Mar
31
Upconversion
Filed Under Terminology | Leave a Comment
A lot has been said about upconversion and I’m sure a lot remains to be said. Personally I find it to be of little benefit, at least as it’s typically utilized in low-end to mid-range consumer electronics. There are some great examples of pro-broadcast upconverison but that’s of little use to the enthusiast.
Upconversion can be found in several different forms, DVD players can up-convert standard definition DVD’s to output at resolutions of 720p, 1080i, or even 1080p, but just keep in mind that resampled pixels are no substitute for more “real” pixels. Upconversion can also be found (increasingly) in surround receivers. This is a broader catch-all approach and obviously offers you the ability to upconvert video signals that otherwise would be passed on in standard definition.
The third most common form of upconversion is one that anyone with a digital display has the ability to use right now. It’s called turning on the television and watching anything with a different resolution than the displays native rate. Ok sorry for the sarcastic example but it’s true. All digital displays upconvert to some degree or another, if they didn’t you’d see 480i/p and 720p as a (postage stamp) “window” inside 1080p displays. You’ve seen that very thing you say? In all likelihood that was improperly flagged video or double pillar boxed (both vertically and horizontally) by the broadcaster.
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Mar
30
Home Theater Budgets
Filed Under Shopping Tips | Leave a Comment
One of the most frustrating mistakes I see made in home theater is poor budgeting, specifically budgets widely skewed toward the display. Of course the screen is the most noticeable component of a home theater system and it’s literally where the action is while the movie’s playing, but displays that pass 70% or even 80% of the entire budget are counter-productive and rarely give the best bang for the buck.
The simple fact of the matter is audio (especially in the last few years or so) typically doesn’t see the rapid advancements that video does. In other words, it’s unlikely a display will remain “current” anywhere, near as long as a similarly priced audio system.
Yes, surround receivers have changed a bit in the last few years but once you have one capable of HDMI switching you’re pretty well assured not to see any significant advancements on the audio front (at least feature wise), for several years. Displays on the other hand see significant overhauls every 9-12 months. It’s this very reason I recommend not getting display-bitten and throwing an inordinate amount of your overall budget into the display, audio matters too, and probably more than you’ve considered.
Mar
29
HDMI 1.3 Cables: Certified vs. Compatible
Filed Under HDMI | Leave a Comment
You may have seen “1.3 certified” used as a selling point for HDMI cables recently but there are a few things you should know before paying a premium for these certified cables. Yes HDMI 1.3 is a recent revision to the original HDMI specification which adds extended support for deep-color and higher transmission rates. 1.3 also has additional support for Dolby TrueHD and DTS-HD Master Audio over the original specifications, but unless your source and display are HDMI 1.3 capable, the cable itself won’t add anything to the equation.
What’s more, some cables that haven’t been 1.3 certified (often sold as compatible) may be perfectly capable of delivering all of the HDMI 1.3 features. In other words, the lack of certification doesn’t mean the cable couldn’t pass if tested. This isn’t a new phenomenon in the audio/video world either. Many receivers that haven’t been submitted for THX approval could easily meet or exceed the criteria for THX approval. Often times it just doesn’t make sense to pay to have lower-end models tested.
Likewise, short of buying from a well known manufacturer or reseller, simply stating that a cable is 1.3 certified doesn’t always make it so. Thus far there really hasn’t been a big push for any kind of documentation or third-party verification of test results. None of this was in anyway meant to debunk the benefits of 1.3 or cast doubt on any reseller; I just want you to keep things in perspective when purchasing new cables.
Mar
28
Older Movies in HD
Filed Under HDTV | Leave a Comment
This one has rocketed to the top of the most asked list in the last two weeks, so without further delay: yes older (and just plain old) films can be “HD”. Not only can older films be HD, they can actually surpass the highest resolution HD format (1080p) several times over. In short the actual resolution of film far exceeds any consumer display technology in-use today. Note: I said today because the Japanese are hurriedly working on super HD resolutions as we speak.
Film, being an analog medium isn’t bound by digitals hard limit of x by y resolution, but that’s not to say analog film, or rather the equipment used to capture and project it doesn’t have limitations. A Group of ISO engineers measured the nominal resolution of film at around 800 lines of resolution by going into working theaters and projecting images of a resolution chart, and then measuring the results.
Those 800-900 lines of resolution were increased to well over 1600 lines of comparable resolution with newer projection equipment, but even this doesn’t accurately reflect the amount of resolution film can capture. Using digital scanners (skipping the entire projection process) it’s not unheard of the get over 3500 lines of resolution or more from a single frame of 35mm film. So as you can see “film” isn’t the weak link here, it’s our ability to retrieve the information from the film.
Mar
27
From time to time I encounter customers who want to use their subwoofers passively, i.e. to run their front left and front right speaker leads through the subwoofer to power it passively. While this isn’t something I generally recommend (due to the delicate nature of analog signals) there are preferred methods to improve the overall sound quality of passive subwoofers.
Every extra foot of cable and additional break in the signal path attenuates the signal slightly and eventually enough attenuation leads to audible distortion. Now this is an extreme illustration but it does happen. If you can’t run a low-level signal cable to the subwoofer (for whatever reason) try to make the leads from the receiver to the subwoofer as sport as possible.
Also try and use banana clips, spades, soldered on connections etc. over raw wire, raw wire can oxidize easily and enough oxidation can reduce the sound quality of the signal. Soldered connections obviously reduce oxidation to a great degree than twist on speaker leads but in this case anything is preferable to raw speaker cable.
Mar
26
We’ve discussed the proper seating distance from your display but what about the proper mounting height? It’s no secret that one of my biggest pet peeves is displays mounted so high on a wall that you have to crane your neck backwards to see them. While I’ll obviously never be able to talk everyone out of this mistake, I do have some tips for those who are more interested in the most enjoyable viewing experience; than seeing how high on the way you can mount your television.
Firstly keep in mind that the following guidelines are intended for your normal seating position, don’t decide where to place your display based on sitting at a barstool unless you do all your viewing from barstool etc, this goes for standing, laying down etc. You want to mount your television so that the center of the screen is roughly at eye level seated, you can go slightly higher than that but once you reach the bottom of the screen at eye level or higher you really should consider dropping it back down.
I know it’s easy to imagine the display higher and to want it higher but if you find yourself rubbing at a sore neck after viewing a whole movie or ball-game what’s the point? Sure these are just guidelines and every scenario is different but think about ergonomics more than aesthetics when deciding where to place your wall-mounted TV, your neck will thank me.
Mar
25
Identifying Ground Loops
Filed Under Surround Sound | Leave a Comment
Some call them ground loops, some a 60 cycle hums while others use the term mains hum. Whatever term you use to describe the annoyance, knowing how to trouble-shoot them is half (more really) the battle of eliminating them. A ground loop is a hum associated with audible oscillation at the frequency of the mains alternating current, i.e. your homes electrical service. In nine out of ten cases I run across group loops (hum) in audio systems that usually originate from the cable feed and or the satellite television lead from the dish.
Ground loops are typically (oddly enough) a grounding issue. Often times it’s either a broken ground that results in a hum or an intact ground that introduces the hum directly. The quickest way to eliminate the satellite or cable is just to remove the satellite or cable connection from the system and listen for the hum. If the hum remains with the cable removed you’ll need to keep looking at other pieces of gear and or connections.
If removing the satellite or cable TV feed makes the hum go away you’ll want to try one of two things, first trace your cable tv (or satellite) line back to its entry point into the house. If the feed has a splitter check to see if its grounded, if so lift the ground and then go back inside and listen again. If the hums gone you’ll want to look into alternate ways to protect you A/V system than the ground provided by the cable company. On the other hand if you see that the cable (or sat) isn’t grounded before it comes into the house that may be the culprit. All in all troubleshooting these problems is a process of elimination and a bit of experimentation afterwards.
Mar
24
Soundproofing Home Theaters
Filed Under Room Acoustics | Leave a Comment
Interest in soundproofing home theaters seems intrinsically tied to the price of the theater itself. In other words soundproofing a five thousand dollar home theater may involve shutting the door, but expectations obviously rise along with the bottom line. In general I recommend not even considering soundproofing until a few other criteria have been satisfied.
Firstly, is there even a need to soundproof? One client in particular inquired about soundproofing his home theater but didn’t seem to know who he was soundproofing it from; his kids were away at college and he and his wife always watch movies together. Secondly, are we even producing enough decibels to worry about soundproofing? It’s possible but every home is different and that has to be taken into consideration.
Also don’t confuse soundproofing with acoustical (sound) treatment, the former is meant to keep sound in (or out) while the latter is meant to improve the quality of the sound inside the room. One of the cheapest and easiest ways to “sound proof” a room is to use double drywall during construction. I know that may not sound cheap or easy, but it is compared to any solution once the room is completed.
Mar
23
Plasma Television Longevity
Filed Under Plasma Television | Leave a Comment
Many don’t stop to consider the life expectancy of plasma televisions but there are a few things worth keeping in mind to ensure longest life-span possible from your new purchase. Unlike DLP’s, or even LCD’s to some extent, there’s no such thing as a plasma bulb replacement and there certainly isn’t any way to “re-charge” the gas in them, that one’s pure urban legend. Now once a plasma starts to dim there’s really nothing one can do to reverse the process but that’s not to say there aren’t ways to lengthen your plasma’s life-span.
Most new plasmas can last ten or more years if treated well but running one hot can cut that life-span considerably. Hot would entail running the brightness and or contrast wide open and or leaving static images onscreen for long periods of time. That’s not to say the plasma will just shut off like clockwork at the ten year mark, but by this time it will be significantly dimmer than when it was new.
60,000 hours or more aren’t unheard of with plasma televisions so don’t think of them as poor investments. It’s just the displays that are taken care of last longer but that goes for anything right? To put things into perspective let’s say the plasma does indeed give up the ghost at 60k hours, you’d probably go through twelve or more DLP lamps during the same time period; at an average cost of $400, that’s $4800 easily more than the plasma’s cost to begin with. So as you can see, just because a display has a finite life-span that doesn’t necessarily make it a poor investment.
Mar
22
1080p Broadcasts?
Filed Under HDTV | Leave a Comment
I’m often asked when the networks will start transmitting their programming in 1080p. I usually reply something to the effect of: when they scrap 90% of the gear they use, replace it all with equipment capable of transmitting at those bandwidths and have every local affiliate across the country do the same, or in other words, please don’t hold your breath.
The good news however is that much of the 720p programming that is already broadcast into our homes looks excellent and the 1080i content that makes up the majority of all HDTV programming can be de-interlaced inside our televisions and displayed as 1080p. Given the current (good) state of HDTV broadcasting and the fact that the majority of HD displays in use are still 720p, and a few 1080p displays as well, many of them can’t even accept a true 1080p signal.
Again this probably isn’t something you should wait for with baited breath, you’ll surely run out of breath first. It’s unlikely we’ll even see widespread 1080p broadcasts this decade but again, the quality we already have is quite good in many cases, and if it absolutely must be 1080p at 24fps there’s always Blu-ray waiting in the wings.
Mar
21
This tip is aimed at the do-it-your-selfers out there, specially the folks wiring up new homes or adding additional wiring to their existing homes. Wiring is obviously an integral part of home theater. Wireless solutions are getting better and better every day but they still have a long ways to go towards the performance of traditional hard-wired systems.
We all know that speaker cables, CAT-5 and HDMI cables need to be ran to their corresponding locations in the home theater but don’t forget the coaxial cables. Coaxial is used for cable TV and also for component video, but do you know that RG-6 and RG-59 have specific applications and aren’t (ideally anyway) always interchangeable? Most coaxial cable can be identified by reading the cables jacket but it should be easy enough to tell RG-6 from RG-59 just from the cables diameter, RG-6 should appear considerably thicker than 59.
Use RG-6 for cable TV and RG-59 for component video feeds, RG-6 has better shielding for noise rejection and tends to work better for CATV. RG-59 on the other hand is rated at 75ohms and is better suited for the individual RGB (red, green and blue) carriers of a component video cable. RG-59 is also a bit more flexible which could come in handy considering the need for three cables versus the one for a single cable TV feed.
Mar
20
Dolby Digital or DTS?
Filed Under Surround Sound | Leave a Comment
One of the age old arguments in home theater has to be Dolby Digital versus DTS for surround sound. You’ll hear a wide range of reasons why one may be better than the other or why one might be better than the other, but it’s really much simpler than might’s and maybes. This is a case of the “bigger” technology not necessarily being the better technology.
Even though Dolby Digital processing is more familiar to the consumer at large, it’s actually DTS that holds the slight (depending on how you look at things) edge in overall sound quality. DTS uses less compression, roughly 1,536,000 bits per second versus Dolby Digitals 448,000 bits per second. Yes you’ll hear some say “but Dolby Digital has a more efficient encoding scheme, it doesn’t need as many bits to deliver the same quality of sound” or something along those lines. Simply put, it just doesn’t pan out that way in the real world,
More bits is more bits, efficiency is great but the data transfer rate can bottleneck performance just as fast as a low-bit encode. Now none of this is meant to paint Dolby Digital in a poor light, it’s a great codec and one that’s served us well, it and DTS however are bettered by PCM, TrueHD, DTS-HD and DTS-HD Master audio. So while this may be of interest to those of you with huge DVD collections, know that sun is already (albeit slowly) setting on both Dolby Digital and standard DTS in terms of overall performance.