Hanging Plasmas / LCD's -- Articulated Mounts and Surround Sound

Hi, Bright Home Theater (BHT) recently installed a 50" plasma at a clients and he wanted the TV to be able to be seen from different parts of the apartment. Normally a Flat mount (flat and tight against the wall), or a Tilt mount (against the wall, but tilts anywhere from 7-15 degree's primarily to combat glare) are what we use.
However, Articulated mounts are cool, cool, cool. An Articulated mount is able to be pulled out from the wall a couple feet and can both tilt (as above) and turn left and right (some up to 180 degrees!) When needed or simply wanted there is no other answer for the Articulated mount.
However, there are some challenges!
1) Supporting the weight of the TV on an articulated mount when pulled out from the wall
2) Sound (How do you get sound that "sounds right" if you watching/listening from different locations?
First of all, our installation crew (Eric and Chris) know what to do to deal with the weight. Since they deal with brick, plaster or drywall they know a lot and have the tools to get the job done. Whether it is is reinforcing the wall with plywood or 2x4's or using the Hilti system they can get the job done.
Secondly: sound. We recommend Surround Sound Bars from Definitive Technologies and Polk Audio.
Here is a review of the Definitive Technology from CNET and Home Theater Review.
Surround Sound bars have 5 channels of sound in one speaker: that means the front right and left, the center and the two "rear" speakers. The sound bar on an articulated mount can be attached to the mount. This means the sound follows the TV. While not ideal, at least you can have a simulation of front back and center wherever you watch and listen from!
(Other reasons for surround sound bars are to decrease the cost and complexity of wire runs to rear speakers, to deal with rooms that have 3 sides of floor to ceiling windows, or simply to save space! et. al.)
The articulated mount and center channel mount we use most frequently are Sanus Single Arm or Dual Arm mount, with Center Channel Mount.
If you have any questions about mounting TV's and speakers please give us a call!
www.brighthometheater.com

BHT and Warranty's -- What We Do

What happens if a piece of BHT installed equipment goes bad? A client recently had a Universal Remote Control ( http://www.universalremote.com/ ) go bad. I can only think of two other times this happened, but both times in the past the client or their cleaning staff had dropped them. In this case it appeared to be a short.
To facilitate things we sent over a messenger to pick up the bad remote and sent over a full programmed new remote from stock. We will deal with the RMA number and sending the remote back to the manufacturer and getting a new one. It should take about 2 weeks.
In the meantime our client was out about a day without the remote.

Beginning Somthing New

Hi All, this is VP David DuPuy for Bright Home Theater. I want to type up a little something each week to give you some info on the latest technology we are recommending, buying or installing. I also would like to give you some insights into what it takes to install Audio and Video equipment in Manhattan!
This is meant to be informal and succinct (much like that sentence!) You will be able to check in and see some brand names of products we having great experiences with (or not so great) and hear real front line stories about New York installs.
No client names will ever be used however, only situations as they relate to A/V challenges and success's.
Thanks for reading and I will begin updating to give you product names and stories from the front!

Best HDTV: Plasma or LCD? DLP also exists!

Most clients who come to us assume LCD is a better technology than Plasma. Sometimes it takes quite some doing to educate consumers that Plasma is still the best out there.
CNET has posted their Best HDTV's overall and we find it a handy reference to look at with clients. We have included the link here.
Shortly, in future blogs I will be listing the differences between plasma and LCD and why LCD TV's are making up ground against plasma's and what is happening to plasma HDTV manufacturing.
http://reviews.cnet.com/best-high-definition-tvs/
The top 4 out of 5 HDTV's are plasma's!
Oh, a Samsung DLP weighs in at #11. However, watch out for Mitsubishi making strides in this category shortly. Mitsubishi has hired a primier consultant to upgrade color accuarcy, color balance and contrast (all more important to an excellent picture than resolution i.e. 1080p, concerns. More on that secret, too.)
BHT

Bright Home Theater Recommends the iPhone Sonos Controller Application

We are pretty excited here at Bright Home Theater. Or at least those of us who have an iPhone/iPod touch.
SONOS, which we often recommend and use here in the office and in our showrooms, came out with an application which enables your iPhone/iPod touch to control your SONOS system. In some initial tests the controller works just as well as the regular controller.
In the intense inter-office battle between bragging rights between the iPhone and the Blackberry, it looks like I am another step ahead.
So to all of our clients using Sonos, please download the application and try it out yourself!

Here is the Sonos announcement:

Sonos. It's getting better all the time.

The Sonos experience has gotten better yet again, this time with new software upgrades that bring your customers more choice about how they access their music, and a whole new world of free music.

More music control. Introducing the new—and free—Sonos Controller for iPhone™. Customers who have iPhones or an iPod® touch are likely prospects for a Sonos purchase—now that the Sonos Controller for iPhone app turns an iPhone or iPod touch into a full-fledged Sonos Controller.

The iPhone connects to their existing wireless network, not to the Sonos mesh network. But it still has all the basic functionality of the Sonos Controller. With this application, they can walk in their front door, take their iPhone or iPod touch out of their pocket and control music in every room of their home with just the touch of a finger.

The app is free and downloadable on the iPhone App Store. Check out this demo for more information. Then spread the word to your customers and prospects.

More free music. There’s Sonos Radio, the free connection to more than 15,000 Internet radio stations. Sonos owners can tune in the world—from Antarctica to Zimbabwe—just by tapping a button on their Controller.

We’ve just added another free online music service—Last.fm. Your customers can create and influence personal radio stations based on their artist and genre preferences, directly from their Controller.

They can also now access Pandora® free of charge—and still free of computers—to hear music based on their personal music preferences.

Sonos owners can take advantage of these upgrades by simply updating their system’s software. It’s a good time for them to add new zones, so they can bring more free music to more rooms of their home—for the holidays and beyond.

Considering these upgrades, there’s also never been a better time for customers still considering a Sonos purchase to take that step.

Sonos ZP90 and ZP120 Released

Sonos ZP90 and ZP120 Released with more Wireless Goodness

A few weeks ago I got a call from the good folks at Sonos asking if I would be interested in reviewing their latest under embargo. No problemo I explained. Subsequently I had the good fortune to receive a ZP90 and ZP120 for testing. I had recently written about the frustration I had during a block party that my ZP100 was too far for reliable control from our front yard, resulting in some strange body movements to get it to pick up. The new ZP120 and ZP90 units use MIMO wireless technology and "SonosNet 2.0" to up to double the reception range and I can affirm that this is a definite help- block partygoers will be pleased. The changes also benefit the controller which sadly, hasn't been updated. Another benefit though is the update to the Sonos software, which now supports music collections with up to 65,000 tracks, and $200 in free music offers.

The ZP120 is a much smaller (and cooler temp) package than the ZP100, and I'll be posting a video review over the weekend comparing the two. Between changes to the power amp and losing the 10/100 Ethernet hub (you get two ports, one in, one passthru). I would have liked to have seen at least one extra Ethernet port since my ZP100 doubles as an ethernet hub in my home entertainment system. The overall size is only 7.3in wide by 8.15in deep, a definite improvement and the sound is so good, I would recommend a Sonos to any music enthusiast who A) Loves to entertain and B)Has $499 to burn on the ZP120, or $999 for the bundle including the diminutive ZP90 and ZP120. More over the weekend.

Sonos ZP90 and ZP120 Released with more Wireless Goodness

A few weeks ago I got a call from the good folks at Sonos asking if I would be interested in reviewing their latest under embargo. No problemo I explained. Subsequently I had the good fortune to receive a ZP90 and ZP120 for testing. I had recently written about the frustration I had during a block party that my ZP100 was too far for reliable control from our front yard, resulting in some strange body movements to get it to pick up. The new ZP120 and ZP90 units use MIMO wireless technology and "SonosNet 2.0" to up to double the reception range and I can affirm that this is a definite help- block partygoers will be pleased. The changes also benefit the controller which sadly, hasn't been updated. Another benefit though is the update to the Sonos software, which now supports music collections with up to 65,000 tracks, and $200 in free music offers.

The ZP120 is a much smaller (and cooler temp) package than the ZP100, and I'll be posting a video review over the weekend comparing the two. Between changes to the power amp and losing the 10/100 Ethernet hub (you get two ports, one in, one passthru). I would have liked to have seen at least one extra Ethernet port since my ZP100 doubles as an ethernet hub in my home entertainment system. The overall size is only 7.3in wide by 8.15in deep, a definite improvement and the sound is so good, I would recommend a Sonos to any music enthusiast who A) Loves to entertain and B)Has $499 to burn on the ZP120, or $999 for the bundle including the diminutive ZP90 and ZP120. More over the weekend.