Mar
7
Aspect Ratios
Filed Under Home Theater Theory | Leave a Comment
I feel a bit strange even discussing aspect ratios in 2008 but just the other day someone asked me, “Why doesn’t it fill up the entire screen?” referring to the 2.35:1 “cinemascope” movie playing on the 16:9 screen. “It’s a different aspect ratio” I replied, “the films cinematographer picked it because they felt it was the most appropriate aspect to help tell the films story.” That generally sounds a bit better than “that’s just the way they shot it”.
There are a million different analogies one can use and most of them get the point across but in a nutshell, some films just lend themselves to wider aspect-ratios (scopes) than others. The question of zooming i.e. stretching the content vertically to fill the screen often goes hand in hand with any discussion of aspect ratios.
Personally I never zoom, crop, stretch, fill or otherwise alter anything I’m watching if it all possible. That said I understand why others may want to make sure every last inch of screen space is filled. In the end the decision to zoom or crop is yours. I’d urge you to at least give the original aspect ratio presentation a shot from time to time, you might be surprised to see how much of the image is lost when using zoom and crop functions.
Mar
6
Fiber Optic Ceilings
Filed Under Theater Decor | Leave a Comment
Ok we’ve delved into some of the basic principles around home theater displays, speakers and video sources. Now it’s time to discuss some of the finer points of home theater décor. I’d like to start with fiber optic ceilings, by now I’m guessing that most of us have seen them in one form or another and it’s those forms specifically I wanted to discuss. Years ago if you wanted a fiber optic ceiling (or the effect of one) that meant hiring someone proficient in fiber optics to place individual strands of fiber optics into an existing ceiling or into new panels to be affixed to an existing ceiling.
Alternatively a fiber-optic ceiling effect could be achieved through the use of black-lights illuminating small “dots” of paint on a darker background, the result achieved by this technique are surprising, in some cases even rivaling a “true” fiber optic ceiling. The drawback is, again just like a true fiber-optic ceiling a painted/black-light ceiling requires highly skilled labor (in this case an artist).
The third and most recent option for a star-filed ceiling comes in the way of a rather innovative product called iSky. The iSky system uses pre-configured panels that link together with panel 1 powering panel 2 and so on. The panels use “traditional” fiber-optic strands but because the panels are pre-configured off-site they can be offered for less than “traditional” fiber-optic ceilings. The really neat part about the iSky system is that the panels can drop right into existing drop-ceiling grid systems or be attached directly to a sheet-rocked ceiling.
Mar
5
Seating: Let Your Backside Decide
Filed Under Seating | Leave a Comment
Quick and to the point tip today and it involves home theater seating. Seating is one of those areas I see decided on by emotion rather than logic, and it happens all the time. It generally runs down like this, couple (a) spends months on end designing, building and finally installing their home theater, and they ultimately find that “perfect” chair, the only problem is the chair is far from perfect, it may look just the part but it might feel like a stone bench.
Seating is a big investment, looks are important but what really matters is comfort. I see a lot of people make the mistake of choosing based on looks without really spending some time in the chair or loveseat, to see how it feels. Yeah it may have red stripes and purple suede backing JUST like your theater, but if it’s uncomfortable all the looks in the world won’t matter a few short weeks later. Take your time, seating is important, making a rush decision with seating could ruin the entire experience in the long run.
Mar
4
Mounting Flat-Panels over Fireplaces
Filed Under Plasma Television | 1 Comment
Of all the questions I’m asked about mounting LCD’s and plasmas, “can I mount one over a fireplace?” has to be in the top ten, or five now that I think about it. Obviously this is a multi-faceted question and the only way to tackle it is to go through the individual scenarios one by one. At the risk of stating the obvious common sense should always be your starting place when asking yourself this question.
If you’ve got a huge stacked-stone wood burning fireplace that runs all winter long then the obvious answer to this question is an emphatic no. If the heat doesn’t destroy your display over time the smoke and fumes will. On the other hand if we’re talking about a gas fireplace, with glass doors that gets used once or twice a year, it’ll probably be just fine. But more importantly than any of these tips, I have to go back to good ol’ common sense here, if the areas hot to the touch you probably don’t want to mount anything there.
Likewise if there are enough fumes or smoke to make your eyes water while standing close to the fireplace, again probably not the best idea. Smoke and fumes can discolor the lamp and or optics inside a display giving the image a dark or yellowish tint, this is just as big a concern as heat.
Mar
3
The Most Important Speaker
Filed Under Home Theater Speakers | Leave a Comment
While they’re all important (speakers that is) consider for a second the silent movie. Sure those early silent films had live musical scores and brilliant actors on-screen, who could convey their feelings with just a look, but modern audiences have come to rely on the spoken word for our cues into the cinematic experience. Rely is probably too soft, demand is more like it.
It pains me to see 5.1 or 7.1 surround sound systems with a good sized sub, rears that are adequately balanced front to back, and an anemic center channel up front whose job is to recreate 80% or better of the dialog present in the films soundtrack. I always advise my clients that if they’re forced to trim some fat from their speaker budget, the center channel wouldn’t be the best place to start.
If anything I feel people aren’t spending enough on their center channels, the ol’ if I can’t understand what their saying I’ll just turn it up mentality just won’t cut it. You’d be better off with a puny subwoofer than a lackluster center channel. To sum up, if I were buying surround speakers all over again, I’d probably balance my budget to something along the lines of 55/60% for the left, center, right and the remaining 40/45% for the surround’s and subwoofer.
There’s nothing wrong with a more “even” (traditional) split but once you’ve heard all the explosions, car crashes and karate chops, you’ll probably want to actually hear what the actors have to say.
Mar
2
Contrast Ratio
Filed Under Terminology | Leave a Comment
I wanted to speak for a second about contrast ratio, as it seems to be one of the most misunderstood display measurements among consumers I’ve encountered. In a nutshell, a displays (be it plasma, LCD, DLP, SXRD etc) contrast ratio is the difference between the brightest image the display is capable of rendering versus the darkest. With that, it’s pretty easy to see why you’d want the highest contrast ratio possible. Just imagine high-noon in a western versus the darkest night possible in a horror movie and everything in-between.
Ok, so now we all know that (in theory at least) the higher the contrast ratio the better, so all we have to do is pick the display with the highest overall contrast ratio and the stars and planets will align right? If only it were that simple. Manufacturers are notorious for finding some pretty creative ways imaginable to get the best test results possible. This includes using tweaked product samples, conducting the tests in less than real word environments, and outright deception.
I generally advise clients to think of contrast ratios as a starting point, not the final destination. If you’re comparing model (a) to model (b) from the same manufacturer that’s fine, the numbers will generally be accurate but you’ll want to see a display first hand before making any judgment based on contrast ratio with displays from different manufacturers.
Mar
1
Wireless Rear Speakers
Filed Under Surround Sound | Leave a Comment
I’ll be the first to admit I’m a bit old fashioned about certain things and wireless speakers are one of them, but before I get too deep into this I want to explain what this is. I’m talking about wireless rear speakers for use in home theater settings where it’s just not possible or cost prohibitive to run wiring for the rear channels, not wireless speakers systems in general. Ok about the being old fashioned part, up until very recently wireless speakers were a bit of a pariah in the industry. They had poor frequency response, were subject to pops, crackles, outright signal loss and a myriad of other problems that just made them more hassle than they were worth. Thats slowly changing however but I do stress slowly.
Products like the “Rocketfish - Universal Wireless Rear Speaker Kit” make wireless rear speakers possible but in all honesty the sound quality is quite poor, mostly due to the built-in amplifier used. Would you notice with a small pair of low-quality bookshelf speakers? Probably not but pair them with something a little larger and capable of resolving some detail and you’ll quickly hear the difference. That’s not to say all wireless speaker systems are to be avoided, in the last few years the transmission rate has been pushed up as high as 1.5mbs at 2.4GHz which is a big improvement over early models.
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