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I'm looking for a theatre display again.....
Ond:
At the moment I'm spending almost all my spare time upgrading our home theatre (thus my lack of progress on anything else). While you guys are busy debating the ins and outs of HDMI versions etc the sawdust is flying around me ;D. I probably won't add much to the debate but here are some thoughts anyway. I've been looking at home theatre stuff for well, many years, in fact long before there ever was such a thing except in the home of the super rich. Back in the 80's I worked in television studio production and had access to the best video projectors the industry could produce in the day. They were primarily large and very heavy CRT projection units that cost as much as a family home. Sometimes we set these up for stadium events, rock concerts or the like. That's where my interest kicked off. I had to wait years and years until the home user market finally had access to 'affordable' projectors. There was still no sign of digital audio amps, DVDs etc.
For a one of my birthdays (I forget which :) ) I hired a big ass Sony CRT unit (which retailed at around AU$60K) for the weekend), a laser disc player and a stack of movies for a few mates and the family. The picture on the 8 foot screen was pretty damn good. Affordable projectors to buy with that kind of quality were still way off in the future. Every now and then I'd wander into a specialist outlet and say to the guy "so, show me your best projector, show me what you've got" and walk away soon after muttering "nup, still no good".
Fast forward to the last 8 years or so and all that changed, units like the Panasonic AE series finally brought quality home theatre images to the home for around AU$2-3K.
That same price can get you stunning 1080P images on 100"+ screens now. There's no real comparison with a large screen and matching sound system. I say that as an owner of a 50" 3D Samsung TV. When our family wants to really enjoy a film together we head for the big screen room. We don't use it for video gaming or TV or anything else just something like the latest action flick at thundering decibels in a darkened room.
Some of the real changes I’ve seen are more around the digital format, the switch from component video and discreet optical audio to HDMI. Actually I do have something of value to add and that’s about, cables. Don’t get ripped off with your cable purchases. Cable sales and the ridiculous pricing that goes with that is one of the most lucrative money makers in the retail HT market. When I first wired up my house during construction I was quoted around AU$1200 for a 10 metre Component Cable. I bought the same cable of the reel at a wholesaler and fitted my own gold plated plugs for 1/10th of that price. Same story with a 10 metre HDMI ver.1.4 cable I just bought. Did my research and got it from a cable wholesaler at a fraction of the price the retail outlets fleece people for. Super high performance digital cables are a lie, the only difference is in how robust the plug head is, that’s it. Trust Ond.
If anyone’s interested I recommend Denon gear for amps blu ray players etc. The units I bought 4 or so years ago are running strong and without any issues.
So I’m off to feed this 10 metre HDMI cable through the wall and back to sawing, screwing :blah: :blah:
drventure:
--- Quote from: Ond on July 11, 2012, 11:47:28 pm ---Actually I do have something of value to add and that’s about, cables. Don’t get ripped off with your cable purchases. Cable sales and the ridiculous pricing that goes with that is one of the most lucrative money makers in the retail HT market.
--- End quote ---
ahofle found a great deal on a 6foot hdmi cable a while back
http://forum.arcadecontrols.com/index.php?topic=109951.msg1164039#msg1164039
:)
I picked up a 50' model for 15$ off ebay, it runs all the way around the room, from the av gear in front, to the projector on the wall behind. Picked up a 50' power cord too, so all my gear, including the projector can be plugged into a UPS/surge protector.
For .28% the price of that cable, I'd say the one I got works pretty dang good ;D
Gray_Area:
--- Quote from: Ond on July 11, 2012, 11:47:28 pm ---digital cables are a lie, the only difference is in how robust the plug head is, that’s it. Trust Ond.
So I’m off to feed this 10 metre HDMI cable through the wall and back to sawing, screwing :blah: :blah:
--- End quote ---
I would get a screwing in between things, too. Yeah, the cable thing seems to be universal - I see it on guitar forums, etc - the physics is simple, a well-made cable means good though simple construction methods and using good though inexpensive materials.
saint:
If you're not buying your cables from monoprice.com, you're paying too much as a rule (though that ebay deal was a score).
ChadTower:
--- Quote from: saint on July 12, 2012, 07:04:31 am ---If you're not buying your cables from monoprice.com, you're paying too much as a rule (though that ebay deal was a score).
--- End quote ---
When installing the WDTVs I had to buy a bunch of HDMI cables. Monoprice was more than twice the price of Amazon once you factored in shipping. Monoprice isn't all that great for small orders. Shipping is often more than the total in your cart.
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