVD players are designed for HDTVs in general. Although both support 1080p, they’ll look great running on 720p/1080i sets as well. You’ll still need to make sure that you have component, DVI, or HDMI cables to enjoy these video resolutions.

Step Five: Visual Components/Game Consoles

It’s not all about watching television streamed live over the air or through your cable provider. Sometimes, you’ll want to plug in the old DVD player, your shiny (or matte?) new game console, or maybe even an HD movie player. This section is mainly to help you understand what most of these devices are capable of outputting and to provide you with some information that you may or may not know about them.

DVD Players: By far the most common movie playback machines on the market, you can get a DVD player at insanely low prices these days. However, at those extremely low prices, you may not even get component output on your machine. Whatever you purchase, try to make sure it has component output at least, even if you don’t think you’ll use it. All commercial DVD movies are compressed in the 480i broadcast standard, regardless of whether they are widescreen or full screen.

However, most mid-range or higher DVD players will support something called “progressive scan“ that your HDTV can surely do. Progressive scan effectively doubles the scan lines of your 480i source material, making for a much sharper picture. These models typically start at around $70-$80 at retail. There are also new DVD models with built-in upscaling technology. They’ll take your standard DVDs and run them in 720p/1080i on your HDTV. You’ll need an HDMI cable for this one, but don’t be fooled. It isn’t really high definition. It’s simply taking your 480i source and fitting it to a 720p/1080i resolution. Having personally tried it myself, I wouldn’t even recommend using a full screen DVD with this feature. These models are roughly $100-$150 depending on brand and whether or not they toss in an HDMI cable that you’ll need with it.

Game Consoles:

Since we’re talking about an HD setup here, we’re going to include only the PlayStation 3 and Xbox 360 in this discussion. Both of these consoles support HD playback of games (and movies). PS3 features proprietary composite cables standard, but you can use their proprietary S-video and component cables as well if you don’t mind paying for them. Sony allows the component cables to output up to 1080p on the console. PS3 also features HDMI output standard for every model of PS3, and there’s nothing proprietary about it ““ you can use any HDMI cable. Most PS3 games support 720p or 1080i as their maximum resolution, although quite a few support 1080p as well. As of this writing, there’s a weird issue where PS3 won’t output Blu-ray Disc titles in 720p. It runs them at 1080i or 1080p if your TV has it. It also does not feature DVD upscaling. Both of these issues are set to be addressed with future firmware updates, though.

Xbox 360’s standard version comes with a proprietary composite/component hybrid cable. (If you have a 360 core, I don’t think you want to be reading this article, anyway.) You can also purchase a VGA adapter if your TV supports it, and allows for up to 1080p over that. That’s currently the only way you can upscale DVDs on the Xbox up to 720p/1080i. Otherwise, it’s just in progressive scan. There are reports of the VGA adapter not working properly on some televisions and washing out the colors, so be wary. The upcoming Xbox 360 Elite version includes the proprietary component cables as well as what appears to be a standard HDMI output. This will support 1080p right out of the box, as well as upscaling of DVDs to 720p/1080i and (if you bought the add-on) HD-DVD titles in 1080p. The bad news is that it costs $479 which puts you closer than you want to be to PS3-territory pricing, and if you want an HD movie playback feature, it actually costs $79 more than the PS3. (Not to mention it’s a very clumsy setup.) All of this pricing variation and extra hardware seems rather silly since Xbox 360 games are almost all 720p/1080i-only, and the point of HDMI inclusion would be for movie playback in 1080p. But to each his own, I suppose.

Blu-ray/HD-DVD Players: These are the new successors to DVD. While your DVDs are in 480i, you’ll find that every single Blu-ray Disc or HD-DVD title is in 1080p as a standard feature. They’re able to do this with storage capacities several times that of DVDs and manage to fit in extremely high-quality audio alongside the excellent video compression. Both disc formats are able to utilize brand new file formats such as h.264, VC-1 and so on that are not possible to decode on standard DVD playback hardware. The end results for both file formats are a look and sound that are a generational leap ahead of DVD. For an easy comparison, visualize the leap from standard television to HD programming.

Virtually every one of the machines available on the market supports DVD upscaling to 720p/1080i. It’s so common, that it’s getting to be an expected feature on these machines. Unlike a game console, or a DVD player, It’s basically pointless to even own one of these things without an HDTV, even though they support every resolution under the sun. There’s simply no point without one.

As far as deciding between the two formats, it’s really going to be a choice that you’re going to have to make for yourself. The two formats are not interchangeable, and it’s causing a lot of problems for regular consumers like you. HD-DVD enjoys a (relative) pricing advantage for the hardware over Blu-ray Disc, as well as exclusive backing from Universal Studios. However, as of this writing, there don’t appear to be any HD-DVD players that can display in 1080p, despite all of the discs being encoded to do so. 1080i is the maximum resolution of the hardware so far, and it’s the reason that HD-DVD has enjoyed a lower price than Blu-ray Disc from the outset.

Blu-ray Disc seems to be the six hundred-pound gorilla in the new HD format war. It’s obviously very early in the game to declare a winner between the two, but the market and producers seem to be favoring Blu-ray. Vastly more electronics manufacturers support Blu-ray over HD-DVD. Virtually every major studio with the exception of Universal is either exclusive to Blu-ray (including all of Sony’s studios, Fox, and Disney) or they support both formats, so there’s a wider selection of titles on Blu-ray. Blu-ray is included standard in every PlayStation 3, and since PS3 is actually one of, if not the best and cheapest Blu-ray player on the market, movie sales in that format have dramatically increased since its release. The big downside to Blu-ray is the cost of the initial hardware. Although dropping in price fairly rapidly, the entrance price to Blu-ray starts at no less than $499.

There are downsides to both formats and for early adopters as well. A lot of the hardware released is buggy and sometimes unbearably slow. Fortunately, most of these problems can be addressed with firmware updates, although they can be annoying. You’ll also find that movie prices are either a little to significantly higher (I’m looking at you, Fox Studios) than their DVD counterparts. Those who remember DVD’s introduction remember the exact same situation, I’m sure. In time, the cost of these devices and the movies themselves will start dropping even more than they have already. Most consumers will be more than satisfied to wait until such an event happens, and until a winner is declared in the format war.

You’ll want to make sure that these devices are connected to your TV with either an HDMI or an HDMI to DVI cable if your HDTV isn’t equipped with HDMI. This is necessary to ensure future compatibility with the new DRM schemes in both formats.

Step Six: Connecting your Audio

That fancy HDTV can give you amazing picture quality, but with HD content, and even regular old DVDs, you’re only getting half of the experience without taking advantage of the sound these formats offer. Stereo is fine for music, but when it comes to high definition movies and games, a properly configured surround sound system is a necessity.

The A/V Receiver

Speaking specifically about sound, the receiver is where most of the action takes place. True 5.1 digital surround allows for six discrete channels of sound, which can create nearly infinite movement of sound if set up properly.Most receivers are capable of at least Dolby Digital 5.1 and DTS, but newer models should be capable of DD-EX, DTS-ES and Dolby Pro Logic IIx which allow for 6.1 and 7.1 configurations.

So how do you get digital surround from your DVD player or game system? You’ll need an SPDIF Tos-Link optical cable, digital coax cable or HDMI cable running from the system of choice to the receiver. For most consumers, digital coax is the best and least expensive option because any properly shielded RCA cable is suitable for the job. HDMI can carry both the audio and video signals to the receiver, but receivers capable of decoding the audio and then passing the video on to the TV are still fairly expensive.

Once you have connected the appropriate cables, you’ll need to configure your game system or DVD player to output its audio digitally, and set the receiver to use the appropriate input for the respective device. Most receivers will then automatically detect whether the input is digital or analog, but you may have to specifically tell it to look for a digital source. Now that they’re talking to each other, audio options within individual movie or software menus will determine whether you’re hearing Dolby Digital, DTS or other supported format.

The new HD sound formats include TrueHD and DTS-HD which offer bit for bit replication of the original studio master audio for unmatched fidelity. Unfortunately these require HDMI 1.3 for encoded transfer and almost all receivers today are incapable of decoding these new audio formats. This means that unless your HD-DVD or Blu-Ray player decodes them for you, you’ll have no way of hearing the greater fidelity offered. Machines like the Toshiba HD-A1 offer onboard TrueHD decoding, so instead of using a single digital cable to send the encoded audio to the receiver, you would connect six analog RCA cables (one for each channel) into the receiver’s respective pre-amp inputs.

The Speakers

Much like real estate, the secret to a fulfilling home theater sound experience is location, location, location. In audio, symmetry is king. When soundtracks are mixed, certain standards of speaker location are assumed to in order for the mixers to guarantee an accurate reproduction of a created soundtrack. A director releases a movie to look exactly the way he filmed it, but imagine that the theater you see the movie in tilts the projector at an odd angle and changed the tint so everyone appears green and leaning to the right. As ridiculous as that sounds, the aural equivalent occurs all the time in incorrectly configured sound systems. To accurately recreate the sound as intended in a 5.1 system your speakers should be positioned accordingly:

The important variable is angle, which in turn determines the distance. Your subwoofer can almost always be placed in a corner to get reasonably good low frequency response throughout the room. Unfortunately not all rooms allow for perfectly balanced speaker locations. The good news is your A/V receiver can come to your aid. Most receivers allow for distance compensation, which can increase or delay the firing of sound by milliseconds in order to recreate angular balance. Changing the distance settings on your receiver according to your real world speaker distance will better recreate the desired sound effects of your games or movies.

The last thing to remember about speaker location is elevation. The center speaker can be above or below ear level, but the drivers should be aimed at ear level. If possible, the front speakers should also be situated at ear level, but not pointed at the actual center listening position. Surround speakers are best placed approximately a foot above ear level.

Besides speaker location, balanced volume levels are also crucial. In order to achieve decibel balance you’ll need a few extra tools because no one’s ears are discerning enough to accurately adjust volume levels without some help. I recommend an analog or digital decibel or sound level meter and a DVD calibration disc like Avia or Digital Video Essentials. The calibration discs will send isolated pink noise to a specific channel whose volume can then be adjusted in the receiver to reach 80dB, which is considered reference level. Attach the decibel meter to a tripod place in the center listening position (usually the center of the couch) at approximately ear level. Set the decibel meter to slow response and the dB to 75. Run the calibration DVD pink noise for each channel, adjusting their volume levels on the receiver until each channel is outputting 80dB as read by the meter. No room is acoustically perfect, so you’ll never get a completely flat 80dB volume level, but within +/- a few dB is acceptable. Now you’re ready to rock and/or roll.

Another important thing to consider is the room size to speaker size ratio. The laws of physics are pretty unforgiving and the simple fact is no matter what the ads or salespeople tell you, small speakers will be hard pressed to fill a large room with accurate sound at reasonable volumes. Also, if you purchased a home theater in a box, odds are the included speaker wire is thinner than Nicole Ritchie. You should replace this with good 16 gauge shielded speaker wire. This article is not meant to be a speaker buying guide, but a good rule of thumb is to try and use full range speakers as your main left and right front speakers, a center speaker with a stable frequency response into the 70 Hz range so voices maintain solid midrange accuracy, and dipole surround speakers for better ambient diffusion. If that last sentence made absolutely no sense to you, don’t sweat it. When you’re in the market for a true theater quality experience in the home, it’s best to consult an expert before investing serious money. A certified home theater installer can answer your questions and suggest the best speakers to match your listening environment with your budget and needs. For the home theater novice though, this guide should help you get the most out of your existing surround sound setup.

Notice the Difference

Once you’ve got everything configured to most accurately reproduce the sound as intended, you should notice a pretty big difference in your movie and game playing experience. Of course there are more detailed tweaks and adjustments you can make to your setup and the room itself, but as a starting point your sound should now start to match the amazing visual fidelity HDTV can bring into the home.

Closure

We all sincerely hope that this guide was informative, helpful, and most of all - easy to understand. Getting into home theater is a pricey endeavor, and no one should go in without a little bit of help. Thank you for reading!
Special Thanks and Mentions

I would like to thank both TEK and Advanced Media Network for allowing me to create and publish this guide, as well as for promoting it. I would also like to personally thank Weston Bass for his contribution, as well as his expertise and information in audio and over the air technology. The following people also deserve a mention of thanks: Candice Shane, Ruben Infante, Casey Ayers, and Phillip Levin (for putting up with the delays!).

Images of input/output connections are courtesy of Microsoft. All other images and trademarks are property of their respective copyright holders.