R.I.P. HD DVD

Insomnia has got the better of me, and I thought I'd turn to some hallucinagens to help me sleep, but all they did was send me back in time to when Bob Dylan was making waves.....

It's All Over Now, We are Blu
(sung to the tune of It's All Over Now, Baby Blue by Bob Dylan)

The idea of two formats, it was never going to last.
Now if you want to sell your XE1, you better do it fast.
This whole HDM saga has been fun,
Making fanboi trolls of everyone.
Trying to look back on what went wrong,
All those bribes from you know who,
And it's all over now, We are Blu


We are all gamblers, without much sense.
All those price cuts were no coincidence.
The fair minded followers of HD DVDs,
Kept buying players despite the prevailing breeze.
Then suddenly the tide turned, yes those rumours are true,
that it's all over now, We are Blu.


All HD DVD supporters, they are going home.
All our sensible arguments, are now all gone.
Toshiba has just walked out the door,
And taken away hope for us all.
Region Coding, is now here to haunt you
And it's on everything now, We are Blu.


Leave your biases behind, Warner Brothers decided for you.
It's time to bury the hatchet, and rebuild bridges too.
The PS3 trojan that entered through the back door,
Will soon need to be replaced with a PS4.
The BD profiles will force Sony to start anew,
That's just the way it is now, that we are Blu.

Sorry father for I have sinned

Abstinence is always difficult at this time of the year, and I have to confess to a significant misdemeanour in this regard.... I parted ways with my much loved, but ageing BenQ PE8720 in favour of a younger, sexier model sporting a much better suntan.... the Sony VPL-VW60.

The Sony is 2 generations newer, so it benefits from technology improvements like 1080p resolution and contrast ratio, but I still have a hole in my heart for the BenQ's quieter operation, sharper optics, and "DLP punch".

I'm not a big fan of Dynamic Irises, and this has been re-inforced in my mind when viewing some dark scenes with some bright areas on the Sony, the picture looks a little washed out. I still think the JVC HD1 (and conversely the newer HD100) give a more pleasing image, but overall the Sony is still a step up from the BenQ.

Those that know how I feel about the Evil Bastards (Sony) will be just as shocked as I am in my donation to their cause. The only consolation that I have is that this projector doesn't promote the DRM or proprietary format causes.

Mount Street, Aussiemorph

One of the most challenging aspects of using an anamorphic lens is how you choose to mount it. I've seen many variations, not all of them pretty.

My requirements meant that I needed something with maximum flexibility that wasn't an eyesore in the room. So I commissioned my own design to be constructed by my wife's cousin who is a boilermaker. Anyway..... one year later, it is complete!!

I also invested in a Chief RPA Elite universal mounting kit.... the Rolls Royce Citroën DS of projector ceiling mounts. It has adjustment for pitch, yaw, and roll (as well as separate micro adjustments too) and is built like a Samoan Scaffolder, actually it's could well be a recycled coupling from an Abrams tank.

Here's a few preliminary shots of the bits & pieces, but it's all going to change again soon when my new projector arrives.




Here is a copy of the review for the Chief Mount that I posted posted on the DTVforum:

My Chief Elite mount with universal mounting kit arrived a couple of weeks ago, and I've spent some time on the last couple of weekends remounting my projector & Aussiemorphic Lens using the Chief mount and my new custom made CIH mounting rails.

Anyway, as promised here's a quick rundown of my thoughts on the Chief mount as I know some of you are very interested.

Build Quality
As you would expect from an American made product, this thing is built like an Abrams Tank. Forget the 10kg or 20kg limits that other mounts restrict you to, this thing could probably be used to mount a CRT projector!

The main unit is made of steel and has a top notch powder coated black finish. THe adjusting screws are all also black, and the micro-adjustment screws are recessed inside holes.

The universal mounting bracket is made from cast iron, so doesn't bend & flex like the arms of the cheaper mounts.

I'm sure that the bracket to attach the mount to the ceiling is directly from the HumVee parts catalog, It's also cast iron, and bears a sticker saying that the maximum load is 227kg! I got the 300mm extension pipe, which is ostensibly a 1.5" gal pipe that has been sprayed a nice shiny black. I really only wanted thebracket, and not the extension pipe, so I went to the local plumbing supply store and picked up a 1.5" black Nylon Hex Nipple for about $3 to connect the ceiling bracket to the mount.

The instructions were very well written with plenty of diagrams, a big change from the usual dodgy instructions received with the cheaper mounts. There were several bags full of screws, bolts, washers and everything you could possibly need to mount it with your projector.

Flexibility & Adjustment
The Chief Mount offers considerable and easy pitch and yaw adjustment, as well as a very handy horizontal shift slider. You do a rough adjustment by using a screwdriver and tightening the large screws once the approximate position is set. Then you can do micro adjustments by turning the internal grub screws with a no. 2 screwdriver.

A very handy feature is a lever that disconnects the mount from the universal mounting plate. This lever can be protected using the key provided. The principle behind this is that you can take the projector down for maintenance without having to re-position it.... very useful if you like to do regular cleaning of your dust filters.

The mount also offers some cable management by running the cables through the centre (and through the extension pipe if attached).

General
I bought mine direct from the importer DS Agencies (Trading as universalmounts.com.au), and they made a mistake in forgetting to send me the ceiling bracket and extension pipe. I called them, and they immediately apologised and sent out the missing parts (in 2 separate shipments since the extension pipes were on backorder at the time). So a big thumbs up for customer service from DS Agencies.

In conclusion, whilst it's not for everyone, I would recommend this mounting solution for those who like to tinker and adjust ad-infinitum to achieve the best possible result. If you just want to "slap it up and forget about it" then go for a cheaper mount, they will happily do the job. However, if you want to exercise precision and have your projector aligned perfectly perpendicular to your screen, then you should consider spending the extra dollars on this mount to save yourself some time later on.

Riser Surpriser

After a full year of spadework, I finally received permission to construct a riser for the rear row of seats in my HT.

So with the assistance of Mark Techer, I recently set about the construction process before permission was once again withdrawn for repeated infringements brought about by much partying and celebration during the silly season.

My key design criteria stipulated that:

• it should not be a permanent room modification (i.e. removable without any damage to the room)
• it can be dismantled and easily moved
• The dimensions of the riser are 2.5m x 1.65m
• it be sturdy enough to handle the considerable collective weight of the in-laws should the herd grace us with their presence en masse once again.
  

Materials used in the construction were:

• 13 x 2.4m lengths of 70mmx35mm Structural Pine (approx. $66)
• 2 x 2.7m x 1.2m x 18mm MDF Sheets (approx. $116)
• 100 x 75mm batten screws to screw the frame together (about $15)
• 50 x 40mm chipboard screws to screw the MDF onto the frame (approx. $5)
• Some foam stapled to the bottom to decouple it from, and protect from any scratching of the floorboards. I used some leftover concrete expansion joint foam, a roll of this will set you back about $5.
  
• Carpet to cover it (yet to be purchased)
• A good cordless drill is essential, as is a circular saw.
  

The location of the doorway in my room meant that I had to cut one of the corners at 45 degrees so as not to obstruct the access path into the room. It's not yet complete as I still have to cut out and install the MDF sheeting for the sides, and then carpet it.... I will update this post with some more pics upon completion.

Well Hung in the Living Room

Borne out of necessity for their own survival (with a new child being the natural enemy), I finally got around to wall mounting my plasma and front speakers in the Living Room.

The main problem I had was that a single brick wall does not have a cavity to hide the cabling, and I wasn't prepared to live with ducting going up the wall to the plasma.

The solution was to build false wall or box out of MDF and use it to conceal all the cabling, and to mount the speakers.

The construction was quite simple; a couple of pieces of 4"x 2" dynabolted vertically to the wall, cut a hole in the middle of an MDF sheet and screw it on, then cut another couple of MDF piecesand screw them in to hide the mounting battens. There is a 2mm gap between the top of the entertainment unit and the bottom of the MDF panel.

The top and bottom are open to allow cables to run freely and provide ventilation for the plasma. The tilting plasma mount from Selby Acoustics is bolted directly into the wall for maximum strength, and the speakers are screwed into the MDF.

Now all I need to do is paint the MDF the same colour as the wall, and it should look like a professional install.


UPDATE:
Here's some photos after the indiscriminate use of a paintbrush. I painted it the same colour as the wall to give that 3D effect, and also follow good interior design principles of not introducing too many colours into the room.

The End Is Near

I've received a few complaints of late that there haven't been any blog updates. Yes, it's true that the construction of the room is nearing completion, and I haven't posted any pics for a while, so be prepared to be inundated:



As you can see, a relatively run of the mill Lounge Room with far too many windows and doors becomes a seriously darkened HT room with the addition of 45 linear metres of curtains.

Although the room looks close to completion, there's still a long list of things to be done:

1. Paint the rear wall in the same "Pompeii Ash" Suede Effects paint as the bulkhead
2. Sponge a 2nd coat of paint on the bulkhead and paint the new cornice above it
   
3. "Dress" the 19" rack in some attractive timber panelling
4. Replace the current rug with a darker, more plush rug
5. Replace the current cheap screen with a 2.37:1 Aspect Ratio screen of decent quality
   
6. Get my cousin-in-law to finish building my custom mount (he's had 6 months already!)...
   note to self: never commision work from family (well, in-laws at least!)
7. Mount the Anamorphic lens on a sliding rail in front of the projector
8. Re-Calibrate the Audio
9. Program the NevoSL remote

I have to say that since the room has become fairly useable, it has been very difficult to get the motivation to do all the trimmings that I've listed above, when I could spend the time watching a movie instead.

Sonos is So Nice

I mentioned my Sonos ZP80 bundle in an earlier post, but it really deserves a post on its own. So far, the Sonos has been the best A/V purchase that I've made in the last 2 years... and believe me, I've made a lot!

My main reason for liking it so much is that it allows me to effortlessly bring music to anywhere in the house via its own WiFi network, and its ease of use has also made it a favourite toy for my totally luddite wife.

The basic concept is that it brings an iPod style interface to your stored music. Each "Zoneplayer" has it's own queue that you can load up with different music. Whilst each zone has a separate volume control, you can also link zones to enable "party mode". Adding extra zone players into the mix is a piece of cake, just open your wallet and they magically appear an are easily discovered on your Sonos network.

The user interface is what makes the Sonos popular with everyone in the household. Queues, playlists, Music Libraries, Online Radio Stations, and Real-time music subscription services such as Raphsody can all be controlled from the wonderful Sonos Controller OR the Sonos Desktop Software that can be installed on every PC or Mac in the house.

The ZP80 zoneplayers are very small devices (about the same size and look as a Mac Mini) and do not have an amplifier. In my installation, I use the AV Receivers in my Living Room and HT Room to drive the speakers. The ZP100 zoneplayers come with a built-in amplifier and are a little bigger, but you get the convenience of a single volume control and you don't have to power up a separate amp.

The picture on the left shows just how small and inobtrusive the ZP80 is in my Lounge Room setup. The Sonos has been such a hit that I now have permission to get another couple of zoneplayers, one for the baby's room, and one for the master bedroom.

Getting Plastered

It's been a long time between drinks so far as blog updates go, but I've finally managed to get things back on track with some time off work this week.

The first photo shows how the front of the room and bulkhead has looked for the past 3 to 4 months. It's been useable, but not yet complete.

You'll notice the Focal Cache LCR 400 Centre Speaker in the middle. The motorised screen is concealed in another channel behind it, and the curtain rails in yet another channel behind the screen. The configuration is less than ideal as the tweeters on all 3 front speakers should ideally be in a straight line, but this was not possible in my room as it would block the door.

Now that the plasterboad is covering the bulkhead, you'll notice the protruding section in the middle to aim the centre speaker down at the seating position in an attempt to rectify the problem of not having all 3 tweeters at the same height. Surprisingly, it actually works fairly well!



Once again, the room's in a huge mess with plaster dust everywhere. Hopefully, once the sanding & painting is complete this will be the last time!

New Toys for Christmas

The Christmas social and work commitments have been getting in the road of my HT Construction of late, but this has been rectified with a vengeance in the last week, thanks to the arrival of 3 significant new toys;

• Infrant ReadyNAS NV+ with 2 TerraBytes of glorious RAID5 goodness
• Sonos Music System ZP80 Bundle
• Toshiba HD-A1 HD DVD player

The first two items represent a shift for me, away from striving for perfection in audio, and more towards flexibility and fitting in with my lifestyle. Consequently, the Musical Fidelity A5 Integrated 2-channel amp was sold off to finance these two items.... and I have no regrets.

The Elektra Theatron 7 channel amp, whilst not quite the equal of the MF A5 is very close, and I couldn't justify holding onto it for the rare moments when I can do some 'critical listening'.

Look out for individual reports on each of these 3 items over the next few days, as they are all very impressive performers.

Recliner Angina

The dog barked, the neighbours spied through their curtains to the sound of a 400HP diesel prime mover arriving at my house; my new Home Theatre Recliners had arrived!

To say that I am ecstatic would be a massive understatement; the build quality and comfort of these recliners is second to none, I am so glad that I didn't scrimp on a few hundred dollars and go with some of the Chinese made offerings.

The photos really don't do them justice, these couches reek of quality and are one of the few remaining example of fine Australian craftmanship that is becoming increasingly rare in the face of cheap Chinese imports.

Check out some of the features that the Chinese junk can't compete with:

• Kiln dried hardwood frame
• Pre glued frame joints for extra strength
• High quality plush "Comfortec" cushioning
• Zig zag steel suspension instead of cheap webbing
• Ergonomic design to suit all shapes & sizes
• Top quality leather
• The optional headrests are height and tilt adjustable... and worth every cent
• The optional swivel tables add a lot of class.... much better than the cheap & tacky plastic cup holders that you find everywhere else
• They're the only thing in my HT that my wife is happy that I spent the money on! .....now that is the biggest recommendation of all :)
  

Suffice to say, I have never been as happy with a furniture purchase as I have with these recliners.... if anyone's looking for me, I'll be sleeping in the Theatre Room from hereon in.

They are made in Brisbane by a company called Pegar Furniture. The model is the "Denver".

2008 UPDATE: Pegar Furniture has now been sold to the large Melbourne-based Integral Furniture.

(Shower) Curtains are in!

The curtains were finally installed today, but not without some excitement; As the installer was drilling a hole for one of the brackets, he managed to locate the only water pipe in this section of the house!

The result was a water feature which sprayed right across the front of the room, soaking the new curtains and everything else. A supersonic sprint to the water meter ensued to turn off the supply to the house. See below for detailed instructions on capping a damaged 3/4" copper pipe.

Back to the curtains, despite being soaked, they still completely change the look and feel of the room. They also do a great job of darkening the room on a bright day. You can see the light coming through underneath them, but this is minimal, and won't have a significant adverse effect for daytime viewing.

The installer said that they would take a few weeks to settle down and not bloat out at the bottom. These are heavy fabrics (Warwick Begonia Licorice in case anyone's interested) and their weight will naturally straighten them over time. They are also backed with 3 pass blockout.

I had been advised to go for a 2.5x gather to provide a "fuller" curtain, but in the end I went with 2.0x gather as the material was very thick.... I think this was the right decision.

The curtains should also provide a big sonic improvement for music listening as they will absorb some of the sound reflections coming off the hard cement-rendered walls.



How to cap a damaged pipe

Having a brother who is a plumber is very useful, but not when he lives about an hour away, so I had to make do with with getting advice from him on the phone.


The temporary fix was to cut the pipe in the ceiling (I could do this because it was only servicing one garden tap) and use the following pieces to cap it until a plumber could come around to repair the hole:

• 3/4" kinko nut with olive
• 3/4" hex nipple
  
• 3/4" brass cap
• teflon tape

The olive (teflon sleeve) provides a water-tight seal when you screw the hex nipple and the kinko nut together.... no oxy-acetiline or solder necessary. Then all I had to do was wind some teflon tape (in an anti-clockwise direction) on to the thread on the other side of the kinko nut, and screw the cap on.

Now there's no urgency to fix the pipe as I'm able to turn on the water to the house again and wait until my brother can come around to fix the hole and rejoin the pipe where I cut and capped it.

Mounting Options

Projector mounts.... why are they so expensive? why are they so inflexible? why haven't the mass market manufacturers built one for Anamorphic Lens users?

There's a lot of questions, but very limited off the shelf products to meet the needs of true projection enthusiasts who might want to mount multiple projectors, or a projector and an anamorphic lens, or who might want to experiment with throw distance and mounting points.

I've seen a lot of DIY projection mounts, but the one pictured on the left comes very close to a design philosophy that I've been thinking about for a while now. The only problem with it is the lack of finesse in the implementation i.e. it's butt ugly!

The underlying principle is that the projector mounting plate can be moved anywhere along the rails, and you can also have a second plate to mount the anamorphic lens.

My intention is to use polished stainless steel rails as they are more attractive and stronger, and then construct the rest out of aluminium to keep the weight down. Rather than use the ugly mounting saddles as this guy has done in the photo, I'll use slightly larger tubes that slide along the rails.

The ceiling brackets and mounting plates can be placed anywhere along the rails, which means you don't have to add extra noggins in the ceiling. Once positioned, they can be tightened into place with an allen key and some grub screws.

I sketched up the detailed design last night, now I just need to find a good steel fabricator to source the materials and build it.

Infra Red Weekend

With the amount of equipment in the rack piling up quicker than a soccer team after scoring a goal, I had to start laying the groundwork for a means of controlling it all in such a fashion that even my wife could use it.

The solution; an infra red distribution network connecting all the components and a couple of strategically placed “IR Targets”. The rough schematic that you see on the left is the IR Control Network that I’m in the process of building. When completed, it will allow all the equipment to be operated with the door of the cabinet closed.

The controlling device will be my NevoSL remote, which I haven’t yet started to program. This remote is capable of using WiFi to communicate with its own proprietary IR Transmitter called NevoLink, that then generates the appropriate IR signals from the WiFi command. One of the other big benefits of NevoLink is that you can send just one “macro” command which gets translated into many IR commands. This means that you don’t have to point the remote for 10 seconds at the target until the entire command sequence has completed.

Unfortunately, I will not be using the NevoLink initially as I’ll wait until all the equipment is in place and calibrated before embarking upon this level of automation.

The IR Control blocks are the Kordz brand from HTCustomCables, and when you look at the specs and manuals, you’ll find that they are in fact the same as the very popular (and expensive) Xantech blocks. They can be daisy-chained to increase the number of devices that you can control. You can also purchase twin emitters (basically a Y cable) to double the capacity if required. The wiring is CAT5, so it’s cheap and readily available.

I’ve also attached a couple of photos showing the Control Blocks in place at the back of the rack. I’ll post an update later on when I have connected all the emitters, but I can’t do this until all the A/V equipment is in it’s final resting place.

The Great Outdoors - Geek Style

I took some time on the weekend to install my new Boston Acoustics Voyager 5 outdoor speakers in the pergola area, and the result; beautiful!

I don't understand why I didn't do this ages ago. It's so nice to have decent music or the radio gently playing in the background outside without having to blast everyone inside. For a total investment of about $300, this has been one of the better A/V buys that I have made, especially as we come into Spring and the BBQ gets a bit more of a workout.

My next step will be to install another IR target outside so that I can control it all from my rightful position driving the ol' 6 burner.

Note1: I know the gutters need cleaning after the recent cyclonic winds!!
Note2: I will not be going down the same route as glenncol and putting a full 5.1 system and projector in the pergola area.

The Science of Seating

My arse has been very busy over the past couple of months auditioning dozens of different recliners and couches for the job in my HT.

Being 6'3" is a bit of a problem when it comes to HT recliners as 95% of them don't have a high enough back to support your head when in the reclined position, which puts a lot of strain on the neck as it has to hold up your head for the entire movie.

After an exhaustive search of almost every furniture store in Sydney, I found the following leather recliners that fitted the basic criteria of being suitable for my height:

Moran Galaxy HT Recliners (score 6/10)

• very comfy
• very bulky, huge armrests and storage cabins
• too expensive ($8k for just 2 seats)

Natuzzi Cinema System (score 7/10)

• very stylish and funky, looked like it was a prop in the Jetsons
• great build quality and very comfy
• has massage and motorised options, though the massage option wasn't as comfy for normal sitting as there was less cushioning.
  
• too expensive (over $10k for 4 seats without the massage or motorised options)

Plush Telecast (score 7/10)

• very comfy
  
• dubious build quality (made in China). Felt cheap, looked average.
  
• has motorised option on the single seat recliners
• limited choice of very bland colours
• the metal frame sat directly on the floor, which would have scratched the hell out of my beautiful hardwood floorboards
  
• relatively inexpensive (around $5k for 4 seats + another $600 for two motorised actions)

Topform Nouveau recliners (score 8/10)

• extrememly comfy
• attractive styling, although for some strange reason, my wife didn't care for their styling
• great Aussie-made build quality
• long wait time for manufacturing & delivery
• very expensive, about $2000 per seat

La-Z-Boy recliners (score 8/10)

• extremely comfy, the most comfortable of the lot
• outdated styling, looked like grandma & grandpa chairs. There was one or two styles that I thought were acceptable, but none were what you'd call stylish
• available in 3 different sizes to suit different people (his & hers sizes)
• also comes with rocking chair functionality, which I don't like
  
• reasonable pricing (about $1000 per seat)

Pegar Denver recliners (score 9/10)

• extremely comfy, almost as good as the La-Z-Boys
• great Aussie-made build quality. Uses flat springs and quality cushioning, as well as good quality leather
• optional adjustable headrests similar to those in cars. These headrests did a better job of keeping my head in a relaxed movie-watching position than anything else
• styling is a little boxy, but still reasonably stylish
• good choice of leather options and colours
• beautiful, wide timber feet so they won't scratch the floorboards
• optional timber "swivel tables" on the armrests are much nicer than tacky cup holders.
• reasonable pricing, about $6200 for 5 seats in higher grade leather including 3 headrests and 2 swivel tables
  

In the end, the decision was quite simple, I put my order in for the Pegar Denver in a "Shiraz" colour, which is a very deep burgundy. The configuration that I ordered was a 3 seat row of HT recliners with headrests, as well as a separate 2 seat non-reclining couch. They should arrive in about 6 weeks.

I received plenty of useful feedback from AnthonyC on the DTV forum who has also posted some pics of his HT which feature these recliners. Click this link to go to Anthony's thread containing his photos.

UPDATE:
The picture to the left is the seating configuration that I have gone for.