Practical Home Theater: A Guide to Video and Audio Systems, 2009 Edition

by Mark Fleischmann

How can an average person navigate the maze of audio/video technologies in a home theater system? Turn to Mark Fleischmann's Practical Home Theater: A Guide to Video and Audio Systems, now in its eighth edition, thoroughly revised and updated for 2009. The ultimate answer book, it tells you everything you need to know when shopping for HDTV and surround gear-including how to read a spec sheet, how to separate fact from hype, and how to get good value for your money. It weighs the pros and cons of HDTV display technologies such as plasma, LCD, DLP, and tube-based sets. It explains the differences between Dolby and DTS surround, including the new Dolby TrueHD and DTS-HD Master standards. It dispels the confusion surrounding such topics as HDMI and 1080p. And it covers all formats under the sun including the new Blu-ray disc and anything that plays in an iPod. The book also explores often ignored topics such as buying a DTV antenna, power-line accessories, and cables. A richly detailed connections chapter tells how to hook up every component and how to solve common problems. By knowledgably guiding readers through the briar patch of video and audio, Practical Home Theater has become the standard reference work for home theater buffs. Future annual editions will continue to track changes in home theater technology.

284 pages, Paperback

First published October 1, 2007

Reviews

[Alan Bresette · Rating 5 out of 5]

This Read Covers All Things Home Theater...A Must Have

This book covers absolutely all facets of a home theater system (soup to nuts). If you are one of those folks that needs every piece of information regarding all aspects and knowledge bits, this is the best reference I've come across. It even has a comprehensive glossary.

[Vincent · Rating 3 out of 5]

Good, clear explanation on the topics it covers. I found the discussion about surround sound systems to be the most helpful in the book as that is what I find the most confusing in home theatre.

I do wish that Fleishmann more strongly recommended particular setups based on particular usage (ie: streaming vs Bluray vs music)

[Daniel Chen · Rating 3 out of 5]

Informative, but a little hard to follow and not evenly distributed among the sections. I wanted to learn more about 4K UHD player and disc specs and what the number ranges for each category signify.