AV Adviser

Remote control simplicity is vital to a home theater

If you're designing a home theater don't skimp on the control of it.  There's nothing worse than a great system that's difficult to control or where there's only one family member in the house that knows how the darn thing works. 

That being said, sometimes you can get away with using the remote control that came with the AV receiver or cable box.  It depends on the number of components in the system for one.  There's also times when a relatively inexpensive remote becomes more complicated than just picking up the specific remote for the device you want to control.  That does mean more clutter on the coffee table.  A price you'll have to pay. 

There's a good rule to go by when thinking about control for your home theater.  The more simple you want it, the more expensive it becomes.  That's because behind simplicity is a sophisticated backend that usually needs programmed by a specialist. 

Lifehacker just published a good article on remote control options, The Remote Control Conundrum: How to Choose the Right Remote for Your Home Theater PC.  They didn't delve into those expensive control systems like Crestron which are much more than a remote control but offer the ultimate in ease of use.  Still, it gives some good pros and cons to your standard options.  

If you have a question or if I may be of service email me at radiohannibal@gmail.com

John Hannibal

 

 

DirecTV tells installer to use component video and not HDMI

I've disliked HDMI from the start.  Granted, it's one simple cable that replaces 4 separate lines, but in the early days of HDMI there were many connectivity problems.  We'd often abandon HDMI and use component video lines instead.  But that was years ago. 

It's not a good idea to use component video anymore because the analog sunset is still happening.  Any high def signal eminating from a cable box outputting component video will be downgraded to 480i.  No more high definition TV.  That's set to happen at the end of this year unless consumers figure out they're getting screwed by the motion picture industry and their legislative supporters on the hill. 

There are still problems with HDMI from time to time, when one component won't work well with another via HDMI.  We call it a handshake issue.  So that was the case with a DirecTV box and a certain TV during an install.  The tech called DirecTV and was told to forget HDMI and use component video.  The problem is that the customer may wake up January 1, 2013 with no more high def.

Here's the story and the recorded call to DirecTV from CE Pro, HDMI Advice from DirecTV: Use Component Video Instead

If you have a question or if I may be of service email me at radiohannibal@gmail.com

John Hannibal

The future of TV everywhere and anywhere

I remember hearing futuristic stories of flat panel TVs so thin that they can be rolled up like a scroll, able to be placed on any flat surface in your home.  Content would be sent wirelessly to any of these displays you desire.  And for years science fiction has been portraying a world where we watch video from portable devices.  The future is here in many cases and a clearer picture (pardon the pun) is developing as to what's down the road. 

Here's a story from Adrienne Maxwell at Home Theater Review, Slowly But Surely, TV Everywhere Is Becoming a Reality in which she shows how live and on demand TV is being offered for mobile devices.  If you subscribe to a cable TV service and have a smart phone chances are you can watch some good TV where ever you are. 

Then there's a recent episode of Home Theater Geeks in which, host, Scott Wilkinson is joined by guest Kevin Wines, the imaging technology director for THX.  They discuss the future of video displays and delivery of content. 

This time of year may be slow in our industry but looking ahead is quite exciting.

If you have a question or if I may be of service email me at radiohannibal@gmail.com

John Hannibal

How Apple is conquering home entertainment with Airplay

A couple of weeks ago I listed my top five developments in consumer electronics and home entertainment.  Number five on the list was Apple's Airplay.

Since it's inception a couple of years ago nearly every consumer electronics manufacturer has built it into their AV receivers and other music devices.  The reason was because the seamless beauty of the interface between the iPhone or iPad was irresistable. 

Here's a story from CNET in which the writer addresses the question Should you care about built-in AirPlay on your AV receiver?  After all the positive reasons he gives for having the feature he ends by saying he wouldn't put too much concern in having it.  Huh? 

First of all, as I say, it's in nearly every AV receiver these days.  Secondly with the addtion of Apple's inexpensive Apple TV you can have Airplay even if your receiver didn't come with it. 

A picture, or in this case a short video, speaks a thousand words.  Here's a demo of how Airplay works with Yamaha AV receivers.  If you have a hard time grasping the concept this should help. 

If you have a question or if I may be of service email me at radiohannibal@gmail.com

John Hannibal

The wireless home theater receiver

Customers ask me quite often if there are wireless speakers.  The answer is yes but with a caveat.  Home theater in a box set ups sometimes use line of sight wireless rear speakers.  This is entry level stuff and something I don't recommend.  Aside from the inadequate sound reproduction the idea that if the line of sight is upset then the sound goes away.  Of course, between the receiver emitting the signal and the speakers is you and your couch. 

There's also the 900 megahertz technology used in cordless phones.  There are speakers that use the same RF signal (not line of sight) to get sound to a remote speaker.  900 megahertz makes for lousy sound. 

There's also Sonos which isn't exactly wireless speakers but rather a wireless source.  And, anyway, it's not used for home theater surround. 

I've written about Summit and there invention of wireless speaker technology for an av receiver for a few years now.  Their invention won best new product of the year in Popular Science a couple of years ago.  Then last year Aperion incorporated the technology into an av receiver.  Now there is such a thing as wireless speakers.  These speakers are amplified and thus need an AC outlet near each speaker though. 

Here's a short video on how it works. 

If you have a question or if I may be of service email me at radiohannibal@gmail.com

John Hannibal

Home theater designed after Batman Dark Knight films

It looks like a design straight from the set of Dark Knight Rises.  Every detail attended to from the seats the bookcases.  You feel as if you've stepped into Bruce Wayne's manor. 

That's what one Batman fanatic has done to create his ultimate home theater.  Here's the story, with a slideshow as well, from CE Pro, $2 Million ‘Dark Knight’ Home Theater is Ultimate Bat Cave.  That's right two million bucks.  Turning a dream into reality can sometimes be costly.  Especially if you want to make it one heck of a vivid dream. 

Is there a dream theater you'd like to create?  I have the team to make it come alive.  My company can design it, build it and install a system every bit as good as a commercial theater.  Just ask me. 

If you have a question or if I may be of service eamil me at radiohannibal@gmail.com

John Hannibal

Does a custom integrated home increase the value when it's time to sell?

I found an interesting story on Home Theater Review, Do Home Theaters Actually Help Sell Homes In Today's Real Estate Market?, investigating whether or not a home that has a theater, distributed audio and other custom integrated designs does better in the "for sale" housing market.  It's a question that should certainly be considered when deciding whether to make such an expenditure. 

The short of it seems to be that, yes, having modern technology in the home helps sell it.  In large homes it's almost expected.  In moderately priced homes it can differentiate itself from other homes that lack the gadgets.  Young home buyers are drawn to the technology more so than the elderly which makes sense. 

The problem is most appraisers see right past such amenities and don't take it into account when calculating their appraisal.  And don't get me started on home appraisals.  How is it, two months ago, when I tried to refinance my home the appraisal came in low.  Low enough for the bank to reject my refinancing application even though I'm not even close to underwater.  Yet, the county appraised the same home nearly $20,000 higher.  I know the realistic answer.  It's all about money and who wants it. 

But I digress.  The bottom line would seem to be, go for it.  Create the technological wonders of your dreams.  It may not be totally recuperated but it won't hurt the bottom line. 

If you have a question or if I may be of service email me at radiohannibal@gmail.com

John Hannibal

Missing the boat with Blu-ray audio

Back when Blu-ray discs first came out we music fanatics had visions of great music being produced in this format.  It would be better sounding than SACD or DVD-A.  After all, there's more room for data on a Blu-ray (BD) disc.  Imagine all the sound you can put on a BD if there's no high definition video.

Yet, here we are years later with only a trickling of releases coming out on BD.  The most prominent was Neil Young's ten BD set, Archives Vol. 1.  There's a few others that are note worthy but where's the abundance of riches we were promised.  Well maybe not promised but led to believe anyway. 

Gary Margolis of Home Theater Reivew wrote about it last week, Where Are My Favorite Records on Blu-ray?  I wonder if anyone will listen.  And you can take that comment two ways.  Will the record companies listen or do they wonder if the buying public will listen?

If you have a question or if I may be of service email me at radiohannibal@gmail.com

John Hannibal

 

21st century Top 5 home entertainment developments, number 1

Drum roll please...my pick for the number one development in home entertainment in the 21st century is HDTV.  It's that good.

HDTV was first introduced in the US in 2001 but it wasn't until 2006 when the government shut down analog TV on the VHF and UHF bands that America was forced to discover the beauty of it. 

And there's still people who have those set top boxes and an old analog TV.  I understand,there's those that can't afford it.  But there's also people who don't buy into it because they think, what's the big deal.  How blind they are. 

Worse yet are those who have an HDTV but don't have it set up properly either through improper hook up or ignorance as to what is needed to get it.  And the thing is, all the local channels are available for free in high def over the air.  And they look spectacular. 

To this day, I'll be watching, say, the Olympics and think to myself, damn that's a great looking picture. 

If you have a question or if I may be of service email me at radiohannibal@gmail.com

John Hannibal

21st century Top 5 home entertainment developments, number 2

We've reached the number two development in home entertainment for the 21st century.  For my money it's Sonos.  Here's a distributed audio system that has so much going for it.  It's great on numerous levels.

First of all it gives you access to all the music on your hard drive as well as content from the net.  That may be internet radio stations, thousands of them, or streaming music services like Pandora or Spotify (which came in at number 4 on my list). 

Then there's the fact that it can send this audio wirelessly, a godsend for apartment dwellers or homes that simply cannot be hard wired.  The more units you add the stronger the network. 

Lastly there's the beauty of the interface.  Bring it up on your iPad and you'll find yourself surfing through music for hours.  Now that's what I like, exciting people about music again. 

If you have a question or if I may be of service eamil me at radiohannibal@gmail.com

John Hannibal