Get a New Tuner!
Home theaters have become a standard component in home furnishings. Granted, when everything is turned off, the set up isn’t all that attractive; but when turned on? Yeah, everything is very nice. The thing that really enhances your picture is sound though. Sound will make the train on your nice flat screen not only look like it’s rumbling through your living room but adds a dimension to things by reinforcing the image.
The best way to approach getting the most out of your movie and television watching experience is to look at your tuner. You don’t have one? Don’t worry; I’m going to help you make an informed choice. For those of you who do, I’m going to help you get the most out of what you have.
Before we even begin to look at a tuner it is important that you think about what it is you are hooking up to your TV. Most cable boxes, DVD players, satellite receivers etc can be ran through a tuner. And this is a lovely thing. Still, grab a piece of paper and see about making a list of what kinds of outputs each of these devices have. Keep the list Poindexter; we’re going to need it.
Now that you have established what sort of outputs your audio/video devices have, it’s time to take stock. HDMI is much preferred these days for ease of installation, overall neatness and preservation of audio and video quality. If your cable box does not have a HDMI output, call the cable company and tell them to bring you one, the same goes for satellite companies too. The newer DVD and Blu-Ray players should have these already. If one or two devices are component only, that’s okay as well, we’ll make it work.
A tuner with one HDMI input and one HDMI output is still a beautiful thing. With the installation of an HDMI hub, all of your devices with a HDMI cable can be ran into the hub. This means many cables in and only one out to your tuner. With automatic switching this also means you don’t have to worry about adjusting the input to your tuner or TV.
If you have a slew, or even a couple of RCA or component cables, don’t fret. You can plug these into your tuner and still use the HDMI output to your TV. You might end up having to change the input setting on your tuner, but really that’s not a problem and you can still leave you TV on the “HDMI In” setting.
You might want to look at a combo unit as well. If you have a DVD player, maybe a tuner with Blu-Ray would be right for you. This beats having to buy a whole new collection of movies or separate Blu-ray player. Opting for this saves you money and space, two things that are at a premium.
Remember when purchasing you new tuner to look over you equipment and pick one that will accommodate everything. There is nothing worse than getting that awesome theater sound ready and finding out you can’t watch your favorite movie or program.
