AV Adviser

How A Turntable Is Made

There was a time that one wondered if there would even be turntables being made in 2012.  The plummet of vinyl sales at the end of the 20th century was dramatic.  But just as dramatic is the comeback of the LP. The vinyl record is still going to be merely a small niche of the music market but it's great to see youth gravitating to the archaic medium. 

So as long as there's still vinyl out there to be played someone needs to make turntables.  It was sad news a couple of years ago when Technics decided to stop producing the 1200, the gold standard in DJ turntables.  I wrote about it back then, The Best DJ Turntable, Technics 1200, Is Discontinued.

And how do you make a turntable?  Discovery Channel's entertaining show How It's Made featured a segment answering that question.  Pretty cool.

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

John Hannibal

Is 2012 Finally The Year Of OLED TVs

Talk about the boy who cried wolf.  Ever year at the Consumer Electronics Show (CES) in Las vegas someone is showing off a TV set using the organic light-emitting diode OLED technology.  The competitor to LED is used in mobile phones and camera displays but hasn't been cost effective in larger sized screens. Sony marketed a small 11" TV using OLED about five years ago with a very hefty price tag and a short life expectancy of the screen. 

OLED is attractive because, well, it's attractive.  The images are much better than on an LED screen giving better contrast, color, viewing angle and refresh rate.  They are more power efficient as well, a good selling point in this green world of ours. 

Yet, as I say, year after year the technology fails to be introduced into the market place because of the price and estimated lifespan of the product.  So is 2012 the year we finally see larger sized OLED TVs in the wild? 

More specifically we're looking at AMOLED.  The AM stands for active-matrix which is explained in the wiki link at the top of the story.  DuPont has been working on the technology for years.  The company has finally landed a deal with an unnamed Asian manufacturer.

Does this give this "leading", as they put it, Asian manufacturer enough time to get a display ready for January's CES show.  More importantly, has technology advanced far enough along to bring the cost down and the longevity up?

Here's a short clip on how DuPont makes an AMOLED display.

                                                                                                                                                            

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

John Hannibal

Protecting Your Equipment From Mother Nature

I'm here to talk about protecting your A/V gear from mother nature.  It's true.  Never leave your flat panel TV out in the rain.  I kid, I kid. 

Seriously though, the lightening storm that passed over my house while I lay in bed last night had me thinking and worrying a bit.  Should I run around my home and unplug all of my electronics?  Nah.  What are the chances?

Well, the chances may be somewhat slim, but guess what?  Someone's A/V is struck dead every time there's a lightening storm.  How do you prevent that?

Monster has been taking a beating the last few years in their flagship cable department.  With digital connections and HDMI (meaning less cables needed) the need for many cables has disappeared. Also the argument as to why an expensive cable is needed over an inexpensive one when it's just digital bits passing through is being met with solid disagreement. 

Lucky for them they have a great line of power products.  There's other companies too and you can do the research or hire me to consult for you.  The point is that a company like Monster has an array of power conditioners and power protection to protect your gear from lightening strikes and power surges that can destroy electronic equipment.  Whether your modest system needs only a power strip (please, don't think a $20 strip from Wal-Mart will protect you) or you need a heavy duty component to handle all of the amplification your system has. 

In my many years of seeing evidence first hand of TV's, receivers, computers rendered dead by mother nature I've come up with a theory.  Many of these instances happen in the outer ring suburbs.  I suspect that the damage happens there more often for two reasons.  One, there's less places for the lightening to strike, meaning the houses are further apart.  Two, if lightening strikes in an urban area the power grid can absorb the blow much more evenly.  A home in the country that is hit by lightening absorbs the entire blow and usually can't handle it.  

Damages can run into the tens of thousands of dollars.  A little foresight in protecting your investment makes all the sense in the world.  

If you have a question or if I may be of service call me at 440.724.0558 or email me at radiohannibal@gmail.com

John Hannibal