Home Theater Accessories

What is it? A wide range of accessories are available to enhance your high-definition experience. Popular items include wall mounts or stands for your HDTV, a universal remote, and a calibrator video tutorial.

Why do I need it? Wall-mounting a flat panel TV can be a space-saving (and stylish) option. For those averse to drilling holes, a free-standing panel is a good choice. A universal remote allows you to minimize clutter and use a single device to control your HDTV, receiver, and disc player. A calibrator teaches you how to set the various adjustments (contrast, brightness, color, tint, sharpness) of your HDTV in order get the best picture for your particular viewing environment. (HDTV manufacturers' default settings are intended to make the set stand out in a bright retail showroom, not to accommodate your living room.)

What's the next step? While none of these items are critical to getting high definition, they can still arguably improve what would already be an amazing home theater experience.

Read below:

HDMI Cables
Wall Mount or Stand
Surround-Sound System
Universal Remote
Power Protection
Invest in a Calibrator

Your local electronics store is filled with add-ons and gadgets for your HDTV: gold-plated connectors, nitrogen-injected insulation, fully articulating mounting arms... But here are the extras that no HDTV should be without.

HDMI Cables

Not only is HDMI more convenient, combining compressed digital audio and digital video signals in a single cable, it produces the highest-quality picture and sound currently available. HDMI has obvious advantages and is rapidly coming down in price.

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Wall Mount or Stand

A wall-mounted HDTV saves space and has a more elegant appearance. Be careful not to mount the TV too high, however--the middle of the screen should be eye level from your preferred viewing location. Any higher and you're asking for a sore neck. Unless you're a home improvement whiz, it's better to safeguard your investment by having the TV professionally mounted. If you'd rather not drill holes in your home's newly painted walls, go for a TV stand, which can also house your home theater receiver, game console, or high-def movie player. Gorgeous stands are available in a variety of materials: wood, brushed steel, and glass.

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Surround-Sound System

Crystal-clear high-def images are only half the story of a truly high-def system. Audio is crucial to the high-def experience, and for sound worthy of the picture, you'll find that a 5.1-channel (or more) surround-sound system makes all of the difference. A good receiver will also support dynamic range compression, which automatically reduces the difference between loud and soft sounds in whatever you're watching. When watching movies late at night, turn the feature on--it beats having to dive for your remote whenever there's a shout, growl, or explosion.

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Universal Remote

Speaking of remotes, you probably have too many already. Eliminate clutter and confusion by getting a programmable universal remote to control every component of your home-theater system.

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Power Protection

Power protection is one of those things that home-theater shoppers often overlook until it's too late. You don't need to look far to find someone with a horror story about losing an expensive TV or AV receiver to a power surge during a thunderstorm. It's better to be prepared than to risk having to buy the same piece of home-theater equipment twice. For inexpensive electronics equipment, a lower-priced surge strip will provide adequate protection. For a full home theater, however, you might want to consider a surge station or even an uninterruptible power supply (UPS) .

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Invest in a Calibrator

All TVs have adjustments (contrast, brightness, color, tint, sharpness) to optimize, and your new HDTV is no exception. You should never rely on a manufacturer's default settings for the best picture. Those settings are intended to make the set stand out in a bright retail showroom, not to accommodate your living room. If you want to do it yourself, there are several tutorial DVDs you can buy, including Ovation's Avia, and Digital Video Essentials Blu-ray and Joe Kane Productions' Digital Video Essentials HD. Each provides step-by-step guides and easy-to-use test patterns to help you adjust your TV for your home and make all content look its best.

Or, for around $300, you can hire an expert to calibrate your HDTV for optimal performance. While a professional calibrator is not an "accessory" you can keep, the resulting picture is worth the cost. For more information, you can visit the website of the Imaging Science Foundation (www.imagingscience.com), which trains electronics integrators and TV technicians to test displays and make any adjustments necessary.

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