December 18, 2009 | by Lisa Montgomery

2009 is coming to a close, so I thought it would be appropriate to look back at the homes I’ve featured during the year.

Surprisingly, I remembered at least one interesting tidbit about each and every one, and we’re talking dozens of homes—including many winners and finalists from our annual Home of the Year Awards program.

Read more…

December 18, 2009 | by Steven Castle

How video calibration works – and why you want it

by Brent Butterworth

I’ve spoken with many people who are shocked to learn they have to spend hundreds of dollars extra to have their theater’s video projector professionally calibrated. I can sympathize. After all, who among us hasn’t brought a brand-new TV home, plugged it in, turned it on, and never once touched the picture adjustments?

I can’t tell you a fancy calibration process is going to make The Biggest Loser any more captivating. But when you’re watching movies, accurate color reproduction and crisp detail draw really help draw you into the story, especially with a projection system. Achieving this level of performance is an incredibly complicated process for which most amateurs are no more qualified than they would be to do a brake job on their car.

The very first thing a calibration technician does is make sure your system is hooked up correctly. There’s a huge benefit here that doesn’t often get discussed—you can be sure all of your devices (Blu-ray player, cable box, etc.) are set for the optimum resolution for your projector. The tech’s also going to make sure the proper cables are used and that they’re all installed correctly. You can rest assured knowing you’re not one of the millions of people watching standard-definition video when they could be getting high definition.

Then the tech will check the physical installation of the TV, making sure that the screen is level and unobstructed. If it’s a projection system, the tech will check to see that the image is properly zoomed, centered, and focused.

Next, the tech will make basic adjustments to such controls as brightness, contrast, and sharpness, using either a special test DVD or a video signal generator.

Now comes the complicated part, where the tech adjusts the grayscale of the display. Grayscale is actually a function of the mix of red, green, and blue in the display. Get the mix right and you’ll get a perfectly neutral gray (or black or white), and all your other colors should fall into line, too. Get the mix wrong and the blacks, grays, and whites might look blue. Or they might look red. Or the blacks might look greenish while the whites look purple. This process takes anywhere from about 30 minutes to 2 hours, depending on how bad the TV looks at the start, and it involves test equipment costing $5,000 to $15,000.

On many newer TVs and projectors, the tech will be able to adjust the specific colors of red, green, and blue, to assure that the TV’s delivering the full range of color of which it’s capable.

There are other steps, too, and the more features manufacturers add to their TVs and projectors every year, the more things the calibration technician needs to check.

I’ve been through the calibration training program run by the Imaging Science Foundation three times, and I review projectors on a regular basis, yet I still find the calibration process complicated and challenging. Sure, if you’re really tech-savvy and wanted to invest in the necessary test gear, you could do the job yourself. But by the time you get good at it, you’ll probably be ready to buy a whole new display.

by Bob Gullo

Due Diligence

What you need know BEFORE selecting your Electronic Systems Integrator

Most would agree that there are salient elements to look for when selecting a firm. What are the most important elements to you in the selection process?

While there is a litany of questions to ask, the following questions represent the key points to consider when selecting a firm.

Visit the Facility

Getting to know the company you are considering.  There are several things one should consider during the introductory “getting to know you” phase.  One way to get a good read on a prospective firm is to visit their operation.  The mission of this trip is to learn about their business processes; how they manage their projects from start to completion to servicing their clients afterward.  Here are a few fact finding questions to ask.

1. Ask to see and review technical drawings and schematics of a project of similar size and scope. They should include wiring schematics, rack elevations and connection diagrams.
2. Ask to see the production facility. What you want to see is Equipment Racks under construction and being tested. Is the wiring neat and organized?
3. Ask if they have programmers on staff, not outsourced. Ask to see their certifications from the vendors. Ask to meet with a programmer to review a current project of similar size and scope of yours.
4. Who Manages the Project?  Do they have a business Process to manage projects?  Ask to see it.
5. Who services the Project? Meet the Service Manager; he will be one of the most important people you know after the project is complete.

Financial Stability & Longevity

1. Run a D&B report. Make sure the firm has no law suits, liens, and IRS or State Tax problems. Do they pay their bills on time?  Do they have high credit limits?  Larger projects require larger credit lines.
2. Ask permission to contact their Banker.  Does the firm have financial strength?  I would ask to see their balances across all accounts, loans payable and lines of credit.  In this economy you can’t be too careful.
3. Ask for a reference of similar size and scope for a Project that was installed MORE THAN 5 YEARS AGO.   Of course, get recent references too, but older references are a good source to evaluate the company’s service.

Technical Prowess

1. Ask to see MORE THAN ONE PROJECT, of similar size and scope. Everyone gets lucky with a Home Run in their career, I’ve made my living focused on Larger, Complex projects.
2. Inspect the racks, the wiring closets and “head-ends”.  Are they neat and serviceable?
3. Review the Touchpanel pages; can you operate them without asking for instruction? Are they intuitive?
4. Has the firm won any nationally accredited technical awards for their work?
5. Has the firm been recognized for their technical prowess from the vendors they’re representing?

Multi-zone audio and video in this home were of the utmost importance to our client.

Hear how the transition from his previous “mom-and-pop” installer led him to experience

the “EDG Difference”.

by: Brent Butterworth

Not just one but three companies have recently announced surround-sound technologies that go beyond 7.1 channels. Now home theater enthusiasts who thought they were finished adding extra speakers to their systems are asking: Is adding a bunch of new speakers to my system really going to make a difference?

It’s too early to answer that question for sure, because only one of the new technologies has actually hit the market. But I can share a few first impressions.

First Up: Dolby Pro Logic IIz

The first of the systems to be announced—and to be available in actual products—is Dolby Pro Logic IIz. PLIIz adds two front height speakers to a 5.1- or 7.1-channel system. The height speakers mount 3 feet or more above the front left and right speakers.

In most home theater systems, adding Pro Logic IIz should be fairly easy. However, the benefits aren’t dramatic. When I tried the first PLIIz-equipped receiver, I didn’t get the sensation of height that I expected, but it did make my speaker system sound somewhat bigger and more robust. The effect was noticeable only when I played action movies, though.

Coming Soon: Audyssey DSX

The second system to arrive will be Audyssey DSX, which is scheduled to arrive in new receivers this summer. In addition to the front height speakers that PLIIz uses, DSX also adds two width speakers, positioned outside the existing left and right speakers. The system uses two, three, or four surround speakers—so you could have a system with as many as 11 channels, plus a subwoofer or two.

I got an early demo of DSX at the University of Southern California’s Immersive Listening Lab, and I liked what I heard—but just as with PLIIz, the effect was fairly subtle.

The Big Maybe: DTS Neo:X

DTS demonstrated its own >7.1 technology at last January’s Consumer Electronics Show. However, the company has provided no specifics since then about the technology. (My guess is they put together a demo just to steal some of the thunder from Dolby’s announcement of Pro Logic IIz.) The tentative name for the technology is Neo:X, and what little information DTS has provided suggests it’s a 10-channel system with two front height speakers and one rear height speaker.

It’s still way too early to tell if >7.1 systems will take off. One thing’s for sure, though: These technologies will be more successful in custom home theaters than they are in the mass market. In custom home theaters that have their speakers mounted behind fabric walls, adding the extra speakers should be fairly easy. So if you’re planning to upgrade soon, think seriously about adding one of these new technologies to your system.

by: John Sciacca

Back when the concept of home theater was really catching on, one of the selling catchphrases used to help justify the expense was that “a home theater is the swimming pool of the 90s.” I believe I even used it in a column at some point. The idea was, instead of dropping $15-20 grand on a pool, invest that in a home theater. Great, huh?

But now that I think about it, this is a poor analogy. First, pools are frickin’ expensive. And I’m not talking crazy, Hugh-Hefner-and-the-swim-in-grotto pools. An in-ground pool can easily run well over $50,000. Granted, you can drop that kind of coin on a theater as well, but you can get something really impressive for a good bit less. Second… Well, lots of reasons. As someone who owns both a swimming pool and a home theater, I’d like to tell you why owning a home theater is oh so much better than a pool.

Pools require constant care

Skimming, vacuuming, brushing, backwashing, chemicals, etc. It’s always something. The only care my theater requires is remembering to put the remote on the charging cradle.

Everyone enjoys watching movies

There are a lot of people who don’t want to go swimming. Whether it’s body issues or not wanting to mess their hair or whatever, some people just won’t go swimming. Everyone will sit and watch a movie.

It’s never too cold for your home theater

Unless you have a heater – ka-ching! – there will be many months of the year when you can’t use a swimming pool. Conversely, the weather is always perfect in my theater.

No one will ever drown in my theater

Being able to leave my 2 year old unattended in the theater is a pretty major difference.

You don’t feel like your home theater is out to get you

My pool is vindictive. I don’t know why, but it is. When it senses I’m about to leave town, it likes to break. Preferably over the weekend when it’s impossible to get a replacement part. This also leads to…

You’ll never come home and find your home theater has turned green or black

The first thing I do when returning home from vacation is check my pool. I’ve found dead animals in the filter, a broken glass table resting on the bottom and once the dreaded black water when my pump stopped running for two weeks. My theater? Fires up perfectly every time no matter how long I’m away.

No one tracks water into my house when watching a movie

Granted you might face the spilt beverage or overturned popcorn bowl, but these are relatively minor compared to wet people going in and out of the house to use the bathroom or grab a snack.

I don’t worry about anyone peeing in my theater

OK, my 2 year old has peed on the floor of my theater, but still.