Product Review: Universal Remote Touchscreen MX-3000

The MX-3000 from Universal Remote, is one of the flagship products in the home theater master line.  The MX-3000 is a universal color touch screen remote control.  The screen size is 3.8 inches and has the ability to operate by infra-red, radio frequency, or both.

For anyone who has ever lusted after color touch screen remotes, such as those offered by Crestron or AMX, but unwilling to sink what could equate into a few mortgage payments into a remote, take note this might be what your looking for.  While the MX-3000 doesn’t offer quite the level of customization a Crestron system does, it has more than enough features to handle the average home theater or media room setup.

At about 7 inches wide and 5 inches high the remote fits comfortable in your hand, and the color LCD screen is easy to read.  The contrast of the screen seemed quite high and made punching in channel numbers a breeze but, I’m getting ahead of myself.  Any programmable remote that uses PC based software is really only as good as that software, if it’s hard and cumbersome to program, your unlikely to get all you can out of it.
Earlier I’d mentioned the MX-3000 was IR or RF or both. To use the RF ability, you’ll need the separate MRF-350 which reads commands from the remote and then spits them out via infrared emitters attached to the front of the equipment.  I highly recommend this option, as pointing the remote at the equipment is no longer necessary, six infrared emitters are included.  This option pretty much guarantees the codes will be sent, regardless of where the remote was pointed at the time, also the range is increased from the infrared distance of 30 to 50 feet, to over 100 feet via RF.

Other features include custom background files, the ability to import .ccf files from other remotes such as the Philips Pronto, and the ability to “smart route” commands.  This gives you the ability to remotely control identical devices separately.  Overall, I really liked this remote, while my MX-900 RF offers many of the same functions, the color LCD display of the MX-3000 was really alluring, not to mention how it felt in my hand, it was really comfortable.  So as said previously, if you’ve considered touch panels from Crestron or AMX in the past, but didn’t need that level of control, not to mention the price tag, the MX-3000 is highly recommended.

Video Conferencing: Seeing is Believing

Video conferencing is a powerful multimedia tool that improves communication and increases your organization’s productivity. Along with e-mail, instant messaging, Web conferencing, and other collaboration technologies, video is a vital part for any organization looking to improve its competitive positioning and the quality of life of its employees.

In an organization where response time is important, all communication tools work seamlessly together, allowing users to move from one form of communication to the next without a break in the flow of conversation. Imagine an Instant Message between two co-workers escalating to a real-time video meeting over IP, then patching in a supplier on his 3G mobile phone, and later streaming over the Web to those who couldn’t make the live call.

Video offers an essential element of communication that other technologies cannot – the face-to-face experience.  If 55 percent of communication is determined by nonverbal cues, namely tone of voice and body language, how many important details are you missing in an e-mail exchange or teleconference?

A recent survey found that 56% of business professionals estimate they waste more than 30 minutes a day using inefficient communication methods. Face-to-face communication is more personal, builds higher trust, reduces confusion, and makes people more accountable for their actions.

That’s why the ability to communicate via video is the driving force behind much of the IT convergence we are seeing today.

Choosing the Right Projector for your Conference Room

You’ve been asked to purchase a new LCD/DLP projector for one of your company’s meeting rooms but there’s so many features/options to consider.  Choosing a projector that will never be used will not only waste your company’s money, but could reflect poorly on your decision-making skills. Read on for tips on how to choose the right projector for your meeting room.

NOTE: Your plans for the projector will determine how important each of the following qualities are.

Brightness
Consider how large the projected image must be in order for the audience to see it clearly, and whether you want to have the lights on during projection for attendees to take notes. These factors will help determine the level of brightness you require in a projector.

Projector brightness is measured in ANSI lumens. Generally, projectors run between 500 and 2100 lumens. If you are in a large conference room and you need an image bright enough to be seen from a distance without dimming the lights, you’ll need higher lumens since the light from your projector disperses over distance.

Here’s a guide: 1000 – 2000 lumens: works well for a screen of about 8′ – 10′ (244 – 305 cm) in medium-sized room with about 10 – 30 people and dim lighting 2000 – 3000 lumens: best for larger screens of about 12′ – 25′ (366 cm – 762 cm) in large meeting rooms with regular lighting and 30 – 100 people in the audience Above 3000: good for 12′ – 25′ (366 cm – 762 cm) screens and larger rooms with audiences of over 100 people, but can also be used in various room sizes with bright lighting

Resolution
Resolution is the clarity of the picture produced by your projector. The resolution you choose for your projector will depend on the computer you’ll be using. Your projector resolution must be equal to your monitor resolution. Most desktop computer monitors feature 800 x 600 pixel display or SVGA resolution. Laptops usually have 1024 x 768, (XGA resolution), or an even higher screen resolution of 1280 x 1024 (SXGA). If you want your meeting-room projector to offer guest laptop support you’ll need to buy a projector with XGA resolution, rather than SVGA.

Another consideration when deciding on the resolution of your projector is that if you plan to project AutoCAD, video or other information that requires highly detailed image projection, you will need a projector with SXGA resolution in order to have a clear image.

Price and Brands
The price of multimedia projectors has dropped dramatically in recent years. Prices range from a low of US$2,000 to US$11,000 and up. Some of the more popular projector manufacturers include InFocus, NEC, Sharp, Sony, Panasonic and Toshiba.

Ceiling Mount
Are you planning to mount your projector on the ceiling of your meeting room? If so, be sure to specify that to a dealer because you’ll require a projector with an inverted lens.

Home Theater Setup

In a home theater setup process having the right components is just half of the equation, and the other half is how the components are placed and calibrated, and how the design of your room affects the sound and visual presentation. Today, it is no longer a matter of a small television set with pictures could hardly be seen from across the room. It is no longer even just sitting on a sofa and watching your favorite show from a big television. There is now more to everything in home viewing.

Today’s home theater systems are more complex than ever. It’s true that you can enjoy amazing pictures and high quality sound via high-resolution displaying sets and high performance audio systems. But, there are many connection options available in home theater setup. There are components that are basic to any home theater; these are the source, the video display, and the audio speakers. The most essential component of them is the source. This is the device that gives out television feed – with picture and sound – be it satellite, antenna or cable, DVD or DVR.

The screen is a very important component of the system; so many people would be looking for high-definition widescreen to get a better image. Whether it is an LCD, a Plasma TV or HDTV, the widescreen format copies the exact shape found in cinemas displaying more real image. Audio speakers are also an important part of home theater setup. So, if you want to enjoy a 3D surrounding sound, you will distribute the audio speakers through out the location. Having speakers in different spots will make you actually feel the sound coming from everywhere.

The key to picking a surround sound receiver is to find one that matches your speaker layout requirements. Most Receivers will work for Dolby Digital 5.1. Then depending on the model, they should also work for 6.1 or 7.1 surround. See the diagrams below to help you pick the right receiver type.

Each speaker of your home theater needs its own channel of amplification.  These amplifiers are typically built into audio/video receivers, but there are also many stand-alone multichannel power amplifiers for use with preamp/processor components. (Subwoofers, the “.1″ channel, frequently incorporate their own built-in amplification and need only a line-level connection from the subwoofer output to the receiver.)

Dolby Digital 5.1 Setup:

Dolby Digital 6.1 Setup:

Dolby Digital 7.1 Setup:

1080p- Does it matter?

1080i vs. 1080p: It’s all a matter of time.

1080i is the highest resolution format of the HDTV ATSC specification as well as the recently launched HD DVD and Blu-ray media. 1080p is often quoted as being a higher resolution than 1080i, and though from a certain point of view (which we will touch on) that’s true, in the broad context it is not.

In a very real way, 1080i and 1080p are the same resolution in that both consist of a 1920 x 1080 raster. That is, the picture is comprised of 1080 separate horizontal ‘lines’, with 1920 samples per line (or pixels per line, depending on your point of view). In other words, both 1080i and 1080p represent an image with 1920 x 1080 unique points of data in space.

The difference between ‘i’ and ‘p’ can only be appreciated in the time domain.

In a “true” or “native” 1080i HDTV system, the temporal resolution is 60 Hz. The image is sampled, or updated if you prefer, every 1/60 of a second. As with any interlaced format though, only half the available lines are sampled, or updated, every 1/60 of a second. The capture device (say, a video camera) does not sample the entire 1920 x 1080 at one time. Rather, it samples fields. A single field consists of every other line out of the complete picture. So we have the “odds” field which has lines 1, 3, 5, 7, etc and the “evens” field which has lines 2, 4, 6, 8, etc.

So, in an interlaced system, the camera samples one field (say the “odds”), then 1/60 of a second later, it samples the opposite field (the “evens”), then 1/60 of a second later it refreshes the odds, then 1/60 of a second later the evens, and so on. The alternating set of fields of a 1080i source each make up half the image.

The shorthand for this format is 1080i60.

The subject being captured is updated every 1/60 of a second, but only half the lines are used for each update. This has one benefit and many drawbacks.

The one virtue of this format is its high subject refresh rate: Think of a sporting event where the ball is traveling fast. We get an update on its position every 1/60 of a second. That’s really good compared to film’s 24 Hz refresh rate (even IMAX HD is only 48 Hz).

The downside on an interlaced format is that the alternating fields only truly compliment each other if the subject is stationary. If it is, then the alternating fields “sum” to form a complete and continuous 1920 x 1080 picture (everything lines up perfectly between the two fields). If the subject moves though, it will be in one position for one field and another position for the next. The interlaced fields no longer compliment one another and artifacts such as jaggies, line twitter, and other visual aberrations are a normal side effect of the interlaced format.

This animation demonstrates how objects in motion end up in a different position for each field, resulting in the “comb” effect.  Note however that areas not in motion maintain “full” resolution	This animation simulates the “twittering” of detail, inherent to an interlaced display system.

What does all this have to do with 1080p?

1080p differs from 1080i in that the entire 1920 x 1080 raster (all of the 1080 lines side to side) is sampled and/or displayed at one time. No fields. Just full, 1920 x 1080 frames. No combing. No line twitter. Just perfect pictures. But how, if our HDTV system does not incorporate 1080p does it become at all relevant?

We’re going to show you.

First we will explain how and why 1080i must be processed as best as possible into 1080p in order to maximize the potential of today’s digital displays, including LCD and Plasma flat panel TVs, as well as LCD/DLP etc, projection systems.

Let’s look at some illustrations:

If this were a scene shot at 1080i, and displayed at 1080i, it would look like this.  But today’s digital TV’s cannot do this.  The signal must be de-interlaced.
If we de-interlace it the WRONG way, it would look like this. The entire scene is reduced to 540 lines worth of resolution. Hint: look at the hands. If you display this on a 1366×768 TV (a common resolution right now), you will be wasting 1/3 of the resolution you paid for!
If we de-interlace it the RIGHT way though, to 1080p, it would look like this. Only the areas in motion are reduced in detail.  The rest remains at the full 1080 line resolution. Though you need a full 1920 x 1080 TV to maximize the detail present, on a lesser TV, say a 1366 x 768 model, you will still realize the device’s full potential.

Still wonder if you should care about 1080p?

But do you really need it?

Well, the first thing to come to terms with is, that, as we’ve pointed out, there is an abundance of 1080p24 material out there, encoded into 1080i60 format. If you want to view it at its full potential, you need not only a device capable of displaying it, a so called 1080line TV, but the ability to actually de-interlace it properly.

Some will argue that if you are seated far away and/or the screen is not enormous, one won’t “appreciate” the full detail of 1920 x 1080 (as compared to lower resolution TVs). Well, if you look at a 27″ 480i TV from 20 feet away, you could make the same argument. We could also make the argument that most people don’t appreciate, or even know of, reasonably good video quality to begin with. The strongest argument for that is to look at the quantity vs. quality of channels available from your satellite or cable provider in standard definition digital format vs. a good DVD in the same format, or even a standard definition terrestrial broadcast with a reasonably good signal. Even the most massive compression artifacts are apparently acceptable enough to most viewers such that most broadcast content providers fill up bandwidth with hundreds of programs (and maximize compression to do it) with little complaint from their subscribers.

In that realm, if that’s your baseline, then yes, the 1080p vs. 1366 x 768, or whatever your number, is more of a feel good numbers game. But, that’s not us, and if you’re reading this, we’re betting that’s not you either.

The point is, if you want to view the inherently 1080p24 content which is out there (and even native 1080i content) with maximum resolution (and we maintain that an enthusiast who sets up their viewing environment to get the most out of it can see the difference), you need a display capable of 1080p that keeps the signal in a 1080 line format from input to display surface.

(Article Source: http://www.hometheaterhifi.com/volume_14_1/feature-article-1080p-3-2007-part-1.html)

San Diego LCD Installation

GotUWired has been providing professional San Diego LCD installation services for more than ten years now. We are offering wide variety of solutions for you to select what best meets your home or business needs. We exceed our competition through our high quality work standards, competitive prices and excellent customer service. You will be thrilled after dealing with us; as all what you will have to do is just to sit back, relax, and watch our experienced technical team cleverly installing your new LCD.

With GotUWired you are guaranteed to be provided with the best state of the art San Diego LCD installation. We do all types of installation; mounted on the wall, inside the cabinetry, or above the fireplace, with all cables and wires concealed. And we also innovate and create totally new customized installation techniques. Skillfully customized solutions are tailored for you so as to go with the setting of your home so you do not feel the LCD is intruded into your room. We make sure that your new LCD is being installed in a way that goes with the surrounding layout.

Your satisfaction is at the top of our priorities. If you are looking for the best San Diego LCD installation service provider, then you are looking for GotUWired. Before the start of the installation process, we provide you with a large number of well-known products, and tell you the specs of every one of them so as to make sure that you are selecting the correct one. During the installation process, our professional technical team will expertly apply the finest techniques to make sure that your LCD is properly connected and functioning as it should be. After the installation process, we will not leave until you are one hundred percent satisfied with our done work. That is why we are considered to be the leading LCD installers in San Diego.

San Diego Home Theater

For over 10 years, GotUWired, has been the leading San Diego home theater installation company. Whether you are looking for a HDTV, LCD installation, Plasma TV installation, or home automation, you can choose from a wide variety of products that best suit your needs. What ever system you decide on, we will spend what ever it takes to teach you how to use it. If there is ever a problem with your system we will be there for you.
We can professionally handle the design, planning and execution of high quality custom made electronic systems. We give you a 6 months guarantee for our work. We pay high attention to every detail, bearing in mind future changes, upgrades, and additions. If you are looking for the best state-of-the-art home theater installation, GotUWired has the experience and expertise to tailor you an excellent high-tech solution.
One privilege of the home theater system is the surround sound experience. That is when you enjoy listening to sounds from all different directions. You can use a subwoofer or an amplifier to reproduce the surround sound. You may also use an Audio/Video receiver that is considered to be the core of your home theater system, for it tackles all the inputs and outputs, including the TV. Among San Diego’s home theater companies, GotUWired provides this type of receivers with competitive prices.
If you are dreaming of listening to your CD player, radio, etc. in every room of your house, this dream can be true. GotUWired, number one provider of San Diego home theaters has the skilled staff to get this idea to life. We can help you planning and setting up such a complex audio system. We will give you a hand in each and every step of the project till you enjoy it all.

San Diego Home Theater Installation

If you are thinking about having a customized home theater installation in San Diego, you want to make sure that you are dealing with the most skilled staff in this field. GotUWired proudly places itself as having a San Diego home theater installation professional teamwork. We will help you plan and design your own home theater system, choosing from a large number of well known brands, till you get your well-designed easy to use customized home theater.

Wherever your San Diego home theater installation will be, GotUWired will skillfully mix creativity, innovation and simplicity to get you the home theater system you always dreamt of. Whether you want to install your home theater system in a bedroom, a family room, or even a wide hall, we promise you will experience new lively sounds and sights that best entertain you. You will know that passing your vacation at home has become far more enjoyable than before.

Once you decide on installing a home theater system, you will need to choose from three main categories of video, audio and control system equipments. Our staff will help you make your mind about which receivers, projectors, speakers, and controllers to use. Many people find it difficult to decide whether to use a plasma TV, LCD, or HD TV, we will let you choose from the well-known brands that best suit your design and configuration. However, choosing the sets is only a part of the installation process, as there still other important points to be taken into your consideration. Where the video screen is located in the room you selected, how the speakers are distributed throughout the whole place, and how to control all the system after being installed. Our professional staff will save no effort to let you set these factors right, and you will be confident about every step through the installation process.

Because we take care of every little single detail, GotUWired is the best San Diego home theater installation service provider. We pay high attention to your individual taste and lifestyle so that we can turn your exact dream into a vivid reality. When we design your home theater system, we make it to be integrated in harmony with the structure of your home. Even when we finish the installation process, we do not leave you until you use the home theater installed system, try every feature of it, and be more than satisfied.

San Diego Plasma Installation

There was extremely High demand for San Diego Plasma TV installation this summer. .
Our company, GotUWired, has received a large amount of those installation orders and has many very satisfied customers. Why so many Plasma TVs? Plasma TV’s have much better contrast ratio, color depth, motion tracking, and Clarity of Picture and are available in much larger screen sizes than LCD sets. Plasma TV is the number one choice of San Diego TV installers.

If you are watching a football game on a Plasma TV you feel like you are actually at the game
cheering along with the people at the stadium! You may even try to catch the ball!

Another advantage of the Plasma TV is it’s long life. If you are watching one for six hours per day, most brands will last for twenty years.

Wall mounting a Plasma TV can seem to be a straightforward task to many people, however, you should realize that Plasma TV Installation can be a critical task because it is very difficult to fix a poor installation job.

GotUWired Plasma TV installation of San Diego is the way to go if you want the installation completed properly so that you will never worry about future installation problems. We are Professional San Diego Plasma TV Installers and listen carefully to your desires, study all requirements and then do precision work to make sure your Plasma TV looks like a Beautiful Tableau on the wall.

We also make sure that all the wires and cables are tucked away neatly so that they are out of the way or hidden. Safety is of utmost importance. Exposed wires and cables could be a safety hazzard if not handled properly.

GotUWired understands how to strictly perform all your requirements. Our customers are very important to us and we keep growing to be the best San Diego Plasma TV installation company.

San Diego HDTV

Analog, digital and high definition TVs are very different. For many years, watching TV has involved analog signals and cathode ray tube (CRT) sets. However, this system has worked pretty well for a long time, but it has some limitations, like its low resolution. A digital signal transmits the information for video and sound as ones and zeros instead of as a wave. A digital signal can support a higher resolution, so the picture will still look good when shown on a larger TV screen. HDTV standards are the top level of all the digital signals. But whether you see a high-definition picture and hear the accompanying surround sound depends on two things. First, the station has to be broadcasting a high-definition signal. Second, you have to have the right equipment to receive and view it; which is our specialty. GotUWired is specialized in customized installation of San Diego HDTV.

More and more families are using HDTVs lately because of its bright colorful image quality. You may have noticed that most DVD movies, an increasing number of TV shows, and even some commercials, have black bars above and below the screen. If you were watching them on a San Diego HDTV, often you wouldn’t see any bars at all. The picture will usually fill the screen. Conversely, if you watch a regular TV show on an HDTV, it won’t fit on the screen properly. There may be bars to either side, or the picture may be stretched or zoomed.

Adjusting your HDTV is important. Even the best HDTVs can look pretty bad if they’re not adjusted properly. If you want to get the most out of your HDTV, adjusting it beyond the factory default settings is a good idea. GotUWired will professionally adjust your San Diego HDTV, and you will enjoy a lively crystal clear image on your screen. We provide you with the best HD complete solutions that best fit your own lifestyle.

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