How to connect your computer to your HDTV or Standard Def Television

We have done a little update to our Computer to TV/HDTV connections page. Added VGA to Component Video and DVI and HDMI computer to HDTV connection info.
We'll be updating the audio portion soon.

Netflix Roku Box/Player Review

Netflix Roku Box/Player Review

The Wonderful Idea:
Users of Netflix have had the option for a while to "watch it now" using their computer. While a lot of people complain about the service due to difficulty in setup, it is really not that hard to do. A few downloads for Microsoft Media player to get up to date and ad (of course) a DRM security update and it works - with Internet Explorer, at least.
But who wants to watch movies on a computer LCD? Sure they are great for computer displays, but they stink as HDTV's or TV's. They were not made for the job! Computer monitors are all about resolution, TV's are all about contrast ratio - two of many differences in overall design.
So how about a box, that you connect to your network, wireless or wired, connect to your TV/HDTV and/or Home Theater with any of the usual audio and video connections.?

Well here it is! The box basically allows you to watch any movie or TV show that is set up by Netflix for their "Watch it Now" Service. Connect the Audio and video as you would your cable box or DVD player, connect an Ethernet cable or Set it up for your Wireless network, enter a code into Netflixes website and away you go! I must say, the Interface itself is very "Apple like" in it's simplicity and ease of use.

A/V Connections:
* HDMI for Audio/Video
* Component Video
* Composite Video
* Optical Digital Audio
* Stereo Audio

Network Connections:
Wireless 802.11g (no n)
Ethernet
________________________________

REVIEW:
The setup time was very fast, and the entire process was easy, unless you have to enter your wireless encryption code, which is a bit time consuming. The connectivity options are perfect for most TV,s/HDTV's and Surround Sound Systems. A Coax output would help, but you can't put everything on a box of this size at this price.

Picture Quality:
The picture quality was watchable using Ethernet or Wireless 802.11g within the same room as the wireless router. During the Netflix/Roku network quality test, the Ethernet only got three stars, while the wireless connection got 4 stars. Weird. My Internet connection hits around 3Mbps maximum on download, so I don't have the ultimate connection. In any case, the picture quality was pretty good for the data speed. It was, of course, not as good as the better DVD's and nothing like HD material, but was at least as good as many Cable TV channels, and it was really wide screen when the program material supported it.
Audio:
Optical and HDMI seem to support 5.1 surround sound fine, and sound ok. Without more time, there's nothing to add to that.

Overall:
It's a great box. It is a wonderful addition to anyone's Netflix account.

More time with the unit:
Quality seems to go up and down. Motion artifacts can be a bit annoying since data rates are rather low and original quality sometimes is lacking. Mind you everything is pretty watchable, as long as you have good Internet bandwidth. Not as much content as I'd like - but for a free* add-on to a Netflix account who's complaining?
Rediscovering old overlooked program material is actually pretty fun. Really a lot of good stuff to enjoy. Movies seem to work fine and widescreen movies are presented in widescreen, but there are few configuration settings such as stretch 4:3 to 16:9 which would be nice for plasma owners.


***This review was edited from original, which had a reference to a problem which didn't exist.

HD Recording and Playback the Gefen Way!

HD Recording and Playback the Gefen Way!
Gefens new High Definition PVR (Personal Video Recorder) the GTV-HD-PVR is a great way to record your favorite HD content for later playback. It has a great selection of Inputs - Composite Video, S-Video, Component Video and two HDMI Inputs. Connect your non-HDCP encrypted HDMI sources and HD Component Video source and record them at resolutions from 480i up to 1080i. It also has an SD Disk slot for offloading your movies to computer. A great way to archive your HD Camcorder movies or Time Shift your favorite TV Shows and movies. While not inexpensive, it is a very versitile little box that with a built-in 80GB Hard Drive.

For Professional use - this makes a great device for Digital Signage Applications!
The Link:
Gefen GTV-HD-PVR, High Definition PVR

Digital and Analog Audio Conversion, Common Problems

Digital and Analog Audio Converters:
Why, when and where do you need them?
We get people looking for solutions to Audio problems with need for Analog to Digital, Digital to Analog and Coax to/from Toslink Optical Audio all the time. Here are some common problems.

Digital to Analog (DAC):

• PS3 Digital Output to your Standard Stereo or TV input.
• Connecting Audio Device with Digital Output to Standard Stereo Connection.
• You have a HDTV with an ATSC tuner or Cablecard Tuner, the HDTV has Digital Audio out, but no Analog Audio out, and you don't have a Digital Input on your Stereo or Home Theater.
• You have run out of Digital Inputs on your Receiver and need to connect something that only has a Digital Audio Output.
• Your Receiver has a Zone 2 (or Zone 3) that you use for another room, but the Zone 2 will not pass a Digital signal to the second Zone, only Stereo analog audio.

Analog to Digital (ADC):

• You have run out of Analog Inputs on your Receiver, but still have a spare Digital input that you want to connect a stereo device to.
• You have a single coax cable in your wall and want to transmit stereo audio to another location.
• You have a Digital Recorder with no Stereo inputs, and need to connect stereo audio.
• You need to run Analog audio a long distance without loss.

Toslink Optical to Digital Coax/Digital Coax to Toslink Optical

• Your Receiver does not have enough Coax Digital Inputs for your Devices.
• Your Receiver does not have enough Toslink Optical Inputs for your Devices.

Products:
Digital and Analog Audio Converters

DEEP COLOR MADNESS

Repeat after me - There are no useful video sources that support Deep Color.
There are no useful video sources that support Deep Color.
There are no useful video sources that support Deep Color.
There are no useful video sources that support Deep Color.
There are no useful video sources that support Deep Color.

Got it? Anyone who implies that deep color is useful or will improve your Color uniformity issues or vertical banding effects is quite simply - a dummyhead.

Home is where the Plasma and Projector is

It is nice to get home from some hotel with a crappy TV and get back to all of your recorded shows and rentals and DVD's, etc and go and watch them on your HD Plasma, LCD or projector. Ahhh, home again.
How many people out there feel the need to eyeball calibrate your hotel TV? I know I do. They always look terrible with over saturated colors, too much sharpening and poor selection of video mode that is way off (vivid).
Those 19 inch TV's or whopping bigger ones like the 32 inch ones they have in some hotels are no better setup than the one at your local pizza parlor.
It just goes to show that most people have no idea that TV's are not at their best with default settings. The ISF has been trying to educate the public for years, but with limited results.
Why?
It's all about perceptions of manufacturer intent and delivery.
TV's are set up out of the box to be ultra bright and ultra razor sharp, and in no way accurate. Many of them cannot be made extremely accurate even with ISF service menu calibration. In many cases service menu calibration is not even useful.
Why? Well, that question is one to annoy the manufacturers with. First off, they should make it possible to do grayscale calibration and other crucial settings without having to go into the service menu. That way, they don't have to worry about problems with returns because of failed calibrations. It would also result in their HDTV's looking as good as possible for the largest number of consumers. Oh yeah, that would be terrible!
The trouble is that a lack of consumer education has left the whole calibration issue in some kind of alternate universe where everything is not perfect out of the box. If manufacturers would just admit to this truth, consumers and dealers and calibrators would all be able to work from the same page - truth.

OK, enough ranting. Tbush should have a new article on recording Microphones with computers real soon, for your enjoyment.

Seattle Weather sucks like a bad ATSC USB Tuner

I'm in Seattle this week for a conference and boy does Seattle weather suck. I don't know how Seattle people deal. These are some stout minded people here, when the weather is even marginally ok, they treat it like it's a beautiful sunny freaking day. Hey, it's a great city. Lots to do and see, great people, and all of that, but really, this is June weather? Having a conference in someplace like Alcatraz might be more uplifting. It's no wonder all those great grunge bands and Jimi Hendrix came from here. Weather like this must make you want to explode when you get a chance. I hope that if we ever learn to control the weather to some extent we try it out here first. Imagine this place with, like, sunshine? Whoah! Frickin San Diego would be jealous.
What else sucks? Trying to use a non hardware encoding ATSC HDTV card to try to watch HDTV on your laptop if it's a bit old or lacking in the video card department. I got a "big name" brand USB ATSC tuner at the local BB with my "rebate" (and a few more bucks) for getting my HD DVD player there. What a waste. I thought I'd be able to watch some shows in HD on my laptop here in the middle of town if the weather sucked. Well, to make a long story short, I could tune a bunch of local channels with decent signal strength but without hardware encoding I could not watch anything. Sure, my laptops a bit old, but not that old, it's still fine for watching DVD's, and I thought I might get it to work ok at lowered resolutions. Bah! No such luck. Couldn't watch HD or standard Def even with good signal strength. I should have got a hardware encoding tuner that offloads cpu intensive processing to the adapter - not the cpu, and I should have already known that.
We do sell them, but as often happens, I wasted money to try to save a few bucks. I should have sunk that BB gift card into some new Blu Ray disks like I did with the rebate for the other frigging HD DVD player I bought.
Shoulda got: AutumnWave OnAir USB HDTV GT

Ethernet Wired to Wireless Adapter

Here's a network connectivity question we get a lot.
"How do I convert my regular Ethernet connected device into a wireless Ethernet device?"
Many people have Ethernet equipped Game Consoles, Blu Ray Players, or components that are not computers and have no way to add on a PCI slot card, PC Card or express card in order to add a wireless network adapter. All those newfangled USB connections on Game consoles, Media Extenders and the like cannot accept a USB to Ethernet adapter since they have no way to load a driver on them. You have to go with something proprietary if one is even available.

Well, here's one solution. An Ethernet to Wireless bridge, that is easy to set up and use. It's also small and easy to find a place for. It's called the AeroPad Mini.

Here's the manufacturers blurb:
"AeroPad Mini is extraordinary in that it does not require drivers to function and is compatible with Mac OS 9.x, 10.x, Windows 98/ME/2000/XP, Linux, as well as XBox, PS2, or Tivo. AeroPad offers genuine cross-platform compatibility.
The AeroPad Mini lets you breathe new life in your older Mac models such as iBooks, G3's, iMacs, and any computer that do not have a 802.11g wireless solution available to them (e.g. no AirPort Card slot, no AirPort Extreme slot, no PCMCIA card slot, or no PCI slot. Now these computers can be placed anywhere without the hassle of running long cables.
AeroPad Mini spares the tedium of setting up cables or opening up the computer to insert a networking card.
The AeroPad Mini has also been redesigned to be small and portable, and perfect for users on the go. AeroPad Mini is USB powered so you will never have to worry about being near an outlet, this is truly wireless computing at its best. Small size doesn't mean AeroPad Mini comes in a compromise. Zipping at 802.11g 54Mbps speeds, it is small yet cutting-edge."

and a link to the Aeropad mini

So what's your connectivity problem? Ask us and we'll give you an answer on Connectivity Today from RamElectronics.Net

A couple of Articles HTPC and Guitar to PC

Here's a great little blog post about trying to Re make an HTPC. A very enjoyable read for those who have tried.
Again the link: Trees in the Forest: The Darjeeling Limited

Hey, we at RAM have a new article as well:
How to Connect a Guitar to your computer to record and play along with music, using the M-Audio Jamlab -> Go to the article

ZOMBIE PLASMA DEATH SQUAD!

ZOMBIE PLASMA DEATH SQUAD!
Since Plasma is Dead:
Audioholics - Plasma TV is Dead
That means we have some real live zombies out there! Hopefully scientists have some of those ghostbusters meters available to probe these strange netherworld objects with. Hard to believe that our first provable contact with the postmortem crowd would happen to be with video displays! Here's hoping they are not evil or capable of violent, bloodthirsty outbursts, unless they are just entertaining us with this type of video material.
The Zombies cometh!
cnet.com
engadget.com

Quick note about a great article about online Video download services

HDTV Magazine has a must read article for all of us who complain about our Cable/Satellite Services entitled "A Comparison of Movie Download Services".
Really, don't miss this article, it's a quick review of the current and future Video Content download services. Very well done!

Appologies a Rant and a Sale

Apologies
Hello again to all of our old and new customers who were kind enough to subscribe to our email newsletter. We would like to make apologies, especially to our older subscribers as to the state of our current "upgraded" site. Our old site,while enjoyed by many people was very "old school". It was painstakingly "hand made" and had as much helpful content as we could manage to add. But it's 2008! So we had to move to a modern way of doing things. It's been hard to do. And we are way far from finished.
One painful decision was between copying our old content onto the new site or creating lots of entirely new, fresh content. We kept and updated some of our more in-depth content but decided on completely rewriting most of the rest of the site. While it may seem crazy to want to rewrite content for hundreds of pages, we are actually enjoying it. It's what we like to do - explain the basics of various forms of interconnectivity and help people understand and successfully use them.

Here are a few examples of our new content:
Video Converters
Networking
USB Cables


Of course we still offer updated versions of some of our best old sites content on our support page and all of our blog, Connectivity Today is still available.


A Rant
The upgrade to HD quality DVD player scam
DVD players that claim to convert your DVD to HD quality (1080i,1080p,720p) for your HD display are a scam. The marketing here is complete nonsense.
Your TV is going to convert the signal it is given to its own natural, resolution and refresh rate. If it is a 720p LCD it will convert whatever it is given to that. If it is a 1080p display, it will convert everything it is given to that. Feeding your HDTV 1080p from a DVD player may or may not be better than feeding it 480i, depending on the video processing of the HDTV and DVD player. Over and over, people don't get this. It is not just the player! People buying Pioneer Plasmas over the those off-brand LCD's are not just rich and obsessed with black level. Video processing is actually worth money. There are a lot of smart people paying a lot of money for stand-alone video processors. Why? Because they highly value the picture quality they are rewarded with. Putting a bit more into your TV purchase, or DVD/Blu Ray purchase can make a big difference in the resulting picture quality you watch, day in and day out for years to come. If you are obsessed with getting that 1080p signal from some oh so inexpensive upscaling DVD player to your HDTV, you really need to rethink how your system works. In a lot of cases your final picture quality will be better with an old, 480i or 480p DVD player of high quality (and they are selling for cheap). Of course you could just get an Oppo or on sale HD-DVD player to do very nice upscaling. It's never going to look like a true HD source with a good looking movie, though.

A Sale
We have a 15% off sale on Liberty THX Certified Optical Digital Audio Toslink cables
This week only?!

What the heck are HDMI Amplified/Equalized Cables

HDMI "Amplified/Equalized" Cables
Here's one question that initially was a head scratcher. What's an HDMI "Amplified" cable? It is not "snake oil" unless the amplifier or equalizer is using "electro-static-intermagnetic-resonance amplification" or anything having to do with pyramids.
Well first off, there are really two types of "amplified" cables; Repeaters and equalized cables. A repeater recieves the cables signals, (which are actually split up for proper transmission over HDMI cable) re-combines them, and if its function is simply as a repeater, it splits them up again for transmission over HDMI cables again. It does help clean up signals and allows for longer combined cable runs, but that's not really its purpose. An equalizer cable is similar to the equalizers used in Pro Analog gear to correct for high frequency loss over long cable runs. It takes the signal and digitally equalizes the signal to correct for high frequency losses over long HDMI cable runs. The equalization is matched to the cable, so for best results, cables with built-in proprietary equalization will be more capable than adding a seperate booster/equalizer, or a receiving Switcher with built-in equaliztion. The difference between "designed for the cable" (built-in) and external (seperate booster/equalizers or integrated into switchers) varies widely, it can be marginal, or enough to make a large difference in bit errors, depending on the cables and associated equipment.

Note1: An Equalizer should be used at the end of the cable run, or close to it.
Note: There are those that claim that since digital cables just send 1's and 0's that means that if the cable "works" it is perfect. This is a bit off-base. The closer you get to the "digital cliff" where the signal goes out completely, the more bit errors are likely to occur in a complex "system" like the transmitter-cable-receiver system. This results in video artifacts like "sparkles" where various pixels in the display are of random color values. If bit errors are infrequent enough, they may not be noticed, but large amounts will render the video outcome unwatchable.

So do you need one of these things? It depends. How long is your cable run? If it is long, such as for a projector, or in-wall cabling an above fireplace plasma from across the room, it is likely. If it is not so long, such as for a normal receiver or Cable/Satellite/DVD/Blu Ray player to HDTV connection then you don't.
Bad - image with lots of "sparkles"

Good - No "sparkles"


These images are just resized photographs (ok, not very good photos) of actual bit error artifacts caused by long cable runs. The second image is with the addition of a simple external booster/equalizer with the same cables, and an additional cable for the EQ device to the display.

Stupid weeny nerd complaints about speaker manufacturer choices

A Ground Breaking Investigative series! *

Dispersion of speaker drivers and crossover frequencies in speakers is bothering me a lot lately. It really bugs me that in expensive speakers 6 inch drivers and a growing number of larger drivers are very often crossed over in the 2.5KHz range. It's a general rule that a drivers dispersion pattern narrows to about 90 degrees at the frequency where the diameter is equal to one wavelength. For 2.5KHz , that means 5.4 inches. Sure, if you sit in an anechoic chamber, with the speakers facing you, who cares? In a normal room, dispersion patterns play a large role in how you hear those esoterically named things like "soundstage" or "space" around instruments. With uneven responses to dispersion over the drivers spectrum the instruments will seem to "displace" within the space depending on the instruments frequency output. With regard to center cones, waveguides and alternative materials with different breakup modes - while they may help, a quick look at the in depth measurements from Stereophile among other sources will show you that with oversize drivers there is, in the end, a bad dispersion range. Same trouble for all of those 1" dome tweeters, no matter how fancy the waveguide or materials, etc, once past 10KHz things are going to get lossy on the sides real quick. If you're living in a anechoic chamber, who cares? I'm not living in one. Having some frequencies dispersed at 120 degrees or more and others at radically different dispersion angles equals overall room disparities. So, don't just blame your room for "room" problems, your speaker is often just as much to blame.
So why the big move towards two way speakers with even larger mid/woofers, real big midranges, and no super tweeters?? Dynamics is the quick answer. Louder. Cheaper is the second answer, two drivers, instead of three or four. Cheaper. Don't get me wrong, there are many great speakers out there with just such disparities that sound fantastic. They need just the right room.

*Well, just a silly rant actually.

OLD HDTV to HDMI?

We get questions all the time about connecting older HDTV's with no DVI HDMI inputs to up-converting DVD, Blu Ray player or Cable/Satellite Boxes. It's a bit of a tricky question as we mentioned when first posting about the HD Fury device back in June, 2007. You basically need two devices. The first device (HD Fury) , and this is the "key" device since the other one has a lot of options out there, but this one is very rare if not currently unique. It is also not sold in the U.S. and is seemingly not legal to do so. It converts HDMI video signals at standard HD resolutions up to 1080p into RGB analog video signal of the same resolution as the input. The tricky bit is it seems to remove any problems usually caused by HDCP with similar converters . Is that legal? Well maybe not, but if you bought an early HDTV, before the motion picture industry decided they should screw all early adopters, then it is the only way you can get the highest possible resolution video from many video sources.
The second tricky bit is that for many of these HDTV's you still have to convert from RGB to Y-Pr-Pb (Component Video). For that you'll need a RGB to Component video transcoder like the Audioauthority 9A60.

The bad part of all this is not so much the whole ordering equipment of questionable legality from overseas as it is the overall cost for both items is over $250 before shipping. This makes it a very tough decision indeed for older HDTV owners. Then again, for owners of expensive CRT Front projectors it is a very worthwhile device.