Volume 11, Issue 2 — January 29, 2014
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Editorial Editorial Editorial
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rAVe BlogSquad Industry News Audio Control & Signal Processing In Brief
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The Backlight Behind Samsung’s Bendable LCD TV
By Jimmy Kim DisplaySearch
As we reported, Samsung Electronics introduced a bendable LCD TV at CES this month. Other curved LCD TVs were introduced last year, but it was thought that bendable displays could only be achieved using AMOLEDs. Therefore, Samsung’s bendable LCD TV was more of a surprise than the AMOLED bendable TVs exhibited at CES 2014.
While one challenge in bendable LCD TVs is the LCD panel itself, bending the backlight could be even more difficult. A backlight is composed of a rigid plastic light guide plate (LGP) and a metal chassis, and the repeated bending and flattening of backlight is not as easy as it is for the LCD glass panel. Therefore, just using a curved backlight might not be adequate for bendable LCD TVs.
How then did Samsung make a bendable LCD backlight? The picture shows bendable LCD TVs in both flat and curved modes. The backside of the TV housing remains flat, even when the TV screen changes from flat mode to curved mode. Therefore, the backlight in this bendable LCD TV is most likely rigid (not bendable) and remains flat in both flat and curved LCD panel modes.
If the panel is bent while the backlight remains flat, it is likely to result in non-uniform luminance in the TV screen. To prevent it, the modification of several design factors, such as the LGP print pattern and LED light bar configuration, is required. Backlights for bendable TVs must cover both flat and curved modes and keep both the original (for flat) and modified (for curved) design rules in a single unit.
An optical film (or LGP) that can cover both flat and curved modes is not easily obtained. For edge backlights, the modification of LEDs may not be effective in preventing non-uniformity, as they mostly use side LED bar structures in which the bar direction is perpendicular to the bending direction. Thus, a direct backlight is the most likely candidate for bendable TVs.
Non-uniform luminance in direct type curved LCDs can be prevented by adjusting the spacing of each LED in a light bar or applying a different lens. For example, the backlight could combine two types of LED light bars, designed for flat and curved, in a single unit. This type of backlighting can work in flat mode by turning on the light bars in the flat backlight and in curved mode by turning on the light bars in the curved backlight.
However, this design only works with a fixed curvature; no changes in curvature radius can be made. Thus, Samsung’s bendable LCD backlight only allows for two modes: flat or curved mode with a fixed curvature radius of 4,500R. AMOLED bendable TVs do not have such a restriction, leading many to conclude that they are the real bendable TVs. Leave a Comment
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CES 2014: Much Ado… Or Not?
By Aldo Cugnini DisplayDaily
So, another CES comes and goes amid enormous promotion and the fallout of weather-related delays. Did it live up to the hype? Here’s a snapshot of this observer’s experience.
The highlight of the show must be 4K/Ultra HD. Not only did every major manufacturer show 4K displays — of course, LG, Samsung, Panasonic, Sony and the rest had a huge presence — but it seemed that every second- and third-tier manufacturer couldn’t risk getting caught at the show without one either. And not only were several of these displays curved, but LG and Samsung both demonstrated bendable displays; at the command of a remote, the display went from flat to curved in about 5 seconds. Some tongue-in-cheek remarks from the crowd regarding life-cycles brought a similar response — better get a service contract! Certainly, the appeal of such a feature could be more in its wow factor than its actual utility, but hey, it can be done.
A secondary technology caught in the halo effect of 4K is one of its potential enablers — High Efficiency Video Coding, or HEVC. Not blind to the practical issue of how to deliver content in 4K, many of the 4K sets include built-in HEVC decoding. In addition to making a reasonably-sized media server practical, combining HEVC decoding with Internet access (aka Smart TV) could make Web delivery of 4K content realistic.
One of the issues discussed at the CES Unveiled press event last fall was that of user sensitivity (or lack thereof) to the perceived difference between 2K and 4K. For this reason, some players are starting to emphasize the Ultra HD experience as combining the benefits of increased resolution as well as increased color depth – even to 12 bits per color. This is a benefit not lost on Dolby, who showed in a private demo their High Dynamic Range coding system called Dolby Vision. Suffice to say, after seeing the demonstration on a mainstream consumer display, side-by-side with a $100,000 pro-grading monitor, the increase in high- and low-luminance detail was startling.
The Smart Home is another area that received substantial attention, with large and small appliances all getting connected to the Internet, for growing convenience and energy-saving benefits to consumers. (Perhaps the devil was in the details, but you may have heard that Google announced after CES 2014 that it plans to acquire smart thermostat maker Nest Labs in a $3.2B deal. Perhaps that cute little round display may soon start showing Google videos on your hallway thermostat?)
Finally, we would be remiss not to mention another hotspot at the show — 3D printing. With take-home systems running at less than $500, consumers can start cranking out their own small molded action figures, even as a craft. But the technology is only starting to scratch the surface of exciting business uses. One such area could revolutionize the industry of injection-molded consumer-electronics device enclosures.
A very mature and key component of many devices including TV displays, the manufacture of injection molded plastics is both ubiquitous as well as closely guarded, with the expertise to build the molds being held by fewer and fewer craftsmen. 3D printing, while currently slow, could nonetheless be used to make rapid prototypes of the molds themselves, in a kind of lost-wax process, which could then be used to crank out the actual injection-plastic pieces.
An exciting CES overall, the coming months will be the acid test — in retail stores — to see how new product releases can continue to build off the momentum. Leave a Comment
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Give Me Steam: Steam Boxes From An AV Perspective
By Lee Distad rAVe Columnist
Perhaps the biggest story to come out of CES 2014 was the announcement of the Steam Boxes. Within hours of the initial press coverage, I was getting messages via social media from gamer friends who were, um, excited, to put it mildly.
If you’re even half a gamer (or your kids are), you’re already aware of Steam, the online store-front which supports third-party developers and publishers that — according to market research — now accounts for a huge percentage of non-Apple OS online gaming.
Seeking to avoid the restrictions of both Apple’s and Microsoft’s online ecosystems, Steam Corp has gone off on its own, developing Steam OS, a Linux based platform that gives them the independence to develop the concept of the Steam Box, what one friend of mine described as being “like Apple TV, but for gaming.”
Unfortunately, that analogy runs out of steam pretty quickly, pun intended.
Vexing is that at CES, Valve revealed no less than thirteen Steam Machine hardware partners, and made it clear that more are welcome to join the party.
Adding to the confusion is that not all of the specifications of the units that showed at CES have been finalized, walking that fine line between vaporware, CES-only science experiment, and that rarest of all CES babies: an actual, real product that will actually launch.
I’m not going to deliver a rundown of the comparative specs of the initial 13 rival Steam Boxes since that’s a topic that’s already been flogged hard in the gamer press. But suffice it to say that the compare and contrast has more in common with the one-upsmanship of the PC market than it does with even game consoles or the TV spec wars that you’re all more familiar with. It’s all “8GB of DDR3 RAM, a 500 GB HDD and a 2GB AMD Radeon R9 270 graphics card “ versus “a quad-core Athlon X4 740 CPU and 4GB of RAM” over and over again.
It’s the kind of spec war that will make the eyes of even a die-hard nerd roll back into their head.
And then other competitors go completely bonkers, like Digital Storm’s upper-tier Bolt II, a liquid cooled behemoth whose configurations include an Intel Core i7-4770k processor, Nvidia GTX 780 Ti graphics card, 16 GB of RAM, 120 GB SSD, a 1 TB hard drive, and a starting price of $,2600.
So where does Steam fit into the working lives of AV Pros?
The short answer: I don’t yet know.
It’s a safe bet that residential AV pros are going to be asked to incorporate Steam Boxes into large screen media room designs. In fact, I’d bet it’s already happened.
But where does the opportunity lie?
Probably not in selling Steam Boxes to your customers. One media commentator pointed out that these devices were indistinguishable from a baker’s dozen of custom built PCs. It’s also been pointed out several times that all it takes to be a “Steam Box” is to run Linux and include a graphics processor, which describes basically every PC today. From what I can see, it looks like the biggest competitor to the OEM Steam Box vendors who’ve already thrown their hats into the ring is going to be TigerDirect.com.
Not only do Steam Boxes seem to be ruled out as a profit source, they don’t seem all that different from incorporating an XBox or Playstation into your average AV install: HDMI to the display, SPDIF to the surround processor. Ta da. So it’s not like there’s going to be six hours of install and programming labor attached to one. Yet, like traditional consoles, AV Pros are going to be burdened with a certain degree of ownership of the box if something goes wrong with the system.
At least at the moment, the upside I see for AV Pros is in the “Wow” factor. Gaming via Steam Box on a giant screen in a dedicated Media Room is one more exciting reason for clients to open up their checkbook.
And that’s not a bad thing. It would probably behoove AV Pros who have a dedicated showroom to install a Steam Box into their rack and demonstrate it in action on the big screen.
Naturally, it’s still early. Perhaps we’ll see a consolidation of hardware, perhaps Steam Corp will dictate further standards, and perhaps there will be a few winners that will simplify the hardware choices presently available. And maybe further changes will make Steam more attractive, relevant and profitable to AV Pros than they are now.
We’ll see. Leave a Comment
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CEDIA Announces 2014 Executive Committee, Appoints Hagai Feiner to Board of DirectorsCEDIA announced this month that Hagai Feiner, founder and CEO of Access Networks will join the CEDIA board of directors for the 2014-2015 term. In addition to announcing the appointed director, the 2014 Executive Committee has been approved. The Executive Committee will serve a one year term. Members include:
Hagai Feiner was appointed by the 2014-2015 board of directors. Appointed directors are chosen from the manufacturer, distributor, industry-related professional, professional services and manufacturer sales representative member types.
CEDIA is here. Leave a Comment
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iPoint Launches as New Proposal and Management System for Integrators iPoint Control is a new software-based CMS (contact management system) that not only tracks client details, but is also integrated with a proposal system, a project management system, invoice and purchase order module, as well as a scheduling and dispatch module. It even syncs with QuickBooks. The Mac- and PC-compatible iPoint software suite uses a responsive design that re-sizes itself for desktop and tablet use. The company says the system is customizable.
If you haven’t heard about it, you should check it out here. Leave a Comment
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Pakedge Debuts W7R Rack-Mountable Dual-Band Concurrent Wireless Access PointPakedge Device & Software has expanded its wireless access point lineup with the introduction of the W7R Rack-Mountable Dual-Band Concurrent Wireless Access Point (WAP). The new W7R provides simultaneous 2.4GHz and 5.0GHz operation and comes with symmetrical rack-mountable brackets. Pakedge says the W7R offers improved range, data throughput and reliability along with greater configuration options compared to conventional designs.
The W7R utilizes Smartwav technology to proactively learn the wireless environment around the WAPs and dynamically direct its signal toward client devices and around potential sources of interference, like microwaves or thick walls. This allows Pakedge devices to produce a more powerful signal with greater coverage, yet still use less power. The W7R’s four Smartwav antennas allow it to broadcast constructive signals by synchronizing waveforms, further increasing range, throughput and quality of service via an extremely stable radio signal, without the peaks and valleys that characterize traditional wireless devices.
The W7R features band-steering functionality that can automatically push capable clients from the 2.4GHz band to the less-congested 5.0GHz band for improved performance. It employs Pakedge’s TruStream suite of features designed to provide best-quality streaming media performance. TruStream allows the W7R to recognize and categorize network traffic and ensure that high-priority traffic like streaming video, music or VoIP is given precedence. TruStream avoids interference or high latency, which can cause buffering, lag or even complete interruption of streaming playback.
The Pakedge W7R is optimized for use with smartphones, tablets, laptops and home control devices. Its SectorMaxx software takes a new approach to handling environmental wireless noise. SectorMaxx optimizes the device’s signal-to-noise ratio, yielding up to three times the broadcast range of traditional wireless access points.
The W7R offers three deployment options: standalone via built-in Smartwav intelligence, using the Pakedge PC and Mac Software Discovery Tool or integration with the Pakedge C36 Wireless Network Controller for a fully-harmonized network. The W7R also integrates with the Pakedge BakPak cloud-integrated mobile and web app, enabling reporting and basic maintenance to be done from anywhere in the world and across any platform including laptop browser, tablet and mobile device access.
The W7R provides multiple SSID and VLAN support. It is compatible with the Pakedge C36 wireless network controller to receive commands from a central control center. Like all Pakedge products, the W7R is specifically built for custom-installation and high-reliability applications, with an aluminum housing that provides maximum protection from interference and efficient cooling when used in tight spaces.
The W7R is here. Leave a Comment
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PreSonus Temblor T10 Subwoofer Offers More User Control PreSonus is shipping its new Temblor T10 subwoofer that’s designed to complement full-range studio reference monitors, including the PreSonus Eris and Sceptre, without overshadowing them. Presonus says the T10 is intended for serious personal studios and professional music-production environments, offering a tight low end due to fast and accurate transient response and providing user controls not normally available in this price range.
The T10 features a 10-inch glass-composite woofer, driven by 250 watts of Class AB power; a front-firing, bass-reflex acoustic port; optimized, resonance-suppressing internal bracing; and internal damping and heat sink. Frequency response ranges from 20 Hz to 130 Hz. The new subwoofer features left and right, balanced XLR and ¼” TRS and unbalanced RCA main inputs; if both XLR and TRS inputs are connected, the TRS input takes precedence. The T10 has left and right balanced XLR and ¼” TRS outputs and an extra subwoofer output for connecting a second T10.
Extensive user controls include input gain (-30 dB to +6 dB, continuously variable) and a continuously variable lowpass filter (50 Hz to 130 Hz) that allows users to create a seamless crossover transition between their full-range studio monitors and subwoofer for a more accurate listening environment. A switchable highpass filter removes frequency content below 80 Hz from the full-range signal sent from the T10 outputs to the main monitors, avoiding destructive cancellation and reinforcement in the T10′s upper range.
The T10 also features a momentary footswitch (included) that bypasses the subwoofer, highpass filter and sub out. This allows the audio source signal to pass directly through the Temblor T10 to the full-range studio monitors, enabling you to compare your mix with and without subharmonic frequencies to ensure your mix will sound good on a wide variety of systems.
You also get polarity invert and a ground-lift switch. The 15.75″ x 15.75″ x 12.6″ (400 x 400 x 320 mm), 39.5 lb. (17.9 kg) enclosure has integrated, gravity-calibrated rubber feet for stable placement.
The Temblor T10 is available immediately. Expected street price is $399.95. More information is here. Leave a Comment
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Blue Sky Launches Star System One 2.1 Blue Sky’s new Star System One 2.1 is a system that includes the Sub 12D digital powered subwoofer and two Sat 6D digital satellite speakers. The satellite speakers use a radial neodymium magnet structure and include a DSP that the company claims can correct for various baffle and driver characteristics and time-alignment of the drivers. The system employs Class D amplifiers that are designed to be used in a 2.1 or 5.1 arrangement, but can also be used as a full range system thanks to DSP and a unique sealed port design.
At the heart of the Star System One 2.1 is the new Audio Management Controller (AMC), which optimizes and controls a wide array of functions across the entire monitoring system. The AMC is a 5.1/7.1 digital processor with 31-band parametric EQ on each channel, time delays for channel alignment as well as lip-sync, sample rate conversion, and both analog and digital inputs and outputs.
The AMC’s hybrid touch/hardware remote control provides solo, mute, presets, master volume and other functions. Some setup functions, including room EQ, are accomplished in conjunction with a PC attached via the AMC’s USB port.
Expected to ship next month, the Blue Sky Star System One 2.1 will list for $5,385, with additional Sat 6D and Sub 12D units sold individually for $1,695 and $1,995, respectively. Full specs are here. Leave a Comment
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Triad Speakers Ships Thin Soundbar in Nano OnWall LCR 3.0 Triad Speakers is now shipping its Nano OnWall LCR 3.0, a three-channels-in-one passive loudspeaker system (soundbar) for today’s ultra-slim TVs. The company’s thinnest soundbar to date, the $1,200 Nano measures 1.6-inches deep (including grille) by 3.25 inches high and is available in both custom widths and paint finishes and it includes a wall mounting bracket as well as brackets to mount directly to the TV.
The Nano LCR 3.0 represents the first of a new series of ultra-compact sound bars from Triad that utilizes this new design process using extruded aluminum. The speaker is manufactured to order in Triad’s modern factory in Portland, Ore. In addition to custom paint-matching, the company offer optional (at extra cost) custom-sizing in widths to match the length of the video display.
Specs include:
- Dimensions (inches): 44 (w) x 3-1/4 (h) x 1.6 (d)
- Frequency Range: 190Hz – 20kHz (+/-3dB)
- Recommended Amp Power: 75 – 125 watts
- Nominal impedance: 6 ohms
- Sensitivity: 84dB (2.83v, 1m)
- Drivers: Six all-new 2-inch scan-speak drivers; three proprietary 1-inch cloth SB dome tweeters
All the specs are here. Leave a Comment
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Extron Announces 4K and Ultra HD SupportExtron has announced 4K (3840×2160 and 4096×2160) and Ultra HD (3840×2160) support in its signal processing and distribution products. Solutions include:
- Extending 4K and UHD video over a single twisted pair cable
- Videowall processors to leverage the high pixel density of the newest generation of displays
- Streaming encoders and decoders to extend 4K video over traditional network infrastructure
- Media players for playback of 4K content
- Fiber optic distribution systems when pixel-for-pixel signal extension and switching are required in mission critical environments
Extron has a 4K/UHD logo that will appear on select 4K and UHD capable products on both the company’s website and compatible products themselves. The company also says it will help integrators with systems design of both 4K or UHD AV systems.
For more information about Extron 4K Systems, click here. Leave a Comment
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RTI Now Shipping All New CX7 Countertop User InterfaceRemote Technologies Incorporated (RTI) is now shipping the CX7, a wired user interface for “always on” control panel. Designed for hard-wired installations on a countertop or under a cabinet, the CX7 is an adjustable tilt 7-inch multi-touch capacitive touchscreen LCD with analog audio and video inputs, stereo speakers, wired and wireless Ethernet, proximity and ambient light sensors.
The CX7 allows users to view and listen to sources such as satellite TV on its 7-inch, 800×480 WVGA LCD and integrated stereo speakers. It also features wired 10/100 Base-T and wireless Ethernet, which provide two-way control and feedback, access to Web pages, video from network security cameras and programming. In addition, a built-in camera and microphone will offer intercom capabilities in the future. Proximity and light sensors automatically bring the unit to life when it’s approached by an end user as well.
The CX7′s display can be lifted straight up, laid nearly flat, tilted at any level in-between, or the unit can even be inverted and mounted under a cabinet. The CX7 features multiple power source options, such as the included power supply and Power over Ethernet (PoE). Built-in high-output IR provides direct control of devices without the need for a separate control processor.
All the specs are here. Leave a Comment
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Savant Systems Hires William J. Lynch as CEOSavant Systems, LLC has that announced William J. Lynch has been appointed CEO. Robert Madonna, the company’s founder and CEO since 2005 will continue to help steer Savant’s innovation in his ongoing role as the Chairman of the Board. Lynch is the former CEO of Barnes & Noble and was responsible for creation of the NOOK devices and software and brought them to the consumer market.
To read the complete press release online, click here. Leave a Comment
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Wilson Partners with AiN GroupWilson Electronics, a manufacturer of cellular signal boosters, has signed an agreement with the Authorized Integrators Network (AiN) Group of GE Home & Security Technologies dealers, serving the residential and commercial building industry.
The agreement will make Wilson signal boosters and related products available to the extensive AiN Group member base of consumer electronics product installers.
To read the complete press release online, click here. Leave a Comment
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SurgeX Announces Lifetime Product Warranty, Five-Year Warranty on Connected EquipmentEnergy management and power protection company SurgeX announced this month a new lifetime product and five-year connected protection warranty for its Advanced Series Mode products.
To read the complete press release online, click here. Leave a Comment
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For all you REGULAR readers of rAVe HomeAV Edition out there, hopefully you enjoyed another opinion-packed issue!
For those of you NEW to rAVe, you just read how we are — we are 100% opinionated. We not only report the news and new product stories of the high-end HomeAV industry, but we stuff the articles full of our opinions. That may include (but is not limited to) whether or not the product is even worth looking at, challenging the manufacturers on their specifications, calling a marketing-spec bluff and suggesting ways integrators market their products better. But, one thing is for sure, we are NOT a trade publication that gets paid for running editorial or product stories. Traditional trade publications get paid to run product stories — that’s why you see what you see in most of the pubs out there. We are different: we run what we want to run and NO ONE is going to pay us to write anything good (or bad).
Don’t like us, then go away — unsubscribe! Just use the link below.
To send me feedback, don’t reply to this newsletter – instead, write directly to me at gary@ravepubs.com or for editorial ideas: Editor-in-Chief Sara Abrons at sara@ravepubs.com
A little about me: I graduated from Journalism School at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill (where I am adjunct faculty). I’ve been in the AV-industry since 1987 where I started with Extron and eventually moved to AMX. So, I guess I am an industry veteran (although I don’t think I am that old). I have been an opinionated columnist for a number of industry publications and in the late 1990s I started the widely read KNews eNewsletter (the first in the AV market) and also created the model for and was co-founder of AV Avenue – which is now known as InfoComm IQ. rAVe Publications has been around since 2003, when we launched our original newsletter, rAVe ProAV Edition.
rAVe HomeAV Edition, co-published with CEDIA, launched in February, 2004.
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rAVe HomeAV Edition contains the opinions of the author only and does not necessarily reflect the opinions of other persons or companies or its sponsors. |
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