THE GRAMOPHONE WIRE
TV & VIDEO ISSUE NO. 1
SAVE THE DATE
NOVEMBER 4th & 5th, 2015
I’VE GOT A QUESTION...
I’VE GOT A QUESTION:
I JUST GOT A NEW FLAT-SCREEN TV OVER THE HOLIDAYS. SHOULD I CONSIDER SOME KIND OF SOUND SYSTEM FOR IT? BY JOEL ROSENBLATT
BOY, DON’T YA JUST LOVE THE NEW TV SETS? After all those years of Popular Science and Popular Mechanics magazine covers showing “The Future Flat Screen” hanging on the wall, they’re finally here. And they’re more affordable than seemed possible just a few short years ago. But there’s an undercurrent that says in order to get the most from watching that giant TV you’ll need to spend some money on an audio system too. So what’s the scoop?
As you’ve probably noticed, one of the major talking points about these TVs is how thin they are. Each generation seems to get even skinnier. And the new LCD sets with LED backlighting have the potential to be the thinnest yet. Why am I telling you this? Because in order to get sound out of these super thin sets the manufacturers have to use smaller and smaller speakers in teeny tiny internal housings. The result is, compared to those old CRT (tube type) TVs, most of these flat screens bring us spectacularly great pictures with spectacularly mediocre sound.
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Perhaps you’ve already noticed that the soundtrack is an integral part of the TV/film/concert watching experience. Many experts claim it creates at least half the emotional connection and overall involvement while watching. One of my favorite examples of this is the sounds that emanate from those spaceship flyovers, laser weapon blasts, explosions, etc. in science fiction films. As you know, there’s no atmosphere in space, so in reality, there’d be no sound at all. Every one of those exciting movie events would happen in total silence! (There’d be no fires when those ships exploded too, but that’s another story.) Yet the film makers add in all those sounds anyway for the added impact and involvement they bring to the experience. Can you imagine what those films would be like without the contribution made by those sounds? They simply wouldn’t be the same, would they? There’s no question that good sound can dramatically enhance your TV watching experience.
SO WHAT CAN YOU DO TO ENHANCE YOUR NEW FLAT SCREEN EXPERIENCE?
surround sound but you should get substantially better sound and the price is certainly right. If you need help doing this, give us a call and we can talk it over with you.
Well, there are lots of options available. Here are a few listed in order of simplest to most complex:
CHOICE 2 – Add a “soundbar” to your TV. Soundbars can be broken down into a few categories.
1. Connect the TV to your already existing stereo system. It might even be possible to use some of your existing equipment and expand it into a full surround sound system. But even in its simplest form, a good two-channel audio system can add a lot to the sound that comes from most flat screen TVs. 2. Add a “soundbar” to your TV. These are designed to be mounted directly under the TV if it’s mounted on a wall or sit below and in front of the TV if it’s placed on a cabinet or shelf. Soundbars negate the need for multiple speakers placed around your room, as many of them create a simulation of surround sound. Make no mistake; the simulation isn’t as involving as a true multi- channel system but it can be pretty good. Some sound bars include a separate subwoofer and/or a DVD/Blu-Ray player. If the one you choose doesn’t, you can always add them independently. 3. Get a compact “home theater in a box” type system. The quality of these is all over the map, and unfortunately, many are mediocre, at best. As always, you can count on us to guide you through the maze. 4. Install a full surround sound system. You can get 5.1 to 11.2 channel systems but adding more channels beyond 5.1 is really icing on the cake. The extra channels will enhance the experience and can add more realism to the soundtrack, but you can get a killer sound system with just 5.1 channels too. Today’s higher performance compact or flush mount speakers, digital processing surround sound receivers and compact subwoofers can deliver an amazing amount of sonic performance in an easy to accommodate package that won’t dominate the décor of your room. Here are some more details: CHOICE 1 – Connect the TV to your already existing stereo system. This is a pretty easy option. You won’t get the involvement of
The simplest are called “passive” designs and only contain speakers and their crossover networks (internal filters that direct the different frequencies to the correct speaker elements). A subset of passive soundbars try to simulate surround sound using extra side firing drivers or specialized internal crossover circuitry. You’re pretty much locked into a small sweet spot in front of them in order to get the benefit of the semi-surround sound these create. Next come active soundbars that contain amplifiers for the drivers inside and possibly Digital Signal Processing (DSP) to create a better representation of surround sound than you can get with passive designs. It’s still not as good as a true surround system but it can be pretty enjoyable none-the-less. Add-ons that can enhance the soundbar experience include external subwoofers (some wireless), built-in iPod docks and more. We’ve got several choices in soundbars here at Gramophone so you can stop in and give’em a listen. As always, we promise no sales pressure and knowledgeable advice from people who truly enjoy helping you get what you want. CHOICE 3 – Get a compact “home theater in a box” type system. As we mentioned in the first posting on this topic, the quality of these is generally pretty poor. They’re designed for convenience and do-it-yourself installation far more than they’re designed for performance. In a way, these have replaced the old time console and compact stereo from years past. Unfortunately, like so many other products today, they’re part of the “rush to the bottom” philosophy of cutting costs and performance in order to sell lots of stuff. The truth is, you can put together (with our help, if you’d like) a good surround sound system from separate components that’s far better than these
pre-packaged systems. And we can make it easy to operate with a single remote control, so every member of the family will get maximum use and enjoyment from it. Finally, you won’t have to spend an arm and a leg to do this because performance has increased while prices have come down for entry-level surround sound and even stereo systems over the past several years. There are now compact speakers and subwoofers available that deliver far better sound than you’d expect from their size and price. Of course, there’s also the option of in-wall or in-ceiling speakers as well, but this gets into a more complex installation process that may or may not appeal to you. The same performance increases have brought about surround sound receivers that can reliably deliver substantial power, excellent sound, flexible video switching, multiple zones of operation and even sophisticated acoustic room correction for amazingly affordable prices. Which leads us to the last option, installing a full high performance surround sound system. But that's for next time… CHOICE 4 – Install a component surround sound system. For a lower priced limited flexibility system this isn’t as complicated or difficult as it once was. As mentioned in my previous post, today there are terrific values available in compact speakers and surround receivers. But probably the biggest advance if you’re going to do it yourself, is the receivers that have automated set up and calibration programs. They come with a microphone that you connect and place in the listening area. The unit generates a series of test tones and sets up the receiver accordingly. Our experience has been that these auto-setup routines are pretty good, but occasionally they can get something wrong and then you’ll get less than optimum performance. Of course, if you get one of these from us we can arrange to set it up for you (we’ll even let you stay and watch). More complex systems are available as well. They offer more switching capability, enhanced video processing and maybe more channels beyond 5.1 (In my next post I’ll start to explain what all those channels are for.) and other performance enhancements. And undoubtedly they’ll have more powerful amplifiers. But don’t judge the quality of any system only by its power rating. That’s like judging the quality of a car strictly by the horsepower rating of its engine.
ABOUT JOEL ROSENBLATT
Oh! Oh! Oh! I have a blog! Here I am, old as the hills, and in this rapidly changing world I’m now suddenly hip. Oops, I guess the term “hip” itself probably negates the blog part, doesn’t it? And I don’t know what word has replaced hip today. Cool? Rad? With it? Smushnup? Well, anyway let me tell you who I am and why I’ve suddenly been thrust into the 21st Century. But first, does this mean I’m gonna have to get a smart phone and start texting everyone, especially when sitting in a restaurant, driving or in a movie theater? My name is Joel Rosenblatt and I’ve been in what used to be called The Audio Business (TAB) for 43 years. You know, The Audio Business; listening to music as an activity, all by itself. We’ll talk more about that concept later, but about 15 years ago TAB began evolving into The Audio/Video Business (TAVB) Boy, do we love acronyms in this business or what? I just made these last few up. Rad, huh? As the industry changed, I’ve managed to hang in there and stay up with these rapidly evolving technologies, eventually becoming a bit of an industry expert along the way.
COMMON VIDEO TERMINOLOGY AUTOMATIC BRIGHTNESS CONTROL
In display devices, the self-acting mechanism which controls brightness of the device as a function of ambient light.
BRIGHTNESS
The attribute of visual perception in accordance with which an area appear to emit more of less light. (Luminance is the recommended name for the photo-electric quantity which has also been called brightness.)
CONTRAST
The range of light to dark values in a picture or the ratio between the maximum and minimum brightness values.
DEFINITION
The aggregate of fine details available on-screen. The higher the definition of an image, the greater the number of details that can be discerned by the human eye or displayed. During video recording and subsequent playback, several factors can conspire to cause a loss of definition.
FIBER OPTICS
Use of light transmitted through fibers. The technology of transferring information, e.g., in communications or computer technology, through thin flexible glass or plastic tubes of optical fibers using modulated light waves.
HDTV (HIGH-DEFINITION TELEVISION)
a) General term for standards pertaining to consumer high-resolution TV. b) A TV format capable of displaying on a wider screen (16:9) as opposed to the conventional 4:3 and at higher resolution. Rather than a single HDTV standard, the FCC has approved several different standards, allowing broadcasters to choose which to use. This means newer TV sets will have to support all of them. All of the systems will be broadcast as component digital.
OLED
An OLED (organic light-emitting diode) is a light-emitting diode (LED) in which the emissive electroluminescent layer is a film of organic compound which emits light in response to an electric current. OLED displays can use either passive-matrix (PMOLED) or active-matrix addressing schemes. Active-matrix OLEDs (AMOLED) require a thin-film transistor backplane to switch each individual pixel on or off, but allow for higher resolution and larger display sizes.An OLED display works without a backlight; thus, it can display deep black levels and can be thinner and lighter than a liquid crystal display (LCD).
PIXEL
Short for Picture Element. The most basic unit of an image displayed on a computer or video display screen. Pixels are generally arranged in rows and columns; a given combination among the pixels of various brightness and color values forms an image.
RESOLUTION
The act, process, or capability of distinguishing between two separate but adjacent parts or stimuli, such as elements of detail in an image, or similar colors. Vertical resolution refers to the number of horizontal black and white lines that can be resolved in the picture height. Horizontal resolution refers to the black and white lines resolved in a dimension equal to the vertical height and may be limited by the video amplifier bandwidth.
LEARN MORE AT GRAMOPHONE.COM/GLOSSARY.
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