SMART THINKING
FUSS-FREE
MOUNTS
Its easier to test drive a high-performance car than a home cinema
MAINTAINING STANDARDS Ben Goff, Technical Director at Cinema Lusso argues for the importance of official standards in promoting high-performance.
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56 FEBRUARY 2022
As a contributing member of multiple CEDIA working groups, creating recommended practice guidelines for AV Systems, I could be accused of a biased view towards Technical Standards. Though it’s also only fair to point out that the same participation undoubtedly played a significant role in the ‘CEDIA - Best Home Cinema Level 1’ award, which now sits proudly on my desk. Some call it volunteering, I prefer to think of it as free education while creating valuable assets for the industry.
THE STANDARDS BASED APPROACH As private cinema providers, we walk a unique line in the world of luxury retail. While other industries sell stories of engineering prowess and gloriously rich histories, we resort to throwing around nonsense terms like ‘Reference’ which no longer carry any weight or meaning they may once have had. ‘Reference’ was lost long ago to the trendy kids in the TokTik department. We differ in demonstration too. When a client walks into a jeweller to purchase an AP or Patek, they can try it on to see how it feels on the wrist before they part with their cash. With cars its generally the same too, a Ford Mondeo, a 3 Series or a Lamborghini, when our clients choose a new car, they usually have the benefit of a test drive to understand what they are buying, with the options list clearly presented and easy to understand. The same cant be said for a private cinema.
Screen size and material, projection distance, room size, decor and furnishings etc will all impact projected image quality, so while we can demonstrate a projector, many variables dictate if the demo actually replicates the client’s final experience. Audio is even tougher, the room has such a fundamental effect on the sound that identical equipment can and will sound completely different between a demo room and the client’s home depending on the structure, acoustical treatment and seating layout. The solution, as I see it, is a standards based approach to the sales and specification process. If we create dem rooms which meet industry standards and design each project in the same way, we can give a valid representation of the performance the client can expect, regardless of the room size or brands used. If brand agnostic, standards-based design, is the answer, where did the relevant standards come from and who decides how they should be implemented for our clients?
100 YEARS OF RESEARCH
The giants whose shoulders we stand on, have conducted numerous scientific experiments to confirm the performance levels which provide the most enjoyable experience. For audio alone, it’s easy to find countless peer reviewed research papers spanning the last 100 years, looking at the effects of recording, mixing and playback on listener preference and enjoyment.
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