AV Rant #202: UI equals UX
October 15th, 2010
Everyone welcome Leif back. This time Tom lets him talk. How has the recession affected the AV industry – Tom comments. Tom’s almost all talked out of 3D – almost. THX has some really, really great suggestions. Bill has a problem (check this pic if you want to see for yourself). Sony brings Google TV with a remote that Leif likes. If your new TV has Google or 3D, can you assume it has all the other technology as well? Thanks for listening and don’t forget to vote for us at Podcast Alley! To see our (mostly) complete collection of show videos, click here. To get our iPhone app, visit the iTunes store.
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Checked out a new Samsung 3D flat-panel at a friend’s house and… Yawn.
This is such a contrived, forced technology. What enthusiasm is coming from the consumers I know seems to be just as forced.
In my head, I keep imagining my next look at 3D will appear awesome. Then, every time, I’m disappointed :p
It just. doesn’t. work.
I just don’t think the human brain likes being messed with 😉
For Bill:
I have to say that I think your best solution is, indeed, a flat panel above the fire place. I’m not a huge fan of the above-the-fireplace placement. But it really is the only spot that makes sense in that particular room.
I like Tom’s retractable screen with a front projector idea, but I just don’t think it would ever be optimal during the day in that particular room. Your distance from eyes to screen also isn’t that huge. A good 55″ full-array, local-dimming LED backlit LCD – such as a Vizio XVT model – would be my recommendation 😉
As for actually installing the TV above the fireplace: if you are handy and know what you are doing when it comes to punching a couple of holes in the wall, running cables/wires, drilling the LCD mount into a stud and patching up the drywall, then it isn’t a big deal. But if you aren’t really sure of yourself, I’d highly recommend that you hire a contractor to do it. You have to be careful with an above-the-fireplace mount. A lot depends on what type of fireplace you have (gas, electric, wood-burning, etc.). You have to be very sure that you won’t have any troubles with fire-ratings, insulation, running the wires, etc.
🙂
I agree that mounting a TV above the fireplace is a good way to go. Make sure to purchase a tilting wall mount, I think Audioholics review a great Sanus mount recently. You should be able to run wires behind your fireplace without patching any holes, it just depends how much work you want to put into the installation or tools you have. If the wall is sheetrock, you should be able to cu out two double gang boxes and run the wires behind the fireplace. Just make sure to use CL2 or CL3 rates low voltage wiring and keep it from touching the flue. As far as electrical is concerned, a solution from Power Bridge might work out.