Home Theater: Get Your Game On!

When you have a 16-year-old son, who’s life revolves around gaming, sometimes it’s just better to give in. This is definitely a case of “if you can’t beat ‘em, join ‘em”, and as I can attest to the fact that I won’t be playing Gears of War II any time soon, there is a certain comfort for a parent in knowing that your kids are home every night.

That being said, this new E-Gear online feature: “Home Theater Systems That Make Sense”, is designed to help you find components that work well together for your own home theater needs. This month, you guessed it, “Gaming” and the following components are perfect for gaming enthusiasts, and movie fans alike, plus, in these recessionary times, the overall system won’t cost you an arm and a leg.

The TV
We’ve had several Toshiba televisions over the years at our home. I would describe the brand as a “workhorse” that doesn’t quit. I have found Toshiba sets to provide a high level of quality over several years of practically non-stop use: Perfect for gamers.

Toshiba recently announced its full 2009 line-up of LCD televisions. From 19-inch sets to the new 55-inch Cinema Series models, Toshiba’s
line-up offers a TV to fit every room and lifestyle at every price. They all have new exterior designs, (i.e. they’ll look great in any room in the home), unique technologies, and more, but the one that caught my eye for gamers was the new Regza 46SV670 46-inch 1080p Full HD CineSpeed LCD Display. The set benefits from 4 HDMI digital inputs (1 Side) with InstaPort and REGZA-LINK and Next Gen Connectivity including a USB Port, SD Card Slot, IR Pass-Through Port and High-Res PC Input.

For gaming and of course watching movies, it’s best to go big if your room and seating will take it, and the new 46-inch (measured at 46-inches diagonally) from the REGZA SV670 Series fits the bill. This set features the company’s new FocaLight LED backlight with local dimming and stunning Infinity Flush Front design. FocaLight offers a full LED matrix for enhanced brightness uniformity. Thanks to FocaLight, the new REGZA LCD TV attains an all-new level of picture quality with an amazing 2,000,000:1 dynamic contrast. Even more important is the local dimming, which creates significantly higher dynamic contrast, as blacks are blacker without reducing the peak white brightness.