What is OLED Technology?

OLED is the latest flat display technology and it stands for Organic Light Emitting Diode. This technology uses a series of thin organic films between 2 conductors to produce light. They operate on the attraction between negatively and positively charged particles. When electricity is applied, one layer becomes negatively charged relative to another layer. When energy passes from one layer to another, it excites the organic material between the layers and produces light.

To produce color, the OLED primary color matrix is arranged in red, green, and blue pixels, which are mounted directly to a printed circuit board. A color filter is also added to purify the colors without the use of a polarizer that can reduce overall brightness.

Ultra-Thin Flat Screen TVs – The Next Generation

Over the past few years we have gone from bulky CRT based televisions, to current day Plasma and LCD televisions measuring just five inches deep. This has been a real revolution and has allowed us to enjoy larger televisions in places never before possible.

Imagine a large, ultra-thin flat screen television that measures less than an inch deep! It is not science fiction; Plasma and LCD manufacturers are being challenged by the new arrival of Organic Light Emitting Diode technology (OLED).

The Dipolar Express

Most living rooms aren’t built with home theater in mind, so it can be difficult to put surround speakers in the “perfect” spot. Polk Audio’s F/X-series speakers have a very convenient solution to this problem, because they work with your room.

February 17 - Analog to Digital TV

On February 17, 2009 American television stations will stop broadcasting traditional analog signals over the air, and begin broadcasting only digital signals. The question many people are asking is, "What will happen when I turn on my TV on Feb 17?"

Take Your Speakers Out of the Box

Are you searching for a high performance speaker that looks good, sounds great, and doesn't take up too much space?  Consider an in-wall speaker. They’re mounted flush to the surface of the wall, with the body of the speaker housed inside the wall; they’re stealth technology for sound.

Back in Black - Project KURO

Pioneer is revolutionizing the plasma television business. They have completely redesigned their plasma technology to produce the sharpest and most vivid picture you’ll find; the code name for this effort is Project Kuro. Kuro is Japanese for “black”, and the ability of these TV’s to produce jet-black blacks sets them apart from the rest of the industry.

What’s the Difference: Cables

Did you know that for any one kind of connecting cable in your entertainment system (audio, video, digital signal cable, etc.) there are only three big differences between any two designs?

They are:

• The Conductor
• The Covering (insulator and shield)
• The Connector

Smart Remote Control

Take a look at the coffee table in your living room.  Chances are you’ve got a remote for your television, one for the cable box, another one for your DVD player.

You probably have one or two for your sound system as well…and there isn’t a one you can actually read the buttons on.  Worse yet, pressing the wrong button can really put your evening’s entertainment in jeopardy. You shouldn’t dread family movie night.

Discover Sonos

The Sonos wireless multi-room music system is hands-down the best deal at our company. For under $1,000 you have a fantastic, easy to use, expandable whole-house wireless music system. Better yet, it offers amazing technology normally found only in sophisticated systems that are three to four times the cost.

Better Bass for Free

If you've got a subwoofer in your home theater system (and if you don't, it's time to get one) you can wring better bass out of it by placing it correctly in the room. You'll need a helper, and you'll see why in a moment.

First, you'll need to know your room's dimensions. That's because subs like to be placed at odd fractions of a room dimensions; i.e. a sub will sound better 1/5 or 1/3 of the way down the wall from the corner than it will 1/8 or 1/4 of the way down the wall.

Progressive Stretch or Why is Everyone so Fat?

Some widescreen TV’s can make Skeletor look overweight.

Here’s why… there are lots of TV shows and movies on DVD that were shot to fit on older square-ish TV’s. Those traditional TV’s have what’s called a 4:3 "aspect ratio", or ratio of picture width to height.

Why Navigation?

What if, as you were driving to a new destination, the voice giving you directions never missed a turn, and never sounded annoyed? That’s possible with a GPS navigation system.

All North American navigation systems utilize a network of 24 Global Positioning satellites, initially put into space by the US government for military applications. They recently made them available for use by the general public, and the service is free!

Heard and Not Seen: Using Ceiling Speakers in your Home Theater

A huge part of the appeal of flat screen TV’s is their minimalist look, almost like artwork you can use. It’s hard to maintain that effect when you mount speakers next to the screen, whether on the wall, in the wall, or on the floor next to the set.

One option is to use in-wall speakers and paint the grills to match the wall, minimizing the visual effect of the speakers. Another option, which will deliver great sound while making the speakers essentially disappear, is to place your speakers in the ceiling above the TV. Here’s how:

HD Digital Radio

HD Radio is a technology that makes radio station signals more versatile by providing better sound, clarity and even the ability to broadcast more than one program on the same frequency.

Why do you want it? Well, if you listen to the radio at all and care about sound quality, HD Radio is for you. In addition to great sound, stations can now “multicast.” That simply means that HD Radio lets stations simultaneously broadcast more than one program on the same radio frequency. In addition to multiple programs, HD Radio makes it possible for you to receive song and artist info, news, weather, traffic and more on that same digital signal.

720p and 1080i - A look at the numbers

There are two different high definition broadcast standards: 720p and 1080i.

The broadcasters can choose which standard they want to use. The number is how many horizontal lines are used to “paint” the picture, either 720 or 1080 lines. Since more lines means greater detail and resolution, you would think that 1080i is way better than 720p. But not so fast, cowboy.  The letters "i" and "p" mean something too.

Choosing a Hi-Def TV

Looking for a Hi-Def TV? Well, get ready to be barraged with a slew of new terms. There’s Plasma, LCD, DLP, SXRD...the list seems endless. That’s because TVs today are VERY different from what was available only a few short years ago.

So before you give up and apply the eeny-meeny-miny-moe technique to selecting a new TV, take a minute and learn about the differences and advantages of each type. Even if you already own a Hi-Def TV, catch up on all the latest, so when your in-laws ask you what they should buy, you’ll sound just like a Tweeter expert!

Surround Sound

Movie night without surround sound? Unthinkable!

From the days of Thomas Edison to 1958, monophonic sound was the standard...one speaker, one sound. For old-time AM radio and scratchy 75rpm records, it worked out just fine. But some smart engineer invented stereo, and changed everything. With two speakers, suddenly it all became more true-to-life. There were sounds coming from your left, your right, and everywhere in between—just like listening to a live performance.

Without great sound, it’s definitely not Hi-Def.

Home entertainment is all about Hi-Def. The new televisions display images with stunning sharpness, detail and color. It’s all very exciting and rewarding. But that’s only half of the Hi-Def experience.

Sound—or more precisely, surround sound—is as important as the picture. Imagine your favorite classic movies without sound. Jaws without the Dum…Dum…Dum…Dum…dum-dum-dum-dum when the shark lurks. The light saber in Star Wars without the NNNyarrrrt. Unimaginable!

Speakers- the behind-the-scene hero of home theater

When the lights turn down and the movie begins, everyone watching your home theater is totally fixated on the speakers in the room.

Yeah, right.

It’s the glamorous Hi-Def TV that grabs everyone’s attention and gets all the oohs and ahhs. But it’s the sound that makes the real home theater experience. And the most important part of any sound system, from basic stereo to multi-channel surround sound, is the speakers. The most sophisticated electronics played through tinny-sounding speakers will sound, well, tinny. There’s no way around it.

Keep warm in the winter and cool in the summer with a remote car starter.

It's 6 AM and your alarm just rudely awoke you from a deep sleep. You stumble off to start your day. Maybe you wake the kids up and get them ready for school, make breakfast and watch the news. Whatever your morning routine may be. Now it's time to go off to work. If it’s winter, you bundle yourself up as best you can, If it’s summer, you find the lightest clothing in the closet.

Then you jump in the car.

And you sit. If it’s cold, you shiver as the heater takes its own merry time. If it’s hot, you sweat waiting for the air conditioning to cool things off. All that effort to make yourself presentable for work is shot.

You could save yourself all this grief if you just had remote car starter.

The Big Picture - Hi-Def Video Projectors

When we try to recreate the movie theater experience at home, what often falls short is the size and scale of the screen.

For that really big picture you need a video projector. The video projector is positioned very much like a traditional movie film projector—that is, in front of a separate reflective screen. And the screen can be as big, or small, as you want. In fact, using the right video projector, screens as big as 200” diagonal are not uncommon when we install large home theater systems.

Our experts answer a few questions about LCD TVs

Why should I consider buying an LCD TV?

Not long ago, an LCD TV was considered fine for the bedroom or as a computer monitor, but not as the main TV in a living room or home theater. Not anymore!

Today, LCD technology is all grown-up, ready to take on the best the world has to offer. These TVs provide brilliant Hi-Def images, ultra-thin cabinets and are available in screen sizes to fit any room or application.

Let’s clear up the confusion about projection TVs.

There are so many new projection TVs. Can you explain the differences?

If you’re just starting to look at High Definition projection TVs, you probably have been barraged with weird-sounding acronyms. LCD? LCOS? DLP? Can someone help me figure all this stuff out? No problem. That’s our job. The purpose of this piece is to acquaint you specifically with LCD and LCOS projection TV technologies. If you want, there’s a separate link to click on for a complete DLP projection TV article to find out more about that technology.

Everything you wanted to know about DVD.

What’s the difference between a CD and a DVD?

They are in fact the same size. And like a CD, the data on a DVD is in the form of small pits running in a spiral across the disc. The difference is that a DVD can hold MUCH more data than a CD. A single-sided, single-layer DVD can store about seven times more than a CD. There are several reasons why, but the main one is because the microscopic pits and bumps on the disc are even smaller on a DVD. And to add even more storage, DVDs can be two-sided (CDs are always one-sided) and can also be configured in a multi-layer format. In a multi-layer DVD, data is layered on top of each other.

DID YOU KNOW?
If you could lift the data track off a single layer of a DVD, and stretch it out into a straight line, it would be almost 7.5 miles long!

The answers to all your questions about DVRs.

I’ve heard a lot about DVRs. Just what are they?

A DVR (Digital Video Recorder) is basically a 21st century VCR. They let you record your favorite programs and then watch them when it’s convenient for you. But that's about the only similarity. DVRs are tapeless. They record to a hard drive, like the hard drive found on your computer. The more storage capacity on the hard drive, the more hours of programming you can record.

Our experts field a few questions about the transition to Digital TV.

When can we expect the final switchover to Digital TV?

To make the transition to DTV, a Digital Transition Timeline was established. Congress' original date to stop the over-the-air broadcasting of analog channels was to be the end of 2006 but as with most projects, the deadline got pushed back. It is now February 17th, 2009.

We bust the myths about Blu-ray and HD DVD

Do we need another video disc format?

Yes, and here’s a very good reason. As successful as DVD has become, it has one major drawback. In its current state, DVD is simply not a high definition format. As good as DVD images look, they are limited to 852 x 480 pixels, either interlaced or progressive scan. That’s good, but HDTV is much better. The HDTV format is capable of a maximum of 1,920 x 1080 interlaced or progressive pixels, a number considerably higher than the limit for DVD.

Answering your questions about portable DVD players.

I travel a lot. What about a portable DVD?

By now you probably have a DVD player in your home. You may even have a DVD player in your car. But did you know that you could take a portable DVD player with you wherever you go.

Everything you wanted to know about Hi-Def DLP® TVs

What makes Texas Instruments DLP® big screen TVs different?

In the not so distant past, big screen TVs were enormous and only looked good when you viewed them directly from the front. The reason is simple: the images were still being produced by old-fashioned CRTs (Cathode Ray Tubes). Three very bright CRTs (one for red, blue and green, which when combined create all colors) projected the television image on the screen.

Plasma TVs. The down and dirty facts.

What is a plasma TV?

From its humble beginnings as a lab experiment in 1964 in upstate New York, plasma television has risen to take center stage in the Digital TV revolution. All it takes is a casual look at one to understand why. They’re slim, sexy and create exceptionally clear video images. In fact, they’re so slim that it’s no big deal to hang one up on your living room wall to take up zero floor space. If your old space-consuming tube or big screen TV has you wishing for something better, it’s a dream come true.