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Hi-Def at Home
A Sound Editor Upgrades His Entertainment System
By Michael Hertlein, MPSE
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I’ve been reluctant to do a significant upgrade to my home theatre set-up because of the way technology changes. We had a good long run with DVDs and 5.1 surround sound, Dolby Digital and/or DTS decoding being the only options. High definition and flat screens have been around for a few years now but we have finally arrived at one of the safer times to advance to the next level. As safe as our modern technology will allow, that is.
You used to be able to buy a TV or receiver and only have to worry about whether it would last for 20 years. Nowadays products will become outdated––obsolete––long before they stop working. You’ve heard the buzzwords like hi-def, 1080p, HDMI, Blu-Ray, HD DVD and others. What do they mean and how do they affect us? DVDs have served us well but with a storage limit of 8.5 gigabytes (dual layer), it doesn’t take long to fill that up in today’s world.
Now let’s get to those buzzwords. 1080p is 1920x1080 progressive scan lines of resolution, which is a 16x9 aspect ratio. It is currently the best picture quality available to consumers. Both hi-def DVD formats support this and most of the flat-panel TVs built this year and beyond are1080p. If you are in the market for a flat panel TV you should really get 1080p. If you’ve already bought one that is 720p or 1080i (i is for interlaced, which is not as high-resolution as progressive), you don’t need to upgrade because those resolutions are great––but at this point, it’s better to buy for the future.
HDMI is the newest way to connect everything. It can carry both hi-def sound and picture in one cable. As with 1080p, if you are currently looking at a new receiver, TV, or hi-def video player you want to go with HDMI 1.3. This is the only one that will carry 1080p and the newest high bitrate audio. With standard definition DVDs, the 5.1 audio was compressed using either Dolby Digital or DTS in a “lossy” format. The new hi-def DVDs can handle lossless audio that is exactly the same as the studio masters.
Dolby TrueHD and DTS-HD Master Audio are the newest compression formats and both require an HDMI 1.3 cable that can handle the higher bandwidth. At this time, many, if not most, hi-def discs offer only Dolby Digital Plus or DTS-HD, which are higher bandwidth than their predecessors but still not completely lossless. The TrueHD and Master Audio formats will probably become much more common as more hi-def players are sold.
If you remember back to the VHS vs. Betamax wars in the early 1980s, you’ll understand the battle of new Blu-Ray vs. HD DVD players. To the consumer, both formats are essentially equal since they both can provide 1080p picture and uncompressed 7.1-channel audio. Blu-Ray has a larger storage capacity than its rival (50 gb vs. 30 gb dual layer), but it is more difficult to author and therefore more expensive to replicate. The only real difference (to the consumer) is that the major studios have taken sides and will only release their movies in one format. Among others Disney, Sony, Fox, Apple, Mitsubishi, Pioneer, Panasonic and Sharp are in the Blu-Ray camp. Universal, Dreamworks, Paramount, the Weinstein Company, Toshiba, Microsoft and Sanyo are among the big hitters on the HD DVD side. Warner Bros., New Line and HBO are among those companies that are hedging their bets and releasing titles in both formats.
While our industry has always been ahead of the curve with technology, doing any audio work at rates higher than 16 bit/48 kHz was really for ourselves, because very little consumer technology could handle it. Studios would rather use the valuable space on DVDs for menus and picture (or trailers), and television compression means that no network is currently offering content higher than 1080i with Dolby Digital. As 1080p TVs and hi-def DVDs catch on, people will want to see content broadcast in higher resolutions. On the film side, it probably won’t have much of an affect since 35mm motion film is already a hi-def format. Broadcast television sound will most likely always be compressed, but as developers eke out more storage space, there may be more desire for things like 7.1 discrete sound and 24 bit/96 kHz audio.
What piqued my interest in finally upgrading to hi-def video was a pre-amp/processor from Onkyo that was getting a ton of buzz on the Internet. The Onkyo Pro PR-SC885P (www.onkyopro.com) was the first product I saw that had all of the newest features. It has four HDMI 1.3 inputs and two HDMI outputs, upconverts video to 1080p for sources––like TV and DVD players––that aren’t 1080p, and decodes not only Dolby TrueHD, DTS-MA and the previous legacy formats but handle, DSD (Direct Stream Digital), which is used on Super Audio CDs (SACDs). Also, it finally is THX Ultra-2 certified. The Onlyo also features built-in HD Radio, compatibility with both Sirius and XM, and balanced XLR outputs for hooking up to almost any amp and auto-room set-up. In the past, pre-amp/processors with a feature set like this would be well over $2,000, some costing more than $5,000. When I saw this one had a street price of under $1,800, I went for it. Onkyo also provided one of its Integra DTA-9.4 amps, which I liked a lot (www.integrahometheater.com/).
To get the full extent of the new hi-def formats, I needed better equipment: a TV that could handle 1080p, had multiple HDMI 1.3 inputs and did not have an overly large footprint. Mitsubishi provided one of its new LT-46133 LCDs, which fit in the exact spot where I previously had a 36-inch CRT TV. The Mitsubishi LCDs have a thin bezel because the speakers are on the back. The sound through the TV’s speakers are a little muffled due to this location, but the benefit is as large a screen as possible in a given space. For me, it was a moot point since I never listen to sound through my TV speakers anyway.
Another great feature is that this TV can handle movies played back at 24fps (24hz), which is available on many hi-def DVD players. This means that you can watch film content without it going through a 3:2 pulldown. The only things this model doesn’t have––but that models above it do––is a 120hz refresh rate (twice the normal 60hz refresh and said to handle motion better) and picture-in-picture.
When comparing the new hi-def DVD formats, I also wanted to have a good-quality upconverting standard definition DVD player. The Oppo Digital 980H (www.oppodigital.com) does just that and much more. With SD DVD, the HDMI doesn’t need to be 1.3 because it won’t have to pass bitstream TrueHD or DTS Master Audio. The 980H will upconvert a normally 480i DVD to 1080p and does it very well. This player not only does the upconverting, but plays SACD and DVD-A discs (hi-resolution multi-channel music formats) and it passes SACDs unconverted to my receiver for decoding. If you are into these music formats at all, you’ll know that this feature is hard to find, usually expensive, and/or in a proprietary format that is available to players and receivers from the same company only. To me, this player is worth having just for the audio features, but it also is a great DVD player to have if you’re not ready to jump into the hi-def war yet.
For my Blu-Ray player, Pioneer sent its newest model, the Elite BDP-95FD. The HD DVD player was a Toshiba HD-a35. The Blu-Ray is about twice the cost of the HD DVD, but to notice a difference in video/audio performance between the two would take someone with a lot more time than I had with the two players. Both offer beautiful picture and amazing sound and any complaints I have are related to the technology, not just the players.
The first thing you’ll notice (after the sticker shock) is that from the time you turn the player on, put in a disc and actually a see picture seems like an eternity. In reality, it takes anywhere from 30 seconds (if you’re lucky) to over a minute. That may not seem long on paper but when you have friends over and try to show them something quickly, you’ll see what I mean.
Also, with HD-DVDs, the ability to stop and resume the disc where you left off is determined by the disc itself, not the player––and even then it’s not that simple. For instance, if a disc does allow resume play after stopping, you have to push a separate button called “Resume Play,” not just “Play.” I find this very annoying––especially since I’ve previously had this ability with every DVD player I’ve owned. If the disc doesn’t have the resume function (which is many of them, if not most), pushing “Play” again doesn’t just start you at the beginning of the film––it goes to the beginning of the disc with the FBI warning and trailers!
The majority of consumers didn’t switch to DVDs over VHS because the picture and sound was better; they did it because they didn’t have to rewind; picture and sound improvements were just an added bonus. It’s the same with mp3s. Their sound quality is worse than CDs, but the convenience factor far outweighs that fact. Taking some steps backwards with hi-def DVDs just to get better picture and sound is not going to win over the majority of people.
Finally, there’s the “HDMI handshake” issues. It’s hard to say if this is a problem with the pre-amp/processors or the hi-def players. My guess is it’s something with the players because the problems didn’t occur as much with my HDMI-connected cable box or Oppo SD-DVD player. The HDMI handshake occurs when the hi-def players are communicating with the pre-amp/processor as to what signal is coming over the wire. This can cause a delay in getting picture and also sound. If you stop or pause the player it takes longer than it should to get going again. Occasionally, I had trouble getting TrueHD to play, and would have to turn my HD-DVD player off and back on again to enable it. I was getting sound, but not in the way I should have.
Ultimately, I couldn’t recommend anyone jump into the format wars without knowing what you’re in for. If these things don’t bother you, you’ll love the stunning picture and sound. Hi-def makes me want to watch bad programs or movies over better SD programs or movies. The format war isn’t helping consumers right now, but once the technology gets the bugs worked out, SD DVDs will be gone.
Also, don’t underestimate the importance of room treatments. When I reviewed speakers, it quickly became clear to me that my room needed to be tamed––so I built some do-it-yourself treatments, which made a big difference. Since that time, I’ve learned more about better materials for treatments and subsequently came across a website that had exactly what I was looking for. Ready Acoustics (www.readyacoustics.com) makes simple, attractive and very effective traps that can be hung from ceilings, in corners or on walls. It sells Owens-Corning 703 and 705 compressed fiberglass panels, which are almost universally recommended acoustic material. If you can find the OC 703 or 705 locally, you can save some money and just get the Ready Acoustic bags and hangers to make your own panels. My only complaint is that they don’t offer sizes other than 2-feet x 4-feet (in varying thicknesses). I would have like a 2-feet x 2-feet size for some smaller, tricky areas of my room.
Another important factor is quality cables. This is especially true with HDMI. Since it is an emerging technology that has gone from HDMI 1.0 to 1.1 to 1.2 and now 1.3, standards have changed. Getting HDMI cables rated to handle 1080p and 1.3 standards is important. Some old stock floating around may not have been made to handle higher bandwidth.
I got my speaker and HDMI cables from Best Deal Cables (www.bestdealcables.com). The company guarantees HDMI 1.3 standards for up to 30-feet runs. Both kinds of wire I obtained were very overbuilt, which is a good thing. Also available is a ball mount feature on the HDMI cables, which locks them onto the equipment. Unfortunately, only one thread size ball mount screw is available, and I found it would only work on some of my equipment.
With all the equipment that comes in and out of my house, I also decided to step into the world of universal remotes. It never appealed to me before but now seemed like a good time to try it out and, ultimately, I think they will stay a part of my system. I wanted to see the difference between two remotes, but the two I got––although from different companies––use the same software. Logitech’s Harmony 890 Pro was one and the other was the Monster Home Theatre & Lighting Control. Both can easily be programmed with your computer and set up to turn on/off several different components with one button. Both models can also be used to control compatible lighting modules, and both offer wireless radio frequency so you can control equipment through walls.
One complaint is that they both have a little bit of lag time when changing channels. While I preferred the look of the Harmony to the Monster, I liked the ergonomics of the latter much better. The way the buttons are situated on the Harmony means that you have to look at the remote a lot more, and I prefer doing things by feel––especially in a dark room. It seems as though Logitech put too much emphasis on looks and not enough on ergonomics.
Such was my first foray into the world of High-Definition Home Theatre.
I’d like to thank Amazon.com and Overstock.com for providing materials, and Joe Kane’s Digital Video Essentials (www.videoessentials.com) for providing his excellent calibration disc.
Michael Hertlein, MPSE, is a dialogue, ADR and Foley editor working
in feature films. He can be reached at dialedit@yahoo.com.