Breaking It Down for the Masses

There are reasons why you would want to buy exceptional products in all categories, but we want you to understand the "whys" behind this so you don't make mistakes and think that each component will necessarily help your video to look better. Here are reasons why you'd want to max out expenditures in each area:

• DVD Player: Top of the line DVD players offer more than just good video quality. They often add exceptional audio quality as well. For people looking to get the most out of their DVD-Audio, CD and SACD collections, having a top-quality player may be the best move you can make. If, however, you want the DVD player to be responsible for the audio quality of these discs, realize that you will need to use the analogue outputs of the player - otherwise you are passing the audio signal digitally to the AV receiver to process into the analogue audio required for amplification and delivery to your loudspeakers.
  
• AV Receiver: The flagship AV receivers and processors possess, among other things, high quality DACs (digital-to-analogue converters) and amplifiers (for receivers). If you have a flagship AV processor or receiver, chances are you will have a convenience product that can handle accurate bass management, route various AV components to the proper destinations/outputs and even provide some room EQ.
  
• Video Processor: Utilizing a good video processor is an eye-opening experience. The differences in video quality are often amazing - especially on poor source material. Another popular use for dedicated video processors is to provide special scaling to enable to use of anamorphic lens systems to display the full resolution of a DVD or HD DVD to be experienced on wide 2.35:1 cinema screens.
• Display: You never want to skimp on the display, but advanced displays will enable you to ensure you have a front projector, flat panel, etc that will display clean detail, deep blacks and vibrant, accurate colors. The display is, for obvious reasons, the most important piece of any video system - and no amount of video processing in the world will make a bad display look good.