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Volume 8, Issue 10 — May 31, 2011
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You Still Have To Deal With Broadcast
By Lee Distad
rAVe Columnist The landscape of content delivery is very different from how it looked five years ago, but despite what some pundits were predicting back then, broadcasters are still with us. That means that residential and light commercial integrators still have to deal with broadcast boxes and integrate them into AV systems. That means that, one way or another integrators have a relationship with broadcasters.
But how far does that relationship have to run? At its deepest, that means being an authorized dealer. The upside there can be recurring revenue opportunities for new account installations, but the downside is being responsible for warranty calls on dead set-top boxes. Given that everyone knows that HD-PVRs can be notoriously cranky and more than one integrator has characterized broadcast subscriber recurring revenue to me as “peanuts.”
The warranty issue is especially significant. I know from personal experience that securing Return Merchandise Agreements for dead cable and satellite boxes can be a heinous affair. Better by far to limit your company’s responsibility to your control and video distribution systems, and if the fault lies with the box, make it clear that your client has to shake the broadcaster’s tree.
Also, odds are that your market has multiple service providers, and really, most integrators have better things to do than carry inventory for three or four different broadcasters. Instead, it’s preferable to maintain an in-depth working knowledge of the technical details of the set-top boxes used by the broadcasters in your market and limit the relationship to integrating them into the client’s system — from the physical details of the outputs and the control inputs to the programming necessary to control them. Whether that means leaving the client responsible for sourcing the boxes, or that the installers will swing by the chain store and buy them on the way to the jobsite is going to be an individual matter.
Client management is definitely the integrator’s watchword with regard to dealing with broadcast providers. The Cable Guy is the natural enemy of the integrator. All of us have had experiences with the Cable Guy showing up at the customer’s house, pulling out the wires and connections (“You don’t need half this stuff!”), and making negative comments about how expensive cables and power conditioning are not necessary. Going into damage control to regain your reputation as the expert sucks.
Here’s how to stop trouble before it starts. Communicate with your client, and when they have to schedule a service call to get the broadcast connected, make sure the client is well coached on the following script: “Good day, Mr. Cable Guy. Just set that receiver down there. No, you don’t need to connect it. No, you don’t need to touch this rack full of equipment. All you have to do is go down to the panel in the mechanical room and make sure the signal coming into the house is full strength. It is? Great! You need me to sign here? Great! No, don’t touch that! Thank you, good bye!” If necessary, delegate one of your installers to do that, and you’ll have no trouble.
Lee Distad is a rAVe columnist and freelance writer covering topics from CE to global business and finance in both print and online. Reach him at lee@ravepubs.com Leave a Comment
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The Slippery Slope of 3D Brightness
By Chris Chinnock
Sr. Editor and Analyst, Insight Media People generally think of 3D images as being dimmer than their 2D counterparts. In general, that is true, but once you start to think more about it – or God forbid – come up with a numerical description of the brightness reduction, you quickly get in a minefield.
First, let’s consider the concepts of brightness and luminance. According to Wikipedia, "luminance is a photometric measure of the luminous intensity of light per unit area travelling in a given direction." Luminance is a measured value from a photodetector that determines the number of photons hitting the sensor. Candela per metered squared is a common measure for a flat panel display, whereas Foot-Lamberts (the luminance value divided by pi) is common in the cinema industry.
The people who set up the luminance definition, which was formalized by the CIE in 1931 but actually derives from data measured in the 1920s, arranged it so the measured luminance would correlate with the perceived brightness. Unfortunately, this correlation is not perfect. So what is brightness? Wikipedia defines it as, "an attribute of visual perception in which a source appears to be radiating or reflecting light. In other words, brightness is the perception elicited by the luminance of a visual target. This is a subjective attribute/property of an object being observed."Notice that brightness is human perception and luminance is measured by an instrument. Talking about "Measured brightness" always makes my colleague Matt Brennesholtz cringe, even though I have seen him say it himself.
Brightness is determined by far more than the number of lumens coming from the screen. It is strongly dependent on environmental factors such as the ambient light in a room or the illumination the viewer was subjected to for the last few minutes. For example, if you are watching 2D TV in a dim room, switch to the 3D mode and put on your glasses, the image brightness will decline abruptly. In a few minutes, it will start to look bright enough again. But the measured luminance of the screen will go down and stay down.
Humans have two eyes that are like photosensors, but the "luminance" values for our eyes are not additive. Think about that. If you look at a PC monitor with both eyes open, you have a perception of the brightness of the screen. Now close one eye. Did your perception of brightness change even though half the number of photons are now being "detected" by our eyes? Probably not.
OK, so far so good. Now what happens when you put some eyewear between you and the screen? If it is a pair of ordinary eyeglasses, then there should be a slight transmission loss, but the brightness should remain essentially unchanged.
Suppose you now put a pair of polarized 3D glasses in front of your eyes. The light loss through the glasses now depends on the polarization state of the display (unpolarized, linearly polarized or circularly polarized), how the two polarized 3D images are presented (interlaced or time sequential) and the type of polarizers on the glasses. There will be some losses due to transmissivity issues, but the overall losses can be quite variable depending upon the implementation. Plus, the implementation can also include 3D luminance pulse modes that increase the backlight or projector output in 3D mode to compensate for these losses. Head tilt also produces measurement problems. For example, LG gave a demo at SID on how their system was better for head tilt than their competitors.
I have seen many calculations of the "loss factors" with a particular 3D configuration, but almost all focus on measuring the luminance after passing through the glasses. This in fact, may not accurately represent what the viewer perceives as the brightness of the display.
You can apply the same sort of thinking if you use active shutter glasses. Now, you are adding an additional time sequential shuttering element that can impact your brightness perception. Because of all the various ways to implement this solution with different response times of the LCD, PDP panel or projector, response time of the glasses, and variable timing to reduce ghosting, there is not easy and safe way to calculate the brightness loss in 3D mode without getting specific.
All this means that any claims a manufacturer makes about the brightness of their 3D display compared to a 2D display or to some other 3D display needs to be looked at with a jaundiced eye. One thing I am comfortable saying is that 3D systems have the potential to get to 50 percent to nearly 100 percent of the 2D system brightness depending on the configuration and efforts made to even out the brightness. Going much beyond this requires a lot more specifics on the actual implementation in order to be meaningful.
The bottom line is that the relationship between brightness and luminance is difficult one to begin with, and adding 3D glasses to the mix does not make it easier. At least, that’s the way I see it. Chris Chinnock is a senior analyst and editor for Insight Media. Reach him at chris@insightmedia.info Leave a Comment
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3DTV Alive and Well — It's the "Fad" Moniker That's Dead
By Steve Sechrist
Sr. Editor and Analyst, Insight Media "3DTV is just a fad…" The words struck me like a knife, not because of any vested interest in the technology, but because they were uttered by a well respected (not to be named) member of the display community that happens to be a genuine hero of mine. Someone I deeply respect and aspire to emulate. Worse yet, there was no closure, as we were in a conference session, with no time to delve into the issue.
On the 3DTV front, a lot happened during Display Week in Los Angeles this month, and possibly the most significant development was Samsung’s announced partnership with RealD and the giant LCD TV maker introducing a passive glasses-based 3D solution. The Samsung move to passive 3D came on the heels of an outright feud over Active vs. Passive, with rival LG this past spring, with Samsung in the Active 3D glasses camp. (For details read Pete Putman’s outstanding review, in his March 14th Display Daily: 3D Theater of the Absurd.)
Suffice it to say, that with the Samsung endorsement of Passive 3D technology at SID, the circular polarized 3D method may have just gained the coveted de facto standard status among the major 3DTV suppliers, as LG and Samsung are the two largest makers of TVs worldwide. And a standard is something most analysts agree, is necessary for 3DTV to move beyond the "fad" and fully into the mainstream.
Despite these steps forward, it is not hard to make the "fad" case either. History is not on the side of the technology with several missteps since the 1950s and perhaps before. More recently, TV makers were looking to the technology to boost profits by using the feature to break out of commodity pricing, much like LED backlights and thin-sexy sets did for LCDs during the holiday season in 2009. But the 2010 strategy proved to be a dud. Of Samsung’s $50B in revenue last year, only 1 percent was on the books as operating profit margin. For number two LG that number was around 2 percent. And top U.S. CE retailer, Best Buy said its 16 percent decline in quarterly profits were due in part to 3DTV demand "…that did not materialize as the industry anticipated."
Meanwhile, enough of those sets did sell to generate some interesting data from a comprehensive SmithGeiger study commissioned by the Digital Entertainment Group (DEG). They surveyed 3,065 3D-capable set owners (not potential buyers) and shed new light on some old ideas about 3DTVs. Read the Multichannel News story here.
OK, here’s a brief sampling of the results: - 85 percent of 3DTV Owners prefer to watch Half (23 percent), Most (35 percent), or All (27 percent) TV Programming in 3D
- 14percent said they would watch Most Programming in 2D
- 60 percent view 3D content on their 3D-capable TVs
- 88 percent giving "thumbs up" to the 3D picture quality (91% rated 2D picture quality positively)
- 83 percent took no time, or just a few minutes to adjust to wearing 3D glasses
- 74 percent own two or more pairs of glasses
- 33 percent purchased an extra set with their initial 3D buy
- 52 percent said they received at least one set of glasses bundled w/ purchase
- 24 percent reported watching more TV in both in 2D and 3D
One final point, at the Awards Luncheon at SID last week, I sat with Jeong Kim, Chief Research Engineer at LG, the guy who was in the middle of the feud with Samsung a few months earlier (this is why Display Week is my favorite conference.) He told me that his group had no choice but to ship 3DTVs with passive polarizer glasses, and here’s why. He said the company has a mandate to deliver what the customer wants. Turns out they did their own brand of internal survey before CES, placing a random group of people in a room with the two versions of 3DTVs showing the same sporting match. There were enough active or passive glasses to view either technology — and by the end of the match, all were wearing passive 3D glasses. LG made the commitment to Passive 3D at CES and the rest is history.
But beyond technology vintage, the issue of 3D being a fad may have finally been addressed with this study and the building momentum of the technology. Personally, one look at a golf match in 3D was all it took to convince me. But the growing availability of 3D content both professionally produced, and home made, the commoditization of 3D features on next generation sets, push from 3D gaming and now the standardization of passive glasses for large displays may be enough to push the technology into the mainstream-demonstrating that even a personal hero, can be wrong now and again.
Steve Sechrist is a senior analyst and editor for Insight Media. Reach him at steve@insightmedia.info Leave a Comment
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Tune in Tomorrow for a Free Webinar from CEDIA Are you interested in turning your love of A/V into a career? Not sure where to start? Start with a free webinar brought to you by CEDIA in partnership with Audioholics. Despite what you may think, you can make a living on A/V. Join CEDIA’s Jeff Gardner to learn about the career opportunities within the custom electronics industry and the resources available to get you started. This webinar will be offered June 1 at 1:00 p.m. EDT. Register now by clicking here: https://www1.gotomeeting.com/register/789057177
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Back to Top Legrand to Acquire Middle Atlantic Products Legrand, North America will acquire Middle Atlantic Products. While terms of the deal are not yet disclosed, the transaction should be finalized in mid-June 2011.
Although Legrand and Middle Atlantic will operate as separate companies prior to closing, after the closing Middle Atlantic will operate as an independent business within Legrand.
Legrand is a global specialist in electrical and digital building infrastructures. Its comprehensive offering of solutions for use in commercial, industrial and residential markets makes it a benchmark for customers worldwide. Legrand reported global sales of $5.7 billion in 2010.
With this acquisition of a recognized maker of AV enclosure systems, Legrand says it now fulfills one of its key objectives — to establish a leadership position in the fast growing markets for AV infrastructure products, systems and solutions.
Powerful trends continue to drive market growth for integrated AV systems and supporting infrastructure, says Legrand. A prime example is the increasing use of audio and video in venues such as airports, schools, retail, hospitals and corporate facilities.
The combined offerings of the firms include more than 5000 AV products and services.
Mike Baker, president of Middle Atlantic Products, will lead a new 5th Division (Commercial AV) for Legrand in North America.
"The complementary strengths of these businesses, and the fit of the product offerings will be unmatched by any other supplier in this industry," says John Selldorff, president and CEO, Legrand, North America. "The combined leadership team is looking forward to making a real difference to the installation community, and the entire AV market, now and for the future." Leave a Comment
Share Article Back to Top World's Smallest 3D HD Display? Ortus has created a Hyper Amorphous Silicon TFT (HAST) screen. Shown at Tokyo’s Embedded Systems Expo, the latest 4.8” LCD screen from Ortus shows 2D images at the 458 pixels-per-inch rate and shows 3D images at 229 pixels-per-inch. This rate of pixels-per-inch will be able to show full HD resolution images with a final resolution of 1920×1080 pixels.
The 3D does require the use of glasses to see the images (unlike other small format 3D screens such as Nintendo 3DS). The 3D images will have a viewing angle of 160 degrees and will be able to display up to 16.77 million colors.
The 3D effect is created with a circular polarizing film known as Xpol, developed by Arisawa Manufacturing. The film needs to be precisely placed on the screen because this technology shows images for the left and right eye alternately on each line, halving the vertical resolution.
In 2010, Ortus Technology Co., Ltd. was established to develop, manufacture, and conduct sales of small and medium-sized displays. Its shareholders are Toppan Printing Co., Ltd. and Casio Computer Co., Ltd.
Ortus Technology, initially to specialize in the small and medium-sized LCD business it has taken over from Casio Computer, now looks for its future in OLED.
Want to watch a video of this? Go here: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tX92NLpr7tg&feature=player_embedded Leave a Comment
Share Article Back to Top ViewSonic Intros $299 3D Converter Box for 2D HDTVs Dubbed the VP3D1, ViewSonic claims the $299 is a 3D HD video converter box that offers consumers a way to view 3D Blu-rays, PlayStation3 3D games, 3D off-air DirecTV broadcasts and other 1080p 3D content on certain home theater projectors. Compatible ViewSonic projector models include the Pro8450w, Pro8500, PJD6251 and PJD6531w plus any 3D Ready DLP projector with an HDMI connection.
The VP3D1's dual HDMI 1.4A inputs and v1.3 output connection ensure connectivity with today's latest 3D media players.
Complete specs are here: http://www.viewsonic.com/products/vp3d1.htm Leave a Comment
Share Article Back to Top Seura's Premier Series Gets Thinner Mirror Matting Séura's latest improvement to its Premier Series of television mirrors features a thinner mirror bezel (1”). Basically, reducing the matting (frame around the mirror and TV) 25 percent gives the perception of a larger TV screen and, obviously, means it takes up less space.
The Premier Series, LCD displays available in 32”, 40”, 46”, 55” and 65” sizes, is available in both in-wall and on-wall configurations, are all 1080p and have four HDMI inputs.
For more information, go here: http://www.seura.com/commercial-products/commercial-premier-series/ Leave a Comment
Share Article Back to Top Sonance Launches Dealer Demo Kits for Landscape Series Nothing sells a product that works well better than a demo. Sonance knows that with its Landscape Series, it’s best to demo it on site for a client. The demo kits include eight LS47SATs, eight ground spikes, two tripods, one LS10SUB, a Crown CDi-1000 Amp, cables and carrying cases – all for $3500.
Interested in the demo kit? Contact customerservice@sonance.com and ask for details (Part #92660). Leave a Comment
Share Article Back to Top Da-Lite Develops High-Contrast Screen for High Power Line Meant for high ambient light conditions, Da-Lite’s new High Contrast version of its popular High Power screen surface provides a unique combination of high gain along with contrast enhancement that Da-Lite says is due to its grey base and highly reflective top surface. The result is a screen surface with moderate viewing angles (20 degrees) and the ability to reflect light back towards the source. These characteristics make this surface a good choice for environments with a moderate amount of ambient light and a projector that is placed on a table top or in the same horizontal viewing plane as the audience. High Contrast High Power is a washable surface with a gain of 2.4 and a 20-degree viewing half angle. The material is available immediately on Da-Lite’s electric, manual and fixed frame screen lines. Get all the details here: http://www.da-lite.com/whats_hot/ Leave a Comment
Share Article Back to Top Extron Ships 10 Input Scaler/Switcher Perfect for Bars & Restaurants Extron just started shipping its DVS 510, a 10-input, multi-format Scaling Switcher that accepts and scales standard definition, HDTV, DVI, and RGB signals to a common, high-resolution output rate. The DVS 510 is HDCP-compliant and features simultaneous DVI and two analog RGB/YUV outputs. It is a true presentation switcher for professional environments, with audio switching for all video input sources, an available 50 watt stereo integrated amplifier, picture-in-picture, and glitch-free switching. The DVS 510 also offers flexible control options including front panel control, Ethernet, RS-232, USB, and IR.
The DVS 510 features a high performance 30-bit scaling engine with the ability to scale standard definition video, HDTV, and RGB signals up or down in resolution. It accepts computer-video signals up to 1920×1200 and HDTV 1080p/60, and outputs DVI and analog RGB or component video at selectable output rates up to 1920×1200 resolution, as well as HDTV up to 1080p/60.
Want all the specs? Go here: http://www.extron.com/company/article.aspx?id=dvs510ad Leave a Comment
Share Article Back to Top 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.
To read more about my background, our team, and what we do, go to https://www.ravepubs.com Back to Top Copyright 2011 – rAVe [Publications] – All rights reserved. For reprint policies, contact rAVe [Publications], 210 Old Barn Ln. – Chapel Hill, NC 27517 – 919/969-7501. Email: sara@ravepubs.com
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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