Home Genius Guys

Step up to the Internet Buffet

hgenius@comcast.net (Rob & Nick Sollecito) — Tue, 05 Apr 2011 19:12:00 +0000

Let’s stop kidding ourselves. We say we like Internet based TV services like Netflix and Internet based music such as Pandora because they are no longer simply emerging technologies. They are the here and now of entertainment fulfillment. We also state the benefits of “content” on the go via our mobile devices; laptops, tablets, and smart phones. Don’t you feel just a little bit smarter when the guy next to you on the plane is reading SkyMall and you are watching Inception on your iPad in full high definition at 35,000 feet?
While this is all very cool and makes us feel a bit “high brow”, the real reason we enjoy these services is the same reason we enjoy the all-you-can-eat buffet…Lot’s of stuff at an acceptable price. You may be thinking that you sometimes enjoy a nice quiet meal and don’t mind paying more for a fun night out. That is why we still have movie theatres. For about $50 you and your significant other can purchase tickets to first run movies and maybe even share a bucket of popcorn and a soda. But for nightly entertainment, it is hard to beat $12 per month for a Netflix account. For this price you get one movie mailed to you at a time but more importantly all-you-can-eat (watch) downloads right to your TV instantly. If it’s music you like, why pay for subscription services when Pandora lets you tailor your radio stations to the music you enjoy for free.
How does it all work? Like any Internet-based service, it all starts with a high speed Internet connection in your home. Add a router which allows you to have multiple internet devices in the home and you are ready to start adding devices. The easiest way to get started is by adding a Bluray player that has Internet functions. There are many brands available but I find Samsung, LG and Sharp offer the most internet based content. Once your Bluray is connected to the TV, it also needs to be tied into the network. Some players require a hard-wired connection but others have built-in wireless capability if your home is not wired. There are also many TVs that have Internet content built in so you do not necessarily need a Bluray player. Keep in mind however that not all movies are available for instant download so a Bluray player offers the most flexibility for playing movies sent to you through the mail or viewing from your existing collection.
In addition to Netflix and Pandora, which are the most popular Internet applications, there are many others already available and many more on the way. YouTube videos are always fun to view on your TV especially if you posted them yourself. Samsung has just released a new version of their facebook application that is supposedly easier to navigate. Other movie services such as CinemaNow and Vudu are also available for downloading of more current movies, however these are pay as you view services that range in price from $4 to $20 per movie. Other free applications include convenience services such as accuweather and Skype. The most popular application by far however is still Netflix. They have grown from 2.6 million subscribers in 2004 to over 20 million subscribers today. Twenty million subscribers can’t be wrong so if you are considering entering into the Internet content fray, contact Home Genius for suggestions on the best equipment for your home.

Is this the Demise of the Cable Companies

hgenius@comcast.net (Rob & Nick Sollecito) — Sat, 20 Oct 2007 15:08:00 +0000

Whew, it’s been a couple of tough weeks for the cable companies, in particular Comcast.

• First, DirecTV’s launching of 47 High Definition channels along with the promise to launch another 50 or so by years end.

• J.D Powers released a survey recently ranking DirecTV as “Highest in Customer Satisfaction Among Satellite/Cable TV Subscribers” in three out of the four regions of the continental United States.

• A disgruntled consumer launches a website called, Comcastmustdie.com.

• Or how about the little old lady who took a hammer to her local cable company office and went ballistic! (see Taking a Whack Against Comcast)

Major, big-time OUCH!

I guess I am not all that surprised. We all have a cable horror story or twenty to tell. (Note to self, do a blog on my cable horror story.) It seems that with all the emphasis on good customer service these days, customer satisfaction in the cable industry is not getting much better. Being in the custom installation business we are installing new high definition TV’s daily. This means that our customers are upgrading their cable service to the High Definition tier. I have never heard the level of customer dissatisfaction I am hearing from my customers lately. Just this week I had a customer tell me that her cable company in Rhode Island does not have standard High Definition cable boxes with HDMI connections. The only way she could get an HDMI connection on her high Definition box was to get the box with the DVR capability and she would need to pay $10.00 a month for the service even though she doesn’t want the service. She reluctantly decided to accept the non-HDMI High Definition box. Then she was told she had to pay a $50.00 installation fee. She asked if she could pick it up and have her custom installer hook it up since he was going to be installing her new TV anyway and customer service rep said they did not have these in the office, they were only on the trucks and she would need to make an appointment so the cable technician could install it. She can’t wait for Verizon FIOS to come to her town, and it will.

It’s time for the cable companies to change their culture. Competition is here, customer service is still king and not just a popular buzz phrase anymore. Consumers are fighting back not only with purchasing power but with new tools like the internet. So is this the demise of the cable companies? I for one truly hope not, but I do hope that it is a real call to action for all cable TV providers to get their act together and listen to the drumbeat.

I Want My Digital Freedom

hgenius@comcast.net (Rob & Nick Sollecito) — Sat, 06 Oct 2007 17:39:00 +0000

The RIAA (Recording Industry Association of America) has brought its first music file sharing lawsuit to trial against a consumer and won. What may be seen as a victory by some is more likely to be seen by most consumers as an assault on their digital freedoms. After all, many of us lived through a time where making a copy of a record, cassette tape or a VHS copy of a movie for personal use was common practice. I personally had always made a backup copy of my music in case my tapes or CD’s were stolen. I also made a copy to keep my original in pristine condition while my copy took the abuse of traveling in my car. Well according to the RIAA’s lawyers this is illegal too.

For those of you who have not heard, the RIAA successfully prosecuted a woman for sharing over 1700 songs on KAZAA the now defunct file sharing service. She was fined $222,000. The RIAA has notified approximately 26,000 consumers that they have been implicated in illegal music file sharing. Most consumers are settling with the RIAA for $2000 - $3000. This was the first consumer that chose to fight the charges in court.

I fully support copyright protection for the artist. File sharing does take potential earning from artists who deserves to be duly compensated for their work. What I do have an issue with is the RIAA’s archaic methods of dealing with the issue. File sharing is not going away and is in fact it is increasing year after year. The recording industry is losing billions of dollars in potential sales because they are not staying ahead of technology not because of the relatively small amount of file sharing. They choose to alienate the music buying consumers they should be trying to convince to buy their products. The recording industry needs to make it extremely easy and inexpensive for consumers to procure their products. One of the recording industry largest, Universal, has embarked on a DRM free experiment.
Another innovative idea is gaining some traction. It is called Voluntary Collective Licensing of Music File Sharing. The idea has been put forth by the Electronics Frontier Foundation. This link will take you their site which explains their very innovative proposal which I believe would benefit all parties involved. The consumer would pay a very small fee to freely download music, the recording industry and the artist would be fairly compensated for their products. If you care about your digital rights and the right of artists this is an effort you should get behind. Consumers unite and spread the good word. Last time I checked the customer was still king.

What is CEDIA?

hgenius@comcast.net (Rob & Nick Sollecito) — Sun, 23 Sep 2007 14:43:00 +0000

In our Podcast this week we talk about CEDIA and its annual Expo which just wrapped up last week. For the sake of full disclosure, Home Genius has been a CEDIA member since 2000. For those of you that have not heard of CEDIA (Custom Electronics Design and Installation Association), it is the custom electronic industry’s trade association. CEDIA’s mission is to hold its members to the highest professional standards by educating & certifying its members.

The annual Expo serve as a trade show as well as an educational and certification opportunity for its members. This year’s Expo set an attendance record with over 29,000 attendees, a notable figure in light of a somewhat depressed housing market.

For the consumer, CEDIA provides valuable resources when trying to select a Custom Installation Professional. One valuable tool is the finder and referral service.
It is available online: http://www.cedia.net/homeowners/finder.php

For the home owner it is always a concern when looking for a contractor that is trustworthy, reliable and knowledgeable. The CEDIA finder and referral service helps take the risk and guesswork out of this decision. Another helpful online resource is a library of articles designed to answer some of the questions that homeowners have with regard to home electronics and installation services. http://www.cedia.net/homeowners/articles.php

Here are some links to the CEDIA Expo reviews:
http://www.cepro.com/article/the_complete_cedia_expo_wrap_up_products_news_and_more/

http://hometheater.about.com/od/ontheroadatcedia/ig/Best-Of-CEDIA-2007/index.htm

http://www.microsoft.com/presspass/press/2007/sep07/09-05CEDIAInstallersPR.mspx

The Wide World of Wireless Technology

hgenius@comcast.net (Rob & Nick Sollecito) — Sun, 16 Sep 2007 11:36:00 +0000

Where would our lives be without Wireless technologies? How could we survive if we could not surf the web while having a latte in our favorite coffee hangout? I know I certainly would not. But seriously, when one look at where we are and where we are going, it is pretty impressive.

BlueTooth

BlueTooth wireless technology is a short-range communications technology intended to replace the cables connecting portable and/or fixed devices. It is sometimes referred to as a Personal Area Network or PAN. Applications are growing for this popular technology. BlueTooth cell phone headsets and computer printers are the more well known applications. More recent applications include gaming consoles and barcode scanners. One of the more interesting applications I have heard of is called Bluedildonics. go to http://www.thetoy.us/ for more titillating info.

Wireless Local Area Networks

Popularly known as Wi-Fi and WLAN, the tech jargon is 802.11b,g or n. The terms are used interchangeably for wireless networking within a home. In the recent past The Home Genius Guys were not recommending wireless computer networking in the home because the speeds were significantly reduced compared to a good old hardwired connection. That may still be somewhat true but with the maturation of wireless modems, namely “wireless N” we are seeing some pretty incredible speeds, providing “very good” signal strength can be maintained throughout the home’s footprint. This may not be necessary if you are just surfing the internet or VPNing into work but if you are streaming high definition content around your house it is huge! The increased popularity of streaming entertainment media around the house demands bandwidth and throughput and the only way to reliably accomplish this is to employ “wireless N” technology.

Wi-Max

The Worldwide Interoperability for Microwave Access, is a telecommunications technology aimed at providing wireless data over long distances. I consider Wi-Max to be an up and comer. It has great promise but seems to be slow in taking off. The best use seems to be providing internet access over a very wide area. The State of Rhode Island has a pilot Wi-Max network called the Rhode Island Wireless Initiative Network (RI-WINS). Rhode Island would be the first to have a statewide Wi-Max network. Being the smallest state in the union certainly makes this feasible. Unfortunately, current budget constraints has put the project on the shelf. Tying together several Wi-Fi hotspots is also a plausible application. Probably the most useful application would be for areas of the world that do not have the telecommunications infrastructure that much of the developed world enjoys. If you had to start from scratch, certainly a Wi-Max infrastructure would be much more cost effective than a conventional infrastructure. Look for Wi-Max to gain more support and find its way into more applications in the near future.

GPS

Global Positioning Satellite has been around for quite a long time. Originally it was used exclusively for the military and the merchant marine industry. It found its way into the recreational boating industry and now here is an explosion in the mobile tracking market. Cell phones and automobiles are the most popular of the mobile GPS devices. My favorite application, Gold Course tracking. Prices are dropping so fast that I expect to be seeing more new and innovative uses for GPS. A new GPS chip was recently introduced that will work indoors with much more accurate tracking. Wouldn’t this be great to have when trying to find something in a Home Depot or Mega Wal-Mart?

How big should my screen be?

hgenius@comcast.net (Rob & Nick Sollecito) — Fri, 29 Jun 2007 03:35:00 +0000

This is a common question that is asked lately because screen sizes have increased dramatically in recent years. It is not uncommon for plasmas and LCD TVs to be offered in 60" to 65" models and even larger. With front projection systems becoming less expensive and more popular, theatre screens easily range from 84" to 120" providing an incredible cinema-like experience.

So what is the definitive answer?

In this “super size me” world that we live in, bigger is not always better. The general rule of thumb is to measure from the screen surface to the seating area. Take this measurement and divide by two. That is the maximum size that you should consider for a screen size or the image will begin to appear grainy. For example, if you have a 50” plasma, you should be seated at least 100” away. This is because you will actually be able to differentiate between pixels. Pixels are the individual points of color that a screen displays. There are millions of pixels in a typical display and the more pixels you have, the better the resolution.

Often times during the discussion of screen size, another question arises. How high should I mount my new flat panel TV or cinema screen? The optimum height will put the center of the display at eye level. Keeping in mind that most people are slightly reclined when watching TV, that places the center of the display at approximately 48” to 50”. Bedroom TVs are typically mounted higher because we are typically lying in bed while viewing. Because many flat panels are mounted over fireplaces, we often find TVs mounted higher than this standard but somehow the look of a flat panel over a fireplace makes it easy to ignore the standard height.

Remember that all of these measurements are rules of thumb to maximize your viewing experience. If you really want that ‘next size up’ or you ‘gotta have’ it over the fireplace, don’t be afraid to push the envelope a little bit. After all, we shouldn’t be super sizing our fries at the drive thru either but it sure is satisfying.

Designing a Home Theatre

hgenius@comcast.net (Rob & Nick Sollecito) — Fri, 29 Jun 2007 03:10:00 +0000

Home theatre design starts with careful planning. There are many factors to consider and some of them have already been covered in some previous articles on this site. I will link you to them during this discussion. The points covered in this article are meant to apply to any theatre design regardless of whether you are building a room from scratch or putting a theatre in an existing room.

The Room: This is the most important consideration when planning your home theatre.

First determine the size. You can read the past Tech Tip on, “How to size a Room for Home Theatre”.

Where will the seating be located

Sound Treatment:

Sound treatment is not the same as sound proofing. Think of sound treatment as a method to “tune the room”.

This is an important step in theatre design. Generally it requires a trained ear or specialized equipment to expertly tune the room but many times the sound problems are obvious. Muddy or booming bass is the most common problem. Also look for unintelligible dialog from the center channel and tinny sounding highs. The proper wall treatments can eliminate these problems.

Components:

Display size: see the article on this page “How Big Should My Screen Be”.

Determine Surround Sound format- 5.1 or 7.1. 5.1 is sufficient in most applications. 7.1 is desirable in very large rooms or dedicated cinema rooms.

Audio Video Receivers- 85 watts per channel is a good power rating for an average size room (200 square feet and under). Add 15 – 20 watts per channel for every additional 50 square feet.

Speakers- Determine type: in-wall, in-ceiling, surface mount, bookshelf or floor tower.

DVD Players- Choose standard definition player or one of the new high definition formats: Blu Ray or HD-DVD

Remote Control:

To make your theatre experience more enjoyable it is a good idea to get an all-in-one remote control.

There are numerous brands available. Go for the simplest layout large buttons, large labels and good backlighting. If you can, get a color touch screen model. They are easy on the eyes and add to the cool factor of you home theatre.

Most all-in-one remote controls do something called macro commands. This will turn on all devices and set to the proper inputs with the press of one button. It will also turn all your components off with the press of a button.

Lighting:

Aesthetics are important in your home theatre. Setting the right mood makes the theatre experience more authentic and enjoyable.

Use multiple lighting zones to create a choice of “scenes or settings”. Three or four is ideal.

There are many choices in lighting controllers to create & control lighting scenes.

Many operate with a remote control so they can be added to your all-in-one remote. An example of a very cool remote control macro would be pressing the play button so the movie starts and the lighting dims automatically to the desired level.

How to size a room for Home Theatre

hgenius@comcast.net (Rob & Nick Sollecito) — Fri, 29 Jun 2007 03:06:00 +0000

Ok, so you ready to build that new home theatre room you have been dreaming about forever. You convinced your wife, that prices have dropped as low as they can go and you compromised on making part of the finished basement an exercise room. So do you know where to start? Sure, you say, I’ll go out and buy the biggest TV I can get through the basement door and the most powerful subwoofer know to humankind. Hold on a minute Mr. 2000” TV. Size does matter but I’m talking about room size here! Yes a properly sized display and a high quality subwoofer are essential to the theatre experience but there is something that is even more crucial. The room! That’s right! Believe it or not the room is the most important part of the equation. If you are blessed with the opportunity to start from scratch when planning your new Home Theatre there are many factors to consider to obtain superior sound and visual bliss.
Here are some very basics rules:

Never build a perfectly square room or a room with dimensions of exact multiples. Example: 10’ X 20’, 15’ x 30’, 16.5” x 33”…… unless of course you really like to hear echo, echo, echo. Just alter the dimensions somewhat like: 10’ 4” x 20’. It doesn’t take much.

Minimize the use hard materials such as; tile, glass, stone and metal. Think soft and absorbent; Rugs, carpets, fabric.

Dedicate your room as a cinema room. There nothing wrong with putting the pool table and bar in its own room. You can always add a TV in the rec room.

Avoid opening into another room. Sound like four properly dimension walls to bounce off.

Choose the display wall and seating arrangement paying particular attention to the size of the TV in relation to the seating distance. See the previous article on “Sizing your new TV”.

Layout speaker location. The attached link is a great resource for laying out a surround sound theatre

Locate display height for ideal viewing from as many seats as possible but with particular attention to the main seating. It is most desirable to look straight into the center of the display while seated. In a true theatre seating arrangement it is more desirable to step up rear seating by 6” than to raise the screen.

More than the basic:
http://www.dolby.com/consumer/home_entertainment/roomlayout.html
http://www.hometheaterbuilder.com/issue/OptRmDim.htm
http://cedia.net/homeowners/acoustical.php
http://www.hometheatermag.com/bootcamp/140/
http://www.webopedia.com/DidYouKnow/Computer_Science/2005/surround_sound.asp

HDTV: Who started it and where is it going?

hgenius@comcast.net (Rob & Nick Sollecito) — Fri, 29 Jun 2007 03:02:00 +0000

In 1988 Japan announced a new TV viewing standard, High Definition. Just like that a new technology race was born and Japan was the undisputed leader. America had nothing like it and billions of dollars were at stake. At the same time another technology was exploding – wireless, or as it was called at the time, land mobile. Wireless device manufacturing companies led by Motorola, were clamoring for more spectrum on the airwaves. This is the invisible superhighway that wireless signals travel on. Wireless signals share the airwaves with TV and radio frequencies and there is a finite range of frequencies that can accommodate these vital signals.

Meanwhile, think back to when radio, and later TV, became available in the US. In 1934 the government created the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) to regulate the distribution of the airwave spectrum so signals would not interfere with each other. TV and radio companies were given this spectrum at no cost as long as they did not charge the consumer to view or listen to these transmissions. Fast-forward to the 80s as new wireless technologies such as pagers and mobile phones came onto the scene. The FCC began auctioning off available spectrum to the highest bidder, since the wireless companies profited from the new services.

As more and more wireless services came to the market, available spectrum became scarce and the prices paid at spectrum auctions became quite lucrative for the government. The FCC knew the TV broadcasters had much more spectrum allocated to them in the early days than they were using, so the FCC let it be known that they would be taking some of it back. The National Association of Broadcasters (NAB), realizing how valuable the spectrum they owned had become, did not want to give any of it up. With a strong lobby in Washington they began to devise a way to hang onto their coveted spectrum. HDTV gave them the perfect excuse.
The NAB argued that they needed the spectrum to bring HDTV to America and they could not afford to lose any spectrum because this new HDTV signal required much more bandwidth, or lanes on the spectrum superhighway, than the existing analog TV signal required. This seemed like the perfect argument, and it was. The only problem was, they did not have an HDTV system. They didn’t even have anything on the drawing boards.

Since there were millions of dollars at stake, Congress and the FCC did not just take the broadcasters at their word. They set benchmarks and deadlines for broadcasters to launch HDTV. It became a long and arduous journey throughout the 90s with many companies vying to get their format approved to become the American HDTV standard. Deadlines came and went, and so did leadership at the FCC. Finally, in the late 90s a new standard was adopted. It was called the Advanced Television Systems Committee (ATSC). It would be based on digital technology which would allow the signal to be compressed which would save space or spectrum.

The new digital broadcast system would require a complete revamping of the broadcast industry. Everything would need to be replaced: towers, transmitters, cameras and of course televisions. To view the new signal the consumer would need to replace their televisions, or at the very least buy a set top conversion box. The FCC realized that this was going to take some time, not only for the broadcasters to upgrade their equipment but for the manufacturers to come up with an affordable set top box for consumers who could not afford to just go out and buy a new digital TV. The FCC set a benchmark of $100 for the set top box.

Since the new standard called for a digitally compressed signal this would help the FCC’s original goal of getting some spectrum back from the broadcasters. (Remember how this all started?) But the NAB had another argument. They still would not be able to give up any spectrum until the complete conversion to digital was complete, since they needed to simultaneously broadcast both analog and digital signals. The FCC concurred and a date was set to make the conversion to digital. This meant that the analog signal would be turned off for good and non-digital sets would cease to work unless they were outfitted with a set top conversion box.

The original conversion date was set at mid-2004. Since that date was set it has become a moving target with the latest conversion date being Feb 16, 2009, over twenty years since the whole debate began in 1988! This date seems to be pretty certain for now, but I’m not betting the farm on it. Our advice? Stayed tuned!

Condensed from Defining Definition: How Broadcasters Lured the Government into Inciting a Revolution in Television, by Joel Brinkley, 1998.

Plasma vs LCD: Which One is Better?

hgenius@comcast.net (Rob & Nick Sollecito) — Thu, 28 Jun 2007 02:29:00 +0000

This is by far the most asked question we get in the biz. The better question would be, what TV is best for me. It is a valid question but not as cut and dry as we would like to see it. One thing is certain both technologies continue to improve with each new generation.
Advantage Plasma:
I will say right up front that I think Plasma wins the picture quality battle over LCD. Due to the manufacturing process, Plasma TV’s have the advantage on one very important factor and that is black levels. Simply put the blacks are blacker and this is the most important factor when it comes to contrast and color saturation. LCD TV’s leak some light between pixels where the black resides which causes the blacks to wash out somewhat and the colors to fade. Another advantage that Plasma has over LCD is a greater viewing angle. LCD tends to degrade slightly in brightness and color when it approaches its maximum recommended viewing angle. The Plasma TV’s picture quality will remain constant throughout the viewing range. Plasma will also give you the best bang for the buck when you get into the larger sizes. Currently, the crossover point seems to be about 42” whereas 42” and up is a better value in Plasma models, although, this is an ever changing target.
Advantage LCD:
LCD TV has its share of advantages over Plasma TV. The greatest advantage is brightness. I recommend LCD when a customer has a lot of natural light in a room. LCD’s better utilize resolution so the image appears slightly sharper. With LCD’s, it easy to be green. LCD’s are about 30% more energy efficient than Plasmas. Talk about guilt free TV. When it comes to choices of size and configuration LCD wins hands down. Models start from 5” and go up in 2” increments. You can get them with speakers on the bottom, on the sides, speakers that are integrated or removable. You can also get cabinet colors in black, charcoal, grey silver and white. Plasma TV’s are generally black or silver and do not come in sizes smaller than 37”. When it comes to small TV’s, LCD is where you get the best bang for the buck. It seems like every time I check the price on an LCD, it has dropped again.
Genius Tip:
Whichever TV you determine is the best choice for your situation, make sure that it comes with a digital tuner. Sometime 2009 analog transmission will be discontinued (no really the FCC said it so it must be true). You don’t want to find yourself needing to buy a set top box or adapter to use your TV.