| |
| |
Introduction | |
| |
| |
About This Book | |
| |
| |
Foolish Assumptions | |
| |
| |
How This Book Is Organized | |
| |
| |
| |
HDTV Fundamentals | |
| |
| |
| |
Getting HDTV Programming | |
| |
| |
| |
Movie Machines | |
| |
| |
| |
HDTV Gadgets Galore | |
| |
| |
| |
Sensory Overload | |
| |
| |
| |
Geek Stuff | |
| |
| |
| |
The Part of Tens | |
| |
| |
Icons Used in This Book | |
| |
| |
Where to Go from Here | |
| |
| |
| |
HDTV Fundamentals | |
| |
| |
| |
What the Heck Is HDTV? | |
| |
| |
Oh, Say, Can You ATSC? | |
| |
| |
Powerful Performance | |
| |
| |
Video standards | |
| |
| |
HDTV standards | |
| |
| |
Compatible DTV standards | |
| |
| |
Audio standards | |
| |
| |
Perplexing Pitfalls | |
| |
| |
| |
Shopping Smart | |
| |
| |
The 50,000-Foot View of HDTV | |
| |
| |
Flat-panel HDTVs | |
| |
| |
Projection HDTVs | |
| |
| |
CRT HDTVs | |
| |
| |
What's Important in an HDTV | |
| |
| |
Budgeting for HDTV | |
| |
| |
Finding the Right Size | |
| |
| |
Matching Your HD Needs | |
| |
| |
Connecting the Other Gizmos | |
| |
| |
Accessing your HDTV channels | |
| |
| |
Getting your analog channels | |
| |
| |
Working with your other sources | |
| |
| |
Which Features Matter? | |
| |
| |
| |
Cables and Connections | |
| |
| |
Video Connections | |
| |
| |
High-definition video | |
| |
| |
Digital connections | |
| |
| |
Analog component video | |
| |
| |
Traditional video | |
| |
| |
S-video | |
| |
| |
Composite video | |
| |
| |
Coaxial cable | |
| |
| |
Audio Connections | |
| |
| |
Digitizing your audio | |
| |
| |
Digital coaxial | |
| |
| |
Optical (Toslink) | |
| |
| |
Attaching analog audio | |
| |
| |
RCA cables | |
| |
| |
Headphone and microphone jacks | |
| |
| |
| |
Hooking Up Your HDTV | |
| |
| |
Taking a Look at the Different Connections | |
| |
| |
Input jacks | |
| |
| |
Output jacks | |
| |
| |
Bi-directional jacks | |
| |
| |
Connecting Basic TV Sources | |
| |
| |
Antenna or unscrambled cable | |
| |
| |
Cable box | |
| |
| |
| |
| |
| |
| |
| |
| |
Satellite receiver | |
| |
| |
Connecting DVRs and VCRs | |
| |
| |
DVR/VCR with antenna or unscrambled cable | |
| |
| |
DVR/VCR with a cable set-top box | |
| |
| |
DVR/VCR with a satellite receiver | |
| |
| |
Making Other Connections | |
| |
| |
DVD player | |
| |
| |
Two VCRs for editing | |
| |
| |
Getting your PC hooked up | |
| |
| |
Digital cable or satellite connections | |
| |
| |
Camcorder | |
| |
| |
Surround-sound system | |
| |
| |
| |
Mounting Your HDTV | |
| |
| |
Planning Your HDTV Mount | |
| |
| |
Choosing a Mount | |
| |
| |
Buying Your Mount | |
| |
| |
Installing Your Mount | |
| |
| |
Disguising Your Display | |
| |
| |
| |
Getting HDTV Programming | |
| |
| |
| |
Who's Showing HDTV? | |
| |
| |
Looking at Who Has HDTV | |
| |
| |
Broadcasters | |
| |
| |
Cable and satellite networks | |
| |
| |
Specialized HDTV stations | |
| |
| |
Making Your Choice | |
| |
| |
All HDTV Signals Are Not Equal | |
| |
| |
| |
Something's in the Air | |
| |
| |
Finding Local HD Broadcasts | |
| |
| |
Tuning In | |
| |
| |
Building on a built-in tuner | |
| |
| |
Adding on a tuner | |
| |
| |
Antennas A to Z | |
| |
| |
Choosing the right antenna | |
| |
| |
Installing your HDTV antenna | |
| |
| |
| |
The Cable Guy | |
| |
| |
High-Definition Cable | |
| |
| |
Getting on the QAM bandwagon | |
| |
| |
Encrypting and decrypting | |
| |
| |
Digital Cable | |
| |
| |
Defining digital | |
| |
| |
Getting the benefits | |
| |
| |
Getting the digital box | |
| |
| |
Analog Cable | |
| |
| |
Going Boxless | |
| |
| |
| |
Rocket Science | |
| |
| |
Planning a Satellite TV System | |
| |
| |
Service | |
| |
| |
Equipment | |
| |
| |
Receiver | |
| |
| |
Antennas | |
| |
| |
HDTV-ready TV | |
| |
| |
Cabling | |
| |
| |
Availability | |
| |
| |
Choosing a DBS Provider | |
| |
| |
Programming | |
| |
| |
DISH Network channels | |
| |
| |
DIRECTV channels | |
| |
| |
Digital video recorder (DVR) | |
| |
| |
| |
Internet-Based HDTV | |
| |
| |
Understanding Internet Content | |
| |
| |
Streaming versus downloading | |
| |
| |
Understanding containers and codecs | |
| |
| |
Understanding file formats online | |
| |
| |
Finding a Provider Online | |
| |
| |
Apple iTunes Store | |
| |
| |
YouTube | |
| |
| |
Google Video | |
| |
| |
Movielink | |
| |
| |
Amazon.com Unbox Video | |
| |
| |
Akimbo | |
| |
| |
Understanding Your Hardware Requirements | |
| |
| |
| |
Movie Machines | |
| |
| |
| |
DVDs | |
| |
| |
Discovering the DVD | |
| |
| |
Dealing with Today's DVDs | |
| |
| |
Essential features | |
| |
| |
Useful features | |
| |
| |
Getting into Up-Converting DVD Players | |
| |
| |
Deciphering DVD Recorders | |
| |
| |
Finding DVDs in Unusual Places | |
| |
| |
Home Theater in a Box | |
| |
| |
DVD/VCR | |
| |
| |
DVD/PVR | |
| |
| |
Peering into the High-Def Future | |
| |
| |
Heading down the HD DVD path | |
| |
| |
The technical details | |
| |
| |
The players | |
| |
| |
The movies | |
| |
| |
Being Blu-ray | |
| |
| |
The players | |
| |
| |
The movies | |
| |
| |
| |
Getting Into DVRs | |
| |
| |
DVR 101 | |
| |
| |
Discovering the benefits | |
| |
| |
Making the connection | |
| |
| |
HD DVRs | |
| |
| |
For cable and satellite | |
| |
| |
Moving up to Series3 | |
| |
| |
Standard DVRs | |
| |
| |
What to look for | |
| |
| |
Finding a DVR that fits | |
| |
| |
| |
Taping Time | |
| |
| |
Checking Out Your Digital Options | |
| |
| |
S-VHS VCRs | |
| |
| |
D-VHS VCRs | |
| |
| |
Connecting VCRs to HDTVs | |
| |
| |
Looking Closer at D-VHS | |
| |
| |
| |
HDTV Gadgets Galore | |
| |
| |
| |
Gaming Consoles | |
| |
| |
Understanding Consoles | |
| |
| |
Meet the Consoles | |
| |
| |
Going with the PlayStations | |
| |
| |
Playing with PS2 | |
| |
| |
Stepping up to PS3 | |
| |
| |
X (boxes) mark the spot | |
| |
| |
Today's reigning king, Xbox 360 | |
| |
| |
The first HD game console, Xbox | |
| |
| |
Gaming with Nintendo | |
| |
| |
Getting cute with GameCube | |
| |
| |
Moving in space with Wii | |
| |
| |
Connecting to Your HDTV | |
| |
| |
Video connections | |
| |
| |
Going with composite | |
| |
| |
Stepping up to S-video | |
| |
| |
Going component | |
| |
| |
Going with HDMI | |
| |
| |
Dealing with audio | |
| |
| |
Analog audio | |
| |
| |
Digital audio | |
| |
| |
| |
Camcorders | |
| |
| |
Your Run-of-the-Mill SD Camcorder | |
| |
| |
Peering through the SD camcorder viewfinder | |
| |
| |
Connecting your SD camcorder to your HDTV | |
| |
| |
Enter HD Camcorders | |
| |
| |
Checking out the HDV camcorders | |
| |
| |
Getting HD video from camcorder to TV | |
| |
| |
| |
Gadgets | |
| |
| |
Home Theater PCs | |
| |
| |
What's inside an HTPC? | |
| |
| |
Building or buying an HTPC | |
| |
| |
Media Center Edition 2005 | |
| |
| |
SageTV | |
| |
| |
MythTV | |
| |
| |
Video Jukeboxes | |
| |
| |
Jukebox 101 | |
| |
| |
Jukebox 301 | |
| |
| |
VideoReQuest | |
| |
| |
Escient's Fireball | |
| |
| |
Kaleidescape | |
| |
| |
Boosting Your Video Signal Quality | |
| |
| |
Fitting a video scaler into your system | |
| |
| |
Looking more closely at scalers | |
| |
| |
Looking for HDTV Gadgets | |
| |
| |
| |
Sensory Overload | |
| |
| |
| |
Understanding Audio | |
| |
| |
Grasping Audio Basics | |
| |
| |
Surround-Sound Mania | |
| |
| |
Understanding how surround sound is created | |
| |
| |
Understanding the formats | |
| |
| |
Introducing the new contenders | |
| |
| |
Dealing with Built-In Audio | |
| |
| |
| |
Home-Theater Audio | |
| |
| |
Boxing Up Your Home Theater | |
| |
| |
Receiving Home-Theater Sounds | |
| |
| |
| |
Setting the Mood | |
| |
| |
Choosing Your HDTV's Home | |
| |
| |
Sounds Right? | |
| |
| |
Building from scratch (or doing a major renovation) | |
| |
| |
Upgrading your existing room for HDTV | |
| |
| |
Shining the Right Light | |
| |
| |
| |
Enhancing Your HDTV | |
| |
| |
Why You Need to Calibrate | |
| |
| |
Getting Your Settings Right | |
| |
| |
Getting Calibrated | |
| |
| |
Doing it yourself | |
| |
| |
Commercial DVDs | |
| |
| |
THX DVD | |
| |
| |
High-definition D-VHS | |
| |
| |
Going beyond the eyeball: Using calibration hardware | |
| |
| |
Bringing in the pros | |
| |
| |
| |
Geek Stuff | |
| |
| |
| |
TV Engineering | |
| |
| |
Lines and Pixels | |
| |
| |
Going with lines | |
| |
| |
Picking pixels | |
| |
| |
Defining Standard and high resolutions | |
| |
| |
Scanning and Interlacing | |
| |
| |
Fields, frames, and your TV | |
| |
| |
Doing the pulldown | |
| |
| |
| |
Projecting a Good Image | |
| |
| |
Projection HDTV Design | |
| |
| |
Rear projection | |
| |
| |
Front projection | |
| |
| |
Projection TV Systems | |
| |
| |
CRT | |
| |
| |
LCD | |
| |
| |
DLP | |
| |
| |
LCoS | |
| |
| |
Screens | |
| |
| |
| |
Thin Is In | |
| |
| |
Loving Your LCD | |
| |
| |
Everyone's Crazy about Plasma | |
| |
| |
| |
Good Ol'Tubes | |
| |
| |
All about CRTs | |
| |
| |
CRT Pros and Cons | |
| |
| |
Navigating the CRT Jungle | |
| |
| |
Dealing with aspect ratios | |
| |
| |
Which to choose | |
| |
| |
Doing the squeeze | |
| |
| |
Getting flat | |
| |
| |
| |
The Part of Tens | |
| |
| |
| |
More than Ten Places to Buy an HDTV | |
| |
| |
Crutchfield | |
| |
| |
Dell, Gateway, HP | |
| |
| |
Sam's Club, Costco, Wal-Mart | |
| |
| |
Circuit City | |
| |
| |
Best Buy | |
| |
| |
ClubMac | |
| |
| |
Microsoft, Apple | |
| |
| |
Sony Electronics | |
| |
| |
| |
More Than Ten HDTV Accessories | |
| |
| |
Kicking Some Butt (With Transducers) | |
| |
| |
Motion Simulators | |
| |
| |
Power Conditioner | |
| |
| |
DVD Changer Controllers | |
| |
| |
Show HDTV Outdoors | |
| |
| |
Creature Double Feature in 3D | |
| |
| |
Wireless Headphones | |
| |
| |
In Search of That Great Remote Control | |
| |
| |
Types of remotes | |
| |
| |
Sexy remotes | |
| |
| |
Bring Hollywood Home | |
| |
| |
Index | |