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This one pertains more to my commercial applications, but has uses in residential areas as well.

For years now there has been a debate on type of wiring to use for high definition.  HDMI or Component?  The answer has never been clear cut.  HDMI does have a nicer, crisper picture, but it is not without it’s problems.  Signal loss over long runs, digital distortion, and very expensive.  Component, although cheaper, requires 3 cables for video and 2 for audio.  Not such a big deal in a home theater, but imagine in a sports bar with 52 hi-def tv’s and 10 hi-def projectors.  That’s 5 wires per tv ALL joining up at the same point.  Therefore in a small area, (usually cluttered with the bar staff’s purses and papers and coats and such) you have 300 some-odd wires to terminate, sort out, and hopefully maintain some semblance of neatness.  This has been no easy task, I can tell you.

Most flat panels today are equipped with an ATSC tuner.  Anyone with an antenna knows what this means.  HI DEF!!  An off air antenna can provide you with networks, in high definition, all through a single coaxial cable.  (RG6 please!)  This is useful enough, but so much hi def content isn’t available on antenna (TSN, Sportsnet, ESPN, the Score, Discovery Channel,  A&E etc.) that people are still stuck with their cable boxes and satellite receivers to receive all their programming.  This brings us right back where we were.  HDMI and Component.

Well kids, there is a new player on the block.  A company called ZeeVee has come out with a device that will distribute any component signal over a single coaxial cable in glorious 720p!  There is a model that will do 1080p, but it carries a much higher price tag and good luck finding a BlueRay player that will output 1080p over component cables!

What does this mean?  It means one coaxial cable stretched around a sports bar.  It means waitstaff not having to figure out what an “input” is.  It means a much neater install.

I think my job just got a whole lot easier!

If you are really serious about building a home theater, and you really want to maximize the results, it’s not just the equipment that is going to make your theater stand out.  Choosing a proper wall colour is one of the most important decisions to make when building a theater.

Everyone knows that light is absorbed by the colour black right?  That’s why baseball players put that paint under their eyes, that’s why you don’t wear a black t-shirt to the beach.  The same rule applies when painting your theater room.  A projector throws light over a large distance in an effort to reflect off of the screen.  Said screen will have, if it’s a good one, reflective attributes that will multiply the amount of light returning to the viewers eyes.  This is what is known as screen gain.  Generally the higher the screen gain, the brighter the image.

“What does this have to do with the wall colour?” you ask.  A projector’s lens is built to focus in a rectangular shape at a ratio of 16:9.  However, the light that leaves a lens will always, always, always create spillage around the intended target.  If the walls surrounding your screen are white, they will reflect this spilled light.  This reflected light will not only draw your attention to the walls, but will also shed light on the image causing it to wash out.  If they are black, they will absorb it.  It’s as simple as that.

Unfortunately, black walls are not in everyone’s design scheme.  Ideally, you should bite the bullet and work a black wall into your scheme, at least, on the wall the screen is mounted to.  If black is just plain not an option, choose the darkest colour you can live with.  Trust me, you will appreciate it in the long run.

Look at the way this image stands out on the black wall!

A common question people have these days, is “What size tv should I buy?”  As I sit here at my sister’s house preparing myself for Hockey Night in Canada (I miss my 50″ plasma), I’m thinking about a conversation we just had about her needing to replace her old, dying 32″ tube tv.  When I suggested a 42″ plasma, her eyes lit up a little bit with a look of “Are you crazy?!?!”

TV’s used to have a size ratio of 4:3 which means for every 4 inches wide the screen is 3 inches tall.  New “widescreen” tv’s have a ratio of 16:9.  A 32″ 4:3 screen (measured diagonally) will look SIGNIFICANTLY larger than a 32″ 16:9 screen.

When replacing an old television and going to widescreen (you don’t have a choice, 16:9 is the new standard)  go bigger.  A 42″ plasma is roughly the same height as an old 32″ tube tv.

Go big people.  It’s worth it and it matters.

I know, I know.  No one wants to fall for this one.  “200 dollars for a remote control?!?!  Are you crazy?!?!”

I used to be of this same frame of mind.  Seemed like a ridiculous expense, how could anyone justify spending this kind of money?

Let me try to put it in perspective.  You go out, spend thousands of dollars on a new home entertainment system and really want to “wow” your friends.  You invite everyone over, get them seated, the popcorn is popped and the lights are dimmed.  You pick up your Denon remote and try to power up the surround receiver.  A tiny light comes on the dvd player.  Whoops, wrong remote.  No problem!  Grab the next one.  The amp fires up no problem.  Now, for the tv.  Hmmmm….where did that remote go?  After getting all your friends to jam their hands into the couch cushions, you realize it was right in front of you, right next to the satellite remote, vcr remote, your keys, your blackberry, the tiny remote for your iMac.

No harm!  No foul!  I’ll just turn it on now.  The plasma fires up.  Everyone is very impressed by your enormous screen which is bright blue and has Y/pB/pR written in the corner.  Oh that’s right!  I have to change the input!  You grab the Denon remote and change it to DVD.  A fanfare of horns erupt and you recognize it as the sound of the 20th Century Fox startup screen!  Now…where’s that tv remote again?  You finally find it and change it to HDMI 1.  The screen lights up with a glorious picture!!!  Unfortunately it’s not the movie you are trying to watch, it’s “The Big Comfy Couch”  All your friends start laughing and one guy yells out, “Hey, don’t you know how to use this stuff?”  You’re sweating, embarrassed and extremely flustered and you are starting to panic.  Any second now you are going to start pulling wires out of the tv and try to plug them in blindly until something works.

How stupid does that universal remote sound now?  If only you’d budgeted for a decent remote, you could have pushed the big glowing button labelled, “Watch a Movie” and the remote would have set everything up for you.  All the correct inputs, put the volume at a decent and impressive level, even dimmed the lights for a dazzling effect!

I admit it, these things cost a little bit of money, but “oh Boy!” are they ever worth it.  After all, you just bought all this stuff and the remote is the only thing you are ever going to touch!

How many people have bought electronics from a “big box” store?  Don’t be shy, I know you’ve all done it.  Ever notice how quick the salesman is to push you into a brand new, “signal enhancing” $150 1 meter HDMI cable?  It’s ridiculous!  Don’t get me wrong, a quality cable goes a long way in the world of audio/video.  But some of these cables are so out of this world when it comes to price, I can’t believe they can get away with it.

Cables do a job.  They transfer data.  They do not improve it, they do not enhance it. A good quality cable is doing the best job it can when:

1. The data travels from point A to point B
2. There is no artifacts in the picture/audio
3. The picture/audio holds steady

So people, please!  Don’t let these stores fool you.  If you are buying a dvd player for $59.99 and the cables to hook it up cost $100.00, there is something seriously wrong!

At Marcus T. Solutions, I use quality cables that won’t break the bank. All my cables are tried, tested and true, and I have the knowledge to correctly judge when a higher quality cable is required.  If you are unsure, ask a professional, don’t trust some kid at Shmest Buy!

Whether it’s just an upgrade from an aging home theater or if you are starting fresh, there are some important things to consider when it comes to audio.

Consider this, you buy a brand new 50 inch plasma, with all the bells and whistles and don’t account for a new audio system in your budget.  You hook it up and the picture looks fantastic! You sit down to watch a movie and it becomes glaringly obvious that there is a giant discrepancy between picture and sound.  The people and action on screen are certainly larger than life, but they sure don’t sound like it.

When budgeting for a new home theater, you are well advised to include an audio upgrade.  A new surround sound receiver will increase your television experience ten-fold, and will even help with the remote juggling, that drives so many people crazy.

If surround sound isn’t your thing, there are many options available to increase the fidelity of your sound, without having to pull wires everywhere and won’t break the bank.  Just ask a trusted home theater dealer what options are available.

Ever wonder why some stores can sell a product cheaper than others?  Many “big box” stores will order a batch of electronics with a few “modifications” made.  In other words, cheaper parts for a bigger profit margin.

At face value, it will seem like the exact same product you have been researching and drooling over for several months.  Whether it’s cheaper capacitors, cheaper labour causing cold solder joints, it isn’t the product you were looking at and it isn’t the product you want.

Rule of thumb is, if it seems way cheaper than it should be, that’s because it is!

The best way to avoid buying a “modified” product is to check the model number of the unit on the manufacturers website.  If it shows up as slightly different (even by one number) or not at all, don’t buy it!

At Marcus T. Solutions, I use only legitimate products.  The most current, and the most reliable, all the time.