Guide How to set up your home entertainment system TRUST CHOICE CHOICE is a completely self-funded organisation that has been delivering expert, unbiased consumer information to Australians for over 50 years. SPECIAL Save over OFFER 30% Join toda y an your CHO d receive ICE Onlin member e ship for $15 (usually $22.95/q tr) A CHOICE Online membership gives you: •Access to hundreds of product reports and tests on everything from media hubs to washing machines to strollers •Full access to CHOICE Mobile for product information when you need it most, at the point of purchase •Plus many other benefits and tools to help you shop smart. To join, call our Customer Service team (Mon – Fri 9am-5pm EST) on 1800 069 552 or email [email protected] and quote TV GUIDE to receive this limited offer. Welcome H ome entertainment equipment is supposed to be fun, but setting it up can be daunting. In this guide we’ll take you through some of the more common traps that ensnare the unprepared, and help you get the most out of your home entertainment purchases. I’ve pulled together a number of articles highlighting some of the more common mistakes and try and help you differentiate between what’s important and what is just the retailer trying to catch your eye. Once you’ve spent your money we’ll show you how to avoid the things that can get in the way of your viewing and listening pleasure. This guide will take some of the mystery and complexity out of home entertainment equipment and let you get on with using it for its intended purpose – having fun! OFFER ENDS: 30 SEPTEMBER 2012 Prices quoted are for personal subscriptions only. Offer valid to first 500 new members only, where new refers to those joining for the first time and not renewing. $7.95 off your first quarter only. Quarterly memberships are billed every quarter until you tell us to stop. Subsequent quarters will be at the standard rate of $22.95/qtr. These subscriptions operate on an auto renew billing system by direct debit or credit card only. Subscription termination: Five (5) business days notice is required to cancel your subscription and must be prior to the expiry date of your current subscription. For the full terms and conditions visit choice.com.au/terms-and-conditions. 2 Back to cover Chris Ruggles Team leader, Digital Home 3 Contents Position your TV 6 Having the biggest TV in the street is all very As TVs become smarter and wireless connectivity well, but you’ll feel a bit silly if you’re sitting so the norm, making the switch from a wired home close all you can see is pixels entertainment system has never been easier Connect your TV 8 Powerline network16 The days of simply making sure your VCR is plugged Using the power lines in your walls is a novel way to into the TV are long gone – particularly given the connect up your home network. If Wi-Fi or ethernet number of extra devices we now use doesn’t work for you, it’s a viable alternative Surround sound 4 Home networking 12 10 Know your cables 18 Speaker placement is a dark art. Here we give you HDMI is the cable of choice, but there are still so the lowdown (to the nearest degree of angle) on how many options out there – vastly increasing the best to set up your speakers possibility for things to go wrong Back to cover 5 Positioning your TV Measure the distance of your preferred sitting position and the screen. In the shop, stand about the same distance from the TV you’re interested in real benefit unless you go for Keeping the old TV a really big TV. We are moving rapidly into a Measure the distance digital age for TV and home between your preferred sitting entertainment, but you don’t have position and the screen. In to chuck out that trusty old TV just the shop, stand about that yet. There’ll be compromises, but distance from the TV you’re if you don’t mind having a slightly interested in buying. smaller screen or losing some of the digital picture at the edges, A person sitting two metres away from a 127cm, 1920x1080p screen won’t see any pixels How do I avoid reflections? an aging CRT TV can be converted Avoid placing the TV where to display a digital signal with the you can see reflections in it, addition of a relatively cheap if possible. If you can’t, digital set-top-box (STB). You’ll choose a TV with a matt need to make sure the TV has (at screen. Most plasmas will the least) a component video and have a reflective screen and analog audio in connection. Just How close should I sit? of the same size would allow most LCDs are matt or semi- connect the aerial to the STB and As a rule, people shouldn’t be you to sit about two metres matt. However, recently the box to the TV. Choose an high able to see pixels on a 127 cm, from the screen. manufacturers have tried definition STB so you can see the to reduce plasma screen HD channels. They won’t be in HD, 1366 x 768 pixel screen when However, if you like to they sit about three metres sit about three metres from reflections and increase LCD but most of the programming is in from it. the TV screen, the higher screen contrast by making standard definition these days resolution alone will have no screens more reflective. anyway, so you won’t miss much. A 1920 x 1080 pixel screen 6 Back to cover 7 If you’ve an AV receiver which can handle HDMI pass through, you can connect all your devices to it and have only one cable going into the TV Connecting your system In an ideal world Speakers/home sound system Game console Given the huge variation in ways you can set up your system, we thought it would be best to show you what we think is the ideal way to connect things. HDMI HDMI possible, and we believe an speaker cable HDMI cables should be used where AV receiver is a key bit of HDMI DVD/BluRay player kit. If you don’t have an AVR then use your TV as the hub HDMI HDMI – but make sure it ships with PVR enough HDMI slots! AV receiver Pay TV What to look for on your TV 8 Input connections Check those same time. (See p18 for more on back of the TV. Most models have HDMI cable going into the TV. on the TV match the output on cables) at least one digital audio output, Your digital video recorder the devices you want to hook up HDMI (High-definition multimedia which makes it possible to send (DVR) should be connected to it, such as a DVD player/ interface) is a digital connection the sound from your TV to a home directly to the TV aerial, then recorder, cable TV or games for sound and video in one cable; theatre system. If you’ve an AV connect it to the TV directly or console, and that there are the latest DVD, Blu-ray and HD receiver which can handle HDMI via an AV receiver. If you’re not enough connections for all the set-top boxes should have one. pass through, you can connect all using a DVR, the aerial should go devices you want to attach at the Audio outputs are usually at the your devices to it and have only one directly to the TV. Back to cover 9 Set up your surround sound Try not to put the centre speaker too far below the screen as this will mean voices will sound like they are not coming from the actors The position of the front three speakers. This will help to mask speakers is by far the most critical. any odd sounds and is usually a The centre speaker should be facing good starting point. Don’t put it directly in front of you and as close hard up against a wall or jammed to the screen as possible. Try not to into a corner, because this will put it too far below the screen as this most likely result in boomy and will mean voices will sound like they unpleasant bass sounds. are not coming from the actors. Tuning your room The two front speakers should be equidistant from the listening It might seem odd, but the room position and at the same height as and its contents does have an each other. Ideally they should be effect on sound. Rooms with placed at an angle of 22.5 from the lots of glass and hard floors will listening position if you’re watching produce much harsher high notes movies, and a little wider (around than if they’re heavily curtained o 30 ) for music. o A typical speaker set-up for your living area The correct angle isn’t critical, but making sure they are equal in every and filled with soft furnishings on a carpeted floor. On the other hand the latter may sound dull or other respect is, because the sound and distance from the listener as keeping them at the same height is flat. If you’ve set up the speakers will be unbalanced and surround the front ones and at an angle of important and try to angle them so as best you can and the sound sound effects will be reduced or 110 from the centre. In other words, they face the back of your head. is too harsh, it may not be the lost altogether. they should be just behind you and Subwoofer placement is a bit of a speakers that are entirely to The rear (also called surround) facing the back of your head. If this dark art. The simplest way is to blame. Try a rug or soft wall speakers should be the same height isn’t possible, and it rarely is, place it near one of the front hanging to soften the sound. 10 o Back to cover 11 Some bigger more expensive TVs with wireless capabilities are beginning to arrive on the market Networking your home T hese are, of course, router (and be called for allowing you to share the if your modem already includes the days of Wi-Fi. And a “residential gateway” internet connection among a router? Look at the rear: in in an ideal world we as a result). more than one machine. addition to a socket to plug wouldn’t need to use cables These days, most The exception can be in your phone line, there will at all. Some bigger more broadband modems cable modems, which may be usually be four ethernet sockets expensive TVs are beginning include a router, primarily stand-alone. How can you tell as well. ➜ to come with wireless connectivity, but there is plenty already on the market Modem Internet to help you create your own Phone line Ethernet home entertainment network. What you need The router is the centre of Ethernet Desktop computer your network. It’s the device that forwards information from computers and devices to other computers and Speakers devices. And, if you connect Router a modem to it, it allows your network to access the internet too. As a router is so Ethernet important, many broadband modems will also include a 12 Media hub Back to cover TV Wi-Fi Tablet and smartphone 13 Networking Media hubs Before you start, it pays to do some the rest of the home without too planning. See what equipment you much trouble. Once you know what want to attach to the network, and goes where, plugging in cables is O sure all your TV shows, films include an HDMI port, but not where it will be. Which ones will simple. Note that it doesn’t matter and music play smoothly all provide an HDMI cable. And use wireless? Which will be wired? what ethernet port you plug a cable across the whole system too. check whether the media hub Where in the house will they be and into on the router, except when it And if you own a great deal supports the cables you wish how much cable do you need? Feel comes to your modem. To facilitate of digital media, the best to use on your TV. Connections free to get out pencil and paper and easy set up of internet sharing, solution is a media hub. vary, but most will have a USB draw up a diagram of your network. among other things, most routers That way, you can work out exactly these days come with a WAN world of free internet TV networking capability (ethernet what you need to connect it all. (wide area network) port, which and subscription services port and/or Wi-Fi); a HDMI port The modem, for example, may looks the same as the others but as alternatives to free-to- (for HD TV); Toslink (optical audio) be constrained by an existing is intended for sole use by your air and cable TV, without and component (RGB) or phone port, and it makes sense modem. It’s usually labelled and you having to go near your composite (RWY) video sockets. to have the modem, the router, colour coded differently too computer. Some of the hubs available may and any equipment that will attach so it’s easy to directly to the router close together. pick out. Connecting cables nce you’ve connected Connecting it up up all your hardware, Make sure you’ve got the right you’ll want to make cables beforehand – most hubs They can also open up a Many offer internet radio port for external storage; support Wi-Fi but only offer an and direct access to online adapter as an extra cost. And If using wireless, the router is best sharing services YouTube, some of the others let you plug in positioned near the centre of the Picasa and Flickr. They can a USB hard drive for virtually house, where its signal can reach also be a jukebox for your unlimited storage, while some digital music collection and hubs only stream files across photo albums. your network. A typical router back panel: notice the WAN port (also called “Internet”) for the modem, and four LAN (ethernet) ports. 14 Back to cover 15 Powerline networking Low speed and inconsistent performance dogged the f irst two generations of this technology, but it has f inally come into its own Using your electrical wiring to network devices across on each one. The two devices your home is not new will find each other anywhere technology, but it is only now across your home’s electrical coming in to its own. wiring and create a secure network link. How it works This simplicity can be Powerline networking invaluable when you just has long been considered want to connect a new the poor cousin to wired device to your network ethernet and Wi-Fi. Low without the hassle of speed and inconsistent configuring software settings performance dogged the on a PC. For example, you first two generations of this might want to add a new technology, but the latest network device to your adapters seem to have solved entertainment centre – these issues. perhaps a digital video recorder (DVR), games Simple setup console or Blu-ray player. The best thing about It is worth remembering powerline networking is that that the network speed your you don’t need any technical at its finest. Simply insert sockets, connect them to kit might achieve is reliant on knowledge to create a basic two of the devices into the devices to be networked, the type and quality of your network – it’s plug and play separate wall-mounted power then press the setup button home’s wiring. 16 Back to cover 17 Which cable is that? K We’ve found no statistically signif icant variations in score either for picture or sound in [more expensive] HDMI cables nowing the difference between cables will help you work out how USB to best connect your devices. Two things to remember are: Universal serial bus (USB) is a standard • Some devices can be connected with more than one type of cable. • Some digital cables enable copy protection that lock content. Is dearer better? connection originally designed for PCs and Macs. The data transfer speed of USB 2.0 has improved from the original USB 1.0. HDMI During tests, we’ve found no statistically significant variations in score either for FireWire picture or sound in HDMI cables. FireWire is used in some Apple computers We did find that for longer for audio and video but some PCs also lengths, the results were slightly use the connection. FireWire requires a better for the more expensive special inbuilt chip in the device so it is brands. However, the differences more expensive. HDMI were not enough to conclude any HDMI cables support standard brand delivers a significantly and HD television and video as better result. well as multi-channel audio, Digital audio Results for the Digital audio such as Dolby Digital surround digital audio cable were even Digital audio cables are used with PC sound. However, they can enable more conclusive, with no audio cards, CD players, DVD players, content protection to lock or advantage to be gained through car audio systems and other digital audio restrict what you can do with the use of more expensive cables systems. They carry mono, stereo and that material. for better performance. multi-channel audio signals. 18 Back to cover ➜ 19 VGA SCART A video graphics array (VGA) cable has This was developed to allow one plug a 15-pin plug and connects monitors to to connect many different devices. computers to carry video signals. They’re SCART will carry both video and audio also used to connect computers to TVs signals and is used with TVs, VCRs, DVD and projectors. players, projectors and games consoles. RCA S-video RCA is the common round audio or video This is an analogue video cable, which connector used in home entertainment carries data as two signals – luminance equipment. RCA plugs are used for and colour. The cables use a small, round, both component and composite video four-pin connector and are used in TVs to connections. connect DVD players and game consoles. Composite DVI A composite cable is an analogue cable Digital video interface (DVI) cables use a used to carry TV and video images. It rectangular connector with up to 29 pins. doesn’t carry sound. It uses an RCA plug They’re used with monitors, projectors and is usually yellow. A composite cable is and some DVD players and TVs. often accompanied by white and red RCA cables to provide stereo sound. 20 Component TV aerial cable A component cable is a type of RCA cable The connection to your aerial is via a that transmits analogue video signals coaxial cable. Connections are either where the picture is split among three F-type with a screw connection from the cables – red, blue and green. Component wall, or the push-on 'PAL' type on most cables are used with TVs, VCRs, DVD TVs. Both come in male and female form, players and personal video recorders. but the TV connection is always female. Back to cover 21 To find out more or to subscribe visit choice.com.au or call 1800 069 552 Back to cover