Home Entertainment & Automation Services in Matthews, NC.
Home Entertainment & Automation Services in Matthews, NC.
Home audio and Video Services in Matthews, NC.  TV installation, Surround Sound, Home Entertainment Systems
Onkyo Adds 3D-Ready Pre-Pro, Blu-ray Player with Blockbuster VOD

Charlotte's #1 Authorized Onkyo Dealer is CIS!

CIS is Charlotte's #1 Authorized Onkyo Dealer.

Onkyo will ship three THX-certified components in September 2010.

Onkyo will ship three new THX-certified components in September 2010, including its first multichannel preamp-processor that is also 3D-ready, a 150-watt nine-channel amplifier, and a next-generation Blu-ray player.

The flagship PR-SC5508 ($2,199) is a THX-Ultra 2 Plus certified, network-capable, 9.2-channel audio-video controller that is 3D-ready with an HDMI 1.4 interface. The PR-SC5508 also features:

-HQV Reon-VX video processing and 1080p upscaling
-ISF Video Calibration
-DLNA 1.5 and Windows 7 compatible connection to PC audio and Internet radio
-Pandora, Rhapsody, Mediafly, Slacker, Napster, VTuner, and Sirius Internet Radio

Connectivity on the PR-SC5508 includes 8 HDMI inputs, dual USBs, two balanced line-level XLR audio inputs, and nine XLR preamp outputs.

The matching PA-MC5500 ($1,699) nine-channel power amplifier is THX-Ultra2 Plus certified and is 8-ohm rated at 150 Watts per channel, and up to 400 Watts dynamic power into 3 ohms. It features Onkyo’s WRAT (Wide Range Amplifier Technology) design for “low negative feedback, low distortion, extended frequency response, and a power supply with high instantaneous-current capability.”

Other features of the PA-MC5500:

-A three-stage inverted Darlington circuit to remove distortion
-Balanced line-level XLR inputs
-Anti-resonant chassis and gold-plated inputs and outputs
-Multi-zone and bi-amp capability

The Onkyo BD-SP808 ($599) is a THX- and DLNA 1.5-certified Blu-ray player that offers Blockbuster On Demand, Marvel Qdeo video scaler and Dolby TrueHD and DTS-HD Master Audio sound.

The Profile 2.0 BD-SP808 has an Ethernet port for BD-Live features, including picture-in-picture and web-based firmware updates. There’s an SD card slot for playback of downloaded web content, and HDMI Source Direct mode outputs video signals in their native resolution.

by Steve Crowe

http://www.electronichouse.com/article/onkyo_adds_3d-ready_pre-pro_blu-ray_player_with_blockbuster_vod/

Custom Installation Services, LLC – ”We may be a few dollars more than the competition, but we are a million times better”.

Posted in 3d movies, Audio Systems, Blu-ray, Home Theater, Media Rooms, News, technology | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , | Leave a comment


Analog Sunset

CIS is Charlotte's Source For Technology Questions and Answers

CIS is Charlotte's Source For Technology Questions and Answers

How concerned should integrators and consumers be about restrictions on component video outputs affecting Blu-ray players?

The impending so-called “analog sunset” has been touted as the next big thing affecting the custom electronics industry.

Whether or not that’s hyperbole, it’s certain that there are things integrators need to know about restrictions being imposed by the Advanced Access Content System (AACS) licensing agreement — especially in regards to Blu-ray playback.

If savvy clients haven’t already begun asking questions about whether or not they should throw out their component cables, they soon will. Integrators need to know what to tell them and how to react.

Right now integrators can allow clients to view content off Blu-ray discs using an analog component video output on a Blu-ray player. But according to the AACS licensing agreement, after Dec. 31, 2010, no new designs may be introduced with hot HD component outputs; existing designs can be manufactured and sold through Dec. 31, 2011. No Blu-ray players with hot HD component outputs may be manufactured or sold after that date, but they can still output SD resolutions through 2013.

That doesn’t mean that you can’t use Blu-ray players made before Dec. 31, 2010, for viewing content off Blu-ray discs using an analog component video output. Meanwhile, in-stock models made before Dec. 31, 2010, with component inputs capable of HD output can continue to be sold through 2013.

“I recently heard a competitor state that they were going to purchase as many older [Blu-ray] players as they could afford to put off dealing with the changes for as long as possible,” says CEDIA chairman Ken Erdmann, owner of Springville, Utah-based Erdmann Electric. “That will not solve the problem and is rather shortsighted.”

Indeed, after January 1, 2011, Blu-ray disc makers can include an “Image Constraint Token” (ICT) that disables HD over component video down-converting the HD capable input to SD while that particular disc is in the drive. Existing discs in a customer’s collection without the ICT, however, will continue to provide HD component output with no change. The token is only disc-based, so discs with no ICT will operate the same as always (allowing 1080i component out).

Erdmann speculates that Blu-ray titles released years earlier could even “include ICT for those titles manufactured after the 2011 implementation date. A client could be very unhappy if they were used to watching a favorite title for years that when they replaced the worn or damaged disc with a newer version of that title it no longer looked as good or possibly would not play at all.”

Is Analog Fading to Black?

“Analog Sunset” is a term that is actually used in the AACS license agreement:
2.2.2.1 ANALOG SUNSET – 2010. With the exception of Existing Models, any Licensed Player manufactured after December 31, 2010, shall limit analog video outputs for Decrypted AACS Content to SD Interlace Modes only. Existing Models may be manufactured and sold by Adopter up until December 31, 2011.

2.2.2.2 ANALOG SUNSET – 2013. No Licensed Player that passes Decrypted AACS Content to analog video outputs may be manufactured or sold by Adopter after December 31, 2013.

Source: The AACS Final Adopter Agreement, available at http://www.aacsla.com.

At the very least, this legal language will leverage installers with some frustration, according to Fred Harding, who does sales and technical support for distributor Capitol Sales.

“It will cause stress for folks who are installing Blu-ray players over the next year who aren’t prepared. Worst case will be down the road, when manufacturers of other HDMI-equipped products stop putting analog outputs on their devices based on economic decisions. In that case, it will be the absence of connections rather than a mandate that hurts. I’d start planning if it were me.”

However, points out Trent Davis, Audio Authority’s product manager, manufacturers alone can’t always decide when to stop putting technology on their devices. He cites, for example, that many components still are required by the FCC to have FireWire ports even though the technology isn’t commonly used anymore.

Still, the AACS provisions will affect integrators that “have used the component video safety net” because they’ll “be forced to come to terms with the HDMI output,” says Erdmann.

“The loss of 1080i video brought about by the implementation of the ICT will be unsatisfactory to our clients. Even worse, integrators unwilling or unable to deliver the best quality video by using the HDMI output might find their clients looking elsewhere to satisfy their desires for the best quality video and audio in their systems. As time goes by and more of the provisions [are] allowed and implemented under the AACS licensing agreement, the unprepared integrator will face even greater challenges.”

Is the Issue Over-Hyped?

Audio Authority, makers of HMDI and component video distribution systems, switchers and adapters, matrix switches, recently issued a whitepaper, “Component Video’s Future: Demystified,” because there is a lot of misinformation out there, says Davis.

He’s not saying it’s much ado about nothing, but he says the facts are becoming blurred amid all the speculation.

The bottom line, according to Audio Authority, is that component video isn’t going away — but its role will be changed, even mitigated. “Some content sources will be experiencing some changes in the way they are required to control component video output, while others are under no threat from pending restrictions,” writes the company.

Extron Electronics, a manufacturer of A/V components including matrix switchers and cables, also issued a whitepaper on the topic, “Analog Sunset Demystified.” The company’s stance is that even with the impending restrictions, “use of legacy components already installed or the design of systems using products that both have analog and digital outputs will be around for quite some time,” says Joe da Silva, director of product marketing.

“A/V integrators have the choice to design systems using a ‘hybrid’ approach or transition all signals to a digital format. The hybrid design for digital and analog distribution can be much more cost effective than an all-digital approach. A/V integrators who incorporate high-definition protected content and playback of Blu-ray disc format into their designs will certainly be influenced by the restrictions associated by AACS provisions.”

What about Content?

The ICT has actually been around for a while, Audio Authority points out, but it’s not known to have been used on a mass-released Blu-ray disc. Let’s take a look at AACS’ specific ICT and Digital Only Token (DOT) language:
SEC. 3, 1.3.2 Content Participants/Providers shall not, prior to December 31, 2010, direct Licensed Content Producers to embed the Image Constraint Token in Licensed Content Products offered for sale or other distribution in a country in which there was a government or quasi-government regulation or equivalent prohibiting the use of an Image Constraint Token, or equivalent, for scrambled or encrypted content as of November 30, 2005.

SEC. 3, 1.4 If Content Participant/Provider has directed that the Image Constraint Token and/or Digital Only Token be set with respect to a particular LCP (Licensed Content Product) Unit, then the fact that such Image Constraint Token and/or Digital Only Token (as applicable) is set shall be disclosed by the Content Participant/Provider to the consumer either (i) on such LCP Unit’s product packaging; or (ii) only in the case of a consumer product, by other reasonable means that allows the consumer to be aware at the point of initial purchase that the Image Constraint Token and/or Digital Only Token (as applicable) is set with respect to such LCP Unit.

1.2.1 Content Participant/Provider may assert the Digital Only Token only with respect to (a) Non-Consumer Products and/or (b) LCP Units Released in a given country within the first six (6) weeks after the first Theatrical Release of substantially similar Digital Entertainment Content in such country, provided that in the event of the circumstances set forth in this part (b), within six (6) months after such first Theatrical Release, Content Participant/Provider shall Release in such country LCP Units containing a version of such Licensed Content Product that does not assert the Digital Only Token.

Audio Authority points out that the DOT only applies to non-consumer content and for licensed content released on Blu-ray disc within six weeks of the theatrical release “with the caveat that non-DOT versions of the content must be released within six months.”

The effects on Blu-ray, however, while significant, aren’t the entire story. Speculation abounds that the AACS licensing agreement affects cable and satellite boxes, media streaming devices, gaming consoles, media centers and computers.

It’s not true, though, says Davis, unless those devices include Blu-ray players. “A DirecTV box, for example, is not an AACS licensed device and is not affected at all by the provisions of the AACS Analog Sunset. It is, however, affected by the FCC’s SOC [Selectable Output Control May 2010] ruling, but the FCC is the authoritative body in that case, not the AACS licensees.”

So, with some help from Audio Authority’s whitepaper and other authorities, let’s take a look at effects on different content sources.

C.I.S. - "We may be a few dollars more than the competition, but we are a million times better."

Cable, Satellite Boxes

These content sources shouldn’t be affected much by the AACS licensing agreement, according to Audio Authority. The Federal Communications Commission (FCC) oversees these components and federal law disallows content providers from turning off component video outputs.

The one exception to this rule, Davis says, is the aforementioned SOC ruling. It “allows deactivation of set-top box analog outputs for very specific content: first-run movies that are still in theaters.”

Meanwhile, the FCC also tells cable and satellite companies not to allow commands to turn off component outputs from being including in their content delivery signals, preventing content providers from restricting output on their own.

So component video should remain applicable to cable and satellite boxes. However, that could change, Harding says. “I think in the future the cable and satellite boxes will drop the jacks based on manufacturing savings. I’m suggesting worrying.”

Erdmann takes a similar stance. “It is my opinion that there is nothing stopping content owners from imposing similar requirements on any provider wishing to provide 1080p video,” he says.

“ICT is inserted in the data stream that allows the decoding of the video and which resolution is allowed where. Any non-HDCP-protected output on any cable or satellite box could have ICT implemented on it. It wasn’t too long ago that we started losing RF outputs on high-definition cable boxes.”

Erdmann has the same skepticism regarding the DOT provision. “I know that DOT is reserved for new business models, but who is to say that cable and satellite high-definition programming would not fall under these new business models? DOT could be used to set day-and-date release information or to limit high-definition content in places where DOT was not in use.”

Davis disagrees that there is nothing stopping content owners from imposing restrictions. “Since the FCC regulates analog outputs of set-top boxes, there’s no reason to believe these sorts of changes will be allowed, and they’ll certainly not go unchallenged. It’s not a decision that’s exclusively in the hands of manufacturers. For example, the FCC made a ruling in 2004 that required FireWire ports be included on future set top boxes, despite the objections of content creators and cable companies.

“The ICT and DOT simply do not and cannot affect cable and satellite TV,” Davis adds. “The entire AACS license applies only to products that use AACS encryption. To imply that cable and satellite companies, whose products are not AACS licensed, are beholden to the industry agreement signed by a bunch of other companies is incorrect.

“Selectable Output Control’ is the appropriate term for cable and satellite set top boxes, and that feature is regulated strictly by the FCC. Only one exception has been made — the SOC can be used on first-run movies that are still in theaters,” Davis continues. “Aside from that, content providers have denied the ability to shut off analog HD outputs for years, and the FCC has given no indication they will relent.”

Media Streaming

Vudu, Apple TV, Roku and other media streaming devices aren’t affected, according to Audio Authority.

Component video should remain applicable to media streaming devices, but again, Harding suggests that this could change.

Erdmann adds that, “As long as you are happy with low-resolution video from those devices it probably won’t have an impact. The fact is we hook these devices up to large flat-panel displays and projectors with HDMI, we purchase HD versions of some titles from iTunes. It is unlikely that our clients who are using these services for content will be happy with anything less than the highest resolutions possible.”

Davis, however, says it’s not an either-or issue. “HD video is available from both HDMI and component outputs on these devices and there are no laws, licensing agreements or other regulations in place that will restrict them at this time.”

Gaming, Media Servers and Computers

Although gaming consoles aren’t affected, in theory, by the AACS licensing agreement, some gaming devices play Blu-ray discs, Audio Authority points out.

Sony’s PlayStation 3, for instance, must abide by the terms of the AACS licensing agreement as it pertains to playing Blu-ray content. However, other functions — including video streaming and gaming – shouldn’t be affected.

Media servers and computers, meanwhile, don’t use a lot of analog outputs anyway, but the AACS licensing agreement won’t seem to require shut-off of VGA and component video outputs.

“Our clients will not be satisfied with anything less than the best performance possible,” says Erdmann, referring to gaming consoles, media servers and computers. “They will have Blu-ray video to compare the video these devices output to. It will not be acceptable to them. Most of these systems have Blu-ray in them already, so integrators must be able to deal with the challenges that come with HDMI.”

By Tom LeBlanc
http://www.cepro.com/article/analog_sunset_ce_pros_weigh_in/

Custom Installation Services, LLC – “We may be a few dollars more than the competition, but we are a million times better”.

Posted in Automation, Blu-ray, Flat Panel TV's, Gaming Systems, Home Theater, Media Rooms, Multi Room A/V, News, technology | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , | Leave a comment


What You Need to Know About IP Surveillance Cameras

CIS is Charlotte, NC's first choice for IP camera sales and installation

Custom Installation Services is Charlotte, NC's First Choice for IP Camera Sales and Installation

We present key features, components, functions and setup involved in an IP surveillance camera system.

Surveillance cameras are an important component of home security. They can visually monitor key areas of your home and property, record activity and alert you immediately if they notice anything unusual. IP (Internet Protocol) cameras are able to transmit images and signals via the Internet, making them a popular choice for on-the-go families.

But how do you decide what type of cameras to rely on in your system? And what types of capability are you after? The answer to one could help provide some answers to the other. Here are some important aspects of IP surveillance cameras, system functions, features and setups, courtesy of Richie Scholl, Worthington Distribution.

CAMERAS
Choose indoor or weatherproof models based on your application.
Fixed, pan/tilt, and pan/tilt/zoom (PTZ) models are available. Fixed cameras will always be looking at one specified area. PTZ cameras, by contrast, can be manipulated manually or automatically. For this type of camera, consider having a “home” position that the camera returns to after a few minutes of inactivity.

Cameras differ in their ability to see in the dark. Use a camera with a night mode or a low lux rating if vision in the dark is important. Standalone IR illuminators can provide night-viewing capabilities for standard cameras. They have built-in sensors that activate the illuminator automatically when necessary.

One-way and two-way audio features are available on many cameras. One-way audio allows a user to hear the sound that a built-in microphone in the camera picks up. Two-way audio adds the ability for the user to speak into a computer microphone and have that sound played through the camera.

Form factors vary by manufacturer. Many cameras are shaped as a square unit with a bubbled lens. More traditional bullet and dome styles are now available. Keep in mind that an IP (Internet Protocol) camera will always be larger than standard analog camera.

Most IP cameras require a hardwired Ethernet connection, although wireless WiFi IP cameras are available.

POWER OVER ETHERNET (POE)
PoE capability greatly simplifies the installation of an IP camera because only one wire is necessary to carry both power and Ethernet signals.

Use a PoE switch at the head end, or PoE injectors somewhere between the switch and the camera.

PoE is a standard, which ensures compatibility between equipment from different manufacturers. 

RECORDING
The most cost-effective option for recording is PC software that records video to a local hard drive. Make sure you have plenty of space available or pick up an external hard drive. Video storage eats space quickly.

Another option is a hybrid DVR. This is a device that can record images from both analog and IP cameras.

Some IP cameras have built-in storage or memory card slots. They can store still frames or short video snippets, based on motion.

SENSORS/AUTOMATION
Many IP cameras have motion sensing built in, which can trigger the recording of video for a select amount of time.

When tied to a control system or specialized recording device, remote sensors can perform a number of tasks. For example, they can be used to pan, tilt or zoom a camera to a certain position, or they can trigger the system to send an email or text message when motion is detected.

IN-HOME VIEWING
Look for a TV monitoring adapter that’s compatible with your cameras so that you can view multiple images on a standard television.

Many IP cameras also have an analog video output that can be connected to more traditional video distribution systems.

When tied to a control system, televisions can automatically display images from cameras if, for example, motion is detected. Or the system can be programmed to display a picture-in-picture image from the front door whenever the doorbell is pressed.

REMOTE VIEWING
Some cameras have web servers built in, so all you need is an Internet connection. They are more expensive than their simpler IP counterparts, but for single-camera installations this is an attractive option.

Motion sensing allows some cameras to send still frames to a specified email address when movement is detected.

A port will have to be opened on the website’s router to permit access to the camera. Stay away from port 80, as it is typically blocked by ISPs.

Use a Dynamic DNS (DDNS) service to preclude the need for an expensive static IP address. These services are available free of charge.

Many manufacturers have IP cameras that can automatically configure the router and provide the DDNS.

Many security monitoring stations support video monitoring. They can view your cameras remotely upon sensor activity or some other alarm event.

by EH Staff

 http://www.electronichouse.com/article/what_you_need_to_know_about_ip_surveillance_cameras/D2/

Posted in Automation, IP Cameras, News, Structured Wiring, technology | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , | Leave a comment


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