Good to Know (GTK) Theater is a channel focused on home theater design and the goal is saving money! I love to share money saving ideas in every video helping you get more for so much less. Learn the secrets of having great technology to improve your life at fraction of the price.
"... to avoid a lot of frustration, I recommend investing around $50 in a software ..." This one sentence is the best and most important piece of advice in the video. Probably at least 95% of all the frustrations people have with things like this comes from free garbageware. Including the free garbageware built into Windows. It's worth paying to avoid all the hidden costs in "free" garbage.
With high-speed internet and cheap SSDs widely available, I'd argue DVDs (and to a lesser degree Blu-rays) shouldn't be backed-up or distributed online as .MP4s, but as .ISO rips containing the _entire_ disc. Maybe we can even get a nice app or Linux distro that lets you browse your digital collection by the box art, similar to browsing a rental store inthe early 2000s, which "plays" the .ISO for a complete viewing experience. Add optional scanline emulation and the ability to view DVD booklet scans before launching the .ISO and you've got the best of *all* worlds.
Sorry it doesn't work I have the yamaha rxv 581 dolby atmos dts x function on this amp also I'm using the Panasonic dmp bd 380 4k upscaling Blu ray player ...using a blu ray with encoded dolby atmos lowers it to dolby true HD.. I've watched your video clearly tried it also on my ps5 dolby atmos enabled .. Where have I gone wrong... Also Using v 2. 1 hdmi leads
It sounds like your working too hard to make it work. If you enable bitstream on your blu-ray you then just set your amp to direct mode so the amp doesn't try and interpret the channels, it just passes them through as is... Thanks for watching!
Is there any issues with the particular blu ray player and firmware that would prevent ripping blu ray discs? I’ve been reading some stuff about firmware updates that prevent digitizing your movies, but I’m just now starting to really research it a bit more. Does the mp4 format avoid these issues?
I may have missed it, but the most important aspect of Dolby TrueHD and Dts HD when released for the bluray launch were their lossless pcm capabilities vs the lossy compression used for DD and DTS on ld and dvd.
I am also a fan of those commercial theater stadium seats with connected arms. Low cost used, built to commercial standards as you mention, take abuse, easy to clean, and the most space efficient seating due to connected arms.
Awesome budget build. Its the results that count, not the prices. I think you win the prize for highest performance vs lowest cost, ie best value ht out there
Good video. Still learning how to set up and get the best sound from my LD and DVD/BD players. Finally got my AC-3 LD set up into the Onkyo TX-NR609 and sounds amazing. Am having a bit more issues with DTS on BD but I think my player doesn’t decode it and need a newer or higher end one.
so I had set Plex dvd with a HDHR Flex 4K tuner but I had mixed results with scheduled recordings. some recordings were successful, others recorded midway or didn't happen. I'm guessing it's because my computer fell asleep. are there any other settings adjustments or configurations I need to do to prevent this from happening?
You may want to check your settings, this is most likely a problem with the broadcast schedule, you need to verify your computer system time and rescan for channels to be sure the schedules match up. You do want to keep the computer on at all times. Thanks for watching!
It's interesting that after watching tons of videos in this subject, most of them showing high-end equipments that cost multiple the price of this, this is still by far the best implementation of a home theatre for me. It just feels like a real cinema in smaller scale. Also, installig not less than twelve seats in a relatively small space is way more than what I've seen so far in most cases. Considering the final budget of your work, the outcome is almost like a miracle for me. Very inspiring content for others (myself included) indeed.
Love my plex server - did a video on it as well... it gets addictive though at what hardware and all and the libraries get large!!! I even have an HDHomerun Prime (cable tv) and HDHomerun Quattro quad OTA tuner that tie into plex and can watch tv outside of my house or region. Testing DVR now.
Have a 5.1.4 Kef speaker system. Have an Onkyo RZ50 receiver, was the least expensive option for what u get. Have a SVS 12” sealed sub that hits low and dirty. I think I have the 2000 svs series. They are good, but not amazing.
The big question is, "is it good enough for you or do you feel like your missing out on something?" If you do feel like you are needing to move up good equipment is cheap. Thanks for the comment!
It depends on what you want to spend, if you just get a cheap $30 drive it may work well but if you want something solid get a good brand like Asus or LG, just look at the price and the rating and be sure to test 10-20 DVDs as soon as you get it, if it works great with them than you should be good to go, if not return it and try different one. I have an Asus drive and it works great! Thanks for the question!
Dolby TrueHD, not Dolby Digital HD. Dolby Digital is the compressed lossy format carried over from Laserdisc and DVD. Dolby TrueHD is the lossless one.
I guess as an IT professional I value simple solutions that I can manage and keep backed up but if you have the space and don't mind keeping up with a monster, more power to ya. Thanks for watching, much more to come soon...
I have a very large collection of Blu-ray discs and am looking for a good way to transcode, so far I have hit a roadblock due to the copy protections on these, I just want to make a good digital back of the discs for my own purposes... what software have you had success with for this?
Be sure to subscribe I am going to cover all this and more in the coming days and months. Leawo Blu-ray Ripper Software is what I use most at the moment.
Honestly I change computers all the time, you just want to be sure you have something that is powerful. I recommend an Intel i7 processor and lots of RAM. But most importantly a quality blu-ray drive internal or external. More to come on the subject soon. Thanks for the comment!
A lot of tv shows stream in much higher quality compared to blu-rays. For example, The Expanse streams in 4k HDR, but blu-rays are only 1080p SDR. Same with The Boys. HDR alone makes streaming infinitely superior. 2k blu-rays are terribly outdated at this point.
No, it is a verified 5.1 stream, you need to check your amps configuration that is where the 2 channel is coming from not the video. Thanks for watching...
Love Asus routers, you should get a tech friend look at your specific setup to be sure you are not missing something. Wish I could help more... Thanks for watching and good luck!
Thank you for this video. I am tired of other RU-vid videos saying something is “budget” when it actually isn’t. I don’t consider a $1000 sub budget. I built my theater for less than $2000, with 1080p projector and not one person has ever said my picture was inadequate. If everyone tried to build a $20,000 or more home theater, then most people would never have one.
Hey, I live in a dormitory and my internet is provided, without access to a router, by boingo. They restrict the amount of devices I can have the network. Do you know if that would present a problem for remote casting?
Do you keep all the movie files together in one directory? Seriously?? You're supposed to have each movie in a separate folder, with the folder name containing the name of the movie and the year in parenthesis.
Hi, you can do it anyway you want, this is what I find the easiest. I put all the movies in the same folder based on age. The folders are G, PG, PG-13, PG-16, and PG-18 so can find a movie to match who is watching quickly. I also put all the movies for big series in one folder like Harry Potter is in the Harry Potter folder in the PG-16 folder. The date is just added to the end of the movie file so Plex can correctly identify the move a lot easier. But TV shows are different, I put them in the TV-G, TV-PG, TV-PG-13, and TV-PG-16 Folders but the TV series goes in a folder with the name of the series and the date it first aired so plex can I identify the TV series and and each episode is placed in the folder named "episode 01" "episode 02" etc.... Thanks for the great question
Great video, thanks for spreading awareness! But I think it would have been good to explain that Dolby True HD and DTS MA (as well as Dolby Atmos on a 4K Blu-ray) was a huge upgrade - getting an uncompressed studio master in your living room, thanks to the larger disc capacities on a Blu-ray Disc compared to a compressed audio format on a DVD and streamed version.
I have the Nvidia shield pro 2019 connected to my LG S95QR soundbar that's connected to my LG TV (55UN7300PTC) it plays all audio but i have to disable Digital audio output on the vcl medial player and change audio channel to play DTS HD MA over the shield connection.
Its a very interesting subject matter to understand as more advanced technology is being incorporated into the main sound speakers of televisions, like the Qled/Olead televisions and upwards. It would be very iinteresting of knowing from viewers: What Dolby Atmos and others of object based surround sound, actually sound like,from the main television speakers, especially listening to various types of sound programmes in the home.
@GTKTheater --- Is THX certification just for the theater, or is it given to VCRs, LD players, DVD players, BD players, etc. too? *And when about to the VHSs, LDs, DVDs, and BDs, etc. themselves?*
THX Certification has been around for a long time 1983, and not just for the Theaters, VHS I know was compatible and of course the newer media technologies. THX just insures that what you are listening to sounds as close as possible to the mixing engineer's intentions.
I've been at this for over 40 years now. The 90/10 rule was always a strategy of mine...I didn't have the option to spend more. Anyway, as the years moved along, I have splurged in a few areas and now have a total investment higher than I ever expected. I'm enjoying the improvements, even if they are incremental. For me, I think the 10% is worth chasing, but never at the expense of other parts of your life. To young people of the hobby: Be content and your time will come. Enjoy every phase.
I’ve started doing research on home media servers and it’s a tad overwhelming. I have a lot of physical media that I’d like to get on a computer and then use that somehow to play movies. I’m not sure if plex is the right choice or not. My main concern is I’m wanting it to sound just as good as the physical disk, something that streaming falls very short of. If you go to Best Buy and ask for help on this, you’re directed to Kaleidoscape for a small investment of $5k. I’ll pass. Also, I’m a Mac guy and it looks like having a Windows OS is ideal for this kind of setup so there’s another learning curve. I love your channel! We need more content like this showing the affordable side of home theater.
You know, it would work better than putting it on windows but for now this was simple and easy. Something most people can follow. Thanks for the comment!
Not sure about the 90% for 10% but you’re not far off. I put my theater together about 12 years ago. I had about 4k invested in the video and audio. Was very happy with it. Decided to upgrade recently. I would say the upgrade in projectors was the lowest percentage upgrade. Went from a JVC DLA HD 250 to a JVC DLA RS1100. The picture is better but 5k better? Not so sure. I’ve got about 10k in audio, feel like it was a huge upgrade.
I am sure it looks great, for those of us on a tighter budget this will do. We will look for your old equipment at goodwill as you retire it for a nice cheap upgrade. Thanks for the comment!
Everyone needs to learn Torrent streaming through Plex. Learning myself. Good Internet is a must. No storage needed unless your planning on downloading the streams. No more paying pirates to access entertainment, rule your own sea.
Thanks for the video, but for the buying consumer out-there there is still a hell of a lot of confusion, because people like yourself are not telling us about the REAL REALITIES of these new sound technologies. There are Televisions on the market ( mainly Qled and Oled televisions) that will mention for eg… that a television only has Dolby Atmos and DTS Virtual X as a sound codec, without even mentioning the obvious for the home consumer: Dolby, Dolby 5.1 and DTS 5.1. Considering the amount of Blu-ray Discs that have a DTS 5.1 codec and Dolby 5.1 codec; what is happening in a television that is only equipped with Dolby Atmos and DTS VIrtual X sound codecs, when playing the codecs I have mentioned above, that are coming from Blu-ray Discs.? Since 2018, Samsung have stopped supporting DTS IN their televisions, so consumers have been purchasing entry level Qled televisions ( and higher) without realising there is no DTS Support in their television and Samsung as a company HAVE NOT been fully explaining this fact to the consumer. Sound formats from most Television and Blu-ray player manufacturers are not explaining sound formats very well to the home consumer. When you are watching an old film from the 1930s or 40s and it is recorded in a DTS mono 1 channel mix, WHAT THE HELL DOES THAT MEAN FOR THE HOME CONSUMER WITH THEIR TELEVISION TECHNOLOGY AND BLU-RAY/4K ultra hd disc player? How does one setup a television and disc player with DTS mono channel, especially with televisions that come equipped only with Dolby atmos and DTS virtual X sound codecs?
I am not sure I understand everything you say. First of, are you sure that these TVs do not support DTS and Dolby Digital? Even if they do not list it separately, I am quite sure that they are backwards compatible. A DTS-HD track also always has a normal DTS track, so systems that do not support DTS-HD, but DTS, can actually play it. I do not see why a company would support DTS:X, but nothing below it. Also, do you even have speakers connected to your TV and how many? Are they directly connected or do you have a separate sound system? Otherwise, if you play something like dts and your sound system sites not support it, on PC for example, I believe the sound is processed first and then sent to the speakers, but if the whole chain supports DTS, the raw data is first passed to the AMP or whatever and then it gets sent to the speakers.
I did mention that Samsung had stopped DTS since 2018 and most of the Samsung TVs that came out in 2018, up to this very year have NO SUPPORT WHAT-So-EVER for DTs, and I was told this by an assistant at Samsung who looked at ALL Televisions released by the company in 2018. So a big entry-level Qled Tv by the company: Q60C/Q60D has no DTS in the TV what-so-ever. There are some qled tvs out there that are just advertising their sound as just Dolby Atmos and DTS Virtual X and nothing else in their specification advertising as regarding their sound codecs for the TV. As I say, because the majority of DVD movie discs released as still, Dolby 5.1 and DTS 5.1 ( as well as other DTS codecs, the situation from the latest and best tvs of not even mentioning classic sound formats in their specification advertising is astounding. But in my case at home, yes… I do use a soundbar with HDMI connection.
The TV manufacturers not even mentioning the classic sound formats in their latest innovative technology televisions as part of the product specification , makes choosing a new tv a more difficult for the home consumer,especially people who are very new to these newer technologies in the latest models of televisions out there.
I backed up some of my movies on a hard drive and i keep getting a small skip through out the movie. For Blu-ray’s I’m doing 4gb I also tried 8gb but I keep getting the same skip. Why does this happen?
Plex is on all the ROKU TV's now out. I too bought the PLEX Pass. I have had other lifetime passes for programs downloaded off the web, and have had them cancelled when the service changed to subscriptions. That makes me thankful for Jellyfin as it's more likely PLEX will remain free if it has competition. Thanks, and I appreciate the transcript so as to review all the "tons" of information packed into a few minutes. Great videos.
I too am a proponent of using only DVDs own for your digital sources. I made a massive buy of used DVDs from Blockbuster and Safeway as a used DVD can provide a great picture and sound. I have all my DVDs in the 50 disk cake boxes and store them in our weather proof shed. I do use MagicDVD Ripper and tried a few other free types. If you run Task Manager at the same time you are ripping the DVD, you won't find your software name running, but Task Manager will show Handbrake. Many of these type of programs use Handbrake as the guts to their offerings. My ripper has bundled Handbrake with whistles and bells to simplify the type of end product you want with fixed results for all the things you list in LEAW. I have subscribed to your channel and will look forward to viewing more of your videos. I too use PLEX and have a 50TB Synology NAS with 30TB dedicated to my 15,550 mp4 files with movies, TV series, and photos. I've been collecting for years and travel for business a lot, so I like to have the back home experience when working in my hotel room. Smart TVs and their ability to have product "cast" to them has made that considerably easier. I look forward to your future videos. Thanks for sharing...
DumboFab Blu-ray Ripper is an easy-to-use yet professional Blu-ray ripping and copying program. It is skilled in removing copy protections and making discs region free. With it, you can easily extract the content out of a Blu-ray (DVD) and save it in popular video format such as MP4, AVI, WMV, MOV, etc which is readable by external hard drive HDD, SSD, NAS, USB, thumb drive, and the like. You can also make 1:1 Blu-ray copy to BDMV folder/M2TS/MKV losslessly and keep 100% original videos/audios/subtitles within only 5 mins.
You know, I could not tell you how to get the max but sharing in house you can use about anything but outside is going to require a fast upstream internet connection, I have 20mbps upstream with 2 or 3 family members watching at times no problem. Thanks for watching!
