Ultimate home theater for sports and movie fans

Lesson 1: Intro to HDTV and surround sound

There's nothing quite as exciting as watching a player sprinting to the goal in HDTV or the immersive experience hearing a battle scene take place around you while you watch your favorite DVD at home.

In this lesson, we'll introduce two of the major components (HDTV and surround sound) that have made sports and movie fans opt to build ultimate home theaters.

HDTV (High Definition Television)
What's so great about HDTV? When the North American television standard was adopted in 1948 (color and stereo were added later), you didn't need much more than a regular television. In those days, TV was basically radio with analog pictures. At the time, programming such as the Milton Berle show wasn't recorded in high-definition video and therefore, any television would do.

However, in today's digital, high-definition world, fans demand a higher visual quality of their favorite sporting events and DVDs.

Today's HDTV video displays deliver this rich, media experience. There's nothing quite like watching today's high definition programming, whether a 100+ mph tennis serve at Wimbledon's men's final or the lush cinematography and kick-butt action scenes in the Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon DVD on a HDTV television.

If you do nothing else, it pays to upgrade to an HDTV. Buyers can find entry-level HDTVs for under $600 and more and more sporting events are broadcast in HD along with your favorite shows and movies.

Surround Sound
Surround sound heightens the visual seduction of big-screen HDTV and provides powerful new possibilities for sports, cinema, TV programming, and even music. In home theaters, we hunger for a superior audio sound that complements the higher visual quality of digital visuals.

Something as simple as a speaking voice benefits from a surround system. In real life, when a person stands in front of you talking, you hear her voice as what audiophiles call a point-sourceÃ?Æ?Ã?¢Ã?¢ââ?¬Å¡Ã?¬Ã?¢ââ??¬Ã?â??a single sound from a single spot, not from two loudspeakers. That's why it's better to have an sportscaster's voiceover or movie dialogue coming mostly from the front-center speaker.

Also, in real life, sound comes from all around us, not just from in front. Adding side (and maybe back) surround speakers is another step forward. Surround puts you in the heart of the crowd or in the heart of the shootout (without having to dodge bullets).

View this brief video introduction by CNET's Editor at Large, Brian Cooley: