LG OLED and 84″ Ultra Definition 3D TV at CES 2012 from Dave the Gadget Guy on Vimeo.

Shades-Drapes from Sound Ideas Home Theater on Vimeo.

Pairing motorized shades and home automation creates a convenient way to raise and lower the shades in a single room or the whole house.  It also enhances the safety and security of your home. Press a button as you leave to lower all the shades and restrict the view into your home when you are not there. Place the shades on an astronomical clock to raise and lower themselves at a specific time of day.  

The following video is an example of a few shading solutions we did for clients.  In it you will see some examples of shades, drapes and roman shades in action.  In future videos we will showcase each individual style and go into more detail about it. 

Lutron Shades & Drapes from Sound Ideas Home Theater on Vimeo.

Yes, there are a few articles out there about this research.  Some of the writers actually read the paper while others merely read the article about the paper to write their article.  Most of them missed the point of the paper completely.

Long paper short – the focus of the study was not to discover that 3D causes headaches and eyestrain (which we already knew) but to figure out why it caused them.  We can now blame “vergence–accommodation conflicts” for the problem.  When we watch a 3D image on a screen our eyes do not resolve on a single focal point like in normal viewing but have at least two focal points  – the screen and the image that appears either behind or in front of the screen.  These two focal points are at different distances and therein lies the problem.  

They also discovered that  there is a relation bewteen the viewing distance from the screen and headaches, eye strain and dizziness.  If you are watching a 3D movie at a theater and get a headache or dizzy, move closer to the screen.  That will reduce the problem.

The hope is now that there is hard data on why some people get headaches and dizzy watching 3d content, film makers, theater designers and engineers will figure out a way to reduce or even solve that problem.

Happy Anniversary Klipsch!

After the layout design is completed, the rack is ordered with custom face plates for each component to give the finished product a polished look. Before we take the rack to the jobsite, we assemble it in our shop, install the gear, and test the equipment and the system design to make sure everything is working.

A custom cabinet like this makes installation and servicing easier, looks great and makes the gear easier to access and use for the home owner.

Check out the features of LG’s new line up of Smart TVs.

And take a look at the Smart Hub from Samsung!

This stuff is so cool it will make you giddy. All the more reason to make sure you have a good IP and a powerful home network.

Step 1: Go to www.speedtest.net and check you bandwidth speed. Begin the test and compare the results. If your speed is greater that 3 mbps then you have an acceptable bandwith speed. Acceptable, not great. Ideally you want 5 mbps minimum, if you can get 10 mbps or better then your golden!

Step 2: If your bandwidth is low, contact your service provider (att, charter, verizon, etc.) and request line tests and options for upgrading your speed.

Step 3: Check your physical network equipment such as your modem and router to make sure that the location where your internet enabled device will goes has either a hardwire connection or a solid wireless signal. This step is a little tricky, but it needs to be included. I always perfer a hardwire connection, but sometimes that is not possible. If do not have a network signal at your desired location, then there are several devices that can help bring a network connection to that location. Below are a few pictures of such devices.

If this seems like a lot of work, don’t worry! We do this for a living. We can come out to your house and do a network evaluation for you. With just a little prep work, you can be ready to bring in some really cool internet enabled devices that will take your home entertainment experience to a whole new level.

All this gear requires a lot of space and a lot of wire and cable.  A cabinet, built ins or shelves in a closet would not be sufficient.  A custom rack like this one from Middle Atlantic is required.  The gear can be properly organized and as for the wire and the cable – well, see for yourself.

The upfront investment in a rack system pays off in the end when it come time to service the equipment or replace a component.  Everything is clearly labelled, wire is easy to disconnect, gear is easy to remove, and re-installtion is a snap.

This retrofit installation was rather unique.  The room was large, open, and awkward making the TV placement difficult.  After a couple of designs involving a large custom cabinet to the right of the fireplace to house the TV, it was finally decided that the best place for the TV was over the mantle above the fireplace.   The cabinet idea was kept but redesigned to become bookshelves with cabinets underneath to hold the AV gear.  The builder removed stones creating a pathway for power and AV cabling.  Once the cabling was in place the custom bookshelfcabinet was installed.  The TV was mounted with a tilt mount bracket to provide a better viewing angle.  A receiver, Blu-ray player, DSS receiver and Klipsch subwoofer were installed inside the cabinet.

The client wanted better sound than the TV provided so along with the subwoofer a pair of KEF 6000 ACE speakers were mounted to either side of a 55″ LED TV.  This provided big sound to match a big picture.  An RTI universal remote controls this system and the house wide audio system.  No matter how difficult the installation there is always a solution.