What Is The Roku? The Streaming Device Explained

Throughout our quest for getting the most out of our home theater experience, inevitably you’ll come across the occasional thing that just makes your life that much easier.

So with that then, no doubt at some point or another you’ve at least heard mention of something called the Roku. Besides the interesting name choice what is it?

Well that’s definitely a multifaceted question. The short, TL;DR answer? It’s a media streaming device with quite a number of channels and features to keep you entertained.

Long answer?

Well that’ll be the rest of this article!

History

The interesting thing about media streaming devices in general is they really haven’t been around all too long to appreciate. In the case of the Roku and its history, even though the company was founded in 2002, it wasn’t commercially available until 2008.

In 2007 there were rumors that media giant Netflix would be releasing its own physical player however that rumor was quickly dispelled. So, the VP at the time Anthony Wood, decided to use the other company he created as the outlet for doing this; that company was Roku.

Roku stands for sixth, and was the 6’th company he created; pretty cool right? So then the subsequent year, the first-generation Roku was released. Its focus was being a Netflix streaming box.

As you could probably imagine since it wasn’t something that existed at the time, and since everyone knew Netflix, it was a big hit. If you’re interested here’s a really good article on their surprisingly rich history.

https://www.fastcompany.com/3004709/inside-netflixs-project-griffin-forgotten-history-roku-under-reed-hastings

But anyway, as the years passed, additional models were created. In 2010 the HD version of it was released and eventually became the defacto model later that year.

Additional generations of the media player would be released each year either while adding more features like faster processing speeds, Bluetooth and 4k support.

There have been a number of new, nearly annual updates, and with those updates of course comes even more features. Let’s take a look at the Roku Devices you can get as of today.

The Different Types Of Rokus Available Today

In terms of choices, there’s quite honestly a plethora of different models available that all offer novel and interesting features. But what is the best roku streaming device?

Well the answer to that really will depend on what your specific needs are for a streaming device in general since declaring one as irrefutably better than the other all around might not work, especially if someone didn’t want/need the features present in that model to begin with.

So with that being said, let’s take a look at the different models so that way you have an idea of what works for you.

Keep in mind while there might be additional variants that exist, the ones listed below are really the main ones when it comes to tangible differentiating factors beyond  differences in remotes or the type of cord included.

Roku Express

The first one up is the  Roku Express. The difference with the Express is that it now features streaming speeds that are much faster than previous. What that equates to for you is not only a smoother experience, but also takes care of the potential buffering issue you might run into. It offers a 4K resolution at 60 fps (frames per second) so you’re getting full UHD here.

It features an impressive number of channels, shows and movies meaning there’s a good chance you’ll find something you like. Setup is super easy too.

All you need to do is connect the HDMI cord from your television to the Roku. Then connect the power cord from the actual device to a nearby outlet.

Just make sure that it’s as close as possible to the TV, and make sure that the remote it comes with can actually see the player so that the IR blaster allows you to control it. Next you would turn your tv to whatever input you put the HDMI in.

From there, the on screen step by step instructions will have you running it in no time.

Definitely not too hard.

Another new feature is the Roku app, that manages to turn your smartphone into the remote if you’d prefer to control it that way.

All in all, pretty straightforward and as a whole, it’s definitely an improvement with some rather nice features; especially with the faster streaming speed.

Roku Express

Roku Streaming Stick+

The next one is called The Roku Streaming Stick+ The biggest notable difference is that rather than being an entirely separate device that you must plug into with a separate HDMI, it plugs directly into the TV itself. It couldn’t be any easier to setup which that’s a big plus. A big difference from some prior variants is that it supports 802.11ac dual band MIMO (what’s that?!)

For sake of keeping it simple, what you need to know about 802.11ac is that it’s a newer version of WIFI that supports way faster speeds; you can read more about it here if curious,

https://www.lifewire.com/wireless-standards-802-11a-802-11b-g-n-and-802-11ac-816553

Super speed seems to be the theme with the new versions of the Roku though, so that’s reassuring. The really awesome thing about this version is that the remote is voice capable, meaning you can control your tv with it. So, the biggest differences all around is the faster WIFI speeds and voice control.

It offering of 4k resolution at 60fps.

For those unaware, 4k is the next step up from 1080p HD and offers a resolution difference 4 times that of the former. What Is a 4k TV?

That isn’t the only difference though as it supports something just as big arguably; the lesser talked about HDR support. Basically HDR (high dynamic range) is a more natural difference between the bright portions of the screen and the dark, and more closely resembles the way humans see.

Think of a scene in a movie at night for example, where a person enters a dark area and suddenly turns on a flashlight. With HDR, that light would be incredibly bright while everything else remained dark, similar to how it’d look in real life. It adds an additional degree of realism that really enhances the overall experience.

OLED as well as QLED shine when it comes to this.

But yet another big feature it comes with is 4 times the signal range. The reason why this would matter is due to the fact that when setting up your Roku, you ideally want it to be as close as possible to your router.

However the further away you move it, the weaker the signal gets and the more you begin to get those buffering issues. By having an increased signal strength, that just means that it no longer needs to be as close to your router so that affords you an extra dimension of convenience.

Roku Streaming Stick+

Roku Ultra

Then there’s also the Roku Ultra has the same power as the others along with the fact it has a voice control remote. It’s also more like the first one mentioned since it’s more of the traditional, plug it into the TV via HDMI type.

It has a novel feature called remote finder, which tells you where the remote is when it’s lost; how helpful is that?

There’s even a pair of wired JBL earbuds included as well to really make things that much better.

Roku Ultra

Roku Premiere

The Roku Premiere is to put it simply, very similar to the Ultra where the only real major difference is the fact that instead of dual band wifi, it happens to use single band. Other than that, you still get the same awesome features like 4K, HDR, and support for thousands of great shows and movies. The great thing is there’s also support for Disney Plus and Apple TV on all Roku devices, increasing that even further. Plus there’s even an included HDMI cable!

Roku Premiere

The Best Roku TV – TCL 50″ Class 4-Series

I also just wanted to quickly make mention of the fact that  there are also televisions out there that have the Roku functionality built in. These televisions support the same features that the regular streamers have, only difference is the TV is the player itself.

They even comes with the remote, so you don’t have to worry about setting up anything extra. The TCL 50″ Class 4-Series line of TVs is definitely one of the best in my opinion  — including many of the top of the line features like HDR and a high resolution display, making it a great choice when it comes to Roku derived displays.

TCL 50″ Class 4-Series

Who They Might Be For

That brings me into my next point actually, of who they might be for and if they’re worth it. With that, I would have to say absolutely. One feature that they all support is the Roku app. When you download it to your smartphone, it then allows you to use it as the remote.

From there you can manage all aspects of the platform including voice control, watching on your mobile then projecting to your TV, and voice control.

That’s a pretty nice little feature people usually aren’t aware of, but it’s super convenient. I would also have to say it’s worth due to the sheer amount of content available.

There’s a vast number of episodes and movies spread across a multitude of channels. There’s certainly a lot of choice here. Plus it supports a lot of channels that other streaming devices may not support such as Sling TV and Disney+

I personally have a Roku and love it because of the wide variety of entertainment it has. When you sit down and begin finding shows you forgot about from years back, that nostalgia factor is priceless.  Over half a million shows and movies just a simple press away.

Only then, does it really start to dawn on you how much there is to offer here. It’s pretty hard to not be impressed. That and the mobile app I think is a game changer.

If those are things that appeal to you then you might enjoy them.

Who It Might Not Be For

At the same time, like many things in life, it’s not going to be for everybody. Honestly there’s only a few reasons why someone might not want one though. The first reason I could think of would be if you have a shoddy internet.

The Roku is pretty reliant on internet connection, so if yours is particularly slow, then maybe it might not be for you, especially the ones that allow streaming in 4k.

Even then, with the advanced processors they have now, they’re pretty forgiving.

Another downside would be in regards to the content. While there is a lot of free content, some isn’t. But even then, that’s dependent on the channel.

For example, if a show was offered on Netflix, and you were already a Netflix member, then it wouldn’t matter since you’re already a subscriber.

Yet another minor issue is that with the stick version, it tends to protrude from the HDMI slot a little so it isn’t necessarily flush. You also need to set up an account beforehand so that’s something to be cognizant of.

Final Thoughts

Overall, I think the Roku is that definitely adds to the entertainment experience. If you’re even a little bit of a media buff, then there’s a good chance you’ll find it enjoyable.

With hundreds of thousands of movies and shows at your disposal, coupled with a plethora features, it’s excellent in my opinion. I’d definitely say it’s awesome, no doubt about it.

What Is A Subwoofer? (The Audio Device Explained)

Subwoofers certainly are one of, if not the most interesting component of a home theater experience. They’re definitely a personal favorite of mine that’s for sure.

I mean something whose sole purpose is to produce the sounds you not only hear but feel, surely is breeding grounds for curiosity.

Hmm speaking of which, what is a subwoofer and how do they work? I’m sure some of you have wondered at some point how it’s possible for something so relatively small to be so powerful.

Fortunately, they’re actually a lot simpler than you would initially think.

So today, we’ll be looking into just how these curious boxes of joy work.

A good powerful subwoofer is something that can provide for a very entertaining experience.

When you get an exceptional one, you’ll see what I mean. I’ve actually given my thoughts on a few already if curious.

https://easyhometheater.net/the-best-home-theater-subwoofers

But In addition to that, I’ll also be letting you know what to look for in a good subwoofer, the types that exist, and what to generally keep in mind.

Anyway, without further ado, lets jump right in!

How A Subwoofer Works

The Different Types Of Subwoofers

The Pros And Cons Of Each Type

How To Choose The Right Subwoofer

Why You May Forgo A Subwoofer All Together

Final Thoughts

How a Subwoofer Works

A subwoofer is responsible for sounds lower than 80 HZ.

80 HZ happens to be the cutoff point for humans to locate where the audio is coming from.

In order to do this, the subwoofer utilizes 3 parts; a driver, an amplifier (amp), and its enclosure.

The driver is going to be the thing producing the sound, the amplifier will be the thing amplifying the sound produced, and the enclosure houses everything (basically the outer box).

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Subwoofer

That’s the simple explanation, but let’s go a little deeper since there is a lot more at play here.

The subwoofer driver can come in many sizes, each with their own characteristics as well as caveats. Bigger is not always better when it comes to subs believe it or not.

Now this is an over generalization, but bigger drivers at least from my experience, tend to go deeper but aren’t as articulate as a smaller one; meaning they may sound boomy in comparison (again over generalization, not always)

The first thing to know about the driver is that inside it is something called a voice coil. A voice coil is a bundle of wire spiraled around a big cylinder inside. This cylinder is called the former (former being the name)

When electricity is fed into the voice coil, a magnet inside interacts with it, and it creates a magnetic field. It then moves the former up and down. (Still with me?)

Since the former is also connected to the speaker cone (that’s the part you see on the outside of the subwoofer itself) it then begins moving. This moving causes a change in air pressure

Voila, with that change in pressure, now you have bass! To make it even easier to understand, when electricity goes to the sub, the driver moves up and down relative to the amount of electricity it gets, that’s really all that means. The more electricity, the more movement from the speaker cone and thus, the more sound.

But sometimes when you’re looking for a new sub, you’ll see mentioning of it being DVC or dual voice coiled. All this means is that there is an extra spiral of coiled wire inside, hence the double part.

Now you don’t need to worry too much about this unless you planned on building your own, but what you should know is that dual voice coiled allows you extra wiring capabilities to match an amp.

Again, this isn’t really something you would have to be concerned with unless you’re building one from scratch so don’t worry.

Speaking of the amplifier, it’s just a device that increases the power of something without getting too technical.

If you’re curious about more on it though here’s a more in depth look on amplifiers: http://www.audioholics.com/loudspeaker-design/understanding-impedance-electrical-phase

Then we get to the enclosure. The enclosure is going to be the outside box that holds the driver and amplifier together (no wonder why they’re heavy lol)

It’s also going to have a huge bearing on how it sounds. The size of the enclosure, the material it’s made of, the shape of the enclosure, the type, and the thickness of the material all play a contributing role. 8-inch, 10-inch, 12-inch, 15-inch, and 16-inch are the most common enclosure sizes.

They sometimes are filled with a material such as cotton to further reinforce the ability to play lower.

While there’s many different types of subwoofers, there are a few prominent ones you’ll likely encounter in your search that I want to go over.

The Different Types of Subwoofers

Ported Subwoofers

The first type of enclosure you’ll likely come across is called a ported box design.

The reason for the name is due to there being a port on either the front or the bottom of the subwoofer box (often referred to as a bass-reflex design)

When a subwoofer produces its bass, it also produces energy.

This energy happens to move a lot of air.

So when an enclosure has a port, it allows this air to escape and adds to the resulting output of the subwoofer itself.

The location of the port doesn’t matter all too much though.

The port size and shape does matter however, because that tends to change the change the amount of air escaped thus affecting the output in general.

Sealed Subwoofers

Another type of subwoofer you’ll usually encounter is called a sealed box design.

This design is also often referred to as acoustic suspension.

Just as the name suggests, the enclosure itself is sealed meaning there isn’t a port.

Vented Subwoofers

Vented subwoofers utilize a slimmer elongated port called a vent for managing their bass output.

The Pros and Cons Of Each Type

So which one is better? That depends.

Advantages Of Ported Subs

There are a few advantages and disadvantages to keep in mind with each design so let’s start with the advantages of a ported subwoofer box.

Often More Output Due To Their Port

A big advantage with a ported subwoofer box is that they usually have a lot more output because of their port.

The moving of air reinforces the sound and allows the amp to not have to do as much work.

This equates to some big sound with regard to movie watching.

Internals Can Run Cooler Due To Air Flow

Another often overlooked advantage has to do with its internals.

When a voice coil receives a current from the amp and moves the speaker cone, it produces heat.

However, with a ported design, air is allotted the ability to move freely in and out. This efficiency means that it can run a lot cooler and in turn, prolongs the life of the driver & sub overall.

Disadvantages Of Ported Subs

However there are some not so good things you should know.

Sometimes Not As Controlled In Their Output

Just because something plays louder, doesn’t mean it’s always necessarily better.

What I’m getting at is that with the ported sub, since the air is escaping the subwoofer, it’s sometimes not as controlled as its sealed counterparts tend to be (again just from what I’ve noticed)

For example when I tested music on some of my ported subs against my sealed ones, I noticed that my sealed sub wasn’t as loud as the other, but it was definitely more reserved and controlled.

Ported Versions Are Often Bigger

Another thing to know is that ported versions are usually a lot bigger than a sealed one.

So if you are spatially conscious, this would be pretty important to know.

Advantages Of Sealed Subs

Tend To Be More Controlled With Bass

An advantage with sealed subwoofers on the other hand is they have a tendency to control the bass a lot more.

They’re usually the opposite of being boomy—producing really tight and accurate bass.

Often Smaller In Size

Another advantage they have is that they also tend to be a lot smaller so you have a lot more options as to where to place them.

Disadvantages Of Sealed Subs

Somewhat Less Output

A big disadvantage though, is that sealed subwoofers don’t have the same raw output a ported one does. For any given volume, the ported sub is going to be louder typically.

Some may also find the bass to be a lot more muted too.

Advantages Of Vented Subwoofers

Cleaner More Controlled Output

I’ve noticed that with vented subwoofers, they tend to be more controlled while still retaining that high level of output.

This makes them quite versatile in their usage.

Disadvantages Of Vented Subwoofers

They’re Not As Common

On the other hand though, vented subwoofers aren’t as common as their sealed and ported counterparts — making them harder to find.

However with all of these designs in mind, do note that these are not the sole factors into how they’ll sound for sure when you hook them up yourself.

While the type can be a good indicator, it depends on infinitely more factors like room acoustics,size, and calibration. This is just some of the common characteristics these tend to have.

How To Choose The Right Subwoofer

So with knowing that, how do you choose the best one?

Decide What Content You’ll Be Using Them For

Well first, we have to start with what you plan on listening to primarily. If you plan on listening to music, then a sealed might be a better option.

If you prefer movies, then you might want to go with a ported. However it doesn’t stop there.

Even if you decide you prefer one for music, the type of music plays a role too (here’s where we get into opinion territory)

In my opinion I feel that a ported subwoofer is better for genres like hip hop, rock, and house music. It made things all the more visceral and engaging; more fun for certain.

For classical and smooth Jazz though, I liked the sealed better because of its controlled nature.

For movies, that’s a toss up.

I’ll be honest, I couldn’t really tell which I liked better. There certainly was a difference present, but for some reason I couldn’t tell which I liked more.

I think I’d lean slightly more towards the ported, but that’s only because of the extra extension on the lower notes.

I think either one is fine for movies though.

The Amount Of Power You’d Need Based On Your Room Size

Based on your room size, the amount of power you’ll need the subwoofer to have is going to vary.

While total watts is important, 2 just as important factors related to power is the RMS & Hertz (Hz)

The Amount Of Continuous Power Of The Sub (RMS)

RMS, or root mean square, is a specification used to describe the continuous amount of power a subwoofer has.

The higher that is number is, the better. It’s usually listed after the peak wattage.

Peak wattage is the highest amount of power the sub can produce.

While that’s important, I’d honestly say the RMS is more important because this will be the power you’ll actually experience in normal usage.

The peak wattage is rarely reached and doing so for an extended period of time would do damage to it.

The Subs Frequency Range (Hz)

With Hz, that’s a measure of frequency and the lower the Hz, the lower bass notes your subwoofer will reach.

As a good starting point to keep in mind, if the Hz number reaches into the 30ish range, then you’re good to go.

But ideally you’d want it to go as low as possible. But to go lower, it requires more power.

That’s why you’ll often see subwoofers that go super low be on the more premium side since it takes effort to so.

But the size of your room like mentioned earlier, will indicate how much power is necessary and this is often tied to the subwoofer’s cabinet size.

I’ve found that for the average sized room, around 20 feet or so, 8 and 10 inch subs often work well.

For large rooms (25 feet and up) you’ll probably want to go with a 12 inch or bigger.

From my experience, a large subwoofer in a smaller room works fine, but a smaller subwoofer in a big room can be underwhelming.

That is, unless you use 2 of them, in which case that changes things dramatically due to more output.

https://easyhometheater.net/setting-up-2-subwoofers

Why You May Forgo A Subwoofer All Together

There may even be a certain instances where you may want to forgo a subwoofer all together.

For example, if you were looking for an alternative, what you could technically do is get speakers with a broader frequency response range that can handle some of those frequencies.

Then you wouldn’t have to worry about getting an extra subwoofer and could shift the focus into more capable speakers.

Floorstanding speakers in particular are a great example of this, and some even have the capability to outperform some subwoofers!

https://easyhometheater.net/the-best-floor-standing-speakers

Another thing you could do is use bass shakers.

These are small devices that attach to your seating to give a similar experience of a powerful sub.

Final Thoughts

Hopefully that demystifies a little bit of the topic of a subwoofer along with some of the things you may want to look for.

By choosing the right one for your room, they have the ability to completely transform your movie watching experience making them entirely worth it.

Oh yeah and also by the way, here’s something I’ve always done that you can try. If you want a little bit of an extra kick with your subwoofer, what you can do is run it hot; not by too much but just a little.

This basically means increasing the bass a few dB from the prior setting.

What I do after I calibrate my sub is I turn up the subwoofer volume 3 notches or DB (decibels) higher in the receiver.

By basically tuning it at a slightly higher level than what it was initially calibrated at, it adds an extra amount of impact to the bass.

Now I know that means it’s no longer technically “accurate” but from what I’ve personally experienced with each of my subs, it always added that subtle extra kick without overdoing it.

Calibration tends to tame the bass relatively speaking, so by doing that, it feels just right subjectively speaking.

But I don’t know that’s just me, tell me what you guys think though after you’ve tried it. Did it help?

Do you have other questions about something?

Leave a comment and I’ll try my best to help.

Until next time. Make it easy, keep it simple.

What Is Sling TV? Understanding How It Works

If you’re relatively new to the home theater sphere or even home entertainment in general, then chances are there’s quite a few gems out there that you may not be familiar with yet. One cool thing that I came across though was the concept of media streaming devices.

Now if you’re building your home theater system then you’ll inevitably come across talks of these along with the unique services they offer like Netflix, Hulu, etc..

But before we take a look at a particularly awesome service that I think you’ll like, first off what is a media streaming device?

For those that are unaware, a media streaming device is usually a device connected via USB, Ethernet, or HDMI that when connected to your television, allows you to stream your favorite movies and TV shows.

Some are rather basic, but the more elaborate like the Roku Ultra are entirely controllable by voice.

They’re typically not too difficult to setup, but again each one is different.

Speaking of the Roku, I’ve actually covered it in another article if your curious.

What Is The Roku?

By now though you might be asking, well then what is the best streaming service and more importantly, why?

While I would be hard pressed to commit to my absolute favorite (more movies, more problems) I can tell you about one of my more recent favorites, Sling TV, and what I personally feel makes it pretty downright amazing.

Catchy Name, But What’s It About?

So besides the cool name choice in my opinion, what exactly is Sling TV?

Well Sling TV is a streaming service that was introduced around early 2015.

Now what made this so incredibly different was that it had a primary focus on live TV, rather than the more traditional streaming.

This was a very novel idea because it was something that wasn’t being done at the time. While most are focused on media that is prerecorded, this was introduced with the idea of being able to stream live TV shows.

Not just live TV shows either, but live television channels like ESPN, cartoon network, etc as they’re being broadcast normally.

That’s part of the appeal of Sling TV, because it allows you to watch live TV at any point in time; meaning you can even watch on the go be it via mobile or tablet.

It also includes recording and playback capability for things you may have missed as well. Now there’s obviously some limitations with it so let’s get into that.

One thing it doesn’t do is play every channel. Then delving even further, the types of channels that you do get, depends on which subscription option you choose. It offers blue which is the lower tier option with less channels, and then the orange service which offers more channels.

Then you can add other specific channels that they offer depending on your preference. This would be a monthly subscription with the amount depending on what you chose.

How Do I Use It?

How does it actually work though; and more importantly, how do you use it?

Well for one, you’ll obviously need some sort of Internet connection.

It doesn’t have to be lightning fast, but it generally should be at least decent.

If you’ve streamed video over your internet before without it buffering then you’ll be perfectly fine.

Unlike cable companies which broadcast through satellites and wire routes, this is entirely over the internet which is why I make mention of your connection.

This type of service by the way is called OTT; or in other words, Over The Top service. It’s supported on most major playback devices.

So other than that, if you wanted to use it, all you would do is use the native Sling TV app (or the web page) and go from there. On the basic plan you can stream on one device, & with the upgraded plan, you can stream on 3 devices simultaneously.

Why I Like It

I think this is a pretty nifty service though for a number of reasons. Think of it this way, lets say you recently got a new place and money was something that was already tight.

The cost of cable can be exorbitant and even then, how many channels do you actually watch?

Would you want to pay for something you only use half, or maybe even less of?

Probably not.

With this you can choose the channels that you want at your own discretion, meaning you’ll get the most out of it since you’ll have the ability to only watch the things you want.

But here’s the real question, could it be something that could replace a cable service for good?

Absolutely, especially if you’re someone on the go who might not be home all the time which actually brings me to my next point; the flexibility of it all.

Again let’s imagine you’re a super busy person who gets an occasional break every once in a while and you want to watch TV on your tablet or phone. With this, it lets you do just that.

It’s such a convenient option for the people looking for only a select few channels that don’t really want to go the full blown cable route. The number of channels being limited only to what they offer mind you, but I think they have something for everybody honestly.

It’s extremely customizable. You could use it as a supplement to your current cable service, or use Sling entirely by itself, up to you really.

Having a certain level of included DVR capability with live TV shows is also a big bonus.

However there are without a doubt, a few things you must know beforehand as I wouldn’t necessarily go as far as to say it’s for everybody.

Who It Might Not Be For & The Bottom Line

Who might it actually not be for? Well for one, a really big caveat is that Sling TV is only available in as of right now, the United States & Puerto Rico.

While they do offer a few channels accommodating other languages, the service itself is only available in the states. So if you’re in another country, you won’t unfortunately be able to use it.

Whether this changes in the future though truthfully I have no idea.

The next reason it could possibly not be for you is if you have a shoddy internet connection. It goes without saying that if your connection is bad, you’re not in for a good time. It’ll likely stutter, skip, etc so you’ll want to make sure that your connection is solid first.

Yet another reason this may not be for you is something I found out myself. With as much as I like this service, a certain show or movie may be omitted occasionally.

Speaking of the channels themselves, those are always changing too. Something they have today may not be available in the near future. Why this happens, again I haven’t the slightest clue, but it’s something I figured I’d let you know.

If you’re someone who’s generally picky, and you like the feeling of perusing through hundreds of channels, then this might may not be for you as well; there’s certainly much less than that.

The bottom line though is that if none of those apply to you, and you’re someone who likes the idea of being able to access live television anywhere, you might want to give it a look.

For me personally, I find it really useful, so I just thought I’d share it with you.

Definitely let me know what you think in the comments down below.

Until next time, make it easy, keep it simple.

https://www.sling.com

Optimizing Your TV & Helpful Points To Keep In Mind

Importance Of Visual Calibration

What’s Different From An Audio Calibration

What You May Need

Explaining Common Picture Settings & Modes

Brightness Adjustment

Contrast Adjustment

Color & Tint Adjustment

Sharpness Adjustment

Color Temperature

Motion/ Specialized Image Settings

Backlight

In Summation

Importance Of Visual Optimization

With all the focus we place on optimizing speakers, it’s important to remember that the visual aspect plays just as important of a role in home theater.

Whether it’s a TV or projector, the quality of the picture that’s produced contributes immensely to the entire viewing experience.

Though out of the box, that image may not be fully representative of what it’s truly capable of.

This can sometimes mean the picture quality initially looks distorted or is set in a less appealing visual mode.

To help in that regard, we’ll be focusing on ways to adjust your settings to get the most out of your current display.

Though it’s dependent on the capabilities of that display, if done right, it can make a perceptible difference.

How Visual Optimization Is Different From An Audio Calibration

What’s different from a typical speaker calibration is there isn’t really a specific order you have to do things in.

For example with a subwoofer, you’d have to decide on the primary listening position before setting the subwoofer for optimal bass response from that spot.

Whereas visual settings can be adjusted in any order you prefer.

Though it’s important to note that adjusting one setting might affect another so you’ll want to make adjustments if that’s the case.

Another big distinction I want to make is that I’m going to be covering the more general way to optimize your set since there is a difference between calibration specifically, & optimization.

Calibration can be done professionally, and though it’s possible to do yourself, you’d need specialized tools and a comprehensive understanding of menus, white balance, readings, etc — making it a lot more in depth/difficult.

Keep in mind these are just baseline suggestions as they may look different in your viewing environment.

There’s also a level of subjectivity here too since some may simply prefer a different setting even if a display is technically accurate since we sometimes see colors differently.

What You May Need

As far as what you may need to optimize your display, you have a few options.

You’re going to need a way to see the changes made in the menus as you go along.

One disc I personally like is called Disney WOW: World of Wonder.

I love this one in particular because it’s really easy to understand, and provides you with pictures to visualize the changes you make.

It’s really user friendly for beginners, and goes through everything step by step with test patterns for brightness, color, etc.

It also comes with something really cool called a blue filter.

A blue filter is basically a blue film that you look through that allows you to adjust the color setting more precisely on a display.

The other disc that’s really common is called Spears & Munsil UHD.

This one is a little more in depth, but allows you to tweak things a whole lot more.

That disc is awesome too and has a lot of useful patterns for customizing your image.

If you have a smart TV, you can also go online and find videos or images with test patterns for different settings.

The patterns will be different depending on what material you use, but the adjusting process will be similar.

Of course having a professional calibrate your display with tools is going to be the most accurate, but this is certainly still a solid way to yield a better image if done right.

Feel free to apply what’s explained here to your own reference material. Ideally you will want to use a blue filter, but it is possible to do it without.

Explaining Common Picture Settings & Modes

Let’s go over some of the most common settings in your TV & explain just what they mean.

Since each TV is different, some of the things explained here may be under a different name in your TV just as a heads up.

Brightness – A common misconception about the brightness setting is that it controls how bright the image appears. What it actually does is control how dark things are on screen.

This is so that things like shadows have detail, but the image as a whole isn’t too hard to see. Brightness is very important because if it is too bright, it’ll make the image a lot less dynamic and convincing.

Contrast – Contrast is the one that controls how bright things look. If set too high, you’ll lose details in the lighter portions of the scene. When set right it allows just enough balance to see everything the producer of that content intended you to see.

Tint – This allows you to control how red or green an image appears. Some displays have a tendency to appear really red or really green, so this can sometimes be helpful.

Vivid mode – What is common with a display you get right out of the box is that it’s often set on something called Vivid, Dynamic, or something similar. Manufactures use these modes on the showroom to make their TVs that much more enticing. For home use though this is highly inaccurate, and you’ll want to find the mode that says normal.

Game mode – This has less of something called input lag which is the delay between the pressing of a button and what you see on screen. Input lag is an important metric especially in multiplayer games, so this is a mode best used by gamers.

Normal/Standard – This mode forgoes all of the fancy characteristics of the other modes and offers the most balanced image. For calibration begin with either this mode, movie, or custom

Movie – Usually the most intended way a director wants you to see content. This mode may seem dimmer than you might be use to.

Custom – Just like the name suggests, allows allots you much more control over image customization.

Color Temperature – controls how blue or red an image appears. There’s usually options like warm or cool. There isn’t necessarily a “best” temperature setting to use unless accuracy is your concern, which then the warmest setting may be the closest in that aspect

Gamma setting – this is similar to brightness, but it is in charge of the gradation between darker and lighter elements on screen. The most common gamma value is 1.2

Dynamic Contrast – Again this up to personal preference, but this is a setting used to artificially enhance the difference between darker and lighter elements on screen.

Sharpness – a common misconception with sharpness is that the higher this value is, the better the image is. However, that’s not true. When you go past a certain threshold, you begin to introduce what’s called artifacts. This makes the image seem artificial and not the way it was intended to be seen. So if anything, you’ll want it to be set low. This allows a much more natural image.

HDR – If you have a newer television you may see the option of HDR. You definitely want to leave this on. HDR is relatively new standard where the light and dark elements on screen are contrasted to a much more natural degree. The difference that it makes is staggering if your TV supports it.

Noise Reduction – This is a setting used to make lower quality videos look better. For movies and TV’s today, I wouldn’t bother with this because it can actually have a negative effect in how it looks.

Local Dimming – Similar to HDR, if your TV has this, absolutely leave this on. Turn it on if it isn’t already.

Backlight – This is how bright the picture is overall. While it’s up to user preference, I personally use a lower backlight because if you go too high, you’ll start to see the brightness (remember it’s opposite so darkness) begin to raise. If it’s a really well lit room, this will probably need to be higher though.

White balance – Used to adjust how red white portions of a screen look. In general I’d leave this alone unless you know what you are doing and had the equipment to take measurements.

Motion – There may be a menu with motion in the title, and this controls how smooth a picture looks. When set too high, it introduces something called the soap opera effect where content looks as though it were shot using a home video camera. If you’ve ever seen a TV that looked really realistic in motion, this setting could be a reason why.

Tips For Common Picture Settings & Modes

Brightness Adjustment

With some test patterns for brightness adjustment, there will usually be a point where where there’s no distinction between the pattern itself and the black background.

This is called clipping, where something that should be displayed is getting cut off before it’s visible.

If it’s a video that you’re using, you may see these bars flashing. If it’s a picture, there will be a point of reference in the material that is barely visible.

What we’re trying to do here is reach something called reference black. Reference black is an agreed upon standard set in the picture industry where dark levels are at the perfect referenced setting.

When your brightness is correctly adjusted, everything just before that point should be visible.

Some TVs may have a good brightness setting out of the box, but this can be a good way to check that your picture looks the way it should.

Depending on the capabilities of the TV, the right brightness setting may give scenes more pop and a sense of depth.

Contrast Adjustment

Now we’ll be adjusting on the other end of the spectrum contrast.

Similar to how there’s a reference black, with contrast there’s a reference white that we need to be aware of as well.

In the visual test material you’re using, you want to adjust your contrast so that only that reference white point mentioned is visible while everything beyond that blends in.

However, when you adjust the contrast, it may change the brightness setting you previously set.

In other words, you’ll have to go back, readjust, then come back to contrast again to make sure it’s in check as well.

If you adjust contrast first, then brightness, you may have to go back and adjust contrast again since these values can influence each other.

Color & Tint Adjustment

Next, we’re going to be adjusting color.

Color is the saturation or intensity of the colors on screen.

It’s fairly common for this value to be set really high so there’s two ways to go about fixing this (3 if you count professional calibration)

The first is with the blue filter we talked about before.

If you’re using a video a test pattern for color, while looking through the blue filter, adjust the color & tint setting until the flashing boxes on screen match in brightness with one another.

You can also use a test picture though it may be slightly different from video depending on the one you choose.

If you do it right, the color boxes will look the same, and the tint boxes will look the same.

The second way would be watching content you’re really familiar with, then adjusting manually to your preference.

Do note that this won’t be the most accurate way to do it, but you could still reach a picture that looks good to you.

Sharpness Adjustment

Like I mentioned before, sharpness is the acumination of an image and is often set really high by default.

However that isn’t as accurate.

What we’ll need to do is set it as high as it’ll go just before sharpening, then lower it back down right at the point where the image looks normal again.

Of course this is going to be subjective, but you’ll know that point when you reach it.

I’ve found that going 1 click above or below 20 percent of the sharpness range can look pretty good.

So for example if your sharpness goes from 0 to 20, turning the sharpness up to 5 or down to 3 might help the image look crisp without over doing it.

Also there may be settings specifically tied to sharpness like edge enhancement.

Try disabling that in the settings to see the effect it has on picture quality since it could be altering the picture in an undesirable way.

Color Temperature

Color temperature is another one of those things that’s subjective and dependent on your display’s capabilities, preference, lighting conditions, etc.

However, while not always the case, the warmest color setting in general is also often closest in accuracy to the visual industry standard of 6500Kelvin.

So what you choose will depend on those things and what looks good to you.

Motion/ Specialized Image Settings

Another thing you’ll want to look for is seeing if any motion settings enabled and to what degree as these can affect picture quality as well.

It’s difficult to make a recommendation regarding this as it not only depends on the TV, but what your preferences are as well.

Some may like a smoother image than others, and some content may benefit from slight adjustments of this setting.

The opposite can be true too, so see what effect it has in your scenario and adjust from there.

The same goes for specialized image settings like film grain, blur reduction, noise reduction, etc so try toggling these on or off to see if it helps your image any.

The Backlight

The backlight is a setting that’s dependent on how bright you like your image to be. If it’s a room with a lot of light then this setting may need to be higher.

I like to start from the 40ish percent mark and adjust from there so you could start there then adjust to what you think looks good.

Do keep in mind that in some TVs, if this setting is too bright, it could cause blooming which is where parts of the screen in a uniform image looks brighter than the other.

In Summation

In summation, these are some of the more general settings you’ll encounter in regards to optimizing it.

Of course a television has a lot more than these, but every TV is different so these advanced options will depend on the unit.

You can always adjust the settings in these menus and revert something back to its default if you don’t like the way a certain setting looks.

But if you employ the basic concepts mentioned here, you may notice a difference.

Until next time, make it easy, keep it simple!