Setting up a home entertainment system used to require a lot of preparatory reading, some audio-visual technical know-how and hours of shopping - just to piece together a jumbled system that was ultimately sub-par.
Now, you can pop into an outlet of the electronics chain Fortress and pick up a decent DVD home-theatre kit for less than HK$4,000, with all the core elements - a DVD player, an audio processor, speakers - in one package.
The trend is towards all-in-one entertainment systems that can support a wide range of disc formats including super-audio CD, DVD, video CD, CD, CD-R/RW and MP3.
The new DAV-SA30 from Sony is an all-in-one disc player and audio processor. It kicks out quality surround sound through five fist-sized speakers and an 80-watt subwoofer.
Its five-disc changer plays DVDs, audio CDs, VCDs and MP3s.
Compatible with jpeg format images stored on CD, it allows users to view photographs on their television.
The DAV-SA30 comes with a progressive scan system, so users can enjoy DVD movies in sharp, vivid detail no matter which video output they choose.