Home Theatre and movies go together and so does Computer Video. The trend today is to transfer video, edit video and use it between various home entertainment products. The Video portion is covered here, while the sound portion is covered in our Audio section. Systems are so well intergrated today that it is sometimes difficule to determine whether a subject belongs in the Video or Audio. In that case a link between pages is provided.

Mini Tripod - Excellent accessory for video or still camera pictures.

Getting Movies From Laptop to TV - Got movies on your Laptop/Notebook computer that you would like to watch on the bigger screen? This may help.

Video to DVD - Transfering VHS tape to DVD, Shooting tips to make it easier, Programs to help with the transfer... here.

Video Editing - Programs to make the task easier.

VLC Media Player - One you should have, plays nearly all media files both audio and video. Free.

Here are some of my favourite sites for getting the latest scoop on movies new and old.

Movie IMDB Movie A Minute Movie Mistakes Movie Network Canada Movie Information Links

Home Theatre

There are numerous sites giving instructions on how to set up your home theatre. Special instructions such as those from Cnet suggest ways of getting that little bit extra out of your system. The following are some I truly found to make a big difference in viewing and listening pleasure.

Home Theatre Room Lighting Daylight 6500 deg K

Several setup sites suggest that the best lighting for watching large screen TV is to have a light behind the set or screen and be able to vary the brightness according to what you like best. The colour of the lighting is most important and the suggestions say you should use 6500 deg K bulbs or daylight as they are often labeled.

I used to think, how much difference could that make. Colours are adjustable. Well I made the conversion to these types of bulbs, and they are a little more expensive, but are worth every penny. If you follow the Cnet instructions or similiar ones, the difference in viewing is very noticable.Your movies and programs will be much more realistic without that over bright look so common on in store TVs.

At first I thought it was my imagination like when you get or try anything new. After some extended viewing, this was almost like getting another system, the impovement was that great. A very cheap upgrade improvement that really shines (?).

Home Theatre Rear Centre Channel

When I renewed my sound system a few years ago, one of the extra things it had that the old one didn't was a centre channel for the rear. For a month or so I ran it without a rear centre, thinking how much difference could that make. Yet everytime I ran the configuration setting, "no center speaker" would pop up on the display. This of course would deactivate a few other adjustments.

Finally I broke down and bought a centre speaker, installed it and waited for the results. Once again the difference was outstanding. In fact I would say the difference is as great as when we went from mono to stereo.

You won't hear the difference on every source that you listen to. But on movies that have DTS or even 5.1 encoding, the sound goes on all around you with much more depth than just having two rear outputs. It is really noticable and realistic if you are in the middle of a crowd, or on a street with lots of traffic all around. Sometimes it is just little sounds that we take for granted in every day life, like echos and leaves popping around as they blow along the ground.

It is not something you need, but if your system has a centre channel out, then get the speaker to go with it. The difference adds realism to the experience.