The Hardware:

For turning your computer into a home theater or using it effectively as a home theater, its doesn’t really necessary to pile up some hefty piece of hardware in there but there are few things which really matter when it comes to just do that.

Screen: While many wont agree with me here but I say a computer as a home theater literally requires a screen only what you have already got there. I know its “bigger the better” when we speak about a screen in a home theater but for the reasons discussed above this obviously cannot be an option for everybody and if it did, I wouldn’t be writing this at all. Your eyes and your mind tend to adjust with your screen size in addition to the space between your screen and where you sit but do try to get bigger screen if you can. I know bigger monitors are getting cheaper day by day and in Pakistan used 19 inch monitors are very easy to find in a spectacular condition if an LCD is too expensive for you.

The CPU: For watching movies on a computer, you don’t really need a hefty hardware in your CPU and a P4 system with sufficient amount of ram, say 512MB, would be enough but adding more ram and a nvidia graphic accelerator card would help you run the HD movies without any problems and if your intention is to upscale normal DVDs to HD then a dual core processors will also be necessary but this is only if you are willing to spend more. Watching DVDs in standard definition or watching dvdrip will not require a graphic accelerator.

The sound: I have not discussed the sound card in the CPU section above and the reason is simple. The sound card relates directly to the speaker system you have and while onboard audio (motherboard audio) gives you full options to produce 5.1 audio out of your movies, I prefer to use a standalone sound card for the purpose. For starters, they can stick with the onboard audio. Now sound is the most important part of any home theater system and if its good enough for you it can compensate your lack of big screen by immersing your self in the experience.

Now comes the speakers. If you love movies and convert your computer into an effective home theater system then please get rid of that headphone or a crappy 2.1 audio system you have on your desk. You are simply ruining every movie experience but not watching them on a 5.1 speaker configuration and while, as you have seen I have discouraged to spend money on other items in your setup, I would strongly recommend you to get at least the most cheaper 5.1 sound system and if you are not willing to do so, I would request you to stop reading further and go back to your headphones. A good & cheap creative 5.1 setup can be bought in Pakistan for only Rs. 3500 ($50 approx). Bigger & better systems are also available but it all depends on how much you are willing to spend on it.

For the one’s interested, I started up with a creative 4.1 setup which I dont know the name of, upgraded to a 5700D 5.1 and now Gigaworks S750 7.1 is attached to my computer via Pioneer VSX-516 A/V receiver. Its all the result of passion I have for the home theater sound systems and the next step is to upgrade the speakers again while keeping the same A/V receiver. I will post details later when I will do it.


source:teabreak.pk