Home Theater Mega Thread

[TheGrimm]

Originally Posted by J Diddy

Ah good old 4K or UltraHD...the buzzword the manufacturers will use to make everyone think they need a new TVs, Bluray players, and projectors.

I won't be sitting 3 feet away from my TV so I won't need 4K. Why will 1080p prices stay the same if all the suckers will want 4K?

Well, you were talking about 100" screens, so 4k is something that would make an appreciable difference from a normal viewing distance.

[J Diddy]

I'm about 17 feet away. Everything I have read about 4K seems to indicate that it will only be worth while if you are really close to your screen....even something as large as 100"...or large movie screens at theaters.

Do you have any recommended reading on 4K? Will 4K still be over HDMI?

[TheGrimm]

Originally Posted by J Diddy

I'm about 17 feet away. Everything I have read about 4K seems to indicate that it will only be worth while if you are really close to your screen....even something as large as 100"...or large movie screens at theaters.

Do you have any recommended reading on 4K? Will 4K still be over HDMI?

I am far from well read on it, however I do recall reading that HDMI specs will continue to carry 4k signals. I am doing the same thing recommended here of running conduit alongside my HDMI/Ethernet cables to my projector, so if specs change drastically I can simply pull another cable through.

I think that Blu-ray is the expected medium to carry 4k content as well, so for the most part I think adoption should be fairly seamless.

As far as 4K being noticeable, I beg to differ, I've noticed with anything larger than a 46" that I can see the pixels, and I've never thought of myself as having keen eyesight. A 100" screen (16:9) gives you ~7 pixels per linear centimeter.

[photon]

For a 100" screen, I think it's about 4 meters for someone with 20/20 vision to not be able to see individual pixels, or something like that. I can definitely see pixels on my 720p projector at about 3m away at 102".

There's a calculator for it somewhere.

[Komskies]

Something like this?

http://myhometheater.homestead.com/v...alculator.html

[photon]

Yeah that's one, but I remember seeing another one that was more oriented towards visual acuity somewhere, broke it down to different eyesight (this distance is good for this resolution for 20/20, 20/15, etc).

Or maybe it was an article I read. Long time since I put up my projector

[Vulcan]

Sony Launches 4k Ultra HD Flat Panel - AVS Coverage at the Event

Of course, the emergence of 4K in the consumer marketplace is a chicken-and-egg problem—the display is only half the battle. You also need content at a native resolution of 4K, or else you must settle for viewing upconverted 1080p and your own digital photos.
Addressing this issue head on, Sony announced that the XBR-84X900 will ship with a PC-based media server called the 4K Ultra High Definition Video Player. Not only that, the server will come loaded with 10 feature films such as The Amazing Spider-Man, Total Recall (the new remake), and The Bridge on the River Kwai, as well as several indie movies and shorts and a video gallery of eye-candy footage.

This is an 84" flat panel going for $25,000 another 150" projector also costs the same.

http://www.avsforum.com/a/sony-launc...m_medium=email

[J Diddy]

Does anyone have any suggestions for airflow in a media cabinet?
I was looking at going with a mesh on the cabinet doors but the boss wanted solid wood doors for aesthetics. So I caved and planned to figure out a method of venting later on.

Here is the cabinet very near completion:



Now it's starting to look like the venting will be uglier than mesh on the doors would be. But the mesh is still pretty ugly. Here is a picture of what my media guy recommended and uses on a lot of his jobs:



I'm not in love with the look of that mesh.

Part of my venting solution was to allow the hot air to come out the top of the cabinet...but drilling holes into this thing just seems insane.

Surely there has to be some cool material out there to put on the doors that allows for airflow but will still compliment the cabinets? Any suggestions (that aren't speaker cloth) are appreciated.

[DownhillGoat]

Originally Posted by J Diddy

Does anyone have any suggestions for airflow in a media cabinet? I was looking at going with a mesh on the cabinet doors but the boss wanted solid wood doors for aesthetics.

So there's two problems with this.
1) Let her pick out china patterns and dishwashers. Not make calls in the home theatre.
2) Function over form when dealing with home theatre gear.

Now that that's out of the way...

I ordered from these guys:
http://www.coolerguys.com/

It will involve cutting into your cabinets, I opted for the side, where it's not conspicuous (I realize in this case that's not an option).

If you actually value the equipment in there, a few holes in the top to vent won't be enough with closed doors, IMO. Either lots of open space, or forced ventilation.

[J Diddy]

Originally Posted by kunkstyle

So there's two problems with this.
1) Let her pick out china patterns and dishwashers. Not make calls in the home theatre.
2) Function over form when dealing with home theatre gear.

Now that that's out of the way...

I ordered from these guys:

You're not married are you?

Thanks for the link. I will check them out.

I was also thinking that perforated screen pictured above could be painted to match the cabinets more.

[DownhillGoat]

Originally Posted by J Diddy

You're not married are you?

Not anymore.

[fundmark19]

Is one fan per cabinet enough or should you do more? I plan on having receiver (which runs hot) PS3 maybe my xbox 3 cable boxes and a slingbox in mine. Would IR be able to go through the mesh? That might solve 2 problems at once. That mesh on dark cabinet doors wouldn't look that bad

[TheGrimm]

It's hard to tell from the pictures you included (on my phone), is there any way to remove the air from the cabinet behind it or below it? Including fans which circulate but don't remove the warm air isn't going to help very much. From the looks of it you might be able to put a mesh or screen in the toe kicks? Ideall, if you could draw air in from below the cabinet via the toe kicks and then push it out the back it would be best.

I put my AV cabinet inset into a closet wall so that it's flush with the wall, this way I can go into the room behind the rack and cable things. I included fans at the top and bottom of the cabinet (39" tall) and the back door can be opened to access gear. The shelves have about 3" between them and the back door so there is quite a bit of airflow within the cabinet.

For the fans I found some cheap computer fans from memory express that are thermal controlled with sensors which I can place near the equipment. http://www.memoryexpress.com/Products/MX22913

I used an old 12 volt DC power supply for an external hard drive I think, 5 minutes of stripping/soldering and I had a decent, cheap, thermal controlled fan system. They are almost silent at the lowest speed, and very quiet when ramped up.

I will see if I can dig up pictures if anyone is interested.

[J Diddy]

Originally Posted by fundmark19

Is one fan per cabinet enough or should you do more? I plan on having receiver (which runs hot) PS3 maybe my xbox 3 cable boxes and a slingbox in mine. Would IR be able to go through the mesh? That might solve 2 problems at once. That mesh on dark cabinet doors wouldn't look that bad

I emailed the cooler guys from kunkstyle's post with a full description of what I have for equipment, space dimensions, etc to know what I need for fans as well. I'll post their reply when I receive it. They have lots of great stuff. Excellent resource kunk...thanks!

That perforated screen that I posted a picture of above has holes large enough to allow IR to go through but small enough to not be able to see any of the device lights...according to my media guy anyway.

If you don't go with the mesh above or something similar and have solid doors like me you can use a RF basestation to have a universal remote talk to all your devices. I'm using a URC MRF-260 RF Basestation with a URC MX-880 RF Remote Control and it works great. Before we went ahead with the solid doors I tested all my equipment by putting a bunch of cardboard in front of all my devices. I could point the remote in any direction and the devices would still work.

Even if you have your devices are in the open with direct line of sight a basestation is worth while. If you are lazy like me you can use the remote under a blanket while lying on the couch watching football. No need to even move to change the channel or turn up the volume.

[DownhillGoat]

Originally Posted by fundmark19

I plan on having receiver (which runs hot)

Boy do I have a solution for you in the buy/sell thread.

What I did with mine (cheap ikea cabinets, mind you) was put a single fan on each end, then drilled a 3" (IIRC) hole inside the cabinet dividers so there was airflow thru the whole thing. The coolers I bought had temp sensors. The only one that is running constantly is the PS3 side. If you ever want to take a look at them running let me know.

Originally Posted by TheGrimm

For the fans I found some cheap computer fans from memory express that are thermal controlled with sensors which I can place near the equipment. http://www.memoryexpress.com/Products/MX22913

I used an old 12 volt DC power supply for an external hard drive I think, 5 minutes of stripping/soldering and I had a decent, cheap, thermal controlled fan system.

That's exactly what these coolerguys fans are. I'm rather electrically challenged, so they come with the 12v/AC adapter which was good for me. Your solution was probably $75 cheaper though. Nice work! Interested to see it if you get a chance to post pics.

Originally Posted by TheGrimm

Including fans which circulate but don't remove the warm air isn't going to help very much.

Thanks - I forgot to mention that. If you do order from coolerguys make sure you install them so the air is blown out of the cabinet.

[fundmark19]

Kunk next meeting should be at my house I need design help. The morons who were before me built a 6 inch pony wall between the bathroom and where my media cabinet is going so that would be great to pull cold air from. I am assuming it is a bad idea to blow the hot air out into a wall cavity for moisture issues and better to push it out to the actual room?

[J Diddy]

Originally Posted by TheGrimm

It's hard to tell from the pictures you included (on my phone), is there any way to remove the air from the cabinet behind it or below it? Including fans which circulate but don't remove the warm air isn't going to help very much. From the looks of it you might be able to put a mesh or screen in the toe kicks? Ideall, if you could draw air in from below the cabinet via the toe kicks and then push it out the back it would be best.

There is room under the cabinet for airflow and...hard to see in the picture..but there are two black metal vents in the toe kick. Inside the cabinet there are two cut outs with access to the floor space below. Can I put fans inside the cabinet facing the area underneath the cabinet to pull the hot air out and it will come out of the toe kick vents? Or will that not work because heat rises and the fans will have to work to hard?

Behind the cabinet is the basement concrete slab so i can't push or pull from there.

Oh and definitely post some pics if you got em.

[TheGrimm]

Originally Posted by J Diddy

There is room under the cabinet for airflow and...hard to see in the picture..but there are two black metal vents in the toe kick. Inside the cabinet there are two cut outs with access to the floor space below. Can I put fans inside the cabinet facing the area underneath the cabinet to pull the hot air out and it will come out of the toe kick vents? Or will that not work because heat rises and the fans will have to work to hard?

Behind the cabinet is the basement concrete slab so i can't push or pull from there.

Oh and definitely post some pics if you got em.

Are those heat registers in the toe kicks? Or are they simply grills? You might be able to put some tin in there to force the air out the grills. It's not ideal trying to remove heat from the base. What about a fan blowing air into the cabinet from the base, and another fan at the top of the cabinet, cut out and simply blowing the air upwards? You can mount the fan under the cabinet and put a grill and/or mesh cover on top of it.

Is your gear going into the side cabinets or the lower center cabinets? Do you have cables and conduit going to one of the cabinets already?

Here is a crude idea of what I am talking about (and roughly what my cabinet looks like)

[Cube Inmate]

I'm in the early stages of selecting my next TV model -- it'll be a flat panel in the range of 65-80", and most specs are pretty straightforward to evaluate. But where I have little knowledge is in the area of "smooth motion" processing on newer TVs. My current 46" Samsung is 5+ years old, with no particular smoothing that I'm aware of. When I look at my dad's newer 60" Sharp, though, the picture is way over-processed and suffers really bad "soap opera" look.

On the Sharp, there are variable settings for the motion smoothing -- "off" through "high" -- but even when it's "off" there's still something wrong with the picture, in my view. I certainly don't want to pick a new TV just based on its specs, and then find out that the viewing experience drives me up the wall!

• Is this something specific to Sharp?
• Do different brands have different reputations re: smoothing? (Or maybe reputations for not being able to fully turn the smoothing off?)
• Is this something inherent to newer 120 Hz (or more) TVs? (Web surfing says no, but what does the web know?

Thanks for any info you video-brains can provide.

[Vulcan]

Get a plasma, no need for motion smoothing.