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[#] Fri Oct 04 2013 22:22:33 EDT from IGnatius T Foobar

Subject: Re: Short Note about the Yamaha A1000

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So, if I see "one big coil" it's actually just $NUM_CHANNELS smaller coils stacked up on top of each other? That would seem to make more sense.

[#] Fri Oct 04 2013 23:41:38 EDT from vince-q <vince-q@ns1.netk2ne.net>

Subject: Re: Short Note about the Yamaha A1000

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Oct 4 2013 7:22pm from IGnatius T Foobar @uncnsrd (Uncensored)
Subject: Re: Short Note about the Yamaha A1000
So, if I see "one big coil" it's actually just $NUM_CHANNELS smaller
coils stacked up on top of each other? That would seem to make more
sense.



Depends. If the coil/combo is in the power supply it might be $NUM_AMPLIFIERS instead of $NUM_CHANNELS.

[#] Mon Dec 09 2013 18:56:46 EST from IGnatius T Foobar

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Dear lazyweb:

There is now a television in the Mouse House that supposedly supports DLNA.

What's the best DLNA server for Linux (native or cross-platform, doesn't matter)

Non open source solutions need not apply.

[#] Tue Dec 10 2013 08:06:12 EST from the_mgt

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Try http://minidlna.sourceforge.net/ Seems rather lightweight and is very easy to set up.

I tried it on an LG bluray player only, most movies work fine. Sometimes a movie does not run, but these are sometimes old and odd avi containers which had issues on real PCs too.

Audio is odd, I can browse all my soundfiles by category, title, etc, but no music plays, ever... I do not care much since it is broadcasted via mpd and mt-daapd too, so most of the time, one of my devices plays what I want.



[#] Tue Dec 10 2013 12:46:30 EST from dothebart

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the most recent logitech squeezebox server can do DLNA; however its focused on audio, so mp3's will most probably work, while movies may not ;-) YMMV



[#] Wed Dec 11 2013 07:50:39 EST from IGnatius T Foobar

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MiniDLNA looks like the answer. Thank you the_mgt for the suggestion. It installed easily from the Debian repository (the open source world invented the "app store" of course), configured easily, and my "Smart TV" found it without having to configure anything on the client side.

My home videos (all digital since 2006) look fantastic on the new screen.
The camera's onboard analog-out always made the picture look pretty lousy, which makes sense, they probably used the cheapest components they could find for that.

And yes, I'm that cheap, it really did take until 2013 for us to finally buy our first HDTV.

[#] Wed Dec 11 2013 10:29:03 EST from dothebart

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well, you missed all those cheapo hdready at uber expensive kilo dollar ranges that way.



[#] Thu Dec 12 2013 15:52:49 EST from vince-q <vince-q@ns1.netk2ne.net>

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And yes, I'm that cheap, it really did take until 2013 for us to
finally buy our first HDTV.


Don't feel bad about that. I didn't buy *my* first HDTV until not quite two years ago (early JAN 2012). Every time I went to buy one, I ended up saying "let's wait six months - the TVs will be better for the same price." I was right. Then the old TV finally "up and died" and it was no longer a "wait" option.

[#] Thu Dec 12 2013 17:42:49 EST from the_mgt

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Same here, maybe 1,5 years now. We were "forced" to accept a flatscreen as a gift. Next move is to replace all your analog input devices because the picture will suck big time compared to hdmi... still need my non-hdmi dvd player because it is region-free, the bluray player only plays regional dvds. :(

I am also still not willing to replace my pre-hdmi av receiver, though. I would want to upgrade the price class, meaning I would have to update the speakers and buy an active subwoofer... all the time hoping that my son does not want to suddenly "repair" the speakers with some sharp object. Sir, no, sir!

BTW, IG, you want to use component cable for the Wii, but I guess in america you are already using that. Picture was still better with RGB/Scart cable on the analog bulky old tv set. But for some reason, the RGB version is only interlaced, which gives significant flicker on games like Animal Crossing.



[#] Sun Dec 15 2013 18:12:44 EST from IGnatius T Foobar

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In the US the Wii ships with a composite video cable (one RCA connector for video, and two more for stereo sound) and therre is a component cable available from Nintendo as well. There are all sorts of aftermarket products, including one called "Wii2HDMI" which appears to be just what it sounds like.

From what I can tell by reading, the component cables bring you to 480p instead of 480i, but you don't get any additional resolution. (Yes I know component renders the same resolution better)

Gotta stick with what I've got for now. It turns out this TV only has one set of non-HDMI inputs for composite "or" component, so I'm sticking with the composite switcher built into my home theater amp for the time being.

[#] Mon Dec 16 2013 05:57:56 EST from the_mgt

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Sun Dec 15 2013 18:12:44 EST from IGnatius T Foobar @ Uncensored
From what I can tell by reading, the component cables bring you to 480p instead of 480i, but you don't get any additional resolution. (Yes I know component renders the same resolution better)

The benefit is less flickering. When running through the game horizontally in Animal Crossing, I got an amount of flicker that was just not bearable. You could see the upper and lower part of the image updating separately. I guess Mad World and Blob or other fast moving games would be unplayable without tremendous amount of headache. Could just have been due to crappyness of my TV set, though. 

Gotta stick with what I've got for now. It turns out this TV only has one set of non-HDMI inputs for composite "or" component, so I'm sticking with the composite switcher built into my home theater amp for the time being.

That sucks. It also sucks that you have to switch out all cables and amps, etc, after buying a new TV. Been there myself, ranted here about that more than once. Falling in love with a Marantz SR 8005, but I first need to get a new satellite receiver, ours is crappy. 



[#] Sun Dec 22 2013 18:47:38 EST from IGnatius T Foobar

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What doesn't suck is that the YouTube player in my TV can be remote controlled by the YouTube app on my phone. It *so* beats trying to sharpshoot the letters on the on-screen keyboard.

[#] Wed Oct 29 2014 11:44:47 EDT from IGnatius T Foobar

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It's time to fit out the lower level of my house for some fun activities.
One of the things I want to do is hang a video projector from the ceiling to turn en entire wall into a screen. It will be used primarily for video games, but we also want to use it to display the occasional video of Anita Sarkeesian being forced to wear a hijab. The room is not terribly bright so it should be a good space for a projector.

Anyone with projector experience have anything to suggest? Any particular brands, technologies, deployment strategies, etc to pursue or avoid?

[#] Wed Oct 29 2014 14:16:15 EDT from vince-q <vince-q@ns1.netk2ne.net>

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room is not terribly bright so it should be a good space for a
projector.


"Not terribly bright" is way too bright.
The absolute best result with any projector, from passably consumer grade to high end, is ***theater*** darkness.

Anything else will seriously degrade the result.

[#] Fri Oct 31 2014 15:49:40 EDT from IGnatius T Foobar

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Yes, if we want "theater dark" we'll turn the lights off.  :/

The rest of the time we're going to use it for video games.  I'm hoping to find a Nintendo title that has Princess Peach and Princess Daisy beating the crap out of Anita Sarkeesian, but the violent games tend to be on Xbox, and I will not buy Microsoft products...

So the projector I've got my eye on right now is an Epson PowerLite home Cinema 2000.  It's a mid-tier projector with native 1080p resolution and 1800 lumens.  Seems like it's right about on the part of the price/quality curve that I want to be (not crap but not breaking the bank either).  Full 1920x1080 is of course a requirement.  I was planning on a ceiling mount but now I'm also considering building a box on the opposite wall.



[#] Fri Oct 31 2014 17:14:09 EDT from vince-q <vince-q@ns1.netk2ne.net>

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That epson is, quite simply, substandard. You will *not* be happy with it and within one week, if not sooner, will intensely regret the purchase. Within a month you will straight up hate it.

Reason?
Only 1,800 lumens color brightness; only 1,800 lumens white brightness.

For movies and gaming that is an ***absolute*** deal killer, period.
You get what you pay for, and will be planning its replacement the day you get it home.

Recommendation
OPTOMA HD141X
3,000 lumens.
Supports every conceivable video mode in use today, including 3D.
Cost: $600.00 +/-


There are others.

What I recommend you do is go to the nearest Best Buy. Purchase the best projector they have that falls within your budget. Take it home. Try it out for a week. If you don't like it, bring it back. Best Buy has one of the smoothest and most pain-free "no questions asked" return policy among all of the "big box" thieves.

And once you find the unit you truly like, return it.
Then find the same unit online - you'll pay about 10 to 20 percent less.

[#] Sat Nov 01 2014 00:07:08 EDT from IGnatius T Foobar

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I've never heard of Optoma. Are they any good?

[#] Sat Nov 01 2014 00:32:47 EDT from vince-q <vince-q@ns1.netk2ne.net>

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Everything I've seen looks good. Don't know who carries them in your area, though.

You should visit a truly high-end shop and get some in-store "auditions" and arrange to take a store sample of your favorite home on a trial. A real high-end shop will do this. Best Buy is not a high end shop by any means, however my recommendation to use them as a walk-in free-trial demo toy still holds.

When I was in NJ we used an A/V consultant - I can't remember the name of his shop after almost 15 years, sorry.

[#] Sat Nov 01 2014 00:37:42 EDT from vince-q

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I just remembered the name.
AVALON AUDIO, Medford NJ. Doubt he'll remember me after all this time, but drop my name - may work.

[#] Tue Nov 04 2014 03:10:58 EST from the_mgt

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We recently ordered three ViewSonic Pro 9000 projectors for a driving simulator. They are used in a totally dark room and replaced our Canon XS 6000 Projectors.

The main reason for replacement was cost efficiency, the lamps for the Canon where around 300€, even if you use non-Canon replacements. The uptime of those projectors was so high, we needed them fairly regularly.

The ViewSonic does not need a lamp, it uses some LED stuff combined with a laser for the green color. (The laser part sounds so cool, it could be the main reason you want to buy one.) It has 3 years of warranty (her in Germany) and the expected lifetime of the LED/Laser is around 10k hours.

This has the benefit of being rather low on power hunger (all three projectors now consume as much power together as one of the old ones) and a reduced noise level. Less heat, slower spinning fans. The Game-mode is even less noisy than normal use. It has all the 1080p nonsense, but no 3D support.

The image quality is astonishing, reaction time is fast as lightning. It is crisp, clear and a joy to use. The Canons were around 5k$ when they were released, they never looked as good and made one hell of a noise.



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