Your HDTV with a TV Frame doesn’t have to be used only for viewing the latest Hollywood blockbusters in crystal clear HD.  You can also set up your HDTV to playback slideshows of your own photos – family gatherings, vacations, nature shots, you name it.  Your HDTV can display these photos in a slideshow that will bring out all of the colors, detail and life-like replication of each picture, and can be set on auto to play in the background while you enjoy your company.

There are several ways that you can set up your HDTV and TV Frame to display a photo slideshow.   Depending on the configuration of your home theater, you might need to purchase some extra HDMI cables or find a way to connect to your home’s internet connection.  Below are some of the most common ways that your home theater can be converted to a photo slideshow room.

Most HDTVs today have a PC-input.  This allows your computer to connect to your home theater TV, and effectively uses your flat panel TV as a monitor.  Using this connection, you can set up a slideshow to run on your PC, and watch the memories fly by in truly high definition on the big screen.   You can connect your PC to the HDTV with an HDMI cable (recommended), or a DVI or analog VGA cable.  Once the connection has been established, you can set the HDTV to be the main monitor or a secondary monitor.   Whichever you choose, you are going to have to configure your photo slideshow software to run in the window that is visible on the HDTV and TV frame, and voila! – the slideshow begins.

But you’re probably wondering now about that photo slideshow software we mentioned.   If you do a quick search online, you should find dozens of recommended software to present your photos in a slideshow setting.  Some allow for effects between each photo, music and voice recording, timers, text and much more.  Be sure to only download a program that you trust, and do a scan to ensure that it is virus-free.  Or, if you prefer, you can use the built-in photo software that comes with most Windows or Mac software.  Some of these programs will require that you burn your photo slideshow presentation to a DVD or CD and play it from your PC’s disc drive, while others will allow you to save it to your hard drive and play it from there.

If hooking up your PC sounds like a drag, you have other options for enjoying a photo slideshow  in your home theater.   Set top boxes like TiVo allow you to easily run a slideshow without additional effort once the box is installed.  For a TiVo slideshow, you will need to have your TiVo box connected to a networked PC.   To establish this network connection, you may either plug a wired Ethernet cable into the back of your TiVo DVR, or use the TiVo wireless adaptor to establish a wireless connection.  Once this is done, you simply navigate the TiVo menu on your HDTV to “Share Music, Photos, & Video”, and select the photos or photo files on your PC.  This will connect the TiVo player to these photos.  Then, you must highlight the photos you want in the slideshow and choose “Play”, easy as pie!

Some Blu-Ray players have built-in slideshow options as well.  These usually require that you burn a disc with the photos on them or use a USB memory stick, and configure the slideshow options on-screen.  There are even software packages that will allow you to use your gaming consoles, like the Xbox 360 as a photo slideshow player.

In a few simple steps, you can establish your home theater as a virtual photo-sharing library, fully-equipped with slideshows that offer music, voice-overs and special effects.  Have fun tweaking your slideshow settings and be sure to stand back from your HDTV the first time you go through your photos – you might not recognize them in their most pristine HD form!

Lauren is a contributing author for the HD Envy blog.  HD Envy is a team of dedicated professionals who want to help you increase the style of your home theater with a flat screen TV frame.  You can fully customize your flat screen TV frame to match any wood stain, leather color or other material, and you can choose from a wide range of frame styles.  Your flat screen TV frame will be the finishing touch of your home theater, and will be the envy of your guests.  And because HD Envy uses industry manufacturing standards, your flat screen TV frame will be so easy to install that you can begin enjoying its sophisticated presence within a few minutes of its arrival.

Many of us have a wired or wireless connection to a PC in our home theaters. What’s better than watching a slideshow of your latest trip abroad or videos of your nephew’s first steps on the big screen? Microsoft hopes you find these things, and many other PC media interactions, to be much easier with the upcoming release of Windows 7 Media Center.

There are plenty of upgrades in this Media Center that will make it a pleasure to browse on any flat panel TV. The start menu has received some slight visual enhancements, so that you are immersed in the improved experience right away. The “Now Playing” tab on the start menu has received an expansion, and the preview video still is much larger than before. This allows not only for easier identification of what’s up next, but also for more text to be displayed beneath the image.

The video library itself now includes thumbnails and titles of each video that is able to be played. This will make distinguishing between home videos and rented or purchased content much easier. Also, there is a “Video Play All” option now available, meaning that you can sit back and enjoy hours of your videos uninterrupted, or quickly navigate through those you want to save for another time.

Onto pictures, those still cousins of video. Windows 7 Media Center has a new feature called “Ambient Slideshow”. This allows for all of your pictures rated three stars or more to be played in a random order with two main views: a zoomed-out view of all of your pictures, or a zoomed-in view of a single picture. The attention to detail in this view makes it great as a background visual for a party, or as a screensaver on your PC.

The Picture Library is now able to be sorted by rating (between one to five stars), and you can share pictures more easily with other connected media devices. One feature that will please many people is the addition of the slideshow option. Now you can access the “Slideshow Creator” and create your personalized slideshow with pictures and music that you select, and save it to show it off at a later time. Picture navigation is much easier in Windows 7 Media Center, as you can turbo-scroll through large picture libraries, like fast-forwarding video at 10x speed, and release the button to stop at a specific point in the library.

The final aspect of Windows 7 Media Center that we’ll cover is the music section. More details now exist for all of you songs, and you can easily navigate through these by going left and right for categories and up and down for details. In the Music Now Playing screen, you’ll notice a more fluid display. Periodically fading in and out between all of your cover art and the particular song’s metadata, this screen is more detailed and easy to understand (and the cover art will look glorious on your HDTV!).

More features in Windows 7 Media Center will be announced as the release date draws nearer, but these are a handful of the ones that will look and sound best in your home theater.

Lauren is a contributing author for the HD Envy blog. HD Envy produces and distributes wall mount TV frame solutions for your home theater. If you’ve ever wanted to spice up your home theater, a wall mount TV frame is the perfect choice. It will be uniquely you, as each wall mount TV frame can be custom made based on your current décor. And because HD Envy uses industry standards to produce each wall mount TV frame, you can install it with ease on nearly any LCD or plasma TV on the market. For a stylish home theater that will make your neighbors drool, check out the wall mount TV frame options at HD Envy.

It seems like just yesterday the battle between LCD and plasma technology was in full swing. And not long before that, TV display manufacturers were still pumping out CRT TVs and wavering on the edge of diving into the newest display technologies. Well, LCDs and plasmas did indeed take over CRTs, with most of the big names in display technologies not producing this older technology any longer. And although a winner has yet to be declared, LCDs are out-selling plasmas even in the large screen market, traditionally dominated by the ailing PDP technology. So as the industry moves at its typically lightning-fast pace, what’s on the horizon for home theater enthusiasts, videophiles and families looking to make a little entertainment investment?

The latest display technology appears to be Light Emitting Diode, or LED TV technology. Although not yet a prolific force in the market, the big names like Sony and Samsung are investing heavily into this energy-efficient, crisp and clear display technology. It offers many benefits over LCD and plasma displays, such as increased life-span and reduced energy consumption. However, LEDs are still quite expensive and can be a tricky technology due to the more controlled heat and current management that they require. So what’s all the fuss about LEDs anyway?

Those who have been able to visually compare LEDs to their flat panel cousins, LCD and plasma, will tell you that there is a noticeable difference between the displays. And it isn’t necessarily the overall picture quality. LED screens tend to be clearer than others because of the fast switching that each LED is capable of. This means that any camera pan, whether in a high-action sequence or a panoramic mood shot, will appear crystal clear and have no motion blur. The screens themselves are able to be built much thinner than LCD or plasmas, which is another great selling point.

Some manufacturers have been able to produce a hybrid form of LED display by using it in combination with LCD technology. Samsung, for instance, came out with one of the first LED-backlit LCD TVs back in 2004 to resounding accolades from the display industry. The addition of LEDs as backlights means that the life of the display can be extended, motion blur can be reduced and colors can be enhanced. You can read all about the Samsung 40-inch LED-backlit LCD TV and its award-winning technology by visiting GizMag.com. Keep in mind that these TVs still use LCD technology as the main image production, and LEDs as backlight.

Another application of LED technology is in the innovative Organic Light Emitting Diode display technology. This is still in its infancy, with very little consumer products available. A single OLED display measuring just 11-inches across will set you back about $2,500 from Sony, and very few other manufacturers even have them for sale yet. Although this technology has its roadblocks, such as a quick deterioration, if it is developed more fully it might send LCD and plasma running to the hills. OLEDs require far less power than LEDs or LCD technology, and they do not need a backlight so the screen can be ultra-thin. The color from an OLED display will be much brighter and vivid than a similar LCD display, because each little diode is emitting light. This will also make any viewing angle a “sweet spot”.

Keep your eye on the growing research and development put into LED and OLED technology. This appears to be the direction that the industry is moving, and if you plan on upgrading your home theater in a few years, you might be just in time to test drive the latest displays.

Lauren is a contributing author for HD Envy’s blog. If you’ve considered redecorating or adding a touch of sophistication to your home theater, HD Envy’s custom TV frame options might be just what you’re looking for. The custom TV frame solutions at HD Envy can be designed by you to match your home theater. You can choose from any number of styles, materials and colors to produce the custom TV frame that’s right for you. And you can be confident that the experts at HD Envy will create a custom TV frame that is unique, easy to install and affordable for everyone. A custom TV frame from HD Envy is based on industry standards, so each custom TV frame will fit that LCD, plasma or even the OLED display you’ve got in your home.

So now you understand how speakers work, and the difference between stereo and home theater speakers. You’re committed to achieving the best possible movie sound, and you know you need a good center speaker with limited off-axis vertical response and two rear speakers to provide the reflecting sound. This is the start of your surround sound system. Next, you should get to know the other speakers you’ll need, and how to set them up to achieve the most accurate sound reproduction for your next home theater experience.

Possibly the most important element that a good home theater speaker system will achieve is total sound immersion. This is basically that experience of being in the film. You don’t want to have to crane your neck every time a loud, low thud occurs to see where it’s coming from. The speakers in front, behind, above and to your sides should blend seamlessly with your visual experience.

How do you get this smooth audio reproduction in your own home theater? First, be prepared for a bit of tweaking. The acoustics of every room vary, so your setup might need several trial and error attempts before it hits perfection. But when it does, you’ll realize what all the fuss is about.

Dialog is a driving audio force in many movies. You want your center speaker to be close enough to your flat panel display so that the dialog feels cemented to the actors in front of you. In a 5.1 surround sound recording, more likely than not the dialog is hard mixed, attached, to the center speaker. This is the driver of most dialog, and as such you need to experiment until it is positioned so that you can hear the dialog coming straight at you.

A 5.1 surround sound system is the standard for most DVDs and HDTV broadcasts. The ideal spot to sit is directly in front of your center speaker at 0 degrees – your ears level with the speaker’s drivers. You should place the front left and right speakers about 22 to 30 degrees on either side of the center speaker, as seen from this spot on your couch. Your left and right side speakers should be mounted two or more feet above ear level, if possible, and be angled between 90 and 110 degrees toward you. These are rough guidelines, and you should try listening to all types of audio (Dolby, DTS, SACD, etc.) that you will be listening to, in order to get the most out of your setup.

7.1 surround sound is truly a surround sound setup, as it uses the rear speakers that are so important in establishing your location. The two rear speakers should be placed about 135 to 150 degrees towards the center of the room (which should be directly in line with the center speaker’s drivers). The other aspects of the speaker setup are similar to 5.1. Keep in mind that your rear speakers should never be directly behind you, or a 180 degree angle, because our brains will sometimes process this sound to be coming from in front of us.

So now that you have the basics of the two most popular types of home theater setup, try it out! Listen for all the details in your favorite movie, and adjust your speakers based on what you hear. You are going to be the one listening to and enjoying all of the great movie sounds, so be sure that you are enjoying your audio experience to its fullest the next time you pop in your favorite disc.

Lauren is a contributing writer for the HD Envy blog. If you’ve ever wondered how to frame a flat screen TV, HD Envy has your solution. In order to frame a flat screen TV, you just have to visit HD Envy’s website to get started. Just contact HD Envy and ask them how they can let you custom frame a flat screen TV using any color or style of your choosing. And the next time your neighbors come for a visit, they’ll be asking how to frame a flat screen TV too.

With a crystal clear 1080p Full HD image projecting from your flat panel TV, you want a sound quality to match, right? It would be terrible if you were enjoying Iron Man’s dramatic flight into the atmosphere above Santa Monica while only hearing the faint muffled sound of his jets (or at least you assume it is his jets because of the image – it could be a lawn motor or a scooter as far as your ears know). Theater-quality sound is half of the experience. Without it, you are left with a dull impression of the movie, and you are rarely pulled in to the extent that you forget where you are and actually live the experiences on screen. Movie audio is so important, in fact, that there is an entire branch of audio equipment dedicated to providing the most accurate reproduction of sounds for a home theater setup.

First, a little background knowledge on what makes a speaker sound best. The position of the listener is a key feature of great sound. Your head should be directly in front of, and at the same height as, the speaker’s driver. This is known as the “on-axis” position. If you move to the left, right, up or down from this position, you will be “off-axis” and the sound will not be as clear.

When comparing stereo speakers with home theater speakers, you will often find that stereo speakers have a better off-axis sound than home theater speakers. This is because audio from a CD or other music source sound great when it is combined with left and right channels, and reflects off the walls and ceilings. With a stereo setup, the best sounding position will be in the center of the setup, but of-axis seating will sound great too.

Home theater speakers are a bit different. The vertical off-axis response, that is, the range of sound that occurs above and below the center position, of a center speaker in a home theater setup will be very limited. This is to prevent reverberation of sound off the ceiling and the floor. This is done to allow the rear speakers, which are often absent from, or include a more limited range than, a stereo speaker setup, to do their job. In a good home theater speaker system, you should include two rear speakers that act as “false reflections”. Sound from an actor’s voice in a large, cavernous room will take longer to bounce off the back wall and hit your ears if you were really standing beside that actor while the film was being created. Directors want to give you the feeling that you are really immersed in their world by tweaking the reflecting sounds so that they are slightly delayed as they bounce back to your ear – this can only be done with rear speakers, not with the reflections from a front speaker.

Home theater speaker systems are designed to provide an accurate reproduction of audio from a movie. The center speaker and rear speakers are the most important elements in this configuration, as they drive the bulk of the sound. The next installment of our series on home theater sound will examine how to set up your speakers to get the most out of on- and off-axis listening, and to get the most faithful reproduction of movie sound possible.

Lauren is a contributing writer for the HD Envy blog. HD Envy specializes in providing LCD and Plasma TV wall frame solutions for your home theater. If you are looking for a unique and creative way to display your TV, the LCD or Plasma TV wall frame products at HD Envy could be for you. You can get a custom made Plasma TV wall frame for your family room, designed to match any color or style that you prefer. HD Envy’s engineering experts have created an easily mountable Plasma TV wall frame solution so you can frame your flat panel TV with ease.

It is all well and good to have the latest devices in your home theater: that massive LCD HDTV, a surround sound system, theater seating and great lighting. But what makes your home theater your own are the little things, the details, the finishing touches on a room that will make your guests go “oooooh…aaahhhh…” and then hush when the movie starts. You can design your home theater on your own, consult magazines and online design ideas, or hire a designer to create your entertainment space. However you approach it, there are certain guidelines that will ensure that your home theater has all the personality you want to give it.

A rule of thumb when designing your home theater is to plan ahead. You don’t have to get all the details down right away, and of course there is plenty of room for experimentation and changing your mind with your design. But you should have a general idea of where cabinets, speakers, ventilation and lighting are going to be placed before you being construction. As construction goes on, you will want to bring in more and more details. For instance, are you going to have in-ceiling lighting or sconce? You do not necessarily have to pick out the exact lighting fixtures right away, but you should have an idea of where and what category of lighting you are going to incorporate so that you can get the wiring done in the construction phase.

Once the room has all of the major elements in place (or at least it has been sectioned off for future incorporation of these elements), you can begin to think about the specifics. One of the first things people turn to at this point is the color scheme. You want the walls and ceilings to match the carpet and the chairs to blend in with the accents, right? The colors you choose can create a sophisticated theater experience, or a fun playroom feel. Whatever design you are going for, color will play a major part. One important thing to keep in mind when splashing your home theater with color is to keep visual enjoyment of the movie or TV show in the forefront of your mind. Bright colors and lights surrounding the actual TV can look stunning when nothing is playing, but it can greatly distract from the image on screen. Most home theater experts will tell you that a neutral grey should directly surround the screen in order to get the most out of your viewing experience. You can frame this with any color or style you like, but it is something to keep in mind when you are at this stage of designing your home theater.

Acoustic panels can be a great touch to not only fill out the sound in your room, but to enhance the design as well. They are thin acoustic fiberglass panels that are wrapped in acoustically transparent fabric, and you can customize these in nearly limitless possibilities. You can have red, blue, checkered, or zig-zag patterns, and some companies will even print an image of your choice on the fabric. You can make acoustic panels appear as windows to a Roman coliseum or as aquarium glass with swimming fish behind it.

Your home theater should reflect you, in everything from the seating to the lighting, from the color to the size of the room. You want to be surrounded by an atmosphere that is unique and appealing, and one that enhances your visual and audio experience. By paying attention to the details, your home theater will become a piece of art unto itself, and your next movie will be one to remember.

Lauren is a writer for the HD Envy blog. HD Envy works tirelessly to produce the latest LCD TV wall frame styles for you. The design experts have created a variety of LCD TV wall frame solutions in wood, leather and other materials, or you can custom create your own LCD TV wall frame to match your current home theater décor. The LCD TV wall frame solutions from HD Envy are built to last and built on years of engineering expertise to allow for easy installation. Their designs are inspired by some of the top casinos, hotels and corporate locations in the world that are equipped with LCD TV wall frame products, so you know you are getting only the best quality with HD Envy.

For those of you just getting the hang of HDMI 1.3, the news of a new HDMI technology, HDMI 1.4, might initially come as an annoyance more than anything. HDMI 1.3 cables have already simplified your home theater setup, so why bother with upgrading to the latest version? Well, the feature that has every audio and video enthusiast excited over this new development is simple: HDMI 1.4 can transmit Internet data.

On the most basic level, this means that each and every one of your devices, from game consoles to set top boxes, needs only a single HDMI 1.4 cable connected to a device that is equipped with Internet connection. No more Cat 5 cables or Wi-Fi connections for every device that you want to hook into the great information highway. If you have, say, a TV that can access the Internet via Wi-Fi or Ethernet, every device that is connected to that TV via HDMI 1.4 will also be connected to the Internet (assuming the device has the proper hardware for this connection).

The technical term for this new capability is the HDMI Enternet Channel, or HEC. Your devices must have certain characteristics to take advantage of this technology. They must all be able to “talk” to each other, and they must all be able to accept HDMI 1.4 cables. The new HEC technology transmits not just video data, but all types of data via the Internet connection. This means that you can transfer photos or other media directly from your TV to a DVD burner, or store them on your hard drive with no additional cable hookups.

While the HEC technology is the most exciting aspect of the new HDMI 1.4, there are several other additions that make this cable unique. It includes Audio Return Channel (ARC) technology, which allows those using the audio tuner inside their TV to ditch extra analog stereo cables and use HDMI 1.4 to transmit the sound from the tuner to their receiver. It also has the ability to transmit most of the 3D data that is currently available. While this is not yet widespread, it appears that the industry is slowly making a shift towards more 3D video for home theater use, and once all of the devices and discs catch up, HDMI 1.4 will come in handy.

Your home theater setup could shed quite a few cables with this new configuration. This will be a welcome addition for anyone just starting to collect the devices and components for their new home theater, but it might be a bit of a financial burden for those who already have their home theater established. HDMI 1.4 has several exciting new features, and if you’re interested in creating a web-enabled hub as part of your home theater, your options have just been simplified.

Lauren is a contributing writer to the HD Envy blog. The picture frame TV mount options at HD Envy will provide your home theater with a boost of sophisticated style. You can choose between the pre-made picture frame TV mount solutions, or work with design and engineer experts at HD Envy to produce your own custom picture frame TV mount. Whether you are looking for a picture TV frame mount made from oak, ash, leather, ceramic or plastic, HD Envy is there. If you want to have an original, unique and stylish home theater, consider the picture frame TV mount options at HD Envy.

By now you’ve heard of, and are perhaps even sick of, the pending DTV transition. The government and consumer electronics industry leaders have been pumping out the ads, coupons and press releases galore in the hopes that confusion and panic will be minimized once analog goes dark. If this has all gone on without you, if you think you might’ve missed a step in the transition, or you’re just curious to see how it will really affect what you see on your TV, read on.

Since the DTV transition date was pushed back from February 17th to June 12th, more coupons have been distributed and more Americans are prepared for the switch. The FCC and other organizations have worked tirelessly to educate the public, getting those converter boxes into as many hands as possible and establishing call centers for support. For the latest news on who is still broadcasting in analog and how to get your hands on a converter box, go to the government website set up for this issue: http://www.dtv.gov/.

The first step you should take to prepare your home theater for the switch to DTV is to see if your TV already has a digital receiver. If so, you’re set. No coupon, no converter box, no tuning necessary. So how do you know if you’re one of the lucky ones spared the headache of additional components, cables and setup? Any TV manufactured after March 1st, 2007 must have a digital tuner. You can check with your TV manufacturer to make sure that yours fits into this category, but if you purchased after March 1st, 2007, you’re likely in the clear. However, manufacturers are able to sell older products that they had in their inventory after this date which may not have had a digital tuner installed. To be safe, do a quick search online for your TV make and model code and “digital tuner”.

If you have an older TV, you must install a converter box in order to receive the new digital broadcast signals. And it must be in place by June 12th, or you’ll be in the dark, with no access to local or national programming on your TV set. A digital-to-analog converter box is a device that will convert the digital broadcast to analog signals that your television set can read and display. These boxes are now selling at most consumer electronics stores for about $40 to $80, and the government coupon program (which can be accessed at http://www.dtv.gov/) will help to greatly offset this cost. Once you have your hands on the box, connecting it to your TV is relatively easy, and there are plenty of guides online (http://www.crutchfield.com/Learn/learningcenter/home/dtv.html).

Remember that this transition is not going to affect you if you currently subscribe to satellite or digital cable services. These will not be interrupted, as they do not rely on over-the-air analog broadcasting. Only local TV stations are currently using this analog broadcasting, and it is those 15 or 20 million consumers who receive local TV broadcasts that will be affected.

The transition date is just a little over a week away, so be sure that you understand the facts surrounding this issue. You will save yourself a lot of hassle and headaches if you move on the transition now, and you’ll thank yourself if you can turn on the local news after work on June 13th without a second thought.

Lauren is a contributor to the HD Envy blog. HD Envy creates custom TV wall frame solutions for your home theater. The design experts at HD Envy will work with you to produce a TV wall frame that perfectly matches your décor. Whether you want a leather upholstered TV wall frame or a traditional wood TV wall frame, you will find what you’re looking for at HD Envy. The affordability and durability of the TV wall frame products at HD Envy makes them stand out from the crowd. By including a TV wall frame in your home theater, you will be the envy of all your guests.

Don’t sacrifice safety for style. Your home theater should be a unique expression of your interior design taste, but don’t let the trends dictate your style or make you forget about safety.

As the trends move towards thinner HDTVs, they also move toward thinner entertainment centers to hold them. Our TVs are also getting bigger, and that means they are getting heavier too. And despite the growing number of children who are tech-savvy, not enough is being done to keep them safe in our expanding, and increasingly precarious, home theaters.

In 2007, which was the last year that full statistics were available, there were nearly 17,000 children rushed to the emergency room because heavy or unstable furniture fell on them. And the study that released these numbers claims that since 1990, these types of injuries have increased by 41% – half of which were from falling TVs alone. Three quarters of those harmed by heavy or unstable furniture were children under six, who simply don’t have the knowledge that furniture should not be climbed on. (Read a report on this study here: http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/30686493/

Our flat panel TVs are beautiful things – sleek, thin, stylish. But they are also extremely heavy (often weighing over 100 pounds) and have a narrow center of gravity, making them more prone to toppling over than older, chunkier TVs. A balance must be struck between safety and style – you don’t have to sacrifice your brand new HDTV to keep your home safe, but you do need to be aware that it can be a hazard.

One simple, effective and arguable even more stylish way to secure your LCD or plasma TV is to use a wall mount as opposed to that euro-styled entertainment center. The entertainment center might look pretty sleek, a glossy piano black to match your TV, but it is no doubt a thin, low-sitting unit that is expected to hold the weight of your thin, top-heavy TV, balanced precariously on an equally thin stand. With a wall mount, your TV will not only be out of reach of little, exploring hands, but it will also have a unique style that is unmatched by any entertainment center.

You can use a wall mount TV frame to infuse your home theater with supreme style. And as an added bonus, it is more stable and safe than an entertainment center, if professionally installed. HD Envy offers a variety of wall mount TV frame choices, from artistic wood frames to classy leather frames to fully customizable frames for the most unique look possible.

There is no reason why you should fear that your TV is not secure. By using a wall mount, and preferably one that conforms to the VESA guidelines, your HDTV will be securely attached to your wall – and will enjoy all the benefits of mobility with the tilting, rotating arm of most wall mounts. The HD Envy wall mount TV frame that you use to polish the look uses a bracket system that conforms with industry guidelines, so you are secure in your knowledge that your TV is safely mounted to the wall while you’re watching the latest Disney feature with your kids.

Lauren is a contributing author for the HD Envy blog. At HD Envy, you’ll find a wide selection of stylish, safe and affordable wall mount TV Frame options for your home theater. You can customize the color, size and details of the frame in order to perfectly match your home theater. And because each wall mount TV frame is crafted by engineers using industry guidelines and is based on styles found in contemporary setting all around the world, you will get a product that is long-lasting, unique and secure.

With the advanced display technologies of today, it’s more important than ever that all elements of your home theater are working together in harmony. You know that you won’t get the best image from your Blu-Ray player if it’s not connected with the best cables. But did you know that without the proper calibration, your brand new HDTV might not be living up to its full potential?

Even some in-store displays appear washed out, muted, or overly saturated with color. You walk away shaking your head, thinking that whatever TV that was, it definitely wasn’t premium high-def. However, a simple problem could be at the root of the lackluster performance: it was not professionally calibrated.

Many people will argue that anyone, even those who are uninitiated into the league of the videophile, can calibrate a TV. However, as new features are piled on, such as different modes for different devices and a nearly infinite number of color, level, saturation and other options, many of the tweaks and features will be hidden or too technical for most of us to fully grasp without a few hours spent snuggled in bed with our TV manual.

Calibration is basically a balance between a TV’s color gamut and grayscale, and its minimum and maximum brightness and gamma. The optimized TV will conform to the standards set by the Society of Motion Picture and Television Engineers (SMPTE), which tries to match consumer TV calibration with the images that the video cameras filming the media intended.

Calibration isn’t simply increasing or decreasing values on your TV’s menu until things look “ok” to you. Of course, you can do that, but if you’ve invested in a home theater equipped with surround sound, multimedia devices and a flat screen TV wall frame surrounding your HDTV, you want to get the highest video performance possible. Proper calibration rests on the backbone of so much scientific and engineering knowledge, that it is usually best to let the professionals handle it.

The image on your HDTV depends in large part on the ambient light and other factors of your home theater environment. A professional will understand environmental factors in addition to the capabilities of your particular TV and will maximize the picture quality so you are presented with an image that give you the least eye fatigue and the most true-to-the-filmmaker’s-ideal quality that your TV is able to produce.

A professional will understand several things about your TV and your viewing needs. First, he or she understands the fine tuning necessary for many of the color and other options, and knows when, and how, they interact. For instance, changing the gamma affects levels and grayscale, which need to be readjusted every time even the minutest change in gamma occurs. A professional will also have the tools that a proper calibration requires. A color meter is used for every aspect of calibration except levels, and test patterns will be available to ensure that viewing is optimized for all types of media.

Check with the online community whether your TV model is best viewed after a professional calibration, and chances are, you’ll find people happy to tell you that a professional is a good idea. If you want to go it alone, be an intrepid DIYer, go ahead – but in order to save yourself headaches and to get the perfect picture based on plain and simple visual science, go with the professional touch.

Lauren is a contributing author for the HD Envy Blog. HD Envy is a company that provides high-quality flat screen TV wall frame options for consumers interested in adding style and a unique touch to their home theaters. Each flat screen TV wall frame is engineered for easy installation and long-lasting durability. The stock designs for the flat screen TV wall frame products at HD Envy are inspired by some of the most famous casinos and hotels in the world. You can customize your flat screen TV wall frame too, in order to get a look that is uniquely you.