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CE PRO Media Room of the Year 2011

Home Theaters $25,000 to $75,000 | Gold

Why It Won: Theater-goers are greeted with a stunning light show as they enter, thanks to about 150 feet of LEDs integrated into the coffered ceiling that light up and cycle through several colors as guests take their seats. A motion sensor at the front of the room triggers the LED processor, which is commanded by a Control4 automation system. The lights fade when it’s showtime, and that’s when the audio and video system shines. Seven of BG’s Radia “ribbon” speakers provide the audio thump, including three front Radia CC-LCR models located behind an acoustically perforated screen. A JVC DLA-RS25 projector and Screen Innovations 119-inch display deliver the HD goods.

Equipment

Projector: JVC
Screen: Screen Innovations
Receiver: Denon
Blu-ray Player: Samsung
Speakers: BG
Subwoofers: Velodyne
Control: Control4
Seating: United Leather

(Read All)

SCREEN INNOVATIONS ANNOUNCES THEIR NEW BLACK DIAMOND G3 PROJECTION SCREENS

Now available in .8, 1.4, and 2.7 screen gains.

Austin, TX – March 2, 2011 – Screen Innovations (SI), the leader in projection screen technology, announces their new Black Diamond G3 screen materials. The new SI Black Diamond G3 takes projection to the next level by eliminating the need for a dark dedicated environment. Now viewers can enjoy projection in bright environments anywhere anytime.

Black Diamond G3 upgrades include:

All-new 2.7 gain for commercial and 3D applications. Black Diamond 2.7 is polarization preserving for passive 3D and increases projector brightness by 2.7 times compared to a 1.0 gain screen. Black Diamond is counter intuitive when it comes to viewing angle. The new high gain 2.7 Black Diamond has one of the widest viewing cones available making it the perfect solution for wide audience viewing.
All-new .8 and 1.4 gain materials are much darker with improved light rejection, increased contrast, and razor sharp smooth images.

Black Diamond screens have set the standard for screen technologies allowing customers to enjoy the big screen experience in living rooms, game rooms, restaurants, boardrooms, churches, and even outdoors.

“With gains now ranging from .8 – 2.7, our customers will have the ability to sell and install successful projection systems in environments they only dreamed about previously.” said Ryan Gustafson, president of Screen Innovations. “We are now taking the Black Diamond Screen technology one step further by making the image the best money can buy”
Screen Sizes

Seamless: 80” – 142” diagonal (custom available)

*Coming Soon ~ Micro-Seamed Black Diamond Venue: Unlimited (custom)

Black Diamond G3 .8 and 1.4 *now shipping

Black Diamond G3 2.7 ships *ships May 10^th

For more information about the new Black Diamond G3, visit http://www.screeninnovations.com

The Death Of The Dedicated Media Room and Why What Comes Next Is Even More Exciting

A good friend of mine who is an admitted audiophile and the former owner of Evett and Shaw loudspeakers from Utah, always talked about how “anti-social” home theater systems were. He noted that you and your wife have two other couples over for dinner and a movie; by the time that you all are in the theater – the lights are basically off, everyone is pointed towards the screen and laser-focused on the screen. You are not really interacting with each other (other than the occasional laugh out loud joke or whiz-bang effect), you are just sharing a dark moment in a room. His argument was that those same people could sit in a living room with a top-level audiophile system and enjoy music, a cocktail or two as well as meaningful, thoughtful conversation. To Craig, this was much more social and much more valuable.

Additional Resources
• Find more original content in our Feature News section.
• Read Andrew Robinson’s guide to building a room.
• Learn about another new trend in home theater: 2.1 speaker surround sound.

The idea of the dedicated media room or home theater is now a standard part of many very expensive homes. Loaded with design concepts from the old days, dedicated home theaters aren’t always tuned in to the ways that people enjoy music, movies, HDTV and other media. For example, years ago when CRT projectors were the only way to get a big image on a screen – you needed a very dark room to make even a reasonable image. Today’s new light rejecting screen materials make it such that even with an affordable projector (well below $10,000), you can have beaming video with the lights on at a pretty good clip. I saw a demonstration at this past CEDIA of a DNP Supernova screen that was just fantastic as it made a hell of an image while taking direct light from a sodium light above in the rafters. Screen Innovations, Stewart Filmscreen and others are also in the light rejecting screen game. Thus today it is possible to watch really fantastic video in a room that isn’t pitch black. Is the video better in a fully darkened room? There is no question this is the case, however people aren’t always in the mood for the full experience in a dedicated room. They have other things going on but they also want to enjoy their AV systems.

In the audiophile world, many a joke has been made about “listening with your head in a vice,” in a room with “speaker cables propped up on saw horses.” Amps on the floor, one ideal seating position, equipment everywhere with ugly room treatments make for an experience designed for performance but not for anyone other than the audiophile collector. His time (let’s face it: women just don’t listen to music like this) is spent alone. As Craig pointed out above – somewhat anti-social. While Dark Side of the Moon might sound better with the lava lamp lit along with a roach in the clip (not that HomeTheaterReview.com condones drug use outside of medical use), it’s pretty much of an anti-social experience.

The Media Room of The Future
A few weeks ago at the suggestion of a top loudspeaker manufacturer, I had a meeting with acoustic designer, Anthony Grimani. His home theater acoustical designs can only really be described as over-the-top. He builds custom solutions that can soundproof a room and/or deal with physical anomalies of a media room in ways that look acceptable to real-world (albeit wealthy) clients – but also seriously perform. Over a glass of wine (Peter Michael Belle Cote Chardonnay) and sitting in front of my living room system we discussed how people are allocating the real estate inside of their theaters differently. More and more often clients are dumping the rows of stadium seat theater seating for L-shaped sofas. They are adding game tables and movable seating that can be positioned for bigger screenings. They are using larger screens designed to work in ambient light and beyond. The result is a room that can be used more often than just for the serious, lights-out screening. Consumers are building small kitchens and bars into the rooms and using the rooms more for entertaining than for focused viewing. In a way, Anthony is overcoming Craig’s objection from nearly two decades ago, thanks to excellence in design and architecture as well as new technologies available today that simply weren’t around years ago

Death of the Dedicated Theater?

March 29, 2011 | by Lisa Montgomery

Something felt a bit off this year. During our annual Home of the Year contest, we usually draw the biggest response from custom electronics (CE) pros who have designed dedicated home theaters. You know, those lavish spaces built for serious movie viewing. We saw some dedicated home theaters, but certainly not a surfeit. And there was no shortage of home theater systems installed in other rooms. A sign of the times? I think so.

Still reeling from the economic downturn, people aren’t building new homes like they used to. They’re making do with what they have—and in most cases, what they have doesn’t include much free space for dedicated theaters. Minus this option, families are choosing to incorporate big displays and surround-sound systems into existing rooms— most often the family room.

This isn’t a new phenomenon. People have been putting big-screens and speakers into their main living spaces for years. But what is new is the caliber of equipment they’re choosing. A flat-panel TV and a basic 5.1 speaker arrangement is simply not cutting it with today’s home theater enthusiasts.

Instead, superwide CinemaScope screens, high-resolution projectors and 7.1 surround-sound systems are becoming the accoutrements du jour for family rooms. People are finding their entertainment comforts among traditional furnishings, family portraits and Friday night slumber parties. Sure, you may sacrifice some of the high-grade performance you’d get from having an acoustically treated environment, but as the owners of our award-winning family rooms agree, there’s something so satisfying about being able to flaunt what you’ve already got.

Complete Article http://www.electronichouse.com/article/death_of_the_dedicated_theater/

SCREEN INNOVATIONS ANNOUNCES OF THE NEW REFERENCE MOTORIZED G3 PROJECTOR SCREEN

Austin, TX – March 17, 2011 – Screen Innovations (SI), the leader in projection screen technology, announces the new Reference Motorized G3 screen. The new SI Reference Motorized model includes Somfy motors and controls for easy integration with all control systems and is simple to set up. All SI screens are precision-cut on computerized fabric tables, enabling precise tab placement for all screen sizes. A new tab system limits traditional repeat marks found on most screens.

SI Reference Motorized eliminates the need for an independent flush mount chassis. Some manufacturers require a separate chassis to put the box in, which is both costly and impractical. With SI Reference Motorized, the installer can either add flush mount plates at the bottom or add the décor plate for external installation. Pricing is the same for in-ceiling or on-ceiling / on-wall—simply specify type desired when order is placed.

Setting limits and controlling the operation of the SI Reference Motorized only takes seconds thanks to Somfy’s ILT2 technology coupled with the SI Referenced Motorized Control Board. Controls included in the box (at no extra charge) are: 12 volt Trigger, IR Remote / Receiving Eye, and Wall Switch. RS232/485 & RF are available options, both of which are compatible with all common control systems. SI’s Referenced Motorized mounting brackets give installers the flexibility to mount on-wall, on-ceiling, in-ceiling-top-mount, and in-ceiling-side-mount. This design allows for incremental adjustment both vertically and horizontally after the screen is mounted.

“Reference Motorized G3 is the latest example of how SI is changing the projection screen landscape,” said Ryan Gustafson, president of Screen Innovations. “With our new advanced robotics, we can quote, produce, and ship a custom motorized screen in less than 48 hours.” “With the new Reference Motorized, customers have a profitable & predictable result every time.”

Reference Motorized is available up to 200” with all SI HD screen materials, including the Gamma HD, Solar HD, Lunar HD, Gamma Maestro HD, and Lunar Maestro HD. Custom screen sizes are available in one inch increments and the unit comes standard with a 24 inch black screen drop (up to six feet with custom orders).

SI Reference Motorized G3 will be released May1st 2011.

RMG3 http://www.screeninnovations.com/projector-screens/motorized/reference/
Specs http://www.screeninnovations.com/projector-screens/motorized/reference/specs/
Calc http://www.screeninnovations.com/tools/screen-calculator/RMFL/

SI Donates Screen To Extreme Makeover Home Addition

Why 3D doesn’t work and never will. Case closed.

By Roger Ebert on January 23, 2011 7:57 PM | 557 Comments

I received a letter that ends, as far as I am concerned, the discussion about 3D. It doesn’t work with our brains and it never will.

The notion that we are asked to pay a premium to witness an inferior and inherently brain-confusing image is outrageous. The case is closed.

This letter is from Walter Murch, seen at left, the most respected film editor and sound designer in the modern cinema. As a editor, he must be intimately expert with how an image interacts with the audience’s eyes. He won an Academy Award in 1979 for his work on “Apocalypse Now,” whose sound was a crucial aspect of its effect.

Wikipedia writes: “Murch is widely acknowledged as the person who coined the term Sound Designer, and along with colleagues developed the current standard film sound format, the 5.1 channel array, helping to elevate the art and impact of film sound to a new level. “Apocalypse Now” was the first multi-channel film to be mixed using a computerized mixing board.” He won two more Oscars for the editing and sound mixing of “The English Patient.”
“He is perhaps the only film editor in history,” the Wikipedia entry observes, “to have received Academy nominations for films edited on four different systems:

• “Julia” (1977) using upright Moviola
• ”Apocalypse Now” (1979), “Ghost” (1990), and “The Godfather, Part III” (1990) using KEM flatbed
• “The English Patient” (1996) using Avid.
• “Cold Mountain” (2003) using Final Cut Pro on an off-the shelf PowerMac G4.

Now read what Walter Murch says about 3D:

Hello Roger,

I read your review of “Green Hornet” and though I haven’t seen the film, I agree with your comments about 3D.

The 3D image is dark, as you mentioned (about a camera stop darker) and small. Somehow the glasses “gather in” the image — even on a huge Imax screen — and make it seem half the scope of the same image when looked at without the glasses.

I edited one 3D film back in the 1980′s — “Captain Eo” — and also noticed that horizontal movement will strobe much sooner in 3D than it does in 2D. This was true then, and it is still true now. It has something to do with the amount of brain power dedicated to studying the edges of things. The more conscious we are of edges, the earlier strobing kicks in.

The biggest problem with 3D, though, is the “convergence/focus” issue. A couple of the other issues — darkness and “smallness” — are at least theoretically solvable. But the deeper problem is that the audience must focus their eyes at the plane of the screen — say it is 80 feet away. This is constant no matter what.

But their eyes must converge at perhaps 10 feet away, then 60 feet, then 120 feet, and so on, depending on what the illusion is. So 3D films require us to focus at one distance and converge at another. And 600 million years of evolution has never presented this problem before. All living things with eyes have always focussed and converged at the same point.

If we look at the salt shaker on the table, close to us, we focus at six feet and our eyeballs converge (tilt in) at six feet. Imagine the base of a triangle between your eyes and the apex of the triangle resting on the thing you are looking at. But then look out the window and you focus at sixty feet and converge also at sixty feet. That imaginary triangle has now “opened up” so that your lines of sight are almost — almost — parallel to each other.

We can do this. 3D films would not work if we couldn’t. But it is like tapping your head and rubbing your stomach at the same time, difficult. So the “CPU” of our perceptual brain has to work extra hard, which is why after 20 minutes or so many people get headaches. They are doing something that 600 million years of evolution never prepared them for. This is a deep problem, which no amount of technical tweaking can fix. Nothing will fix it short of producing true “holographic” images.

Consequently, the editing of 3D films cannot be as rapid as for 2D films, because of this shifting of convergence: it takes a number of milliseconds for the brain/eye to “get” what the space of each shot is and adjust.

And lastly, the question of immersion. 3D films remind the audience that they are in a certain “perspective” relationship to the image. It is almost a Brechtian trick. Whereas if the film story has really gripped an audience they are “in” the picture in a kind of dreamlike “spaceless” space. So a good story will give you more dimensionality than you can ever cope with.

So: dark, small, stroby, headache inducing, alienating. And expensive. The question is: how long will it take people to realize and get fed up?

All best wishes,

Walter Murch

Salt shaker and landscape Photoshops by Marie Haws.

Screen Innovations @ ISE 2011

ISE is a Europe’s premiere platform for new product innovations, providing a diverse range of education and networking opportunities available before and during the show. The Home Cinema Europe partners will present technologies that encompass all aspects of the next generation of home theater.

Home Cinema Europe Partners – Stand #1M73

Audio Design Associates is CEDIA’s brand of excellence for home theater and multi-room electronics. In addition to ADA’s award winning surround sound processing and power amplification, this theater also benefits from ADA’s new room correction system, the TEQ- 12, featuring Trinnov’s revolutionary technology.

Avielo by projectiondesign projectors are designed, manufactured, and built to provide the finest image quality in high performance home cinemas. We are introducing the world’s first dedicated native 2.35 aspect ratio projector which provides stunning colors, and accurate image geometry by eliminating bulky, add on lenses for a sharper image.

CineTouch is advanced residential control software for AMX, providing SIMPLY EXTRAORDINARY CONTROL with NO PROGRAMMING and same-day deployment. CineTouch LEARNS – individual user personalization is updated continuously. Upgrade and grow any system without reprogramming. CE PRO named CineTouch Version 7 the “BEST WHOLE HOME CONTROL SYSTEM”, and our new Version 8 is BETTER! Visit CINETOUCH.COM

“D-BOX Technologies designs and manufactures leading edge high-technology motion systems mainly suited to the needs of the entertainment industry. With its unique, patented technology, D-BOX enhances and elevates the Home Theatre experience to a new dimension. A constant innovator, D-BOX has received recognition and awards throughout the industry by creating an unmatched realistic immersive experience.”

D-Tools, Inc. is the worldwide leader in system integration software. Used by over 3,000 leading companies, D-Tools System Integrator 5.5 simplifies the complicated design, engineering, and documentation process – enabling users to quickly and easily generate floor plans, schematics, line diagrams, functional views, and visually-rich proposals for commercial and residential projects.

‘Evolve Media is the stylish high end manufacturer of award winning custom media servers for the discerning user and installer alike. The ‘life’ range of products, using unique ‘embedded’ technologies, ensure consumption of ALL media is an unforgettable experience, from Blu-ray to HDTV, to family music and photo libraries. Entertainment has Evolved!’

Fortress has been manufacturing seating since the 1930′s, being the manufacturer gives the integrator the flexibility to offer a truly custom seating solution. Coming up with innovative options to solve the custom installers problems is our specialty, often creating some of the most unique accessories available in the industry.

RBH Sound, a USA-based company, manufactures a full line of the highest quality, award-winning audio products: High-performance freestanding, in-wall and in-ceiling speakers and freestanding, in-ceiling and in-floor subwoofers and subwoofer amplifiers. Celebrating over 34 years of manufacturing excellence, RBH Sound is currently seeking international distributors with custom installation focus.

Screen Innovations leads the market in US-manufactured projection screens. We employ an industry-specific engineering staff and advanced robotics to create cutting edge screen technologies. Black Diamond is a key example, allowing any projector to perform well in either a bright or dark environment by rejecting ambient light, while enhancing projector contrast by over 900%. In house manufacturing permits complete control over product development, quality assurance, and on-time delivery, providing consumers with an outstanding counterpart for today’s projectors.

Tributaries is a privately owned American company. We support the best dealers in America and dozens of professional distributors around the world. Tributaries is known as a leading provider of high-performance Audio/Video and Digital Interconnect cables, high-quality Power products, HDMI electronics, and Installation wire. We commit to excellence and great customer service.

Come see the latest from these innovative companies at the show. Hope to see you in Amsterdam!

The State of the Art in 3D 1080p Home Theater Projectors

Evan Powell, January 10, 2011

ProjectorCentral.com

The CES trade show floor featured half a dozen demos of new 1080p home theater projectors in 3D…

All of these products are either just now shipping, or scheduled to ship this quarter. The demos showed impressive 3D imagery, but generally with varying degrees of instability. Having spent time viewing each of the six, I’ve written up some impressions in The State of the Art in 3D 1080p.

Evan Powell
Editor

SI Appoints Tom Nugent National Accounts Sales Manager

Nugent will be implementing aggressive new sale strategies to increase two-piece projection sales in national accounts.

Austin, Texas, January 4, 2011 - Screen Innovations (www.screeninnovations.com) is proud to announce that it has appointed 10-year JVC veteran Tom Nugent as National Accounts Sales Manager, effective immediately.

“As SI continues to grow and evolve in both the domestic and international markets, we needed an individual with extensive experience and relationships in the A/V markets,” said Ryan Gustafson, SI president. “For several years JVC and SI have been working together to bring the projection experience to the masses, now with Tom onboard, we can quickly expand on our current successes.”

Prior to joining SI, Tom has been the National Product Specialist for JVC’s Procision line of front projectors. Tom was a key ingredient in the rapid growth of JVC’s front projection business over the last several years.

“In an economic environment when many manufacturers are scaling back, SI is focused on hiring the brightest talent to help move the company to the next level,” Gustafson added.

For more information, visit their web at www.screeninnovations.com or call 512-832-6939.

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