MAVROMATIC » Home Theater

Wolf Cinema — Digital Cinema Projector

Danny Mavromatis — Tue, 23 Feb 2010 16:28:26 +0000

I was flipping through next months (March 2010) Home Theater Magazine and saw the two-page spread on this projector by Wolf Cinema. Just by looking at it you know this it isn’t just any kind of projector, no, this projector does constant-height projection from 1.85:1 all the way to 2.7:1 (gives you “true widescreen”). The projector uses a high brightness Xenon lamp which allows it to project onto screens 15′ wide. All this comes at a hefty price too — starting at $65,000 and go up to $135,000.

- Wolf Cinema

Niles MS220 – The Best IR Sensor!

Danny Mavromatis — Fri, 29 Jan 2010 18:00:32 +0000

It’s freaking 2010 and we’re still using IR, WTF? Oh well… if you are looking to find the most reliable IR Sensor to connect to your IR connection block (used in applications where you want to put AV components in a remote area but still have control), I highly recommend the new Niles MS220. I have used different units by Xantech, Russound, even Niles and the MS220 is the most reliable. How do I know? For starters, all the others I have used you needed to choose between CFL/Plasma friendly and not. You’d get weird noise (the LED on the sensor would flash) from stray “IR” signals. The MS220 utilizes a “smart” electronic circuit to filter out noise and works with all IR formats. Check out Niles Audio for more information.

- Product Page
- Product Specification Sheet [PDF]

Myro:Home Automation Controller Running In Apple iPad Simulator

Danny Mavromatis — Wed, 27 Jan 2010 20:53:28 +0000

Just downloaded the newest iPhone SDK (3.2) and ran the Myro:Home iPhone app in the iPad Simulator. It works (you can press the 2x to zoom it, seen in the second image) Once I release the iPhone app, I will be focusing on making a native version for the iPad. This should be fun! A $499 home automation controller is perfect — the iPad is Myro Control’s wireless home controller!

The Energy Detective (TED) 5000 Whole House Power/Energy Usage Monitor — Mavromatic’s 2009 Holiday Gift Guide

Danny Mavromatis — Wed, 25 Nov 2009 23:00:52 +0000

TED 5000 WHOLE HOUSE POWER MONITOR ($239) — Give the gift that keeps on giving money back and can also help make the world a cleaner, better place! The TED 5000 is the latest in home energy monitoring from Energy Inc. that can measure electricity usage in real-time. Just recently, Google and Energy Inc. announced that anyone in the U.S. can purchase and install the TED 5000 and see personal home energy data online using the free Google PowerMeter web application. This device not only lets you manage energy usage but predicts your monthly energy costs and carbon footprint instantly, thus helping you reduce power waste and save you money.

For the complete 2009 Holiday Gift Guide, click here.

ZeeVee ZvBox 100 & ZvBox 150: Distribute/Modulate HD Content Over Digital Cable (QAM)

Danny Mavromatis — Tue, 23 Jun 2009 17:52:51 +0000

There are two products that have come to my attention that can come in handy for people trying to distribute HD content over the coax as a Digital cable (QAM) channel inserted onto any empty channel. The products are by a company called Zeevee. The first product is called the ZvBox 100 bundle which includes:

One ZvBox™ – build your own HDTV channel and localcast your computer to all your HDTVs
One ZvRemote™ – Control your computer from anywhere in the home
One ZvReceiver™ – Connects the ZvRemote to your computer
One VGA cable – Video connection from your computer to the ZvBox
One USB cable – Digital Audio from your computer to the ZvBox
Four 2 meter COAX cables – Helps you connect ZvBox and your TVs to your cable
Two cable splitters – Helps you tap into the cable wiring of your home

This allows you to take any video from a VGA source (say a computer monitor output) and broadcast it via coax to any empty digital cable channel. The remote allows you to control your computer so even if the source is in a remote part of your home, you can still control the mouse as if you were locally. The ZeeVee ZvBox 100 Bundle
sells for $399.

The ZvBox 150 has the same capabilities as the ZvBox 100 but it also adds the ability to plug in any component HD video source as well. You can combine many ZvBoxes to distribute many HD channels in your location, on the same simple coax cabling. Once configured, the ZvBox 150, no computer or Internet connection required. A quick google search reveals that the ZvBox 150 is priced higher than the ZvBox 100, at around $1000.

Depending on your situation these two products can be the answer all your HD cable distribution/modulation needs — definitely check these products out!

More People Still Own More HD DVD Players Than Blu-ray?

Danny Mavromatis — Fri, 19 Jun 2009 16:26:25 +0000

Here’s one that will throw you off a bit… There are more HD DVD players than Blu-ray players in American homes. Below is an excerpt taken from the Harris Poll report which can be read in full here.

While Blu-ray was declared the big “winner” in the high definition format war last year, consumers may be slow to be part of the winning team. In fact, Americans are not jumping on board with any of the high definition DVD players. Just one in ten Americans (11%) own a HD DVD player while 7% own a Blu-ray player. Looking at the other devices for playing HD DVDs, 9% own a Sony PLAYSTATION®3 (which plays Blu-ray ) and 3% have the external HD DVD drive for the Xbox® 360 (which plays HD DVDs).

These are some of the results of The Harris Poll of 2,401 U.S. adults surveyed online between April 13 and 21, 2009 by Harris Interactive. While slow to catch on, ownership of all these high definition disc players is up from May 2008. Interestingly, while Blu-ray was the clear “format war” winner over HD DVD, sales of HD DVD players (11% in 2009 vs. 6% in 2008) are up over 2008 by about the same margin as Blu-ray players (7% in 2009 vs. 4% in 2008). Both were rivaled by the Sony PLAYSTATION®3 (9% vs. 5%). However, only 3% purchased the external HD DVD drive for the Xbox® 360, up from 1% in 2008. There is no expected surge of interest pending — only 7% of non-Blu-ray player owners report a likely purchase of a Blu-ray disc player within the next year, down from 9% in May 2008

As we are seeing more HD content delivered via IP who really cares anymore?

[via Andy Pennell's Blog]

Meridian Sooloos Control 10

Danny Mavromatis — Wed, 10 Jun 2009 17:25:56 +0000

If you are sitting pretty well financially in these times then why not stimulate the economy by purchasing a Meridian Sooloos Control 10 ($5000)? Meridian is known for their audiophile speakers and processors and now have gotten into the digital media space thanks to the purchase of Sooloos. The Sooloos System is made up of a storage unit, a playback unit and an interface device which together give you greater quality and control over your digital media. The Control 10 is one of the many ways to control the system and offers a 17″ LCD touchscreen that displays your media in an intuitive way. You can also access the system via a web browser, iPhone/Touch and Crestron system.

For more information about the Control 10 and Meridian’s Sooloos Media System click here.

Meridian Sooloos – Get In Touch With Your Music

JVC Xiview LT-42WX70 – 42″ Monitor Targets DSLR Users

Danny Mavromatis — Tue, 26 May 2009 15:23:31 +0000

This is an interesting play when it comes to LCD’s. What makes the new JVC Xiview LT-42WX70 42″ 120Hz 1080p LCD TV monitor different is that it targets digital imaging professionals that are using digital SLR cameras, “allowing them for the first time to see the subtle colors, details and textures of their images faithfully reproduced”.

How it does this is by featuring expanded color space capacity encompassing 100 percent of HDTV broadcasting’s (sRGB.904) color space and a coverage rate of 96 percent for Adobe RGB — a color space for still photographs taken on high-definition digital SLR cameras.

The unit is pretty slim and lightweight at just 1-5/8 inches deep and features a stylish black leather-like texture on its slim bezel that also helps to reduce glare. The flat rear panel is completely finished in metallic silver without any visible assembly screws or vents. The JVC LT-42WX70 is available now and is priced at $2,399.95.

JVC – LT-42WZ70

Netflix Now Officially On Windows Media Center

Danny Mavromatis — Wed, 20 May 2009 16:25:52 +0000

Netflix is now on Windows Media Center. You can find it listed under the TV + Movies section, titled Netflix. The video part of the application is powered by Silverlight which means they are not using the native MCML architecture?? I never understood why there was a whole different UI markup language for MCE, but I digress, the great thing about this version of Netflix player is that it also allows you to search and queue!

However, the biggest issue is that it does not work on Windows Media Extenders! I guess that’s why all the manufactures are dropping out. I just don’t understand the reasonings behind things like this… MSFT creates a pretty cool architecture, gets manufactures to create the products, then on the software side there are all sorts of limitations. First, it was you cannot stream DVD’s due to legal issues, fine. Now, you cannot play Netflix via extenders… why? Because it’s in Silverlight?

Here’s more on MCE supporting Silverlight - Windows Media Center Brings Netflix To Consumers Using Silverlight

[ Via Gearlive: Netflix officially comes to Windows Media Center ]

R.I.P. – Windows Media Center Extenders [WTF?]

Danny Mavromatis — Tue, 19 May 2009 04:57:36 +0000

Oh the shock and awe… what is happening to my world? Seems like I’m picking all the wrong technology lately. First HD-DVD, now Windows Media Center Extenders. Apparently, everyone (Linksys, HP, Niveus, D-LINK, Samsung) that makes an extender is dropping their product line. That leaves loud, noisy XBOX 360’s to connect to our Media Center’s remotely. Good thing I stocked up on these when they were down to $50.

Does this mean CE devices (televisions and devices) will come standard with this technology or is MSFT killing this platform — please say it isn’t so!!!! As Patrick Norton from Tekzilla would say, “I’m going to go weep softly in a corner now.”

Engadget - Linksys discontinues Media Center Extenders, hardly anyone notices