Home Theater For Dummies

What do you need for the perfect home theater experience? You need this book! Overwhelmed with options? Annoyed by acronyms? Take charge with this friendly, easy–to–understand guide! It begins with the most basic information, helps you choose what you need and put it all together, and finally takes you through fine–tuning your system and cool touches such as accessing home theater content from your cell phone. Just for you — learn how to plan a home theater system and choose components that fit your budget, your lifestyle, and your room Alphabet soup — actually understand DLP, 3LCD, HDMI, DTV, and HDTV, and be able to talk intelligently with salespeople at the electronics store Game time — incorporate a Wii, Xbox 360, or PS3 into your setup Don′t be Blu — know about Blu–ray, why the VCR isn′t quite dead yet, and the amazing abilities of the PVR Sounds you like — explore HD and satellite radio options, CD players, DVD–Audio disks, and options for old cassettes and vinyl Be the cable guy — set up your system with the proper cables for each component, or learn what it takes to go wireless Tuning up — calibrate your video with a calibration disk, an optical comparator, or a DVD containing THX Optimizer Open the book and find: The ABCs of home theater audio What the DTV transition is all about How to use a Media Center or Home Theater PC An update on MP3/digital music files What you want in speakers How to consolidate all those remotes Tips for taking home theater wherever you go

Introduction. Part I: Welcome to the World of Home Theater. Chapter 1: The Zen of Home Theater. Chapter 2: Defining Your Home–Theatered Home.Chapter 3: The ABCs of Home Theater Audio. Chapter 4: Getting the Big (Video) Picture. Part II: Getting Video and Music into Your Theater: Source Devices. Chapter 5: Treating Your Ears to Music. Chapter 6: Feeding Video into Your Theater. Chapter 7: Feeding Your Home Theater from Outside Your Home. Chapter 8: Gaming Galore. Chapter 9: Introducing the Home Theater PC. Chapter 10: Accessing Digital Content at Home and Over the Internet. Part III: Watching and Listening: Display and Control Devices. Chapter 11: The Heart of Your Home Theater: The A/V Receiver. Chapter 12: Speaker of the House. Chapter 13: Understanding Your Display Options. Chapter 14: Comparing Display Technologies. Chapter 15: Remote Controlling Your Home Theater. Part IV: Putting It All Together. Chapter 16: Home Theater Cable Basics. Chapter 17: Hooking Up Your A/V System. Chapter 18: Plugging In to a Whole–Home Entertainment Network. Part V: Let ting Your Home Theater Be All It Can Be. Chapter 19: Tweaking Your A/V System. Chapter 20: Customizing Your Home Theater Environment. Chapter 21: Moving Up to the High End. Part VI: The Part of Tens. Chapter 22: Ten or So Accessories for Your Home Theater. Chapter 23: Ten Great Sources for More Information. Index.

Danny Briere is founder and CEO of TeleChoice, Inc. and CEO of mBlast. He′s a respected analyst on communications news and breakthroughs.Pat Hurley is Director of Research with TeleChoice, specializing in emerging telecommunications technologies. They are also coauthors of all editions of Smart Homes For Dummies.