Surround Audio Passthrough

A receiver needs the original multichannel track, not a stereo downmix of it.

Wired Ethernet Connection

Heavy streams stutter on Wi-Fi, and a theater rack usually sits near a switch.

HDMI-CEC Device Control

One press should wake the receiver, the display, and the source in the right order.

Local Media File Playback

Ripped discs and downloaded files are still where the best picture quality lives.

Automatic Frame Rate Match

Judder on film content is obvious on a large screen in a dark, quiet room.