Nothing says modern status symbol like a quality home theater system. Having the gear to provide a movie theater quality viewing or gaming experience instantly tells visitors to your that you’re a person who has arrived. There’s a lot of home theater systems out there though, and choosing the one that will provide the best quality and impress your visitors can be confusing. To help you get an handle on which home theater system best suits your needs, here’s a few basics:
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When I turn on my television (which is only about a year old) it seems to act like it wants to turn off, and makes a clicking noise. Some days it doesn’t do this. Other days it will do this for 30 minutes and stop. Any reason why it might do this?

Hi, without knowing too much about the model etc, my best guess as an ex television engineer would be the clicking noise that you are describing i would say in the televisions power supply (inside the set) They normally have what is called a switch mode power supply which unlike the name has no mechanical switches. It relies on various electrical components. If it is intermittent as you say my guess would be a dry solder joint or maybe a capacitor either are not dear but sometimes locating the faulty part can take time.

Have you ever been looking for a piece of Home Theater equipment and been blown away by acronyms or terms that mean everything to the salesman, but mean nothing to you? We all have. Choosing the right pieces for your home theater, whether upgrading an existing piece, or decking out a new media room altogether can be overwhelming. Here are a few buzz-words and terms that can help you understand just what is important in selecting the perfect fit for your new system.
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Here’s a bit of advice I received from a professional TV calibrator - First blow the screen clean of visible dust with compressed air, that canned computer duster stuff being perfect for the job. Once complete use a lint free type of material such as a cloth baby diaper(preferably unused) or a soft piece of flannel and warm water mixed with a mild detergent such as dish washing liquid in a VERY diluted state. Wring out the excess water till barely damp then apply to the screen but NEVER scrub, instead use an up and down motion with gentle pressure until clean, then dry with a cloth of the same material.

This is how he cleans each and every TV he calibrates and has for years with great success, plus it’s hard to argue with someone who earns his living doing such. Oh, as a last bit of cautionary advice make sure you avoid any and all ammonia based products such as Windex as they will do irreparable damage to your screen. Hope it helps, good luck and happy viewing

I got this tv recently and it wont give me pusture or sound. the onlt thing I get is a green light at the bottom of the tv saying its on. I’m thinking I’ll have to tinker with it but what parts do I replace or even look at?

I don’t know….did you get it out of the garbage?

That’s never a good indicator of repairability…

No picture and sound could be a $300 to $500 repair job for a TV tech…..

In this series of articles, we will give you some insight on basic issues regarding an objective comparison between 720p and 1080p resolutions. We will start by comparing native resolutions, “as is”, in order to understand better the technologies on which the progress in resolutions stands its ground. 720p vs 1080p - Native resolutions compared is the first article in the series, and it will approach the differences between the two, while explaining why we should consider a better resolution when it comes to enhancing our TV watching experience.
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The reason why a projection TV of any technology is so big, is because it is a projector and screen all in one.

If you took it apart, you could have it project on a screen, but it wouldn’t be very good at all. Projection TVs are set to a very specific focal length and have no optics installed that would allow you to adjust that. It wouldn’t even be worth your time, because it would have to sit at the specific distance and the screen would only be able to go as large as what the TV was designed for. That is not counting the fact that you would have to disassemble your TV.

a flat screen TV has many meanings. before the invention of LCD and Plasma it was used to describe a TV with a flat tube.

however, nowadays it’s used to describe usually plasma units, but the same can be used for LCD TV’s.

plasma TV’s and LCD TV’s work in similar fashions but use vastly different technologies. Plasma TV’s use two panels of glass phosphers made of gas (usually xenon and neon). When electiricty is applied to electrodes in the glass…the gas glows. The brightness is controlled by varying the electric current. These screens respond VERY quickly to action and give a nice clear picture.

LCD TV’s use basically the same method..only rather than depending on glowing gas discharge..it has a layer of liquid crystals sandwiched between two plates of glass. as electricity is applied, the crystals align. polarized sheets on the front and back combined with the polarization effect of the crystals lining up, causes light to pass through. varying the voltage changes the brightness. however, once the crystals are charged, they have to remain charged for one full cycle, which depends on the model of the screen. most have gone down to mere milliseconds…but LCD’s can cause "ghosting" when you’re watching things with fast motion and also cannot produce a true black.

projection TV’s have two ways of working. Traditional projection units have three projectors positioned right below the screen positioned toward the back. the light is reflected toward the screen which is in fact a special kind of fresnel lens. this type of TV is slowly being replaced, however, they do still make them. the biggest problem with these units is convergence. since you’ve got three seperate projectors (red, green, blue), keeping them in perfect alignment as the unit gets older can be difficult and results in something similar to color bleeding.

the other type of projection TV is a DLP. DLP contains a microchip with a matrix of mirrors, one microscopic mirror for each pixel. light is then reflected off the mirrors as they’re rapidly turned on and off. most units are single chip and use a high-speed rotating color wheel that thanks to the flicker rate of our eyes, a color image is created. newer units have replaced the color wheel with colored LED’s which create a better image without the "rainbow effect". high quality units use three DLP chips and a prism to combine the images.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Comparison_of_display_technology has a comlete list of every type of display technology, thier uses, and articles how each one works.

There are many ways a home cinema viewing experience can be improved. These rules can be applied to existing home cinema installations at minimal cost as well as applied to new home cinema installations. It may not be possible to apply all the rules in every residential installation but the more you can accommodate the better your viewing experience.
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I have an old 46" LXI rear projection television and the green light keeps turning off. How do I fix it? Also is there any online manuals or directions?

This is what the sticker says inside

57 54546
Model Number
15165545
Picture Tube Serial NO.
626.5456 19 another model number

Green light turns off is usually just bad solder on the CRT board….resolder it.

If it still acts up, then measure the HEATER AC on the CRT, the 200 V supply, make sure the Cathode is running at 160V to 180V and the Screen voltage is around 300V….that will isolate the problem.