the Fogg Blog

R.I.P. HD DVD

2008-02-21T21:25:00.005+11:00

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

2008-01-03T16:06:00.000+11:00

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

2007-11-01T01:31:00.000+11:00

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

2007-11-01T01:12:00.000+11:00

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

2007-07-31T22:55:00.000+10:00

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

2007-05-07T01:11:00.000+10:00

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:

Paint the rear wall in the same "Pompeii Ash" Suede Effects paint as the bulkhead
Sponge a 2nd coat of paint on the bulkhead and paint the new cornice above it
"Dress" the 19" rack in some attractive timber panelling
Replace the current rug with a darker, more plush rug
Replace the current cheap screen with a 2.37:1 Aspect Ratio screen of decent quality
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!)
Mount the Anamorphic lens on a sliding rail in front of the projector
Re-Calibrate the Audio
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

2007-03-15T22:44:00.000+11:00

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

2007-03-15T21:47:00.000+11:00

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

2006-12-14T22:25:00.000+11:00

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

2006-10-27T22:43:00.001+10:00

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!

2006-10-25T15:53:00.000+10:00

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

2006-10-11T09:45:00.000+10:00

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

2006-10-03T00:56:00.000+10:00

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

2006-09-27T16:15:00.000+10:00

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

2006-09-11T22:05:00.000+10:00

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.

Wired for Sound

2006-08-24T10:47:00.000+10:00

I had a busy day last week, where with the assistance of my electricians I managed to complete the following tasks:

Speaker Cabling:

Wire and install 4 in-ceiling speakers for surrounds
Wiring for centre speaker in bulkhead
Wiring and wall plates for main floorstanding speakers
Wiring for 2 speakers in pergola area (zone 2)

InfraRed Control Cabling

IR Targets in bulkhead and Pergola
IR transmitter wiring to screen, projector, light dimmer

Cat 6 Data Cabling

Install Patch Panel
Run cables from patch panel to Living Room, all bedrooms, and study

Electrical Wiring

New dedicated circuit for the A/V rack
Install IR controlled light switch and dimmer

Here's a few more pictures since I haven't updated the blog in a while:

Be gone evil HDCP

2006-08-18T11:26:00.000+10:00

Great news in the last week....

A firmware hack is now available for my Oppo DV-970HD DVD player to remove HDCP encryption on the upscaled output formats. I think that this is the thin end of the wedge and it won't be long before these HDCP firmware hacks are just as common as the ones to remove disc region coding.

It's great to have the option of removing HDCP as it is often problematic due to different interpretations of the standard between various manufacturers, and the only loser in the end is the consumer.

firmware hack for the 970 on http://groups.yahoo.com/group/mt13x9_files/files/

Heres a link to an ISO file of it.
http://rapidshare.de/files/29049631/613AMOD.iso.html

Another link to the ISO
http://www.yousendit.com/transfer.p...DE441C8735AFC21

Infrared & Interconnects

2006-08-09T22:30:00.000+10:00

The last week or so has been a bit quiet as I've been doing the boring stuff like ordering all the interconnects that I'll be using for the rack equipment. I ended up going with various Kordz cables as they provided the best value for money for pre-made cables.

I had considered buying a roll of cable and the connectors and making up my own cables, but I just couldn't be bothered spending a few days of my life hunched over a soldering iron.

The Kordz supplier also sells Infrared Kits that seem to be a bit hard to find, but they had them at very reasonable prices. If you check out this page and scroll down, you will see the IR-KIT4. I ordered 3 of these kits which can be daisy chained together. I've also ordered a couple of the brass IR targets to have a discreetly located receiver in the front of the room, and one outside in the courtyard.

Having complete IR control means that I don't have to rely on the WiFi capabilities of my NevoSL remote, which can be a little sluggish and unreliable. Here is a list of the devices that will be managed by the IR Control blocks and NevoSL remote:

Denon 3805 AVR
Musical Fidelity A5 Integrated Amp
Rotel RCD-1072 CD Player
Oppo DV-970HD DVD Player
DVDO IScan VP30 Video Processor
BenQ PE8720 projector
Cinamax Motorised projector screen
Daikin Ducted Air Conditioner
Lutron Telume light switch & dimmer
HTPC (in the future)
Topfield 6000 PVR (in the future)

Construction Update:
All the equipment is currently in boxes while I do the dusty work of angle grinding, sanding, and cabling. The wiring work will commence early next week if all goes to plan.

Australia's Shame

2006-08-02T08:10:00.000+10:00

A change of Screenery

2006-07-31T22:10:00.000+10:00

The new Cinamax Motorised screen arrived today, ordered off ebay for the princely sum of $403 delivered. This price compares rather favourably with the $1800 for the LP Morgan Rondo that I'd just recently returned.

Here's a brief comparison between the two;
the Cinamax is:

packaged better than the Rondo, which reduces the risk of damage during shipping & storage
much quieter when opening and closing
thicker than the Rondo (Screen material)
not as attractive as the Rondo. The casing looks relatively cheap and slapped together without much thought given to aesthetics. If the screen casing was going to be permanently visible on my wall, this would be a huge issue.
rougher surface than the Rondo (Screen Material)
prone to edge curl, this was my main reason for initially wanting the Rondo.
harder to install than the Rondo. You have to be very precise with your screw locations before you hang it, whereas the Rondo has an excellent set of brackets that you pre-install, and the screen just hooks onto them and can slide left/right along them.
The Rondo had a much more attractive bottom bar, and was easier to set the stop points for the motor.

Despite having more Cons than Pros when compared to the Rondo, the Cinamax is nevertheless much cheaper, and at least it doesn't have the defects that my Rondo arrived with.

Although I haven't tested it yet, I envisage that the Cinamax will not produce as good picture quality as the Rondo. This is on the basis that the Rondo's surface was much smoother and a little more vibrant.

GigaBit, GigaShit!

2006-07-24T21:19:00.000+10:00

I plugged in my new Netgear 16 port GS716T Gigabit switch on the weekend, and immediately thought that the Airport Authority had changed the flight path to be directly over my house!

This thing was noisy!!! courtesy of two 40mm fans running at a constantly high RPM on the side of the unit.

Now this is equipment that is designed to go in a rack in a computer room, so airflow is given priority over noise reduction. In it's current form, this box will not be living in the A/V rack, I'm considering several options in order of preference:

Modify the unit to drop the voltage and therefore the speed of the fans, thereby sacrificing some cooling for some noise reduction.
Build a dustproof box for it and leave it somewhere in the ceiling space, with all the wiring coming down to the patch panel in the rack.
Disable the fans altogether
Return it and get a non-rack mounted unit that hopefully won't have cooling fans.
Live with it (in your dreams!)

If anyone else has any constructive suggestions, I'd be happy to hear them.

UPDATE 1:
I've received an unprecedented number of replies by email, many of them great ideas, here's a quick summary:

"Buy a 4 rail enclosed rack box to act like a hush box within the rack" ...very practical, thanks Glenn
Numerous messages saying "Get a smaller one"... but where's the fun in that?! ;-)
"I recall a time when a "gig-a-shit" meant a whole lotta pr0n." ...thanks Khang, brilliant stuff!
"Disable both fans, cut a big hole at the top of the chassis and put some 120mm fans on them (even 1 will do)"
"try a different brand of gigabit switch"
"You could disable the fans if they were just attanced via push on clip. If the unit fails just push them back if still under waranty make a claim".... I love this suggestion too, thanks Ben :)
"Consider some small fanless switches/hubs designed for the home"

UPDATE 2:
I've now found what I believe to be the best solution to this little problem;
....it's the Netgear GS116 16 Port Gigabit Desktop Switch.

"Its durable metal case has no fan for silent operation"

Now this begs the question; it's a similar product from the same company, so I'd expect that it would use the same processor as the rack-mount switch, so does the rack-mount switch really need the fans?

The only obvious differences between the desktop and rack-mount switches is the inbuilt management, and the power supply is externalised.

....anyone want to buy a 5 minute old rack-mount 16port Gigabit switch?!

VP30 + 8720 = XTC

2006-07-19T22:14:00.000+10:00

Tonight I hooked up the DVDO IScan VP30 video processor to the Benq PE8720 projector. I changed the Oppo DVD player to output 576i via HDMI, thereby leaving the VP30 to do the de-interlacing and scaling to 720p, and...

The PQ was magnificent :)

Even without any colour temperature calibration, the picture looked great. I had to reduce the sharpness a little though as I was getting a lot of picture noise, particularly on the edges of text and people's heads.

I can still see room for improvement with grey scale adjustment to get better shadow detail like I've seen in the stores, but this will come when I get the system professionally calibrated.

Here's some blurry happy snaps, I assure you the image was a lot crisper than these photos show... I really need a new digital camera!

Projector Screenshots

2006-07-19T14:26:00.000+10:00

By popular demand, here's some rudimentary screenshots from less than ideal conditions, namely;

Default settings on projector and DVD player
Taken during the day with ambient light behind the screen (this is a worst case scenario)
The DVD player was incorrectly set to NTSC, so the output is 480i (which is probably why you see the combing in the pictures)
Poor quality camera and photographer

The DVD player is the Oppo DV-970HD connected via HDMI. For simplicity, I am not using the VP30 video processor just yet.

Projector & Elektra arrive!

2006-07-19T00:54:00.000+10:00

The Benq PE8720 projector and Elektra 7 channel amplifier finally arrived this morning, but unfortunately I had to go to work, and then go out to dinner afterwards. So all I could manage to do was unpack them and take these pics, not ime to connect everything up and give the ferret a run. I put the pliers in front of the projector for some scale so you can see just how huge this thing is!

On the left is the glorious Australian made Elektra Theatre 7, a 7 channel Home Theatre amp with enough power to dethrone Little Johnny Howard, yet it does its work with a finesse that would leave Kim Beastly blubbering with joy.

And finally, for those of you more mellow souls who like to see a nice rack, here's an updated shot with some of the equipment in place. Devices in the rack so far (from top to bottom) are:

Molex Cable Management arms
Netgear 16 port Gigabit network switch
Rotel RCD-1072 CD Player
DVDO IScan VP30 video processor
Oppo DV-970HD DVD player
Denon 3805 AV Receiver
Elektra Theatre 7

Equipment that is still to be added to the rack:

Molex CAT6E Patch Panel
Infrant ReadyNAS 1.5TB storage server
UPS for graceful shutdown of NAS
PVR (when the Topfield 6000 is finally released)
Musical Fidelity A5 Integrated 2 channel amp (currently on loan to a friend)

Screen Saga Update

2006-07-17T10:37:00.000+10:00

Things are looking brighter on the screen debacle. Firstly, I’ve spoken to the retailer who is happy to take the screen back.

I’ve also received some good tips from benthx about leaving the screen down for a few days and heating the room. The screen is made from a vinyl-type material and should hopefully exercise its elastic properties to stretch back to its original flatness.

I did this yesterday, and it appears to be flattening out a little, now I just have to wait a few more days to see if the wrinkles completely disappear before I go to the hassle of sending it back and waiting for a new one.

It's enough to make you screen

2006-07-15T20:53:00.000+10:00

I put up the LP Morgan Rondo 16:9 IR motorised screen today.

Before unpacking, I'd noticed that the packaging was slightly crushed on one end where it looks like some clutz of a delivery guy had dropped it on its end.

The screen casing still looked to be in perfect condition, but when I plugged it in and hit the down button, I was aghast at the crinkles on the bottom. I have a strong suspicion that somewhere along the way, this screen was stored vertically.

Here's some shots of the creases. I guess I'm about to discover how good LP Morgan's customer service is.

WMD found in Sydney

2006-07-14T01:02:00.000+10:00

Some new toys arrived this week, a Velodyne DD-15 subwoofer and the new Oppo DV-970HD DVD player.

The DD-15 is capable of doing weekend work demolishing homes, but I'll be tuning it to ensure it doesn't fall into the wrong hands and cause irrepairable damage to the neighbourhood.

The Oppo will be used as a DVD transport to feed a 576i HDMI signal into the DVDO VP30, a job which it should do well, and at a budget price.

Rack & Ventilation

2006-07-14T00:45:00.000+10:00

I'm using a 45RU 19" computer rack to house all my A/V equipment. To protect against overheating, I have installed an in-line ducted fan in the ceiling above the rack. The fan is automatically switched on by a thermostat when the air reaches a set temperature.

The other device that you can see in my hand is a 2nd Infra Red receiver and control panel for my ducted air conditioning. This will eventually live in the rack and the IR signals will be sent to it via and IR distribution hub. The end result will be air temperature that can be manipulated using the NevoSL Universal Remote.

The room has two outlet ducts and one intake for the ducted air, this reduces the whooshing noise as the same volume of air is distributed among all the ducts.

I have also replaced the standard air ducting with special acoustic ducts to further reduce air noise. The acoustic ducting provides a secondary benefit of reducing the amount of sound escaping into the ceiling space and reverberating.

UPDATE: I've had some comments about the industrial style aesthetics of this setup. Fear not, the rack will eventually be dressed in architectural timber sheeting, and a mini-bulkhead will be built above it to conceal the gap between it and the ceiling.

Bulkhead Construction

2006-07-14T00:16:00.000+10:00

Here's a few pics of the bulkhead frame. The bulkhead will be used for multiple purposes;

To house the concealed curtain tracks
To house the concealed projector screen
To house the centre speaker (which in turn will house the IR receiver). It will be angled down at about 10 degrees to direct it at the seating position.
To potentially house the Left & Right front speakers. I will only do this if the LCR imaging is crap because I'm using floor standers for L & R, with the centre being way up high in the bulkhead.

These pictures show the separate channels for curtains and screen, you can also see the cutout for the centre speaker. The bulkhead will eventually be sheeted with plasterboard.

I had to indent the ends of the bulkhead to allow space for curtain rails on the side windows. This means that the front third of the room will be covered in thick charcoal grey curtains.... I still don't know how I managed to get my wife to approve that!

HT Connections

2006-07-13T23:35:00.000+10:00

Many people will tell you that getting ahead is all about having connections, well if that's the case, then I'm on my way to being the next Bill Gates.

Here's a quick plan that I put together to help me determine all my connection requirements for my new Home Theatre.