Re: Making my own cables?

I haven't studied all their systems in detail. That particular one, however, is highly integrated. The power amp is in the bass module, and it drives the five satellites. In order to get any sort of reasonable sound out of those tiny boxes, massive amounts of non-defeatable equalization must be applied, and that's built into the electronics. The whole thing is connected together with a custom cable harness. The CD/preamp/tuner unit is not a "receiver" in the accepted sense.

So no, it can't be upgraded piecemeal. And looking at the capabilities of the Lifestyle 12 -- which is only a 3 or 4 year old model -- it's incredible how a $1500 system could become so outmoded in so short a time. There is no future-proofing *at all* in the design.

RichC

"Geoff" wrote in news:1102865803.217123.288240 @c13g2000cwb.googlegroups.com:

Does your TV remote have the ability to learn commands? If it does then you can program it to learn your AV receiver's commands.

If not, you'll probably have to buy a universal remote.

Sounds more like planned obsolescence.

I hired someone to put together a proposal for my home theater. It seems like one projector (BenQ PE8700+) sounds better according to reviews than the InFocus Home ScreenPlay 7205. He seems to want me to go with the InFocus instead of the BenQ, saying that the InFocus is their preferred choice, and that he has one himself.

My question is do these people (who you can hire to put together recommendations, then buy the things for you, then install them) typically have a reason to go with a certain projector (maybe because they are associated with that brand), even if the projector isn't as good?

I know everyone is different, but I'm just wondering if anyone knew if this is a common thing.

Thanks, Brad

Several opinions at

My preference is DLP over LCD. I feel that the "screen door" effect that comes with LCD is way too distracting. I love the sharpness of my BenQ PE-8700.

Several opinions at

My preference is DLP over LCD. I feel that the "screen door" effect that comes with LCD is way too distracting. I love the sharpness of my BenQ PE-8700.

Thank you all for your responses.

Happy holidays!

I have a room I want to set up with a fancy new TV and GOOD surround sound. The problem is wifey wont let me park my butt right in the middle of the room. Are there any receivers that accomodate seating placement to have the sweet spot off to the side and rear somewhat? Names/prices please...Thanks

I heard that Sony was coming out with a 3 chip DLP TV. Does anyone know if this is true? If so what size is it going to be? Also, wouldn't this eliminate the need for a color wheel? Thanks.

Hello...the wife and I are contemplating purchasing our first HDTV. I've been researching the issue and think I've narrowed down (sort of) our choices. I'm interested in the following sets:

Hitachi 50VS810 (I like the short height of the TV...would fit in well with our existing furniture, but my wife doesn't like the black finish Price is also a little steep.)

Hitachi 50V715 (Our leading contender...I like the feature set and it is the successor to the highly rated 50V500.)

Samsung HL-P5063W or HL-P4663W (A very strong second choice. The cabinet is a nice fit for our living room and I like the smooth image...no visible pixels or grid lines but I am still unsure about the infamous audio sync problems. We will be feeding the audio directly into our surround receiver and feeding only the video into the set. Likewise, our DVD player is a first generation unit and so only offers S-Video 480i input into the TV. I feel this combo is just asking for audio sync problems. I know I could replace the DVD player, but it was a gift from my wife on our first Christmas together so I hate to retire it! If not for the audio issues I've read about this would be my first choice.)

Hitachi 51S715 (A CRT projection unit that has also gotten good reviews and is no deeper than our existing 32" television and not too heavy either. I like the bargain price for this unit. My reservation is that it does not seem as bright as the DLP & LCD units and our living room gets a lot of sun in the day time (although we can lower the shades if need be).

JVC HD52Z585 (LCOS projection. On paper the technology sounds very promising, but I am suspicious as it seems the other companies that have tried LCOS later left the market. It is also a bit pricey and lacks the ability to configure each individual input with its own settings. This makes it a long shot among my list, but I do like the low profile cabinet it offers...on a par with that offered by Samsung. The smaller cabinets are a perfect fit with our living room.)

So...does anyone own or have experience with the above units? What are your impressions? Has Samsung ever fixed the audio issues when using a surround receiver? Do any other TV's in my list exhibit this problem? (Although the Hitachi's do have optical inputs and outputs, so I guess this should alleviate the issue and keep things in sync). I've also read some reports doubting the long term life of LCD, but suspect this study since it was financed by Texas Instruments (who developed DLP.) How about smearing....do the above units exhibit this trait? I've looked in he stores and it is hard to tell with the crummy, pixilated feeds they send to the TV's. I asked the clerk if they could play a DVD for me and he said "no" (local Best Buy). I like the promise offered by DLP (bright image, absence of smearing, potential for truer colors) but am suspicious of the color wheel. All mechanical systems wear out in time. Are the color wheels bearings sealed against dust and loss of lubrication?

Please excuse the gaggle of questions, but at this stage I'm still evaluating the merits of each technology and so have chosen my favorites (based on reviews and paper specs) for each technology. I know seek real life evaluations from people before we take the plunge. Thank you!

Craig

Get a new DVD player...but give it to your wife that way things will work out alright ....technology of todays DVD players are way far and above when they first came out......MP3, CD-R, Photo and a bunch more compatibilities.....get a new DVD player to go along with that new tv.....Merry Christmas !!

smearing....do

with it. I have not read of any of the potential problems you mentioned with the Mits. The new higher resolution DVD players require a DVI or HDMI port. Cable boxes or tuner boxes for HD usually require a DVI connection. Problem is usually there is only 1 DVI-HDMI connection on the TV. Switch boxes are very expensive. You can eliminate part of the problem and save a connection by getting a TV with the cable card option. Most cable companies support cable cards. It eliminates the need for a add on box and DVI connection. You can use the DVI connection for another HD device.

Sanyo Fisher FVD-C1 Pocket CameraCorder

Review: I have been waiting over a year for a camera/camcorder device and was about to give up hope and just buy a plain digital camcorder... Then I found someone who knew what I was looking for - Sanyo understood the obvious with this Fisher--consumers want to combine the camera and camcorder into a single product that they can take anywhere easily and use with either a computer, TV or edit within the camera.

Even more important the ability to -- PUT IT IN YOUR POCKET! I have taken more video in the last two months that I have owned this then I have in the last 10 years!!! I always have it with me!!! So due to it size, you don't just get cool technology, you get to have it with you when you need it!!

It gives you 3 mega pixels, 2 mega pixels and .3 mega pixels. The rendering is exceptional And dvd-like it is--SANYO is the only one to ac...........full review...

Somewhere around Thu, 16 Dec 2004 23:37:21 -0500, while reading alt.tv.tech.hdtv, I think I thought I saw this post from "Craig" :

.. . .

I have the Samsung HLP-46w. The only sync issue that I have found is not an issue; if you mute the audio for the TV, the sync is fine. If you simply turn down the audio on the TV, there will be a sync problem. This was discussed on the hdtv forum last week, and a user's problem was totally solved when I told him about this.

I have no problems with DVDs, nor are there any problems using the TV audio output fed into my receiver. My receiver is not at all fancy, no delays.

I really like the TV. I don't have HDTV - I don't watch much TV, and only have analog cable, but it looks really good. I don't even know how many splitters there might be under the house, and I never felt inclined to find out, as much as I'd like to.

Thank you for the info, but if I understand correctly, the output from the TV is simply analog. If I use the TV's outputs I lose my Dolby Digital and DTS signals. Therefore I have to send the audio from the DVD directly to the receiver, and then mute the TV. The audio occurs due to the TV being relatively slow in decompressing and converting the video feed. Even with this in mind, I'm still contemplating the Samsung, as it is the best physical fit for our living room. I guess if I had to I could purchase a DVD player with a DVI output. Craig

Hello all,

Does anyone know of a site that woudl offer guidelines for someone who is not techncially very.. knowledgeable on how to calibrate their plasma?

Mine looks ok and i think it needs to get better.

Azm

Allegedly (this is based upon what I've researched), the DVI output requires less processing time to display the image, as the TV doesn't have to convert the 480i or 480p to 720p. (The DVD player does the conversion before sending the video to the TV.) Therefore, there aren't any sync issues with the audio. Craig

Somewhere around Mon, 20 Dec 2004 23:14:35 -0500, while reading alt.tv.tech.hdtv, I think I thought I saw this post from "Craig" :

Yes, the TV output is analog - I use it when I am watching broadcast TV, so there is no digital audio available. I use the optical digital output from my DVD to my receiver for watching DVDs.

What is the purpose of DVI output in this context? Is it something to do with delay issues or just for the better video?