Your knee-jerk reaction to the title of this post may have been, “Well, that’s not really possible. In the world of consumer electronics and home theater components, everything gets old and obsolete pretty quickly – even if they aren’t worn out.”
That may be true – but not entirely. There are things you can do and tips you can follow to future-proof your home theater. By “future-proof”, we mean in a way that maximizes the value of your investment – and saves you from regularly making purchases that you’ll later regret.
Protect the essentials
Future-proofing your home theater means recognizing which components are poised to provide for the use of future technologies – and protecting those components by way of proper maintenance, troubleshooting, and care. Essentials include:
- Your 720p projector: 1080p HDTVs are awesome, but the difference between these and your 720p home theater projector – apart from the cost – is not likely to be that huge. Besides, 720p resolution is still high-def. With a projector, you also get enjoy the largest images available in your home theater, without being restricted by the size of your display.
- HDMI cables: Essentially a transmission pathway, an HDMI cable can carry both your HD video and HD audio. Right now, it seems to be the popular choice for connecting your digital media devices (laptops, smartphones, tablets, media players) to your home theater components. Moreover, looking toward the future, you can say that HDMI versions 1.3 and 1.4 are still more than likely to be used in future home theater products and video displays.
- Your 5.1 (or higher) surround sound system: We all know that the stream of new speakers launched in the market is endless. (Check out some of the brands we use and recommend.) But that doesn’t mean you should upgrade all the time. Plan instead on setting up a good 5.1 surround sound system (or higher), with components that will provide you with years of listening enjoyment and room-filling, cinematic-quality audio.
Use a surge protector
A surge protector is great not just for your home theater components, but also for the rest of your voltage-sensitive devices: PC, laptop, tablet, smartphone, tablet, DVD player, gaming console, etc. What it does is protect your power supply and communication lines from occasional power surges – thus preventing damage and extending the life of your devices.
Future-proof your wiring
It’s also recommended that you create a smart wiring network that connects all the rooms and utilities of your house to a centralized location. This structured design enables you to wire all the communications, entertainment, automation, garage, alarm, and security components of your home, and distribute these services efficiently. Creating a structured wiring plan not only saves you the trouble of looking and inspecting (when something goes wrong) at so many ends of wires and cables; it also enables the transmission of voice and information (for Internet devices) at higher speeds; a more efficient form of device communication; support for multi-vendor equipment; and access to digital services like video-on-demand (VOD), interactive / smart TVs, and satellite and broadband technologies.
Work with the pros
The team of installation professionals at Hooked Up Installs works to take the worry and guesswork out of your home theater or home system’s design. DIY is cool, sure, but not when hastily made plans and faulty machinery begin to cut short the value of your home investments.
