- It's the Sound and Images Stupid -

  

      If you love home audio and video more than likely you spend the majority of your hobby's time not having fun. You are either continually researching what's new, tweaking what you already have or endlessly debating on some forum your point of view regarding the direction the field should head.

      Now even if you manage to stay away from all of the above you probably still take it too seriously. Regardless of how simple or complex your audio and or video system(s) are they are designed to do one thing. Enhance your life as well as the ones around you.

      In order to fulfill their duty you have to use them! Have you looked at the ads for used projectors lately? More often than not they are on their first bulb and a great number of users have spent less than an hundred hours enjoying the magic they bring. However they are anxiously trying to sell the projector so they can start the entire process all over again!

      How many of your friends have whole house audio? Have you ever heard music playing over the entire house? Well if you did they were probably just trying to impress you!

      The images above are from the HDNet series Get Out! and I can't begin to tell you how much more fun it is seeing the girls and the exotic places they visit on an eight foot screen versus your traditional HD set. Everything is larger than life and the small details of the images come alive. Sure it's not the latest greatest movie by Martin Scorsese but it's wonderful to simply relax and appreciate the fruits of your labor.

      Start using your equipment to enhance your lifestyle. Invite the neighborhood kids over for Saturday morning cartoons. Their parents for Sunday night HBO. Start a monthly bring your new album listening party. There is far too much joy to be had to take you or your hobby too seriously.     

- District B13 -

 

      The Internet Movie Database rating for District B13 is 7 out of 10 with close to 7,000 votes, which means a lot of people enjoyed the movie. Regardless of all of those thousands of opinions I believe it's not very good at all at least compared to a great movie that last for days or even years in your mind. This one was over before the credits started to roll.

      I even knew it wasn't a keeper before I watched it. Why then did I light up my theater and give it a spin? That's easy I knew it was fast paced, had lots of action and more than likely featured plenty of sounds effects. Now don't get my tastes in movies wrong as I didn't enjoy the Matrix series or even the Lords of the Rings and don't get me started on Star Wars.

      After watching Premonition the night before I wanted something that would make my theater come alive. Why else do I have a eight foot screen, seven speakers, and countless hours of tweaking other than to on occasion sit back and let the theater take over. Especially since I have recently redone large parts of it along with upgrading to a fancy new 1080p projector. It was about time it entertained me!

      I was entertained only slightly by the movie itself and I would have never sat through it in the den. But in the theater the experience was delightful. I didn't have to follow a plot, or even concern myself with the characters, as the movie became a stage for my theater to perform. The image was crystal clear, the action fast and sounds were bouncing all around me. It felt like I was taking a sports car for a fast lap around a racetrack. The theater was designed to perform not idle away movie after movie.

      I'm sure once I get used to the new surroundings and projector I'll long for one of those movies that take you to their place and time. But tonight it sure was nice to sit back and watch the theater do its thing.

- The Internet Curse -

      If you are old enough to remember purchasing electronics before the Internet was a daily addiction you might appreciate reading this rant. If not, it probably won’t make any sense but feel free to keep going.

      Being an enthusiast I tend to want my home audio and video equipment to be the best at least the best for the amount of money I’m spending. To find a great price the Internet is the handiest tool to ever come along.

      I tend to purchase from my local dealers for a variety of reasons however even for me the Internet lets me know if I'm paying a fair price and has forced brick and mortar shops to be competitive if given the opportunity which I have done more times than I care to count.

      On the other hand I often wish information about home audio and video products (not to mention just about everything else) were banded on the Internet. Why? Because for more than a dozen years I can only think of one purchase which I didn’t read enough bad things about to lose my enthusiasm. If you’re wondering the Denon 3805 AV receiver is the one item I have yet to read a disturbing word about with the disclaimer of the remote developing small cracks after several years of use.

      Now I will admit it has stopped me from purchasing a few duds but overall 99 percent of the things I have read I would have never noticed or cared about if I hadn’t read about them. Better yet often I’ll see where the new version is coming out even before the version I was going to buy has been released. All I want to do is buy something and use it until I’m ready for something else!

      I don’t want to know what I just brought has dozens of issues that I would never know but nevertheless it bothers the heck out of me. And I certainly don’t want to know it’s obsolete before it gets installed. I simply want to open the box, intake that new electronic smell, plug it in and enjoy my new toy. Oh I miss those days. Did I mention I might never be able to buy another projector, as the next big thing is right around corner perpetually?

 - Digital Rights Management -

      DRM as it currently exists isn't helpful for anyone regardless of his or her place in the music field. The artists, recording companies, delivery services and finally the consumer are all being held back in one way or another.

      I'm all for the artists and recording companies getting paid and I even support DRM protected music. What I'm against is the current system where there are multiple implementations of DRM. Such as Apple's FairPlay and Microsoft's PlaysForSure, and if it wasn't enough to have a different format for each company Microsoft has started yet another with their new Zune player.

      For 2006 digital music sales accounted for 10 percent of total sales and were up over 100 percent from the previous year. Even with this growth the increase was far less than in 2005 when sales were up close to 300 percent. Clearly DRM is holding back the growth of digital music and if done properly increased revenues.

      Based on the current environment I don't support DRM music and see no reason to purchase restricted music. Why should one when you can purchase the same music for less, at a higher quality, and have unrestricted access to it? Not to mention knowing for a fact that whatever music player or system you decide to use in the future will be able to play your music.

      I believe the music industry needs to select one universal DRM format and only license their music accordingly. The music services, music player makers and everyone else will have no option but to support the format. Instantly the music you download will be freed for you to enjoy no matter what type of music player you own.

      With that roadblock removed the industry could turn to more important issues. I see fixing DRM as the first of three roadblocks to digital music success. The second is offering higher quality. If you are going to replace CDs let's not replace them with an inferior product. Sure 128kbps might be fine for your iPod but it's not for any serious listening. Finally there needs to be an easy to use online database of purchased digital music. One where you can download your previously purchased music should the need arise for any number of future reasons.

      Since I don't see the above getting resolved any time soon there is one feature of online music I whole hardly support. That is music leasing. For around $10 a month you can have instant access to millions of tracks. Now music leasing could stand to resolve a lot of the issues covered here themselves although since it's leasing I'll let them worry about the issues and I'll simply enjoy the music.

      UPDATE: Apple and EMI Music has just addressed two of the issues addressed with their announced DRM free and higher quality downloads.
 

- HD Media Format War -

      

     First we had recordable Digital VHS players with great looking D-Theater tapes with less playback issues than either of the two new formats but unfortunately after fifty or so movies the format was dropped before it even had a chance. Now we have HD DVD and Blu-ray fighting it out to see who will be the winner until we eventually end up with video on demand by cable, satellite, or some currently unknown provider. I understand why the format war exists but what I really don’t understand is why both sides weren’t smart enough to avoid it in the first place.

      I firmly believe each side would make more money short and long term by agreeing to one format. The adoption rate of HD media is going to be extremely slow because of the two formats that even the winner will have won a lot less than they could have earned if they never went to war.

      Having two formats isn’t like Coke and Pepsi where you drink one or the other. Rather since they both exist consumers aren’t drinking either. Especially when the average consumer is more than happy with DVD HD media needs to bring something beyond what DVDs offer. Right now because of the war the only advantage is an enhanced audio and video experience for a few fairly popular titles when matched with high-end equipment. That’s a niche market that’s hardly worth winning.

      If there was one format I feel you would see content on HD media that isn’t available on DVD and just as important everything that is available on DVD. Because the studios would know their investment isn’t in vain right along with the hardware vendors who could invest in producing low cost players.

- HDMI Cable Pricing -

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