Saturday, July 24, 2004
OK, It's Pretty Much Twiddle My Thumbs Time
Now it's sit and wait time! I ordered the 56" Samsung through the AVS Powerbuy at a very good price. Then, I got cold feet (what a waffler whoosie) and opted to get it locally at Tweeter for a couple of hundred more and the sales tax. I would have probably been fine, but just couldn't get comfortable with a Texas - California hi-dollar transaction. At least locally, I can look someone in the eye. Delivery date should be about the same.
While at the Tweeter, they had an out of box Sony SAT HD300 (satellite/OTA HD receiver) at a good price with full warranty, so I jumped on that also. They(Tweeter) are also going to do the new dish installation, run new wire, and install an OTA antenna.
So, now I've committed to the cabinet, the receiver, and the antennas; the HTPC is just waiting to connect ---- so, like I said in the beginning, guess I'll just sit here and twiddle my thumbs.
Yesterday, I dropped by my all-time favorite toy store - Audio Concepts http://www.audioconceptsonline.com and visited with the owner and friend Mark Ashworth. I really just wanted to confirm that my thinking regarding connectivity of audio and video was on track. Thankfully, I was pretty much in sync and came away feeling much better. While there he mentioned that there was a recall on my Linn amplifiers(5) due to a capacitor which needed replacing. He said he could do it in his shop, so the timing is great. When I disconnect everything to move the existing cabinet out, Mark will take the amps and do the capacitor swap. Then he graciously offered to help me reconnect everything. I was a little nervous about that due mainly to the active wiring of the speakers. At any rate Mark will be available to assist with that and the re-configuration of the Linn 5103 processor.
The only thing remaining will be the activation of DirecTV HD which will wait until everything is connected and playing.
What a fun project this has been from the start until (hopefully) the finish!
While at the Tweeter, they had an out of box Sony SAT HD300 (satellite/OTA HD receiver) at a good price with full warranty, so I jumped on that also. They(Tweeter) are also going to do the new dish installation, run new wire, and install an OTA antenna.
So, now I've committed to the cabinet, the receiver, and the antennas; the HTPC is just waiting to connect ---- so, like I said in the beginning, guess I'll just sit here and twiddle my thumbs.
Yesterday, I dropped by my all-time favorite toy store - Audio Concepts http://www.audioconceptsonline.com and visited with the owner and friend Mark Ashworth. I really just wanted to confirm that my thinking regarding connectivity of audio and video was on track. Thankfully, I was pretty much in sync and came away feeling much better. While there he mentioned that there was a recall on my Linn amplifiers(5) due to a capacitor which needed replacing. He said he could do it in his shop, so the timing is great. When I disconnect everything to move the existing cabinet out, Mark will take the amps and do the capacitor swap. Then he graciously offered to help me reconnect everything. I was a little nervous about that due mainly to the active wiring of the speakers. At any rate Mark will be available to assist with that and the re-configuration of the Linn 5103 processor.
The only thing remaining will be the activation of DirecTV HD which will wait until everything is connected and playing.
What a fun project this has been from the start until (hopefully) the finish!
Wednesday, July 21, 2004
Here's The Latest -- My HDHD (High Definition Harley Davidson)
As I mentioned in the previous post, one of the major hold-ups was the TV/Monitor/Display and my problem of fitting it into my existing piece of furniture. You may ask "What's the problem" --- and the answer to that requires a little background information.
Ideal screen size for HDTV is generally determined by the distance from your viewing position to the center of the display screen. Ideally, seating position is 2 - 3 times the screen width. The calculation is actually a little more precise than that, but for this discussion that will suffice. There are 3 to 5 seating positions in our living (viewing) room and they vary from 11 to 12 feet from the TV, roughly 138 inches. Based on that viewing distance, the screen width should be between 46 and 69 inches. The standard measure of TV size is the diagonal screen size, and 46 and 69 inch widths translate to 50 and 73 inch diagonal sizes.
Wow, this is much larger than I have been planning on, and certainly would not fit into the existing cabinet (42" opening) even with major modification. That seems to leave me only one alternative which I had really been trying to avoid. Replace the existing cabinet - that bullet has been bitten, and the new cabinet build is in the works. I am hopefully looking a little further ahead this time and the cabinet will allow for expansion with some modification. The cabinet is being designed and built by B.J. Paravesh of A Wooden Masterpiece, Inc. You can check out their work at their website http://www.awoodenmasterpiece.com/ .
So, the cabinet is 4-5 weeks out, and now I can order the TV. I've decided on the 56" Samsung DLP model and in fact entered the order for it yesterday. It also is probably 4 to 5 weeks out although I do not have that confirmed.
The next significant piece that need to be in place to have HDTV working is a HD DirecTV receiver and a new 3 LNB DirecTV dish. I expect to make some decisions on that in the next week.
Once all of that is in place, I can get back to the HTPC and be able to test various pieces of software in an HD environment.
About this time you're probably saying "Man, this dude is spending a lot of money - He must have more green than he knows what to do with!"
Well, the truth is: I recently sold my Harley Davidson Dresser and am using the proceeds to fund this project ---- Thus, I refer to it as MY HDHD
Ideal screen size for HDTV is generally determined by the distance from your viewing position to the center of the display screen. Ideally, seating position is 2 - 3 times the screen width. The calculation is actually a little more precise than that, but for this discussion that will suffice. There are 3 to 5 seating positions in our living (viewing) room and they vary from 11 to 12 feet from the TV, roughly 138 inches. Based on that viewing distance, the screen width should be between 46 and 69 inches. The standard measure of TV size is the diagonal screen size, and 46 and 69 inch widths translate to 50 and 73 inch diagonal sizes.
Wow, this is much larger than I have been planning on, and certainly would not fit into the existing cabinet (42" opening) even with major modification. That seems to leave me only one alternative which I had really been trying to avoid. Replace the existing cabinet - that bullet has been bitten, and the new cabinet build is in the works. I am hopefully looking a little further ahead this time and the cabinet will allow for expansion with some modification. The cabinet is being designed and built by B.J. Paravesh of A Wooden Masterpiece, Inc. You can check out their work at their website http://www.awoodenmasterpiece.com/ .
So, the cabinet is 4-5 weeks out, and now I can order the TV. I've decided on the 56" Samsung DLP model and in fact entered the order for it yesterday. It also is probably 4 to 5 weeks out although I do not have that confirmed.
The next significant piece that need to be in place to have HDTV working is a HD DirecTV receiver and a new 3 LNB DirecTV dish. I expect to make some decisions on that in the next week.
Once all of that is in place, I can get back to the HTPC and be able to test various pieces of software in an HD environment.
About this time you're probably saying "Man, this dude is spending a lot of money - He must have more green than he knows what to do with!"
Well, the truth is: I recently sold my Harley Davidson Dresser and am using the proceeds to fund this project ---- Thus, I refer to it as MY HDHD
Friday, July 02, 2004
It's Been Awhile
It's been a while since I updated the HTPC Blog -- Right now I have a very nice, high performance PC -- It's not an HTPC yet, but will be ........ eventually.
What's missing is the hardware/software to provide the HD & Video Time Shift (TIVO) functionality. That along with several pieces of software to manage audio & image files.
Actually, the key component that holding up progress on this project is lack of a High Definition TV/Display/Monitor. I've pretty well settled on the Samsung DLP unit and have been waiting on the latest model release, the HLP series. The primary driver in this decision is my desire for the largest viewing area in the smallest physical space. You see, I have a custom built(read very expensive) "Entertainment Center" that we purchased several years ago. The maximum width that will fit in the cabinet is 43/44 inches(very short-sighted on my part). It so happens that the Samsung DLP (Tantus Model-Thin Bezel) in the 46" size is just under 43" wide. The next size up (50") is 46" wide. So, it looks like the 46 is the display for me. Size aside, this TV picture quality is superb especially in HD. Now here's the rub ---- the HLP (latest) models are just now being released and the thin bezel Tantus model will not be released until (my guess) the September/October time frame. I am however, pretty insistent on this display.
So, that's the dilema, and the delay. Until I get the display, the HTPC project will go on hold and lie dormant (sorta) until the fall. I just insist on doing this project (for me) the right way and minimize compromises. Time will tell how well I stick to this plan.
As I said, this project will pretty much lie dormant for awhile with only sporadic updates as new information on the display becomes available. I may also post any new findings from my continued research into new hardware/software components that may add value to the HTPC.
What's missing is the hardware/software to provide the HD & Video Time Shift (TIVO) functionality. That along with several pieces of software to manage audio & image files.
Actually, the key component that holding up progress on this project is lack of a High Definition TV/Display/Monitor. I've pretty well settled on the Samsung DLP unit and have been waiting on the latest model release, the HLP series. The primary driver in this decision is my desire for the largest viewing area in the smallest physical space. You see, I have a custom built(read very expensive) "Entertainment Center" that we purchased several years ago. The maximum width that will fit in the cabinet is 43/44 inches(very short-sighted on my part). It so happens that the Samsung DLP (Tantus Model-Thin Bezel) in the 46" size is just under 43" wide. The next size up (50") is 46" wide. So, it looks like the 46 is the display for me. Size aside, this TV picture quality is superb especially in HD. Now here's the rub ---- the HLP (latest) models are just now being released and the thin bezel Tantus model will not be released until (my guess) the September/October time frame. I am however, pretty insistent on this display.
So, that's the dilema, and the delay. Until I get the display, the HTPC project will go on hold and lie dormant (sorta) until the fall. I just insist on doing this project (for me) the right way and minimize compromises. Time will tell how well I stick to this plan.
As I said, this project will pretty much lie dormant for awhile with only sporadic updates as new information on the display becomes available. I may also post any new findings from my continued research into new hardware/software components that may add value to the HTPC.
