What constitutes a "Home Theater?" (1 Viewer)

[Sean Conklin]

Mike Knapp:quote: This may be true of modern film but there are easily twice as many films without surround as there are with it.[/quote]
Yes Mike, I'm sorry, I meant to say "most NEW movies", I realize the number of older films with no surround sound and only mono or Stereo tracks, and of course it would only be correct to listen in mono or Stereo respectively.
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Sean
"Self Realization....I was thinking of the immortal words of Socrates who said.......I drank what?"
[Edited last by Sean Conklin on November 16, 2001 at 01:09 PM]

 

[Sean Conklin]

Just to play devil's advocate to Mike's analogy of bike plus wagon- No, your example is not a SUV, but the bicycle is still (most likely) a bicycle, even if it doesn't have all of the features and components that I would insist on having on a bicycle. On the other hand, even if a swimming pool is not an in-ground Olympic-sized pool, is it not still a swimming pool?

Yes, but the bicycle still creates or recreates the bicycle riding experience. But if we were trying to define the minimum requirements to have an SUV (on an SUV forum of course)the wagon cannot be defined as a SUV.
And yes a swimming pool can be called a swimming pool IF it can create or recreate the swimming experience.
And we can call our rigs a "Home Theater" if we can recreate the experience as the director or studio intended, if we come up short we cannot call it "HT". TV size, and Surround power does not matter, if we can recreate the material as it was intended, even on a smaller scale we can still call it "HT", because we are still recreating all the information.
Just like the bicycle, even if it's a kiddie bike, IF we can ride it we are still creating/ recreating the riding experience, BECAUSE we ARE riding, even if it's weak, slow and too small,WE ARE STILL RIDING!
If we have a $1000 mountain bike, but are missing the chain, we cannot create/recreate the riding experience, so until we get the chain the mountain bike is not able to reproduce the riding experience and we do not have a functional bike! SEE?
Jon_B, yes you can call your set up a "HT" if you have Phantom mode, and ability for OAR of course!
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Sean
"Self Realization....I was thinking of the immortal words of Socrates who said.......I drank what?"

 

[Kevin P]

Now I have the ability for OAR, DD, dts,Mono, Stereo, or whatever the director intended. It's called watching a movie on a Home Theater!

What's interesting is, if you take a 20" Philco B&W TV, connect it to a mono VCR, and only watch B&W Academy ratio mono films on it in a darkened room, you would technically have a Home Theater since you'd be reproducing the director's intent, with the possible exception of screen size--just sit real close to that Philco for the big screen effect!
KJP

 

[Sean Conklin]

quote: What's interesting is, if you take a 20" Philco B&W TV, connect it to a mono VCR, and only watch B&W Academy ratio mono films on it in a darkened room, you would technically have a Home Theater since you'd be reproducing the director's intent, with the possible exception of screen size--just sit real close to that Philco for the big screen effect! [/quote]
Your right! But I would only be recreating the HT experience for that material only. I wouldn't be able to recreate the directors intent for "Galaxy Quest"!
If you are a person who only watches Mono B&W movies in 1.37, then technically you could call your Philco and VCR a HT. Because you are recreating what the director intended.But only if we don't have minimum requirements in this day and age to reproduce ALL material as intended, but at the HTF we do!, not written, but in attitude.
It is 2001 and you are at the HTF, and you cannot reproduce as the director intended, any new material with surround and 2.35 OAR, So even though you would try to tell us your Philco is HT, we would not recognize it as a HT(by todays standards).
Before you say "But I am recreating the Academy ratio and thats all I watch, so I have HT". But by HTF member requirements for recreating TODAYS material, YOU DO NOT HAVE HT. I think you have to be able to reproduce all of the material that technology has brought us in the year 2001 to call your system HT, even if all the movies you watch are academy ratio B&W movies.
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Sean
"Self Realization....I was thinking of the immortal words of Socrates who said.......I drank what?"
[Edited last by Sean Conklin on November 16, 2001 at 01:01 PM]

 

[Danny Knapp]

I consider my Kenwood HTB-354 System and my Sony WEGA 27'' to be a home theater.
I'd say dolby digital sound and a big TV.
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[Sean Conklin]

I consider my Kenwood HTB-354 System and my Sony WEGA 27'' to be a home theater.

Me too! As long as you have a device that allows the movie to be displayed in it's OAR(like a DVD player).
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Sean
"Self Realization....I was thinking of the immortal words of Socrates who said.......I drank what?"

 

[Rob Tomlin]

If you don't have the equipment to view OAR and at least Surround capability(unless it's a mono or stereo track),then your not watching it as the director intended it to be watched.
Why shouldn't these be the minimal guidelines to be able to call your set up a HT?

Couldn't agree more!
And when you say "have the equipment to view OAR" I think that implies a fairly large screen. I mean a 2.35 or wider image on a 4:3 set that is smaller than 25 inches is pretty darn small, and I really don't think you should have to use binoculars to see the details in the movie that the director intended you to see!

 

[John Besse]

My opinion is at least a 25-27 inch TV with a surround set up. I dont really think an old prologic set up with a 27" TV is a Home Theater, but I guess it is.
I would say at least a Home Theater in a Box on a 25 inch TV is the requierment.
However, I have energy C-6 toweres, the AC-300 center, and 2 pairs of Encores for the 7.1 DTS-ES and DD-EX set-up on a Denon 3801 receiver. My TV is only 27".
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[Jack Briggs]

I'm sure several of you may have taken logic courses in college. Remember the "Fallacy of the Beard"? It posits that one can never identify positively when a few-days' stubble officially becomes a beard. Likewise, we are in semantics hell when trying to determine when a television-and-source set-up makes the transition to home-theater status.
BTW, this is the first time I've checked in on this thread in a couple of days. Looks like I missed out on some fun. Was my original post offensive in some way? If so, please accept my apologies. My point, though, was to challenge the assumption that surround sound is a prerequisite to home theater.
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[Edited last by Jack Briggs on November 17, 2001 at 02:50 PM]

 

[Inspector Hammer!]

Well, i've finally worked up the courage to once again venture into this thread.
Let me just state that I was pretty offended by Sania's comment, it's not everyday that a total stranger tells me to "shut the hell up", and to be perfectly honest with you guy's and the moderator's also, I was so angered by his comment yesterday, that I actually wanted him to be booted from here. But you know what, that's o.k., i'm over that now.
I realize that their are some people that I won't see eye to eye with from time to time and that's fine. But it's left me wondering why that had to happen HERE, in an opinion-based thread like this?
And to Vince, believe me, I WAS setting an example for Sania, when I posted my third post, I was furious with him, but I kept a lid on it and stayed cool. Let me just say that if I had typed what I was REALLY feeling toward him, i'd be in big trouble.
Please excuse me, but I just wanted to get that off my chest. Please resume topic...
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[Edited last by John Williamson on November 17, 2001 at 04:15 PM]

 

[Jack Briggs]

So I wasn't the cause of the rancor? I thought that the gentleman's comments had been aimed at me. I never saw the "shut the hell up" part; it had been edited out when I returned to the thread.
But the topic of this discussion is worth serious consideration.
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[Sean Conklin]

Jack, assuming the minimum guidelines of someone achieving HT status is to be able to reproduce all available formats (including surround)AVAILABLE in the year 2001, then yes one would need a surround processor, at least pro logic, and not necessarily DD or dts, to be able to come close within reason to reproducing the surround effect present on Newer movies made with surround technology.
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Sean
"Self Realization....I was thinking of the immortal words of Socrates who said.......I drank what?"

 

[Inspector Hammer!]

Post deleted by John Williamson.
[Edited last by John Williamson on November 17, 2001 at 05:26 PM]

 

[Jerry Gracia]

One shouldn't attack anyone, period.
An S-VHS deck is preferrable but not mandatory (obviously) because it offers superior picture quality over standard VHS. The highest possible quality is something everyone here strives for...right?
I know I do.
S-VHS decks are very cheap nowadays too.
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LuvLBX

 

[Alex Spindler]

Back to topic, count me in the state of mind camp. I believe (and still believed) that I was building a home theater when I had P&S movies on VHS. When I first graduated from a mono VCR to a stereo VCR, I was moving closer to the theater experience. Next was a surround system and push for letterbox versions of my favorite films. That was the point that I probably qualified for HT status, but I think the desire to get the movie experience recreated was enough, even when the equipment wasn't capable of it (and as the 35mm statement attests, few of us really equal the theater experience now).
So as long as the 13" Tv watcher strives to meet the theater conditions for the movies he's watching, I would consider it a home theater. That can be by pursuing OAR, matching the audio, or any other means.
All opinion, which is the point of the thread.

 

[NathanP]

Ok.
I'm kinda an Elitist..
I would say that a true theater is a projector or a huge projection TV.
And a nicer system (nothing from a trift store) with DPL, a dvd player, and a component or above connection. NO RF!
If you want to see someone else with my view, go to
This website.
Nathan
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[TheoGB]

I think for a Home Theatre you'd really want what a lot of your North Americans seem to be able to make: A dedicated room with proper seating and everything!

Essentially anything less probably isn't really a Home Theatre but it's gonna come close.
For me it has to include a TV and at least a VCR and OAR movies, and frankly, a desire to watch them. It's more a state of mind. You are either the sort of person that sticks on a movie and makes a point of seeing the thing all the way through, and attempting to not get distracted, or you just stick it on and don't really care.
I suppose the point I'm making is any rich person can afford a fantastic TV, sound system and DVD-Player, but if they're an attention deficient workaholic who only sees the first 20 mins of a movie, or they have the sort of social life I'd envy, then it's not really a home theatre system.
Kind of like the difference between owning a guitar and being a musician. (And incidentally the musician is usually the one with the beat-up cheapo one...which may well be where the analogy falls down. Hmm.)
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[Reginald Trent]

I don't buy the dedicated room requirement. Let's say I have a open basement meaning no walls and I have front projection with stadium seating. But I also have a exercise area with equipment in another part of the basement, do I not have a Home Theater? If not why?

 

[Neil Joseph]

I think some of the requirements indicated are a bit stiff. For me, a display device, a movie playing device and amplified sound (even stereo) constitute a home theatre. That means a VCR with a 19" TV and sound in stereo is a home theatre in my books (allbeit, a mediocre one).
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