Designing the Ideal Designing the Ideal Home Theater System

Posted by in Home Theater System on April 8, 2013

Putting together that dream entertainment center, piece-by-piece, is something that requires time, money and taste in effective technology. Through the choice of powerful speakers, high-resolution displays, proper placement and efficient bargain hunting, you can cut the costs and still produce a home theater that leaves the neighbours coming back for more.

Consider the room you have to work with, the budget you are limited by, shopping areas available, and how much you really want to “Wow” your house guests while reading the paragraphs below.

Your speakers are a fundamental piece of the puzzle. It is often believed that the bigger, larger and louder you can push your coils, the better your home theater will present itself.

In reality, more important factors, such as proper enclosures, amplification and placement of your speakers will determine the overall sound-quality of your system. Given any number of possible living arrangements, you should usually opt to place small tweeters in the high-corners, mid-ranges near the sitting area and your woofers near the television and back of the audience.

The resolution displayed on your monitor goes a long way in determining the picture quality and acceptance of the media presented. Large screens without efficient resolutions will look worse the closer you position your seating arrangements and are often less desirable than a smaller television with a sharper image.

The speakers on your TV may be omitted thanks to your revolutionary sound layout, but never forget to keep a clear path to the infrared port and an extra controller between the cushions.

Wireless technology reaches further than the laptops and mobile phones of our youth. Thanks to revolutions in the industry, we have been able to step away from the singular IR port on the front of our devices and create an elaborate network of microwaves, each bouncing from one controller to the other and perfecting the user’s experience.

Find the best pre-amps, DVD/Blu-Ray players and universal remotes that work with bluetooth or WiFi capabilities.

A master controller beyond the controller is the cherry atop the pudding. Using a laptop is generally accepted in this case, allowing it to be the center of your media and music for all the arriving guests.

Simply select a few songs, load your favourite play lists and jam away without ever ejecting a single disk. When you do take the time to watch a DVD, laptops also make a great center for saving the video as it is being displayed or acting as the actual DVD player itself. Read the rest of this entry »

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Playing Video Games Could Actually Be Good for You

Posted by in Video Players on April 7, 2013

When people think about the health effects of playing computer games, it’s generally with negative connotations: my kids are going to go blind, get fat, steal cars and want to kill everyone in sight. Well, fortunately for everyone, a new raft of scientific studies have begun to show that these popular ideas about playing video games are not only wrong, but that in many ways playing computer games can genuinely have health benefits.

There are some obvious examples of these, such as the Nintendo Wii and more recently Xbox Kinect systems, which rely on players physically moving the body, waving their arms around jumping about and generally having active fun to play games. Indeed, many of the games designed for these platforms are based around the idea of sports or dancing games to improve fitness. Although these have gone some way toward changing the style of gameplay, they still involve staring at a screen for long periods of time; isn’t this going to damage our eyes?

According to recent studies from America, quite possibly not; indeed, it may actually help improve our eyesight! For children and adults with a ‘lazy eye’, it was found that playing computer games, especially action games, effectively trained it to work harder and, over time, see better. The workout the eyes get from concentrating when playing video games was also shown to improve their general ability to discern fine details, especially in darker light, a health-improving result important for adults and kids alike.

Computer games could also be of great value for tackling a completely different kind of health problem, one which is starting to affect more and more teenagers and young adults: depression. Research from New Zealand built various techniques from cognitive behavioural therapy into a 3D fantasy role-playing game to try and deal with the players’ symptoms and also promote their social interaction skills. After an extensive trial, it was found that, in many cases, playing the game improved the patients’ symptoms and moods by as much as a conventional therapy, like one-to-one counselling, would have done. Quite a healthy achievement for a computer game!

On a similar note, a study performed at Oxford University showed that playing even simple computer games like Tetris could reduce the amount of post traumatic stress disorder-related flashbacks and other unpleasant memories. Linked in with this, the general social and relaxing effects that computer games can have, especially online games and casual browser games where gameplay is designed to be a relaxing break from everyday stresses and also an opportunity to chat and keep up with friends online, has also been shown to help prevent the onset of mental illnesses, like depression, especially those related to a build up of stress or anxiety. Read the rest of this entry »

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Latest Trends in Smart TV – Could Apple Win?

Posted by in TV on April 6, 2013

Smart TVs are television sets that can retrieve content from the Internet and offer built-in applications for streaming music and movies, apps for social networking, apps for news, weather, sports, games, YouTube and more. In addition to using apps, one of the most appealing factors for tech-savvy consumers is voice activation technology to control TV sets.

According to DisplaySearch, a leading provider of reliable information about the display-related industries, connected TVs are forecast to grow to over 123 million shipments in 2014 (at a 30% compound annual growth rate). The market is now developing beyond mature regions like Western Europe and Japan. Emerging markets play a major role in this growth. With the improvements in the broadband infrastructure, the adoption of connected TVs is a natural next step in TV feature innovation. Eastern Europe is expected to grow from 2.5 million connected TVs shipped in 2010 to over 10 million in 2014. In addition to that, 33% of flat panel TVs sold in China in 2013 will have the Internet capability.

DisplaySearch also forecasts that the connected TV market will become fragmented and increase in complexity. One group of TV sets is supposed to feature basic video on demand and appeal to consumers who expect television to remain a passive experience. Those who want something more substantial will find interesting other TV sets offering configurable apps, sophisticated search and navigation engines, as well as advanced user interfaces.

The main contemporary connected TV platforms include Samsung Smart TV, LG Smart TV, Mitsubishi Stream TV, Panasonic Viera Connect, Sony Bravia, Toshiba NetTV, Apple TV, Google TV, TiVo, Liberty Global’s Horizon and Yahoo! Connected TV. Samsung, with around 20 million apps downloaded by the end of January 2012, is the segment leader, followed by Panasonic and LG.

However, the biggest shake-up in the television industry is going to cause Apple’s much-talked-of TV set. It promises to revolutionize television like once the iPad hit the market. Steve Jobs was quoted in his official biography saying that he “finally cracked the case” of an integrated TV. The new iTV (alleged name) is expected to be completely easy to use, seamlessly synced with other Apple’s devices and with the iCloud. At the moment Apple with its $99 set-top box Apple TV seems to be doing very well, with 2.8 million units sold in 2011.

We are constantly hearing rumors related to the expected Apple’s product, its features, price, and release date. CLSA Group views Apple TV hardware as a 2013 event. According to the estimations of ITG Industry Investment Research, the new iTV set could increase the company’s market cap by 10%, or $60 billion. Apple, already the world’s most valuable company, has recently hit the $600 billion level.

Analyst Peter Misek from Jefferies, a global securities and investment banking group, doesn’t expect the device to be called iTV. He suggests the new television could be called “iPanel” which can reflect its potential as a hub for gaming, media and more. The iPanel name also follows the “iP” format of other Aplle’s products, like the iPod, iPhone and the iPad. However, it is just a guess from the analyst. Misek expects that an Apple television will have a $1,250 average selling price.

The success of Apple’s products, like the iPod, the iPhone, and iPad, are much about the design. The iTV (let’s take this name) is supposed to have superior quality and excellent design. The list of possible features includes the following ones:

  • An aluminum construction;
  • FaceTime video calling;
  • Siri-based remote voice control;
  • 42-inch HD screen;
  • iOS operating system;
  • iCloud support;
  • Control from the iPhone or the iPad;
  • Access to Netflix, YouTube, Flickr, etc. (same as on the existing Apple TV);
  • Content sharing and media streaming from Apple’s devices.

Obviously, we’ll soon witness the appearance of a new smart TV from Apple that is going to bring new changes to the TV market. And, yes, Apple may win! Read the rest of this entry »

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@2012 Electronic Gadgets