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.
