Volume 11, Issue 8 — April 30, 2014
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Editorial Editorial Editorial Editorial
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Industry News TVs Audio Control & Signal Processing
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Gaming the AV Industry: A Game Plan for an AV Game Room
By Matt Cooper Lead Designer
I’m always up for a challenge and recently, Mark Coxon threw down the gauntlet and asked me to get a little more specific on what a home theater gaming setup would look like. Although it’s true I haven’t worked directly for a true AV integrator — I have done some HomeAV design and install work for our own local home theater design company. I’ve also lived and breathed AV products for the last 8+ years and covered InfoComm and CEDIA since 2009. So, while I respect and understand that the breadth of experience most of our readers hold over me, I think you’ll agree that this setup will hold water for a particular set of clients.
To recap, here’s a list of requirements in Mark’s blog:
- Connecting the system into a distributed AV switch or routing system
- Extending the Bluetooth/wireless connectivity from the central console to each display so the controllers can work in remote locations
- Extending the Wii Sensor Bar or Kinect Sensor either wired or wirelessly to each display so that sensor can be moved to the room where gaming is desired.
- Description of the cabling or wireless extenders, etc. that should be used and how these terminate at each end for connectivity.
- An explanation of how to centralize games on the console to eliminate changing discs (can you download directly to console, rip existing disc based games to console, etc.)
- A nod to the console’s ability to also act as a hub for apps and as a media server
- A way to extend the storage capacity via NAS or similar device
I’ll jump right in and address a couple issues — one thing that surprised me was the lack of promised features in both the Xbox One and the PS4 when they came out. To be fair, I shouldn’t actually be surprised given the lack of professional AV options in most consumer products. Some of the features are coming this year, but some might never — and this does affect your theater design and some of Mark’s requirements — for instance, extending the connection to the console cameras/sensors, Mark’s third requirement. The Wii is the easiest as it uses an array of IR receivers and a 50-foot roll can be bought for $20 (you could probably splice Cat5 for even less). The PS4 and Xbox use custom versions of the USB3 standard to accommodate the high-bandwidth multiple cameras and sensors. You can read many pages of anguish and experimentation from the good folks over at AVS forums. In short, there is probably some kind of power injection going on on cables longer than the stock length. Monoprice is supposedly working on the issue and hopes to come out with both PS4 and Xbox One camera extension cables. I don’t think the issue is insurmountable, but in the meantime, I’m going ahead with my theater design that places the four consoles center stage, quite literally. Hypothetically, if the room layout was perfect, you could locate the rack in a closet closest to the wall with a screen. There should be viable extension cables sometime in 2014, so you’ll be able to drop your consoles in your rack and run that line to the sensors mounted over your screen
Connect the system to a distributed AV switch or routing system
I gave this one a bit of thought — and I have to admit I think Mark is going to call me out on this — but I’m going to use an integrated AVR instead of using a stand-alone HDMI switch. There are definite advantages to stand-alone HDMI switches, including EDID monitoring and spoofing, which can really help out while troubleshooting HDMI issues. The other advanced feature that’s very handy in stand-alone HDMI switchers can can be RS232 control, audio stripping and matrix switching. But, I’m not worried because I am calling out the excellent Yamaha RX-A3030 receiver with 8×2 HDMI switching and an RS232 control port. The audio amplification portion of this receiver is no slouch either, though it still won’t be an audiophile’s dream of nine mono amps and dedicated processing. But that’s OK: This is a gaming setup and not a listening room. You have to go with what you know is reliable and fits the customer’s needs. With the extra HDMI zone out, I would seriously consider adding a second LCD display somewhere in the room for watching a TV or movie while playing a game. I’ll admit it — I have a bit of technology ADHD when it comes to wanting to play games and watch House of Cards on Netflix. Or, maybe you have a partner who wants to play another system on the second screen.
Extending the Bluetooth/wireless connectivity from the central console to each display so the controllers can work in remote locations
This request would have been a bit odd, but it makes me think Mark was paying attention to some of the new features included in both the PS4 and Xbox controllers — mainly stereo audio out on the PS4 controller and voice-chat on the Xbox One controller. I can totally see leaving the room while still wanting to keep up with what’s going on in the game or movie. This is a completely unrelated side-note, but I really wish Apple would let you do the same thing with your iPhone while watching a movie on the AppleTV. What’s interesting is that the PS4 uses the Marvell 88W8797 combo Wi-Fi/Bluetooth/RDS radio chip that’s compatible with Bluetooth 4. The PS4 currently uses 2.1 Bluetooth standard so upgrading may eventually happen with software. The controllers themselves use a Class 2 radio signal, which would would limit the range to 30 feet on a good day. The PS3 used a Class 1 signal, which had a range of 100 meters (and consumed 100mW of battery life). I think they cut back to save on battery life considering the audio being routed through the controller on the PS4. As for my choice for extending that signal — I don’t actually have any ideas. I’ve searched many Bluetooth repeaters and range extenders, but they are all geared either towards being a computer’s external Bluetooth radio, or a sender/receiver device pair for just music (not a man-in-the-middle repeater that can handle music and control). I’m told by Joel Rollins that it’s possible you could come up with a custom Bluetooth PAN system using something like the MSI StarHub, but that may not work and would require a computer. As for the Xbox, it uses a Wi-Fi Direct connection with a theoretical range of 652 feet. Even with normal loss, that’s a pretty spicy meatball. The downside is you’re not going to be able to use an off-the-shelf Wi-Fi repeater to extend that connection. Nintendo’s Wii U uses Wi-Fi Miracast, a form of Wi-Fi Direct from Broadcom. Broadcom says there is no reason the technology could not be extended, but no official or unofficial solutions currently exist.
Description of the cabling or wireless extenders, etc. that should be used and how these terminate at each end for connectivity
For connectivity, I’m going to stick with a wire company that I’ve personally found to be extremely reliable — Liberty AV Solutions. From covering AV trade shows since 2009, I know there are many excellent providers of bulk and pre-terminated cables — I was close to specifying ICE Cable Systems. But I decided to stick with what I’ve personally used and had positive experiences with. I would run a moderately priced HDMI cable from the projector to the rack, as well as three Cat6 cables. I could have just used the Cat6 cables and used an HDBaseT or twisted pair HDMI extender, but I didn’t think it was worth the $500+ cost given the reasonable distance being run. However, I’m a big fan of cost-effective future-proofing, and if you eventually want to upgrade to a 4K projector, I think multiple Cat6 cables would be the easy way to do it later on. One exciting feature (which is not out yet) will be the ability to play back 4K content in both the Xbox One and PS4. But it’s a bit up in the air if that’s going to happen. We’ll see.
The rest of the routing would be not complicated. Each console (and presumably a cable or satellite box) would include HDMI cables to the AVR. I could call out how many feet, but I guess until I create a virtual theater with a specific room size, I don’t know. That may be an idea for another column. I don’t see the need in this application for separate TOSlink cables carrying the audio to the AVR. I personally use optical audio cables in my own setup, but that’s because my personal receiver is old and does not handle HDMI. I would, however, run an optical cable to a headphone amp with simulated surround sound processing. This may seem crazy considering you’re in a theater with nice speakers, but some gamers enjoy the headset experience and the more comfortable headset microphone. If you go with a wired headphone amp, I would recommend the custom touch of integrating the audio jack into the armrest of the seating.
Speaking of chairs, I’m going to go on a curmudgeonly rant for a second. While there are many sleek, comfortable theater seating options in world, I would personally recommend (and personally prefer) two very nice couches for the price of one average home theater chair. I may be an AV industry heretic in that regard.
All components should be hooked into gigabit rackmount switch. I personally have had great luck with the 16 port TP-LINK TL-SG1060 unmanaged switch. If you know what you’re doing, a managed switch would give you more options. But, this switch performs pretty flawlessly for me with minimal fuss.
For speakers wire I would use the cheapest reasonable option — 14 AWG copper (for runs under 50 feet) unless the client has irrational desire for more expensive cable. I don’t have strong feelings about speakers — it’s super subjective but if given my druthers, I would pick something like Paradigm low end cabinet speakers. I say cabinets because for gaming surround sound purposes, correct placement is important for games that offer detailed spacial audio simulation. This could be me being picky, but I think you can get better speaker placement speaker stands than in-wall speakers. There are excellent in-wall focused speakers, but the client may not want to spend more cash for that item.
An explanation of how to centralize games on the console to eliminate changing discs (can you download directly to console, rip existing disc based games to console, etc.) or a way to extend the storage capacity via NAS or similar device.
The easiest way to go about going disc-less is just to buy all your games digitally, which is an option on all three consoles. Want to rip your discs and store them all on hard-drives? You can, but it’s very illegal and no responsible business would do it for clients. It’s a little more complicated than ripping DVDs, and requires swapping out physical chips on the console’s motherboards. Additionally, both Microsoft and Sony do not support external hard-drives, presumably to cut down on piracy. It’s unfortunate considering how much paid content is downloadable from their own services. But, if you have a PS4 — fear not! The PS4 has a user swappable standard hard-drive bay. For a few hundred dollars you can dramatically speed up disk access and generally pimp-your-ride with an off-the-shelf 1TB SSD drive. It’s an excellent way to add value to a consumer product with NO room for margin by charging for your upgrade service. Hopefully in the future the consoles will support network area storage. Considering Microsoft is pushing the concept of the Xbox being the hub of your room, it would make sense to increase storage.
The console’s ability to also act as a hub for apps and as a media server
I’m going to start off by adding a bit of control. Since the receiver I picked has RS232, you could hook that portion up to any major control system. The consoles themselves are not easily open to outside control standards.The PS3 was compatible with the Harmony remote through a specialLogitech adaptor — we will see if the PS4 follows suit. One interesting control option comes from the Xbox itself. Using IR, it can control many displays, set-top boxes and receivers using gesture, voice and the controller.The device commands are pretty basic — volume, channel and console features, so it has a ways to go before the Xbox does meaningful control of your theater. The way it controls set-top boxes and DVRs is interesting. It takes the video output of the HDMI and overlays Microsoft’s own TV guide and UI instead of the manufacturer’s. The control technology exists so it would be exciting to see if they eventually improve on it with software updates in the future. This is an article describing some of the issues of trouble-shooting Xbox control issues. The consoles themselves all act as excellent hubs for downloading, streaming and playing optical media — although the Wii U does not handle Blu-ray movies, despite using a Blu-ray drive. I’m sure there is a licensing fee savings in there somewhere.
As a last touch, I’m going to throw out some overall theater design ideas. Gamers as a group tend towards LED accent lighting, acrylic panels and faux-exposed equipment. You still have to actually hide and dress the real wires, but it’s not a terrible idea to have exposed fan panels in racks with colored backlighting. Think CSI-style blinking, lit racks, or as Gary Kayye calls it, the LBL (little blue lights) factor. I also think a recessed cabinet with frosted glass and internal lighting rigged with USB charging stations would really impress a client. I’m linking to a modern style fire extinguisher cabinet that is what I have in mind (although a bit pricey).
But, then again, since you’re not tied to movie theater tropes, you also have an opportunity to try different styling and design techniques — be it steam-punk, superheros, urban battlefields, Game of Thrones, ancient Mayan ruins… or anything they love. One thing to remember about gamers is they they sometimes have intense interests tied to living out a fantasy, which is something you can work into a proposal.
Like all installs, there are a million variables that would guide your actual theater design choices and technical problem solving — so in some ways a guide like this is not terribly practical. But I hope it gives you a few ideas around gaming and opens some conversations about designing for this new demographic. Please drop me a line in the comments if you have anything you’d like to add. Leave a Comment
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Multiple AV Pros On One Project? NEVER!
By Lee Distad rAVe Columnist
One of my old bosses and business mentors had a key motto that he ran the company by: “I believe that we have the capability to design a home automation system to fit any of our qualified client’s needs.”
The key word in this case was “qualified” and uniquely, he wasn’t referring to the usual sales definition of a qualified customer: They have money. For him, being a qualified client had nothing to do with their ability to pay the bill. What he meant was the client understood that the AV company needed to maintain control of the implementation of the system.
It’s simple: The client has a vision, the AV pro executes it and the client doesn’t meddle in the execution. Everyone wins!
So what happens if the client doesn’t understand that? In a perfect world the AV pro wishes the client all the best and sends them to find another AV pro. But in the real world it’s not always that simple. What sometimes happens is that two or more different AV companies end up working together on the same project.
Perhaps the original contractor was unable to communicate the importance and value to the client of providing a complete system solution from one company. Perhaps there was a late change in the client’s vision and they felt that the original contractor would not be able to help them realize it and they need someone else. Regardless, sometime two or more contractors end up working together, and that’s where things get complicated.
In one instance with which I am familiar, the client came to a second AV pro after she had initiated a project with another company. Being sensible, the first thing the second company asked her was “why?” The reason given was that they had an expertise and product that she wanted as part of her automation solution that was outside the capabilities of the original contractor.
This is a touchy subject, and the decision to team up with another company had to be evaluated carefully. The second contractor needed to try to look into the future and visualize how the client was going to feel at the end of their project. It was explained to me that their thinking was that if the final result was anything less than amazing or there was a possibility that the client was not going to refer their company after the project, then it would not be worth it.
The second contractor had to decide if this project made sense for the client in both function and dollars. They reviewed their past experiences to try and get an idea about what the end project would look like. They came up with some scenarios and concerns that were specific to the project:
The client’s vision was that Company A was to control the lights with low voltage keypads but could not meet the level of touch panel control that she desired. Company A had already specified and begun implementing their approved control system and keypads. Company B was to implement its approved touch panel system that will control all of the AV, HVAC and window coverings.
Additionally the client wanted Company A’s keypads to control the shades as well the lights and she wanted Company B’s touch panels to control the lights as well as the other sub systems.
This is where Company B foresaw the problems would start.
Most control systems have an open architecture that will allow them to control anything that has a network, RS232 or IR port. This is great in theory; however, they know that if they have priced the job with their usually programming times then introducing unfamiliar equipment is going to drive their programmers over budget.
Programmers spend many hours becoming familiar with all of the quirks of their standard equipment. Designers are able to avoid design flaws by being familiar with their equipment that they work with regularly. This is where a good automation company provides value to the client by being efficient and meeting client automation system requirements with a mix of electronics and expertise.
Once company B decides to take on the responsibility to control the lights through their touch panels and Company A controls the shades through their keypads now there is a very confusing demarcation point for the client to understand.
Who is responsible for the lights and shades now? If something doesn’t work, whose responsibility is to fix it? Managing expectation at that point is going to be difficult. In the end Company B decided that there was too great a risk of complications that would be outside of their control; and they passed on the project.
But what happens when AV pros don’t say “no?”
In another instance with which I’m familiar, the client that had contracted multiple automation companies from the beginning of his project. It may be hard to believe, but in this particular example some of the automation companies were unaware that they were not the only automation company on the project until they started to run into each other on the jobsite. No, really. I couldn’t make something like this up.
Obviously, the project had enough issues for its own MTV reality show.
First and foremost, it meant that there was a very low level of integration if the other companies were not aware of all these other sub systems being installed in the residence. Sure, you and I know that the client isn’t going to end up with an integrated system, just a bunch of parallel silos of hardware doing their own thing.
Unsurprisingly, it turned out that the client, fully in the driver’s seat of this runaway train later decided they wanted integration and equipment requirements for these parallel systems long after the design phase was over and nearly at the end of the pre-wire phase.
Ugh.
It ended up being the case that Company X’s audio distribution now needed to be fed to the home theater that was provided by company Y and Company Z’s video distribution required a video feed from a video source in Company Y’s theater system.
In the end it was made to work. As my grandfather was fond of saying, ‘’You can fix anything if you’re handy with money!” But of course the end result was an abomination: It left the client switching inputs on the front of his AVR instead of hitting a button on the TPS interface because the client balked at the cost of reprogramming all the TPS interfaces.
Was this the AV pro’s fault, or the client’s? Why were none or the companies complete solutions considered? Unfortunately and inexplicably, no one was able to find out; the client never shared his motivations.
As a professional, you have to answer the following questions before the project is tackled: Is the customer going to be thrilled with the system? Do you believe the client be happy to refer your company? Can you foresee turmoil between yourself, the client and other contractors? If you don’t like the answers you reach, walk.
During discovery interviews, you need to be up front about the possibility that you may not be able to help the prospective clients. It’s certainly been my experience and that of my peers that people when you’re upfront and honest with a “no” in the beginning then potentially moving forward with a project that will never finish or will finish poorly. Leave a Comment
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Are Curved Displays Really Necessary?
By Aldo Cugnini DisplayDaily
Earlier this year, we saw the introduction of curved displays from a growing set of manufacturers — Sony, Panasonic, LG, Samsung, Haier, Konka, to name a few — and are motivated to explore how useful (or desirable) such displays can be. The answer is somewhat complicated, involving as it usually does in this area, both physics and perception.
Does a curved screen provide a greater sense of reality for video content? After all, the ultimate goal for any large-video display technology is to offer an image rendition that makes the viewer forget they are looking at a display. So, for large screens, a curved display would seem to have certain technical advantages over a flat one. First, there is the issue of image distortion, as well as illumination characteristics — brightness,contrast, color fidelity, etc. — across the screen.
Projector manufacturers have known about these factors for a long time, and often provide curved projection screens to improve performance. However, using a curved screen in a home environment is problematic — the curve works best for viewers sitting at a sweet spot near the center of the radius of curvature, and that means that ideal group viewing becomes awkward or even impossible.
Curved Display Width Advantage
Nonetheless, there is an improvement in screen real estate that can benefit: a curved screen will provide a wider field of view (FOV) than a flat screen of the same width. The advantage is about 5 percent for a FOV of 45°, growing to about 25 percent for a FOV of 90°. The larger FOV, however, would imply either a very large screen in a TV-viewing situation, or a more practical screen used as either a computer monitor or virtual-reality/gaming display. Of course, the improvement would hardly offset the manufacturer’s cost premium, if one considers the size to offer a “smaller” display for the same FOV.
A curved display can have other advantages for virtual reality as well. A 2004 experimental study conducted by the Max Planck Institute for Biological Cybernetics found that large curved screens seem to be more suitable than flat screens to simulate what they call “rotational ego-motion,” i.e., when the scene attempts to replicate the feeling of the viewer rotating in place. But this is a rather limited effect, when considering all the different motions one would want (or need) to simulate.
For mobile phones and wearable devices, however, the advantages are more tangible. The Samsung Galaxy Round smartphone, for instance, has a curved screen. Although the curvature is very subtle, just 0.10 inches away from flat, the small curvature is said to significantly reduce interference from reflected ambient light, a characteristic borne out by DisplayMate in a shoot-out last year. And Samsung recently released the “first curved wearable device with a Super AMOLED display,” the Gear Fit. For arm-strapped phones and fitness devices, such a form factor could provide a useful improvement over flat displays.
Of course, we can’t ignore the other perceptual/psychological benefits of a curved display — the “cool factor” — but those are harder to define, and carry the risk of lowering the technology to a fad. DisplaySearch rendered such a verdict earlier this year. But visual innovation is often the hallmark that differentiates wide swaths of products: consider the broad appeal of the clean lines of so many Apple products, and you get the point. In fact, we haven’t yet taken “curved” to all of its possibilities: could the “reverse curved” screen rumored to be in the works for the iPhone 6 (and envisioned by one designer in a video) become reality? Why not? Leave a Comment
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AV People: Kevin Nelson of Zealth Audio
By Molly Stillman rAVe Director of Marketing & New Business Development
At the age of 12, Kevin Nelson’s mom bought and brought home a brand new organ. It was making this noise in the house and Kevin wanted to know why. So he tore apart the organ, took the speakers out, and figured out what made it work. Needless to say, he was grounded for it. In fact, according to Kevin, he’s still grounded to this day.
Kevin Nelson, founder of Zealth Audio, knew that his curiosity for the way things worked started at an early age and that curiosity continues to be something that fuels his interest and passion for the speaker-building business. However, the path to where he is today has certainly been rocky.
“I finished 11th grade in Hastings, Nebraska and decided to leave school and join the Navy,” recalled Kevin. “I was in the Navy for eight years total, but spent three of those years overseas. I was a nuke welder on submarines.”
Throughout those years, Kevin also learned the auto and diesel mechanic industry and spent a lot of time in that field. But his heart was always in audio.
“I had a dream one night about building a certain speaker cabinet design, so I woke up the next day and I made it… and pretty much went from there,” Kevin explained.
He spent the next few years working out at Camp Pendleton switching out computers. Then, one day, things took a turn for the worse.
He came home to find his live-in girlfriend had been unfaithful and once she left, he realized he was in over his head. His contracted job at Camp Pendleton had come to an end and he soon realized he couldn’t afford to pay the rent.
Kevin lost his girlfriend, his job, his apartment, and with only a few hundred dollars to his name, he went down to San Diego, got a hotel for a week and tried to find other work.
A week later, he walked out the door of that hotel with no job and no money.
In the meantime, he’d do odd jobs here and there to make what money he could. He reached out to the military but there just wasn’t anything for him. “San Diego is full of homeless veterans and the resources are pretty low,” Kevin said. “I’d go to Home Depot and stand outside hoping for a contractor to pick me up to work for the day. I’d do odd jobs here or there to make $50-$60 a day.”
However, San Diego isn’t cheap and by the end of a long day of doing contracting work, Kevin would be dirty and would need to go to the thrift store and buy new pants, get a hotel room to clean up, and then find himself having spent all that he’d made in a day. Saving up for an apartment was nearly impossible since most apartments in San Diego required both first month’s and last month’s rent.
This continued in a vicious cycle. Kevin went in and out of homeless shelters, but because the shelters had such strict hours and regulations if you wanted to be able to get in to eat, shower and sleep, having the time to prepare himself for a job interview AND work day laboring jobs was just too much to balance.
Kevin was homeless for almost five years. That whole time, Kevin’s dream of building speakers never left him.
“One day I was staying in a shelter in Oceanside called Brother Benos shelter,” Kevin explained. “This whole time I’d talk about the speakers and the dream I had. I always carried a picture of the speakers with me. Well, this one guy had a garage and said to me, ‘Do you want to build a pair?’ And I said, ‘Yeah!’ So, I went and worked out of his garage for a couple days and then put the speakers in storage.”
During what little free time he had, Kevin would spend time at the library reading, researching and learning as much as he could in the hopes that luck would come his way.
He found the website CNET and decided to take a chance and email them about his speakers. Kevin ended up getting ahold of Steve Guttenberg and Steve said that he’d do a story on Kevin. This was in 2009. CNET ran the story and all of a sudden Kevin got overwhelmed.
“I got thousands of emails, a whole bunch of investors, people wanting 50 percent of the profits… all kinds of stuff started happening,” he recalled. “I got a bunch of orders but I couldn’t fill them because I didn’t have any money. It just happened too quickly.
“Everyone that reached out to me got greedy and just wanted big money out of it, but I kept my dream out there in the hopes that someone, anyone, would bit on them.”
In 2012, after an old friend from middle school and high school contacted him through Facebook, Kevin moved back to Hastings, Nebraska. That old friend happens to now be his girlfriend!
Once he got back to Hastings, Kevin had a little bit of money, so he began buying, fixing up and reselling cars for a profit since he had past experience in the auto industry.
With that money he was making, Kevin started Zealth Audio and started finally building his speakers. He now has a two bay shop with a demonstration room and everything.
“It’s still just me doing it all,” explained Kevin. “After they saw the story, CES contacted me and gave me a room for free at the show and then I also went to the Rocky Mountain Audio Fest and sold four pairs of speakers there. I also have some stores in New York that want to hear them… my next step is to take that trip to New York!”
What makes Kevin’s speakers different than any other high-end home audio speaker is that there’s a right AND left channel in each cabinet – it’s crossfire imaging. “It’s full dimensional sound,” Kevin boasted. “These take away the center and back speakers… they fill the room right up. It really sets up one hell of a sound stage.”
And, to top it all off, the speakers cost under $1,000.
Kevin is truly a man with an entrepreneurial spirit, has a dedication to his craft like no one else, and the motivation to get it done.
To find out more about Zealth Audio speakers (or if you’re interested in hearing them for yourself), go here.
Author’s Note: Speaking with Kevin was truly a pleasure and an honor. He was extremely humble, very honest, funny, witty, and clearly very smart. I think the industry could use a few more Kevin Nelsons. Leave a Comment
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Public Demo of 4K Live StreamingAt NAB 2014, Cisco and Sony became the first companies to publicly demonstrate the live delivery of full-frame rate 4K 60P content. The live demonstration streamed live 4K video from New York City to Las Vegas and was on display for NAB show attendees at the Cisco and Sony booths.
Live events in New York City were captured with the Sony F55 4K camera, and HEVC encoded using Cisco’s Videoscape AnyRes — with enhanced support for 4K and HEVC. The live stream was transported from New York to Las Vegas through a fiber optic network. The stream was then delivered to the Las Vegas Convention Center, decoded with a Cisco set-top box with 4K support, and displayed on Sony XBR 4K Ultra HD TVs.
Joe Cozzolino, senior vice president, general manager, service provider video infrastructure for Cisco, said, “This is an exciting time in our industry as advanced 4K content experiences reach a tipping point for distribution across multiple devices. We are ushering in the next era in content experiences with partners like Sony, and demonstrating that today’s cable networks are fully capable and ready to deliver full-frame rate 4K content.”
Here are all the details. Leave a Comment
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Jeremy Burkhardt Is BackControversial Jeremy Burkhardt is back… he will officially launch his new audio brand at CEDIA 2014 in Denver.
The new company is called Origin Acoustics and the website shows now only a logo that is unmistakably Burkhardt’s bearded profile in silhouette.
Supposedly the new company is working on a product portfolio of home theater speakers, architectural speakers and electronics… yes, kind of like Speakercraft.
Burkhardt left SpeakerCraft in 2012. And it’s been a rocky relationship ever since.
He sued Nortek over his non-compete contract because he wanted to acquire outdoor speaker company Soundcast. That deal fell through.
Burkhardt publicly expressed his disappointment with Nortek over its stewardship of Speakercraft — very publicly. Now Origin Acoustics will be Burkhardt’s chance to prove he can do audio better.
Here’s the company’s website. Leave a Comment
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NPD DisplaySearch: LCD TV Growth Improving, As Plasma and CRT TV Disappear Since reaching a peak in 2011, the global TV market has seen continuous declines, falling by 6 percent in 2012 and by 3 percent in 2013. LCD TV shipment growth fell into single digits in 2011, experienced its first decline in 2012, and grew by only 2 percent in 2013, which was not enough to make up for falling shipments of plasma and CRT TVs. With LCD surpassing 90 percent of global TV shipments, it is the dominant driver of industry growth.
According to the latest TV market forecast published in the NPD DisplaySearch Quarterly Advanced Global TV Shipment and Forecast Report, worldwide TV shipments are projected to grow less than 1 percent in 2014, but LCD TV shipments will rise almost 5 percent. Of course, the growth of LCD comes at the expense of plasma and CRT TV shipments, which are forecast to fall 48 percent and 50 percent, respectively, in 2014. Both technologies will all but disappear by the end of 2015, as manufacturers cut production of both technologies in order to focus on LCD, which has become more cost competitive. OLED is expected to grow as an alternative flat panel display technology for TVs but is expected to account for less than 1 percent of shipments through 2017.
“TV shipments worldwide have struggled for the past few years, as several unusual events have disrupted normal buying patterns,” according to Paul Gagnon, director for global TV research at NPD DisplaySearch. “Governments instituted subsidy programs to prop up local economies in the post-recession years from 2009 through 2013, and digital-to-analog broadcast transitions for many developed and emerging countries accelerated demand for TVs further at the expense of future demand.”
Figure 1: Forecast for LCD TV, Plasma TV and CRT TV Unit Shipments
Source: NPD DisplaySearch Quarterly Advanced Global TV Shipment and Forecast Report
Developed Region Growth Stabilizes, While Emerging Region Growth Remains Soft
The collective emerging regions of the world have long dominated global TV demand. However, at the end of the last decade, TV demand growth surged in developed regions, which included Japan, Western Europe and North America. Much of this increased growth rate was due to analog broadcast shut-off events, as well as rapid cost reductions on flat panel TVs. Japan and other governments also implemented spending programs to boost local demand for energy-efficient TVs and other products. Since then, shipments have declined significantly, as future demand was satisfied during the boom years, though demand has stabilized at around 75 million units annually.
Meanwhile, emerging region growth accelerated from 2009 through 2012, as demand from China skyrocketed, due to several local subsidy programs. With China’s subsidy program now ended and CRT demand falling more quickly than LCD can grow in Asia Pacific and other regions, growth factors have turned distinctly weaker for emerging regions. The World Cup in 2014 and Summer Olympics in 2016, both of which occur in Brazil, will likely have a stimulus effect on many emerging countries. Finally, the end of CRT TV availability will transition purchasing behavior to flat panel TVs.
Figure 2: TV Shipments by Regional Category
Source: NPD DisplaySearch Quarterly Advanced Global TV Shipment and Forecast Report
The DisplaySearch Q1’14 Quarterly Advanced Global TV Shipment and Forecast Report, available now, includes panel and TV shipments by region and by size for nearly 60 brands. It also includes rolling 16-quarter forecasts, TV cost/price forecasts, and design wins. For more information about the report, please contact Charles Camaroto at 888-436-7673 or 516-625-2452, email contact@displaysearch.com. Leave a Comment
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SANUS Intros Spaces, New Social Design Site for Consumers and DealersMount and furniture brand SANUS, which recently redesigned its website, has announced ‘SANUS Spaces,’ a new social site for dealers and installers to “inspire consumers through beautiful home media design.” Spaces will include advice from experts in the fields of interior home design, AV industry installations, technology and TV safety, and will also serve as an outlet for consumers to explore home tech projects from professional installers and other do-it-yourself consumers. Consumers will be able to create their own accounts and post ‘before and after’ project showcases featuring SANUS products.
SANUS says that for professional installers, this is a new way to showcase portfolios and gain new business. Consumers can contact dealers by phone, email or social media through the Spaces profile page. In addition, installers are encouraged to share their Spaces profile page URL on their company or social networking sites as another way to promote their work.
Guest contributors to the site include Genevieve Gorder, celebrity interior designer; Kate Carr, president and CEO of Safe Kids Worldwide; and Krissy Rushing, experienced AV and home entertainment editor; as well as SANUS’ own experts, such as Rob Zurn, Product Manager with 20 years experience in professional integration. Contributors will address topics such as the most common problems with AV equipment and TVs, how to incorporate design into AV projects and TV safety.
Check out SANUS Spaces here. Leave a Comment
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BenQ Debuts World’s First 32-Inch WQHD Monitor Designed for 3D Printing BenQ America today introduced the BL3200PT – a 32-inch wide quad high-definition (WQHD) monitor designed specifically for 3D printing, computer-aided design (CAD) and computer-aided manufacturing (CAM). The BL3200PT features a 2560×1440 resolution and a VA panel with a 178-degree horizontal and vertical viewing angle.
Part of BenQ’s RevolutionEyes monitor series, which claims to increase user comfort during long periods of computer use, the BL3200PT incorporates BenQ’s so-called ZeroFlicker technology. Using a new direct lighting system engineered to eliminate flicker issues caused by backlight LED controllers, the eye-comfort technology enhances productivity and reduces visual fatigue by eliminating monitor flickering at all brightness levels. In addition, the BL3200PT is equipped with Low Blue Light technology that successfully manages the exposure of blue spectrum light emitted by computer screens, further contributing to more comfortable viewing sessions.
Additional features include:
- Automatic Eye-Protect Sensor: Detects ambient light levels and automatically adjusts monitor brightness throughout the day for optimized clarity and comfort. Perfect for designers who have large windows in their offices.
- Anti-Glare Reduction: Advanced anti-glare reduces screen reflection and eliminates visual interference, preventing both eye fatigue and stress.
- Reading Mode: Recreates the comfortable experience of reading books by adjusting the monitor’s color temperature and brightness levels as well as balancing contrast ratio and sharpness to simulate the look of real paper.
- Height Adjustment Stand (HAS): Allows users to find the best viewing angle for personal use or screen sharing from an extensive range of monitor adjustments such as height, tilt, pivot, and swivel.
- Smart Reminder (Optional): Reminds users to take a break at predefined time intervals
See all the specs here. Leave a Comment
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Stealth Acoustics New SA2400 Includes 450-Watt Dual-Channel Amplifier with Built-in DSP Stealth Acoustics is shipping its SA2400 dual-channel amplifier with built-in DSP. Rated at 450 watts RMS per channel, the SA2400 utilizes Stealth’s Class A/B output stages coupled to a traditional high-current power supply.
The SA2400 also debuts the newly designed Stealth Signal Management System (SSMS) that allows for complete per-channel programming of advanced DSP features including 11 bands of fully parametric EQ; High and Low Pass Filters with variable slopes; fully programmable Limiters; Delay; Phase control and Pink Noise Generators. All SSMS functions may be programmed from the front panel, or by using Stealth’s free SSMS software via USB connection to the amplifier. The SSMS includes loadable pre-set optimization tunings for many of Stealth invisible and environmental speakers. Or, dealers may create and store their own favorite tunings for easy recall.
Inputs include balanced XLR, un-balanced RCA and Speaker Level connections, all which have associated pass-through connectors and an optical input for digital audio sources. The SA2400 lists for $1499.
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RTI Ships Whole-House Audio Distribution Systems: AD-4x and AD-8xRemote Technologies Incorporated (RTI) is now shipping its next-generation AD-4x and AD-8x audio distribution systems that were announced at CEDIA Expo. The entry-level 4×4 and 8x8p provide switching, amplification and distribution for whole-house or facility-wide audio.
Features include:
- Built-in Ethernet for two-way control and feedback over the LAN
- New Web-based interfaces for simple configuration via any Ethernet-enabled device
- Matrix switching pre-amp
- Built-in 25 watt-per-channel Cool Power amplifier
- Four and eight local audio source inputs
- Two-way control of audio sources
- Current status information, such as selected source, volume level, and tone control settings available for each zone
- Pre-outputs for the connection of amplifiers
Up to eight AD-4x and AD-8x units can be stacked for a maximum of 64 output zones. To simplify operation, the units’ Web interface allows multiple zones in a larger room or area to be grouped as a single zone for source selection and volume control. The units can be used for rackmount or free-standing installations. The AD-4x and AD-8x are available now at MSRPs of $899 and $1,799, respectively.
More information is available here. Leave a Comment
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Extron Ships Pro Series Control System Line Extron is now shipping most of the Pro Series control systems products, including TouchLink Pro touchpanels, IP Link Pro control processors, Global Configurator Professional, LinkLicense and several Pro Series accessories. Extron says its Pro Series takes configurable control to a whole new level with a broad range of tools and technologies geared to handle the evolving complexities of today’s AV system designs. In addition to more processing power, greater security and enhanced overall performance, all Pro Series control systems are designed to make complex systems simpler and simple systems more powerful.
Customers now have immediate access to: six TouchLink Pro touchpanels including a five-inch model with capacitive touchscreen; five IP Link Pro control processors including two with Extron LinkLicense capabilities (a new way for people to use their mobile devices as primary control interfaces); Global Configurator Professional, a new GUI Designer interface design software; and four Pro Series control accessories.
For more information, click here. Leave a Comment
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Extron XTP Receiver with Extron Ships 90-Degree HDMI Wall Plate Receiver for Installation Behind Wall-Mounted Displays Extron is now shipping the XTP R HWP 201, a Decora-style wall plate receiver for XTP Systems. It features a unique design specifically to handle space constraints behind wall-mounted displays, with the HDMI output connector oriented upward at a 90-degree angle, in order to minimize stress on the cable and allow for a low-profile flat panel display installation. This HDCP-compliant receiver accepts signals from up to 330 feet (100 meters) away over a single shielded CATx cable and outputs video, audio, control and Ethernet to the display. It also provides HDMI audio de-embedding with analog stereo audio output and volume control. The receiver can be remotely powered by an XTP CrossPoint matrix switcher.
The XTP R HWP 201 supports video signals up to 1920×1200, including 1080p/60 Deep Color and 2K. In addition to HDMI video, it delivers embedded digital audio signals or can de-embed the audio for two-channel balanced/unbalanced analog stereo audio output. It also offers:
- EDID Minder for continuous EDID communication between devices;
- Key Minder that authenticates and maintains HDCP encryption for quick and reliable transmission,
- A cable tie-down point to for securing the HDMI connection,
- LAN and bidirectional control ports for the display
- RS232 and IR insertion ports on the front panel for bidirectional control
To see all the specs, 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).
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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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