Home Audio & Video Systems

Home audio and video setups are as individual as the people who own them. At its most basic, a home theater includes a TV, some speakers and an audio/video source. Find out about the newest home theater components, and how they work together to give you a superior entertainment experience.

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If you know how to connect a subwoofer to an amplifier, you can listen to music and movies as if you're there live. Learn about how to connect a subwoofer to an amplifier in this article.

By HowStuffWorks.com Contributors

Subwoofers can improve your sound. Learn about connecting a subwoofer to an amplifier in this article.

By HowStuffWorks.com Contributors

You can run out of DVR space faster than you think. Learn about hooking up your DVD player to a DVR to record in this article.

By HowStuffWorks.com Contributors

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Once you know how to boost digital TV signals, you'll never miss any scenes of your favorite show due to poor DTV reception. This article shows you how to boost digital TV signals.

By HowStuffWorks.com Contributors

You may be able to keep using your old antenna or you may have to add a new one or an outdoor one. Learn whether you can watch TV with an antenna from this article.

By HowStuffWorks.com Contributors

Yes, portable analog TVs still work, but you may need to get a digital-to-analog converter box. Learn whether portable TVs still work from this article.

By HowStuffWorks.com Contributors

DLP is an imaging technology used for television and projectors. Learn what a DLP TV is in this article.

By HowStuffWorks.com Contributors

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Cowboys Stadium features the biggest high-definition television in the world. No matter where you sit, you should have a great view of the action. Fans love it, but why does it make opposing teams so angry?

By Jonathan Strickland

The record player changed society as it made music portable and more accessible to people. How has it evolved from its original design to produce music from a disc of grooved vinyl?

By Meredith Bower

As sports franchises try to attract more fans, teams spend millions upgrading their old stadiums and building new ones. The centerpiece in most? A really, really big HDTV.

By Nathan Chandler & Yara Simón

The biggest changes in high-definition televisions over the past few years are related to screen size, thickness and price. Can we cram more pixels into our TV displays?

By Jonathan Strickland

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A high-definition television is a pretty common sight these days, but it wasn't that long ago when seeing one was a real curiosity. When did the first HDTV make the scene?

By Jonathan Strickland

LCD HDTVs are often criticized because they have difficulty showing a true black color. This is because LCDs use scanning backlights. What do they do?

By Jonathan Strickland

When you think of watching a movie in 3-D, you may think of those goofy glasses with multicolor lenses. But that's the old way to do 3-D. Now, you might not need glasses at all.

By Jonathan Strickland

Apple TV has been around since 2006, but it's fallen out of favor with Apple fans as the company turned its attention toward music lovers. Now, Apple TVs are flying off the shelves as users discover their compatibility with HDTV.

By Nathan Chandler

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TVs have come a long way since the early days. Tune in to see how televisions have evolved from the clunky sets of the 1940s to today’s streamlined, Internet-accessing units.

You're probably familiar with high fidelity, or hi-fi audio, but what about high definition? What's the difference? And which, if either, is better?

By Jonathan Strickland

If bigger is better, then ultra-high definition TV will be the best way to watch television in the not-too-distant future. This larger-than-life technology will immerse viewers in a world of realistic quality.

By Jessika Toothman

On Feb. 17, 2009, TV sets in the United States will need a converter to watch local stations. Is your television ready for the switch?

By Chris Pollette

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Switched digital video is one solution to the increasing demand for bandwidth. How does it affect your video on demand, and phone and Internet connections?

By Jonathan Strickland

Satellite HD offers crisp, clear visual displays and immersive 3-D sound. How is it different from cable and satellite TV?

By Jonathan Strickland

HDMI is more than a port on the back of a TV (and the often expensive cable that fits inside). It's a set of rules for allowing high-definition electronic devices to communicate.

By Tracy V. Wilson & Marie Look

Internet TV is relatively new -- there are lots of different ways to get it, and quality, content and cost can vary greatly. Internet TV streams television signals over the Internet to a person's computer screen or TV set.

By John Fuller

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The typical home-theater setup, with its surround-sound speakers and subwoofer, doesn't work for every home. That's where virtual surround sound comes in. Explore how human hearing and some cool technology allow two speakers to sound like five.

By Tracy V. Wilson

In 1997, TiVo promised its customers that they wouldn't have to worry about television schedules or learn to program their VCRs. Learn how the typical TiVo set works and what services TiVo provides.

By Jonathan Strickland