Home Theater

My Christmas gift to myself this year was a Blu-Ray player...or as my daughter first pronounced it, a "blurry" player.  As usual, it took me a few weeks to figure out exactly which model I wanted.  In the end I went with the Oppo BDP-83 Blu-Ray player.

At $500 it's about twice as expensive as others on the market and certainly more than a PS3, but for me it met my requirements and "reasonable cost" is always a relative term.

So why the Oppo? and what do I think about it now that I've had it a few weeks?

I've always hated the mess of cables that were required to connect all the components of my home theater system.  Between the DVD players, Tivo box, game machines, cable box, and Netflix streaming box, the rats nest of cables behind my component rack just keeps expanding.  Each component has some combination of audio, video and power cables (some with associated power bricks) that are needed to get them connected to the rest of the system.

And don't forget the speaker cables.  We've gone from 2 channel stereo to a minimum of 5.1 channels with options to go to 9.1 channels.  Finally, with flat panel TV's that we can hang on our walls, getting the audio, video and power cables to them is even more of a problem.

Contrast this with the way the rest of our world is evolving.  It's going wireless.  From our phones to our MP3 players to our computer networks, GPS receivers and satellite radios.  It's all about being free to roam around without wires tying us down.  We are quickly moving toward a world where we expect our devices to understand and automatically adapt to this wireless world.  So why can't our home theater equipment do the same?

Let me describe how I think it could work and then I'll talk about three existing or emerging wireless technologies that might converge to help get us a step closer to that vision.

The Vision

I would love to be able to buy a new component, bring it home and set it in my component rack.  I hit the power button (note that I didn't plug anything in) and my receiver would recognize that a new component was placed nearby, think plug and play.  The receiver and the component would talk to each other to help the receiver know what type of device it was, what it's requirements were for audio and video connectivity (speeds and feeds) and ask me to name the source component.  I would enter something descriptive like Blu-Ray Player and it would automatically assign the inputs to that device and push the information to my universal remote to allow me to select that component with a single push of a button.

This may sound like pie in the sky thinking, but many of the technologies to make this happen are here or in development.  More about some of those later.  The real problem isn't technology, it's getting the myriad of component manufacturers to agree on a standard for the devices to communicate their requirements to each other.  The manufacturers like to try to differentiate their equipment with proprietary features and getting them to agree on a base set of features that could be negotiated between them seems impossible.  But in my view, it's all about convenience, and consumers are usually willing to pay for that.  If the manufacturers would understand this, they would not be so scared at the prospect of a universal set of standards.  Sure, the devil is in the details, but harder problems have been solved.

There's also the small issue of some wireless standards for video distribution of High Definition signals.  But as I mentioned, there are some emerging technologies that could make this all a reality.

It's nearly official, the retirement of analog TV broadcasting and the switch to all digital TV broadcasting is on hold.  The House and Senate have passed a bill that will delay the switchover from February 17^th, to June 12^th.  All that remains is for President Obama to sign the legislation which is nearly a certainty.

Why do I care?  Does this affect me in any way?  Well, no.  I'm not one that only gets their TV signal over the air and only have analog TV's.  Quite the contrary.  All the TV's in my home can receive digital signals or are connected to my local cable provider and I already receive digital HD content over the air, so I'm ready for the switch.  I don't work in the broadcasting industry, so I don't have to maintain equipment to support both analog and digital delivery of content.  But I thought a trip down memory lane would help to put this all in perspective.

The original mandate to convert television from an analog medium to a digital one began back in 1996...that's right, 13 years ago.  The original decree gave the broadcasting industry 10 years to make the necessary investments in equipment and infrastructure.  Seems like a long enough time, right?  But no.  In 2005, it was decided that the broadcasters weren't ready for a 2006 transition and were given an additional 3 years, or until 2009.  Also, congress mandated that all new TV's sold starting in 2007 should be able to support a digital signal in addition to the old analog.

Fast forward to 2009 and now as the date approaches, it's not the broadcasters that aren't ready, it's the users.  Despite a massive advertising campaign to try to provide information to people about the switch, much of it as TV advertising, there are apparently still millions who aren't ready, 6.5 million according to Nielsen.  That's a small percentage of total viewers, less than 6%, but groups are screaming that we can't cut people off from their source of information.  Wait a minute...information source?  Do they seriously expect us to believe that these people are watching TV for information?  I don't think so.  Most people are busy being entertained or watching crappy reality shows.  If they were watching TV for information, they would know the switch was coming and would be ready.  Besides, it's not like if their TV went dark they wouldn't be able to get information.  There's still radio.  Or heaven forbid, they should go buy a newspaper and read.  I think we can make the switch and then let the antenna's fall where they may.

Analog TV has been around for what, nearly 60 years?  That's a long lifetime for a technology.  Here's a few tidbits on other technology lifetimes for comparison.

DVD killed the VHS tape.  DVD for home video was originally released in 1996 in Japan and the US in early 1997.  A short ten years later, the last movie was released on VHS, officially signaling the death of that technology that was born in the mid 1970's.  There was no discussion of the millions of people who hadn't yet bought a DVD player.

CD's are in steady decline now.  Originally released as a consumer technology in 1982.  They are certainly on their death bed after less than 30 years.  They are quickly being replaced by electronic downloads through the Internet.  There is noone screaming about those who don't have an Internet connection being cut-off.

HD-DVD died last year after only about 2 years of life as a consumer product.  Although this was a newer technology with little penetration into the broader market, its death still left many stranded with an obsolete box.  Again, no discussion of what to do for those people who made the plunge.

13 years is long enough.  It's time for the change.  Is 4 months really going to make that much of a difference?  I personally don't think so.  All it does is hurt the broadcasters and keeps the analog spectrum from being used for other things.  Technology's naturally become obsolete, that's the way things work.  Pull the plug on analog TV like you would a band-aid...there will be some short term pain, but it will soon pass.

I thought I would follow up on a few issues I had with some electronics for my home theater.  I'm sure not too many care, but since I posted about the problems earlier, I thought I would close things off.

I had posted earlier about my subwoofer dying and well, it turns out getting it fixed wasn't that big of a deal.  It's a Velodyne HGS10, which I bought back in 1999.  It's since gone out of production, but a simple call to Velodyne, filling out a form and sending it via email and there you go, an RMA was issued.  I shipped off the defective subwoofer (the electronic guts only) and they promptly shipped back a replacement, after a rather substantial charge on my credit card, but certainly less than a new subwoofer.  I expected as much...no warranty lasts 9 years.  When it arrived, I put it all back together and voila, back in business.  The whole endeavor took less than two weeks.

Next, some of you know that I received a Roku Netflix player for Christmas.  Unfortunately, it was Dead on Arrival.  On Christmas day I began the email exchanges with their tech support, jumping through the basic troubleshooting hoops...yes, I tried another electrical outlet and yes I tried resetting the device, and finally, two weeks later, they ask for an address to ship a new device to.  I wait a few days...no response, so I prod them via email.  Two days later they inform me they've processed my replacement and are shipping it to me.  Well, I received it today, plugged it in and this one is alive and kicking.  The whole process took a little over three weeks and they included a return mailer for the defective device.

With all the horror stories you hear and read about customer service, both of these were rather pleasant and relatively easy to deal with.  But I suppose no one writes or rants about good customer service experiences, do they.

Well, I may have to go back and give the Transformers movie another star...it seems that after watching that movie, my sub-woofer has decided to go on the fritz.  That's a technical term for it ain't working no more.  In fact, it likes to make noises on its own whether it's receiving a signal or not.  Must have gotten too good a workout from all them splosions and stuff.  It's probably just coincidence, but you have to blame it on something.

The sub is a Velodyne HGS-10 that I got some years back and it's been a great sub so I hate to just throw it away but as with most electronics, it's typically a pain to try to find somebody who can actually fix it.  I orignally bought the Velodyne because it was small and powerful.  At the time, my home theater room was my family room and space was at a premium, so a huge subwoofer was out of the question.  I had heard of the Sunfire subwoofer which relied on pushing lots of air with a smaller cone using a more powerful amplifier.  It was a nice compromise.  The HGS series from Velodyne was their answer to Sunfire and I ultimately went with their sub.

I remember getting the Avia Home Theater test disc and running my system through the paces.  I already knew it sounded good but I was curious just how low my sub would go.  The subwoofer test basically sends a signal to the amp that started at 120Hz and drops to about 20Hz.  The purpose of the test is to help determine the crossover point between the main speakers and the sub.  As I ran the test I stopped hearing the sub around 40Hz, but I sure felt it in my chest and as the signal dropped to around 20Hz, the refrigerator in the adjoining kitchen began to rattle quite loudly.

That was cool, so I ran the test again...and then again, each time with the same result.  Except after the third time I began to get nauseous.  Basically, my body couldn't handle my insides rattling around from the low frequency vibrations.  I figured I had a pretty good subwoofer in terms of frequency response and I think I had the crossovere adjusted properly.

So now the trick is how do I get it fixed.  The nearest service center is in Dallas or Houston, not really easily accessible during lunchtime.  But I really want to get it fixed as I'm not really keen on spending big bucks on a replacement right now.  So my quest begins.

Home Theater Magazine's February 2008 issue has a couple of really good articles.  One giving a tour of the B&W speaker factory with tons of cool pictures and the second article comparing 7 HDTV's which included the 5 TV's I had considered when I was making my purchase back in November last year.  I've listed the models below in alphabetical order.

• JVC LT-47X898 - LCD TV
• Mitsubishi 57833 - DLP TV
• Panasonic TH-50PZ750 - Plasma TV
• Pioneer PDP-5080HD - Plasma TV
• Samsung HLT6187S - LED based DLP
• Sharp LC-52D64U - LCD TV
• Sony KDS-60A3000 - SXRD (LCOS) TV

How did my Mitsubishi 57833 fare?  Well, lets just say the title above says it all...but which one won??

Finally, a few media demo's of the upcoming technology of Laser TV's are starting to hit the news channels.  This first one describes the technology pretty well.

This next one has a side by side comparison with plasma

I would imagine these will make their debut at CES next week in Las Vegas.  Availability is not known, but looks like this technology might just meet the promise of killing plasma.

Well, I've had my new Mitsubishi 57833 for a little over 2 weeks now and I've had a chance to use it quite a bit.  I've watched over the air HD football and regular shows, I've watched non-HD cable TV using the antenna input (I don't have a cable box) and of course I've watched a few movies over the HDMI input.  Along the way, I've tinkered with a few of the settings and used the Avia Guide To Home Theater DVD to set the basic settings.  So now, it's time for the verdict...is it worth the money?

I had ran across this technology when I was researching TV's for my home theater and the message boards were saying these TV's were right around the corner.  This did make me wonder if I should put off the purchase for a while, but after not finding much real information on the technology, I went ahead and picked up a nice TV.  Besides, you can wait forever for the next big thing.

Recently, I ran across this article about Laser TV's.  Supposedly this technology is going to kill the Plasma TV.  How many technologies have we heard that about...LCOS, SED's, OLED's.

From what I can tell, this technology looks like another way to get rid of the spinning color wheel and arc lamp in current DLP TV's and replace them with a laser.  So a similar concept to what Samsung did with the LED based DLP's.  I assume this technology could be used in any TV that uses an arc lamp today.

I'm all for getting rid of moving parts and expensive bulbs in a TV.  Just the idea of a spinning color wheel in a TV sounds like a kludge.  Isn't this the digital age?  why are we dealing with rotating color wheels?

The article states that Mitsubishi will be announcing something in January about their plans for Laser TV's which means they probably won't be available until late next year if not 2009.  So by the time I get around to putting together the next media room, these should have been out for a few years and all the kinks will be worked out.  Of course, there will be at least 3 other technologies to cycle through by then.

If you want to find out more about the technology, here is a link to one of the companies building the lasers.

www.novalux.com

We'll have to wait and see if this technology actually materializes and lives up to it's hype, or it may be that Dr. Evil isn't the only one who can't get frickin' laser beams.

Today was turkey day, so that can mean only one thing.  The Cowboys and the Lions will be playing football, not each other, but they will be playing.  I'm not sure how that tradition started, but it's been that way as long as I can remember.  This event gave me a great opportunity to see how the new TV handled the job.

I took this opportunity to snap a few pictures of the TV in action.