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01/08/2007
2006 in Review
Here is a post by everyone's favourite AV Talk Uncle, Uncle Eric on the hi-lights and lo-lights of 2006. It's a great read for all those with any remote interest in Home Cinema:
From an installer's point of view, 2006 has been quite a year. The biggest stories this year have been the HD-DVD v Blu-ray saga and the rise and (price) fall of HD display devices.
In this brief summary of the year, I'll try to pick out the highlights and lows, try to raise some worthwhile points and hopefully dispel a few myths along the way.
HD-DVD was first to the market with first generation players from Toshiba and some decent software. Unfortunately folks were soon moaning about how slow and glitchy these first machines were but loved the image quality which was a far cry from the blocky artefact riddled HD downloads people were used to seeing. Even D Theatre tapes, the previous pinnacle (albeit a backwards one) paled in comparison to a top notch HD-DVD pressing.
If Toshiba made a boo-boo by using weedy processors in their first generation machines, the Sony camps laughter was soon turning into tears. Delay after delay meant first to market Toshiba and the HD-DVD format were gaining an important foothold with Blu-ray nowhere near the horizon for months.
More tears followed when Samsung finally launched the first Blu-ray machines. Firstly they were twice the price of Toshiba's HD-DVD players, more importantly; picture quality expectations were not met. Samsungs sharpness processing was pushed so far to the max that images produced ringing/softness. Add poor mastering using the less effective MPEG2 compression codec and soon people were calling Sony's effort BLUR-RAY. Not a good start for what many deemed the format with the most to offer.
Splitting the two HD video formats meant inevitable comparisons with the on-going bitter war of the two high definition audio formats, SACD and DVD-A. Truth be told the downfall of both these audio formats should teach the Sony and Toshiba camps valuable lessons. Unless of course they have money (and pride) to burn.
If rumours are true one major hardware manufacturer is about to drop both formats altogether (Pioneer, Denon ????).
Add the fact that neither format is being supported enough via software (even Sony couldn't be bothered, go figure), all means the consumer has finally had enough of both SACD and DVD-A which all means DVD-A and SACD software sales (which were not exactly flying anyway) are grinding to a halt. I mentioned earlier this year that both formats were limping along. The prognosis now is even worse. I can't see any light at the end of the tunnel for either format and I fear both will probably die in the not too distant future!
There is no doubt this year AV has been mainly about V!
Flat panels are now being sold by the millions. LCD which has sold well for years in the smaller sizes gained a lot of ground in large size panel sales in 2006, much to the dismay I might add of anyone who values high image quality. 1080p is the key buzzword of all things video and LCD manufacturers were first to market with the biggest selling size sector (40-45"). LCD makers used 1080p as their Trojan horse and many who were spellbound by the 1080p hype are now kicking themselves when they see decently set up plasma with half the resolution.
Whilst 1080p 42" plasma's are around the corner, for those of you that are waiting, I suggest you go and buy a cheaper lower res panel now as, A) The current units will be at least half the price of the new 1080p 42" panels, and B) You really won't be able to see a whole heap of difference from an average seating distance. In fact the further you sit the less obvious the differences, especially on standard def material.
The projector market caught finally caught fire this year with the introduction of Sony's three chip SXRD beauty, the Ruby. It's not a perfect projector by any means, there is no perfect display device. But at a price of £6-7k, or $10k USD, it was embarrassing projectors at two or three times the price.
Upon release, the value for money this projector offered was without comparison. It was also the quietest projector many of us had ever heard, by a long way too!. Before 2006 was done and dusted, Sony had done it again with their new Pearl. Another three chip SXRD but this time at half the price of the Ruby!!!!.
In my humble opinion Sony did everyone a big favour with the Ruby and Pearl. These machines kicked projector (and many video processor) manufacturers in their rear ends so hard they changed pricing OVERNIGHT. Like everything electronic, mass production will always mean inevitable price reductions were eventually going to happen, but in 2006 Sony were responsible for an industry wide five years worth of price reductions concentrated into the space of (in some cases) 5 weeks. Infocus famously halved the price of their 777 three chipper within days!!!! Projector prices were decaying faster than children's teeth.
All this meant that 1080p projection is now within easy reach of even the most budget conscious.
There is an irony to all this. By bringing 1080p projection within reach of the much larger budget oriented marketplace, Sony may also have unwittingly saved HD-DVD (and Blu-ray) from the same fate that has befallen the high res audio formats because every 1080p PJ buyer wants to see what HD-DVD and Blu-ray will look like on their lovely new projectors!
It's a funny old world!
More good stuff to come this time from JVC as well as Sony. I will be receiving JVC's latest machine soon which (on paper anyway) offers big numbers in the contrast department.
Going back to HD video software, there is a lot of hype about the two main compression codec's, VC1 and MPEG2. Both have their supporters and whilst there are some sensible things being said by many, there is a lot of disinformation being spread about both codec's. We've all heard how crap MPEG2 is. It's not crap at all.
You just need far higher data rates to accomplish what VC1 is doing with lower bit rates.
The key word here is efficiency.
And efficiency = $$$$$$
Broadcasters (many US based companies currently use MPEG2) find VC1 ultra attractive. Not only can they improve current quality with the same data rates, they can sneak in more worthless programming under the radar and up their charges on the pretence of offering more channels for the same (crap) quality. See my thread here for what's currently happening with HD broadcasting in the USA,
Av Talk, Register to view
How does the AV fan compare projector performance if he doesn't have the time or inclination to visit and view every dealer/projector on his shortlist? Help (or confusion) is on the way. THX is about to instigate a certification for good video quality which will be bought up by various projector manufacturers wanting to increase their prices by paying for their THX certification (that was tongue in cheek as the cost is not huge per projector). How seriously should one take THX certification? With a pinch of salt and a little pepper IMHO.
Sitting in front of my THX certified computer speakers how can I take them seriously anymore?
One of the low points of the year has been the HDMI kafuffle.
HDMI 1.1, 1.2, 1.3, handshaking and other issues, you name it. Full-on high res audio formats via HDMI will be a while yet but most manufacturers have got video nearly there. One of my gripes about this format is the connection itself. Give me a nice secure bullet proof DVI connection any day (but make it small like HDMI)
Streaming from network attached storage (NAS) devices has grown considerably. There is an abundance of cheap front end machines out there from the likes of Snazzio, Roku, Squeezebox and so on that will do most jobs. Storage is now so cheap that for under a grand we can have most of our media stored away in the loft forever and let the NAS whir away out of sight in a spare corner. This trend will continue to escalate and it will be interesting to see how high end systems like Kaleidescape deal with the new HD video formats. Their on-going lawsuit with the DVD forum (you need to crack DVD before you store it right?) has made them pretty well known in the industry. The only way forward for the company (certainly for their higher end offerings) is to offer a similar system with HD-DVD and Blu-ray.
http://www.kaleidescape.com
There are some new screen technologies also on the way but I think I'll let them surface before we start to speculate.
Happy new year everyone and happy AV'ing!
10:15 Posted in Home Cinema | Permalink | Email this