Audio/Video (AV) Receiver Specifications and Terminology - What do They All Mean? (Page 4 of 4)

This section covers some of the major features that may be included in an audio/video receiver.

HDMI switching simply means that whatever input from any source you select will be sent to the HDMI output. HDMI switching is a highly desirable feature, and only the rudest, most minimal A/V receivers will lack it.

Video conversion works in conjunction with HDMI switching. It's the ability to take any input, whether it be composite, component, S-video, or an HDMI input, and send it to the main HDMI output for the HDTV. Some A/V receivers are quite elaborate about this and can provide video conversion that does not just go to the HDMI output. For example, they can convert S-video to composite or composite to component. This is not a terribly difficult feature for the manufacturer to implement, but it's very handy if your home theater setup includes gear from different generations. A DVD-R, or DVD Recorder, with S-video and composite inputs would benefit by using the S-video output, for example.

This is the ability to take any source at any resolution and output 1080p. It's useful for "up converting" standard DVD (480p) to the full resolution of the television. Receivers have a small CPU dedicated to this task that manufacturers like to brag about. A few years ago this was a big selling feature that differentiated different receivers, but now the hardware is common and inexpensive, and a good A/V receiver should be able to do 1080p up conversion.

The previously mentioned CPU that handles up conversion is also responsible for surround decoding, digital to analog conversion, and analog to digital conversion. It's known as the DSP, or digital signal processor. Manufacturers make lofty claims like "32-bit floating point processor" or "400 MIPS processor," but it's generally safe to assume that the DSP is fast enough to do the conversions and surround processing that the manufacturer lists elsewhere in the specifications.

All A/V receivers will have at least one set of speaker output terminals. Some receivers have two pairs of speaker outputs, allowing music to be "piped" into another room. In this case, the user is allowed to switch between the speaker sets using a toggle between set A and B.

Multi-zone, on the other hand, means that the second set of speaker outputs can play independently of the main set. In other words, the multi-zone speaker set does not have to play from the same source as the main set - it can play something totally different. This is a high-end feature not found on inexpensive receivers.

Well, that's it for now. If you're looking at a feature or specification that we haven't covered here, please leave a request in comments. Comments are moderated, so there will be a short delay before they appear, but we'll reply to all comments.

Thank you for reading this. We wish you good luck in your selection of a suitable home theater audio/video receiver. Thanks, too, for visiting Bright Hub.