THE SCREEN, THE PROJECTOR, the speakers and the receiver—they’re probably what you’ve been focusing much of your attention on while planning your home theater. But you’ll need content to make these pieces of home theater equipment come to life. Content, be it a movie, a TV program, a concert video or a slideshow of a family vacation, can be delivered to your theater gear by a number of different components. For the greatest entertainment variety and flexibility some home theater owners pack in a plethora components; for simplicity and savings others stick with one or a couple of pieces. There’s really no right or wrong, but there are differences among components that you’ll want to consider before choosing yours.
Media Server
Equipped with huge storage capacities, ranging from 1 to several terabytes, a media server can hold on its internal hard drive hundreds if not thousands of movies and put them right at your fingertips. By using the server’s built-in inter- face, which can be displayed directly on the screen of the home theater, a touchpanel or even as an app on your tab- let or smartphone, you can search for movies by genre, title, date and other criteria. Some servers are so smart they can categorize the movies for you. If you already own a collection of discs (both CDs and Blu-rays), these can be stored on the server. Some devices can also download movies from the Internet or allow you to purchase preconfigured collections of flicks from the manufacturer (some but not all offer this service). No matter how content winds up on a server, it’s a slick setup that’s easy enough for all ages and levels of tech acumen to operate.
Look for:
Storage capacity. Be sure the server you pick offers plenty of growing room to add new content.
Ability to integrate with a home control system. This will enable the server to be controlled from the same interface that you use to operate the home theater projector, receiver, and other gear.
Multizone capacity. Some systems are designed to share content from one main server to several mini servers located at other entertainment areas around the house.
Media Streamer
The newest way to bring content to a home theater, media streamers are fast, flexible, chockfull of choices, and fun. Oh, and they’re also super affordable. At a fraction of the cost of most media servers, media streamers have become a favorite source of content among home theater enthusiasts. With a unit connected to the Internet, you’ll be able to access popular online movie sites like Netflix, Vudu and Hulu, and stream your selection directly to the screen or projector of your home theater. The downside: The streaming speed and image quality will hinge on the strength of the Internet connection. If the Internet is down, so will be your home theater. For this reason, it’s wise to complement a streamer with a server and/or Blu-ray disc player.
Look for:
Form factor. Most media streamers resemble the other boxes in your entertainment cabinet, but newer media streamers come in the form of a dongle that plugs into an available HDMI port.
USB port. Many media streamers have no internal hard drive (but some do), which means you can’t store content on them. If it has a USB port, you can watch con- tent that you’ve stored on a flashdrive.
Browsing. You’re already online accessing content; it makes sense that a streamer should also support Internet browsing.
Video resolution. 1080p is what you’ll want your streamer to be able to handle.
Blu-ray Disc Player
Despite the popularity of streaming, Blu-ray disc players do still hold value in a home theater. They’re an affordable compo- nent that lets you enjoy your existing collection of Blu-ray discs (also 3D versions) by just popping them into the player. Plus, they can play standard DVDs and CDs. Some players also have streaming and storage capabilities. Plus, a 1080p Blu-ray disc will always look better than the 1080p streamed version of the same movie.
Look for:
3D capability. Watching movies in 3D can be a fun family event.
Upscaling. This will allow you to play your old DVDs but upscaled to a higher resolution.
Internet connectivity. You’ll be able to use your Blu-ray player to access online content and streaming services.
Beyond these core components, you can add a cable and/or satellite DVR to your setup. In fact, some home theater designers double or triple up on these boxes so that each family member has their own collection of movies stored on their own cable or satellite DVR.
Maybe you even have some content stored on the hard drive of your personal computer or a NAS device. This can be shared with your home theater through a wireless DLNA connection to your Blu-ray disc player.
With so many entertainment options available for a home theater, you’ll never run out of great content to enjoy. Just remember, the bigger your library, the more complex it can be- come to navigate. Be sure to ask your home theater pro to integrate the components into a single control system that’s been customized to streamline the selection process.
Leave a Reply