HDTV?
{The more lines the more detailed the picture}
Hi-Definition Television. Generally representing 720 progressive scan, or 1080 interlaced lines of resolution. HDTV's come in many different types & styles. Such as-Plasma, Front Projection, Rear Projection, DLP, LCD, DILA or CRT{tube}.
By contrast, DVD is only 480 progressive scan or interlaced lines of resolution.
I love Lucy, on the other hand, as well as a lot of shows on cable are only 240 lines of resolution.

1080p is the new buzz word word these days
,representing 1920 X 1080 lines of resolution.
1080p is not really all that it is advertised to be in the LCD / Plasma arena, however, 1080p offers a noticeable picture improvement with projected images in the 92 inch and larger screen range.

The meat and potatos of the front projector story is, if you stand about 6 feet away from your typical 100 inch diagonal projection screen, with your garden variety 720p projector, you will see what is called the screen door effect, meaning it looks like you are looking through a screen door, when you are watching the image that close. From 12 feet away ( the normal viewing distance) you wont really notice the effect. With a 1080p native resolution projector the screen door effect is vertualy cut in half, at 6 feet you dont really notice anything, at 12 feet the image now takes on a more film like quality.

The front projector technologies side by side, 1080i versus 1080p- YES you will definitely see a difference guaranteed with regular old DVDs and Hi Deff broadcasts.

However, on the other side of the coin there really is no actual 1080p content to playback at this time, from either Comcast, DirectTV nor Dish Network. None of them have any immediate plans to support this format. The only way to enjoy 1080p to its fullest is with a Blue Ray Hi Definition DVD Player, or, with a game system, such as XBOX360, & its rival, Playstation 3.

A couple of great articles regarding the pros and cons of 1080P displays are found below
http://www.hdtvexpert.com/pages_b/reality.html
http://reviews.cnet.com/4520-6449_7-6361600-1.html


In-Wall Speakers? {Speakers mounted into your walls}
In-Wall/In Ceiling speakers, have come a long way from the old doctors office Musak speakers of the past. A great many in-wall speakers now rival or exceed in some cases the Sound quality of the most coveted in room box speakers of the past. Triad speakers for example have their own in-wall enclosures, utilizing parts usually found only in speakers costing thousands of dollars. Further the grills can be painted to match your décor. Earthquakes all new in-wall subwoofer {seen below} Boasts specs that rivals its in room counterparts.
We highly recommend using quality in-wall and/or in ceiling speakers for your theater and throughout your home. In-Wall Speakers leave a clean uncluttered finish. The sound quality & performance of these new products is extraordinary.

Distributed Audio? {Music throughout your home}
So you have pairs of in-ceiling or in-wall speakers in your home office, the master and guest bedrooms, the kitchen, the living room and on your deck. Each of these areas have a volume control somewhere near the entrance to each room. All of the speaker wires go to a central location in your home like a utility room, where there is an amplifier and related components like a receiver & a CD player. Select the radio, CD, mp3 player or, whatever, go to the wall and turn up the volume for that particular room, and you have sound!

Multizone Control! {Different music in each room}
{Something Different, Audio/Video in two rooms or more}
An expansion of distributed audio, Mutizone allows you to have all the same or different music and or video sources playing in different rooms at the same time. For example, Some one might be listening to the radio on the deck, while someone else is listening to a CD in the kitchen all the while a third party is listening to a DVD which is playing in the home theater, through the master bedroom speakers while watching the same on the bedroom TV. Further these functions are controlled in each room with an inwall keypad and/or computer programmable touch screen.
Music / Movie Server? {All of your CD's and /or DVD's on a hard drive}
Xperinet's MIRV is the first video and audio server built for the Home Technology Integration industry to incorporate storage of VHS, DVD and CD content. MIRV allows you to store your movies and music for playback supporting up to 20 independent simultaneous zones. Built on a Linux platform, MIRV can store a virtually unlimited number of movies or CD's on a fault tolerant Raid 5 disk arrays. Different movies can be viewed in multiple rooms simultaneously.

Computer Programmable Remote Control?
Most people know what a remote control is, they make them for almost everything these days. They have remotes that open blinds, turn on fountains, control your air conditioner and fire place, dim your lights, start your car and all the usual stuff, like controlling your TV, cable box, DVD, VCR and on into infinity. It seems we have become a culture buried in a sea of remote controls. This is where Computer Programmable Remotes (CPR's) come to our rescue. Rather than have all of these separate remotes, our CPR performs all of the functions of the aforementioned remotes, in one self-contained easy to use controller. Further since it is programmed with a computer it can be tailored to fit the individual needs and wants of the end user. More often than not CPR's are easier to use and more functional than the original remotes they replace.
Tivo Series 3 HiDefinition recording system

So what is Tivo?
While there are actually several different types and brand
names of DVR's (digital video recorders) the two main brand
names are Tivo and Replay TV, both units do essentially the
same thing, in that they record like a VCR, but use a built in
computer hard drive rather than video tape for storage of your
recordings. However DVR's are light years ahead of VCR's
in more ways than can be effectively demonstrated here. The
two simplest descriptions of what these can do is to imagine
that:
(#1) you are watching your favorite live TV show and right
in the middle a relative calls from back east. Rather than miss
your "live show" you just press pause! The recorder
immediately pauses the image on the screen and starts to
record the show. When you are done with your conversation,
simply press the pause button again, (or play on some models) and your show starts right where you left off.
(#2) You cannot be home in time to watch your favorite
program or you will be out of town for 2 weeks. No problem
Tivo and Replay come with built in TV guides that are
constantly being updated, you just scroll ahead in time to the
shows you want the unit to record for you, click on the title, & press record! The DVR will do the rest for you, its that simple.

 


Replay TV

So what is a Home Theater?
A "Home Theater" is any room that is specifically dedicated to watching movies and / or TV in. There are not any written rules as to how fancy, or functional it needs to be. Although most would like to channel the phrase "Home Theater" into a minimum of at least 5.1 surround, meaning you have 5 speakers arranged as a center, left front, right front, left rear, right rear, and a subwoofer. A surround sound receiver, DVD Player, a satellite receiver or digital cable box and some type of big TV.

The big catch phrase on the streets these days is "HTB" or "HTIB" which stands for "home theater in a box". HTIB, really is not what is implied in the name, since usualy all you get is the speakers, subwoofer and DVD / receiver combo. Its up to you to supply the TV, cables and installation.