Technical Issues and Questions

[fdm]

For me audio is (at least) half the experience, so like the video I do what I can to get the most out of it.

[Zot!]

I would say that anyone who doesn't have a center channel and has neighbors or a baby is at least going to be frustrated that they can't turn up the dialogue and turn down the 'splosions.

[manicsounds]

So far, Blu-ray's biggest achievement has been its ability to include uncompressed mono soundtracks.

DVDs had the ability to include lossless stereo and mono soundtracks in LPCM.
Even Criterion's DVD of "Do the Right Thing" has a lossless stereo soundtrack, so this is not new for Blu-rays.

Blu-ray offers lossless sound in more than 2 channels, which is something DVD couldn't do.

[kuzine]

I keep trying to get VLC to works for Blu-Rays in Linux, no luck so far...

I'll have to try it again under Windows 7 (64 bit).

The second answer here (one with MAKEMKV) works like a charm for me in Ubuntu.


I have an issue myself:
I'm away from home quite a bit for work so use my laptop during those periods to play disks. I've been using a new laptop recently without an optical drive, so I bought an external blu drive. I connect my setup to an external screen/tv if there's one around through a usb->hdmi connector (no built-in hdmi port). The problem is there's no current linux driver for that adaptor (linux is my default OS). Watching blu's on my laptop screen in linux using vlc with the method above works fine. So I tried win8 using powerdvd (came bundled with the player) but there I get an error that I cannot use powerdvd to display blu's on an external display...something with standards (I'm no expert). From the error message it seems like "clone" mode for the second display should still be ok, but that doesn't seem to work here (played around with all the settings). There's some solutions floating around on the web to play blu-rays through vlc in win8 but none seem to work for me. I've heard about anydvd-hd but not used it, is that the solution I need here?

[richard_t]

Round about the time Blu Ray became the default format I decided after years of wrestling with the Denon AV surround system and platforms (DTS, Audyssey etc) I hated the whole thing and wanted to go back to two channel for everything. So I did and now run a scaled down Denon Analogue Audio only amp (PM 720E) with everything Direct two channel RCA PCM from the Oppo.

Totally over surround audio. Including theatrical.

Couldn't agree more with this. A couple of years ago I ran out of space for new shelving to accommodate my disk collection in the room I use for watching films and so removed my surround speakers in order to create space. I removed my centre channel speaker and subwoofer at same time.

I can honestly say that once I got used to the 'different' sound I've not missed them at all. In fact I'd go as far as to say it's increased my enjoyment of films now that I'm no longer concerned with the technical aspect of the sound. I don't regret it in the slightest. I found it very liberating.

[Zot!]

Any thoughts on OLED or curved screens?

[jedgeco]

I can't believe this would be true.

Why not?

Have a read about scaling algorithms to see what's required to "add extra pixels".

Anybody know of a good summary of the issues here or the current state of the 4K scaling tech? All I see in mainstream publication is "4K is so sharp!" without much substance.

I haven't paid much attention to display technology over the last few years, but am probably going to be replacing my dinosaur CRT RPTV in the next year and want to start getting up to speed.

[Drucker]

So the time has finally come for me to upgrade my television, and I was planning on doing so in a few weeks at Value Electronics, per David M.'s recommendation. However, I saw a comment on Twitter that OLEDs are almost ready to hit market, which confused me since I thought they were already for sale.

Is there any reason now isn't a particularly good time to upgrade televisions? I plan on putting myself in the hands of the experts at VE, but would appreciate anybody else who has 2 cents.

[movielocke]

So the time has finally come for me to upgrade my television, and I was planning on doing so in a few weeks at Value Electronics, per David M.'s recommendation. However, I saw a comment on Twitter that OLEDs are almost ready to hit market, which confused me since I thought they were already for sale.

Is there any reason now isn't a particularly good time to upgrade televisions? I plan on putting myself in the hands of the experts at VE, but would appreciate anybody else who has 2 cents.

If you're going to get a set that is 4k capable, you probably want to wait for ones that support rec2020 color space. All the current 4k tvs are only rec709, so no improvement over normal hd.

[Drucker]

No intention or desire at this time to go 4k. I currently have a Samsung 46" LED. Hoping to get a 70" TV, Plasma if available, but happy to look at other things, too.

[jindianajonz]

I haven't been following the TV market to closely in the last few months, but the last I heard was that projection is the best way to go for quality now that plasmas have stopped being produced. I'm not sure how cheap OLEDs have gotten recently, but last time I checked they were still in the $4000+ range, while you could get a good projector for less than half of that.

[Drucker]

I really don't intend to go down the projector route, as my house isn't set up in such a way it would really make sense. I've also read that the bulb needs to be changed with pretty good regularity, no?

[Michael Kerpan]

No intention or desire at this time to go 4k. I currently have a Samsung 46" LED. Hoping to get a 70" TV, Plasma if available, but happy to look at other things, too.

It appears that no one is still making plasma TVs. I wonder if the last available top-level models that WERE made are now going for premium prices?

[Drucker]

Well if I have to wait to get an affordable OLED, that won't be the end of the world. I'm aware Plasmas aren't being made anymore, but figured there was a shot there could be a used one lying around. We shall see, and I am happy to let my eyes do the judging!

[ermylaw]

I really don't intend to go down the projector route, as my house isn't set up in such a way it would really make sense. I've also read that the bulb needs to be changed with pretty good regularity, no?

I have a Panasonic 54" plasma that has the THX setting, and I also have a projector with a roughly 110" screen.

I would recommend putting a lot of thought into whether your house can be arranged in such a way as to make the projector work. It would not be hyprebolic to say that the projector has changed my family's life by changing our viewing habits tremendously. There is really nothing that can compare to having your favorite movies on an actual movie screen in the comfort of your own home. And, if you have family with different taste in film, it is much easier to watch something that isn't so great when you watch it in such a remarkable fashion. There is also the issue of price since it is much more economical to get into projection than it is to get a great television. I wouldn't worry too much about bulb life since they are rated to last for approximately 3,500 to 4,000 hours and seem to cost less than $150 these days. If you're using it for dedicated movie watching, it's a pretty safe bet you'll get a lot of life out of the bulb.

Anyway, if you're really not able to go with a projector setup, then plasma is certainly the way to go, if you're able to snag one of the models that was manufactured rather recently. My Panasonic delivers a stunning picture. Once you go plasma, it is very difficult to watch stuff on an LCD or other sort of screen.

[Drucker]

I shouldn't say it's out of the question. But the living room is primarily where I watch movies and television. For it to work, I'd need a TV as well for when I just want to watch sports, or other regular television. Considering where the couch is, the screen probably couldn't be bigger than 70" (again, split level house, definitely nowhere in the house I could sit, say, 13'-15' away). Also, how much does it cost to replace bulbs? My understanding was it can be rather expensive.

[swo17]

There are a lot of cheap knockoffs available but you want to get replacement bulbs made by the original manufacturer. Mine cost $300 a pop and I'm supposed to replace them every 2000 hours.

[ermylaw]

I shouldn't say it's out of the question. But the living room is primarily where I watch movies and television. For it to work, I'd need a TV as well for when I just want to watch sports, or other regular television. Considering where the couch is, the screen probably couldn't be bigger than 70" (again, split level house, definitely nowhere in the house I could sit, say, 13'-15' away). Also, how much does it cost to replace bulbs? My understanding was it can be rather expensive.

The replacement bulb for the most popular home projector--the Ben-Q W1070--is $89 on Amazon. The lamp life for that projector is 3,500 hours in normal mode or 6,000 in eco mode.

You're definitely right to consider how you're going to use the display, though. I don't use my projector set-up for regular television watching. So, I'm pretty comfortable with 3,500 hours, which is about 1,750 movies if the average runtime is two hours.

[Drucker]

Perhaps a dumb question: is 70" too small to justify a projector screen?

And is that Ben-Q model really under $1000, as it appears it would be on Amazon?

[David M.]

I really don't intend to go down the projector route, as my house isn't set up in such a way it would really make sense. I've also read that the bulb needs to be changed with pretty good regularity, no?

No. Many people own projectors and never change the lamp.

[swo17]

But the picture eventually gets noticeably dim that way? Also, isn't it supposed to be dangerous to let lamps get too far past their half-lives, or is that just what the company that keeps taking my $300 wants me to think?

[DarkImbecile]

Drucker, take a look at some of the projectors reviewed here: http://www.soundandvision.com/category/ ... or-reviews" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

There are two perfectly fine projectors - one of which supports 3D - among the first four listed for $1,199-1,600 (a BenQ and an Epson). If you're only looking to project somewhere in the 70-85"-inch range, and you're not too neurotically obsessed with perfecting your dynamic range and such, these would probably work just fine at a lower price point than a similar quality TV, even including lamps (and, if you ever moved somewhere that could accommodate a larger screen, models in this range would get you started up to about 100", I would guess).

[ermylaw]

For what's it's worth, I sit (or, more often, lie down) about 14 feet from my 110" screen, and it's pretty comfortable viewing. I suspect you might be able to eek out a slightly larger screen size than you expect.

I intend to "upgrade" to that sub-$700 Ben-Q just after Christmas.

[jedgeco]

How much light control do you need for the current generation of digital projectors?

I've thought about trying to go the projector route a number of times, but my viewing area has a lot of ambient light during the day (from French doors and from other areas of the house). Most of my serious viewing is at night, though, so if I could get a tolerable image during the day, it might be worth it.

[ermylaw]

I don't have much experience with a lot of light since I'm in a basement and have blackout tarps over the sliding door. I can say that even under those conditions, I find it distracting to try to watch stuff during the day without moving my blackout stuff around to block out every conceivable streak of light.

I don't think that my current projector is optimized for daylight, and I think that some are. You can find reasonably priced projectors that have a high lumen count. They'd probably do the job for you.