Multi-channel audio has become mainstream and vendors have developed many types of basic and more sophisticated technologies like wireless surround speakers, virtual surround sound to simplify the setup of home theater products. I will take a look at various of the latest technologies which were developed to make installing home theater systems a breeze. I will suggests what to look out for when making your buying decision.
As in the past setting up a TV has been fairly straightforward, the emergence of multi-channel audio has made installing home theater systems much more challenging by requiring a number of external speakers to create surround sound. While the traditional 5.1 format requires 6 speakers: a front center, two front side speakers, two rear speaker and a subwoofer, the more modern 7.1 format adds two additional side speakers.
Therefore, home theater installations have turn out to be pretty difficult. Running wires to remote loudspeakers also is often undesirable because of aesthetic reasons. Vendors have recently released new devices and technologies. These devices were developed to help simplify the installation of home theater products. One option is minimizing the number of speakers by making virtual speakers. This method applies signal processing to the audio and adds phase shifts and cues to the sound that would usually be sent by the remote speaker. The audio is then broadcast by the front loudspeakers along with the front speaker sound components. The signal processing is modeled after the human hearing. It uses the information about how the human ear can determine the source of sound. Because of the signal processing, the viewer is deceived into assuming the sound is coming from virtual remote surround speakers.
The first solution is creating so-called virtual speakers by applying signal-processing to the audio and introducing phase shifts and special cues to those audio components that would normally be broadcast by the remote loudspeakers. The signal processing is designed based on how the human hearing determines the location of a sound. The sound signal is then broadcast by the front loudspeakers. The signal processing has an effect that will deceive the listener into presuming that the audio is coming from an alternate position.
An additional option for simplifying home theater installations and avoiding long speaker wire runs is to make use of wireless surround sound devices or wireless loudspeakers. A wireless solution will normally incorporate a transmitter component that connects to the TV or source in addition to wireless amplifiers that will be connected to the remote speakers. The transmitter will normally come with amplified speaker inputs along with line-level inputs and have a volume control to adjust it to the source audio level.
A number of wireless speaker kits are designed to connect 2 loudspeakers per wireless amplifier. A better option would have a wireless amplifier for each remote loudspeaker to eliminate the wire runs between each of the 2 remote speakers. The most sophisticated wireless systems employ digital transmission to eliminate signal degradation. In multi-channel audio systems, it is essential to pick a wireless solution with a latency of only a few milliseconds. This will ensure that the audio of all speakers is in perfect sync. If the latency is larger than 10 ms then there will be an echo effect which will deteriorate the surround sound. Many wireless gadgets work in the 900 MHz and 2.4 GHz frequency bands. A number of products use the less crowded 5.8 GHz frequency band and consequently have less competition from other wireless gadgets.
A different method, which is often named sound bars uses side-reflecting loudspeakers. In this case the sound for the remote loudspeakers will be broadcast by separate speakers positioned at the front at an angle and reflected by walls as to seem to be originating from besides or behind the viewer. The effect heavily is dependent upon the interior, especially the shape of the room and the decoration. It will work well for square rooms with no obstacles and sound reflecting walls. On the other hand, realistic scenarios frequently will vary from this ideal and diminish the effect of this option.
As in the past setting up a TV has been fairly straightforward, the emergence of multi-channel audio has made installing home theater systems much more challenging by requiring a number of external speakers to create surround sound. While the traditional 5.1 format requires 6 speakers: a front center, two front side speakers, two rear speaker and a subwoofer, the more modern 7.1 format adds two additional side speakers.
Therefore, home theater installations have turn out to be pretty difficult. Running wires to remote loudspeakers also is often undesirable because of aesthetic reasons. Vendors have recently released new devices and technologies. These devices were developed to help simplify the installation of home theater products. One option is minimizing the number of speakers by making virtual speakers. This method applies signal processing to the audio and adds phase shifts and cues to the sound that would usually be sent by the remote speaker. The audio is then broadcast by the front loudspeakers along with the front speaker sound components. The signal processing is modeled after the human hearing. It uses the information about how the human ear can determine the source of sound. Because of the signal processing, the viewer is deceived into assuming the sound is coming from virtual remote surround speakers.
The first solution is creating so-called virtual speakers by applying signal-processing to the audio and introducing phase shifts and special cues to those audio components that would normally be broadcast by the remote loudspeakers. The signal processing is designed based on how the human hearing determines the location of a sound. The sound signal is then broadcast by the front loudspeakers. The signal processing has an effect that will deceive the listener into presuming that the audio is coming from an alternate position.
An additional option for simplifying home theater installations and avoiding long speaker wire runs is to make use of wireless surround sound devices or wireless loudspeakers. A wireless solution will normally incorporate a transmitter component that connects to the TV or source in addition to wireless amplifiers that will be connected to the remote speakers. The transmitter will normally come with amplified speaker inputs along with line-level inputs and have a volume control to adjust it to the source audio level.
A number of wireless speaker kits are designed to connect 2 loudspeakers per wireless amplifier. A better option would have a wireless amplifier for each remote loudspeaker to eliminate the wire runs between each of the 2 remote speakers. The most sophisticated wireless systems employ digital transmission to eliminate signal degradation. In multi-channel audio systems, it is essential to pick a wireless solution with a latency of only a few milliseconds. This will ensure that the audio of all speakers is in perfect sync. If the latency is larger than 10 ms then there will be an echo effect which will deteriorate the surround sound. Many wireless gadgets work in the 900 MHz and 2.4 GHz frequency bands. A number of products use the less crowded 5.8 GHz frequency band and consequently have less competition from other wireless gadgets.
A different method, which is often named sound bars uses side-reflecting loudspeakers. In this case the sound for the remote loudspeakers will be broadcast by separate speakers positioned at the front at an angle and reflected by walls as to seem to be originating from besides or behind the viewer. The effect heavily is dependent upon the interior, especially the shape of the room and the decoration. It will work well for square rooms with no obstacles and sound reflecting walls. On the other hand, realistic scenarios frequently will vary from this ideal and diminish the effect of this option.
About the Author:
click here in order to read through useful materials regarding rear wireless speakers.
No comments:
Post a Comment