Part 1: The Audio and Visual Basics of 3DTV
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Part 2: Cost Versus Performance
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Part 3: Just What IS 3D TV?
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Part 4: The Different Types of 3DTV
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Part 5: The Future of 3DTV
When Bill Black was first introduced to the concept of integrating a media room into his home in S. Barrington, Illinois, he admittedly had no idea what that entailed. Twelve months later, Bill has not only remodeled his family room into a media room but has helped Barrett’s Home Theater redefine their concept of what applications that encompasses.
Over the years, Barrett’s Home Theater Chicago has custom installed hundreds of home theaters. However, in addition to installing home theaters and educating consumers about the evolving world of technologies, the staff at Barrett’s Home Theater is now educating consumers about media rooms and the difference between a home theater and a media room.
On average, home theaters are usually darker spaces with assembled seating revolved around flat screen televisions often with insulated walls and surround sound systems located away from the nosiest parts of the home. These are usually installed in basements. The hottest televisions in these home theaters are Samsung flat screens with B&W speakers that play back every sound imaginable and enhance the audio experience.
By contrast, the recent media room designed at the Black residence was located within close range of the kitchen where mom and dad can keep tabs on what their kids are engaged in, albeit computers, television viewing, iPods, or Blu-ray movies.
According to Jay Johnson, architect for many of Barrett’s designs, “Keeping the media room centrally located makes the most sense in order to keep all the wiring at the shortest distance. Some media control is affected or limited by the length of wiring or cabling, so this makes the most sense. However, in a home it is not critical.”
What seems to be a hot trend in integrating technologies these days is the media room, says John Wettlaufer, Custom Sales Manger of Barrett’s Home Theater.
“The beauty of these rooms becomes apparent when the family gathers and does what most families do: eat, drink, socialize, often hashing up old memories or escaping from everyday dramas.”
Johnson could not agree more, “The benefits of a media room can provide the owner with the ability to control multiple media applications instead of just video and audio.” Johnson has teamed up with Wettlaufer on several jobs throughout the Chicago area.
In his designs for our clients, Johnson incorporates the integration of HVAC, lights, window treatments, security, and phone applications. Both Wettlaufer and Johnson utilize Crestron control panels which are user friendly and can ultimately save the customer thousands of dollars a year in energy costs by programming the above applications for different seasons and hours in the day.
Maybe that is why Black always returns so promptly Saturday mornings to his media room. With remote in hand, the Saturday morning entertainment begins just after his daughter Mary’s soccer games. Upon returning from their favorite doughnut shop with hot coffee and doughnuts, they dash home to download the game they just witnessed moments ago and their media room comes alive with screams and laughter. And with instant replay the family can watch those magical moments over and over. Now this is a good way to kick off a weekend!
By Dianne Barrett
What’s the latest craze in flat screen televisions this spring at Barrett’s Home Theater Chicago? Introducing the new 6000, 7000, and 8000 series flat screen panels which use a new edge lit LED technology. The definition of LED is: Light emitting diodes that let electricity pass in only one direction emitting visible light when electricity is applied, much like a light bulb. When many LEDs are side-by-side, they can create pictures, such as the scrolling red LED signs found everywhere.
The LED flat screen televisions deliver better picture quality with an ultra-slim design, and are eco-friendly. The series carried in the showroom is white LEDs resulting in a television that is considerably less expensive than a television that uses a RGB value (red, green and blue LEDs). These flat screen televisions at Barrett’s Home Theater also consume up to 40% less power.
Rob Lubas, store manager at Algonquin’s Barrett’s Home Theater states “I think the new Samsung LED backlit LCDS are a great product. Not only are they some of the sleekest and sexiest TV’s I have ever seen, they have great picture quality to compliment them.”
Customers biggest complaint over the years with regular LCD’s televisions has been that the colors don’t look as good as they do on plasma’s flat screen television.
Rob’s solution, “With this new LED backlighting system Samsung has bridged that gap to rival color saturation and black levels that in the past were unheard of from LCD television products. And probably the best news for the end user is that they consume 40% less energy than traditional LCD’s. Seeing is believing!”
Along with selling LED technologies in our new series of flat screen televisions, LED light bulbs are being integrated into our home theater rooms in our floor and overhead lighting systems to reduce energy consumption. In addition, at Barrett’s Home Theater Chicago, LED lights are utilized over the B&W speaker display (Bowers and Wilkins) and Society of Sound wall as well as several other areas of the showroom.
As leaders in evolving technologies we are excited by the implementation of LED lights and televisions and look to our vendors to continue manufacturing products that reduce our carbon prints, not only as retailers but for you, the customer.
By Dianne Barrett
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Everything changed on Nov 4th 1964. That was the night America was introduced to the Beatles as they performed on the Ed Sullivan Show. I was moving and grooving in Dallas, Texas to the rhythms of “I Want to Hold Your Hand,” while staring at a small, boxy, black and white television with rabbit ears. It was the same black and white television my family watched I Love Lucy and The Marx Brothers on years before. Over the next decade, televisions got larger, and after Dorothy landed in Munchkin Land, we all had to make sure those larger TVs were in color. In the nineties, characters like ‘Tim the Tool-man Taylor’ displayed their masculinity by disappearing into their garages to watch portable televisions as they tuned-up old hotrods. Crowding around a small black and white TV with rabbit ears is a memory of the distant past. These have been replaced by a new generation of TVs and TV enthusiasts who choose to bring together whole neighborhoods to show off their big screens for sporting events. Brian Perreault, General Manager of Barretts Home Theater Chicago, has witnessed the advent of many new technologies: “It is not as simple as plugging in a television anymore. There are some installation applications where older products such as CRT or DLP televisions simply would not work.” According to Perreault, “Clients no longer want bulky TVs. They want flat panel televisions that open up the room. In the past, if you wanted a big screen you were forced to look at a big box television, sometimes coupled with a chucky piece of furniture to accommodate it.” Women, the central decorators of the home, are on the prowl to discover new ways to integrate televisions without making them the center of the room. Having once owned a big screen television, of course from Barrett’s Home Theater Chicago, my living space has increased and the room seems less cluttered with the addition of my LG flat panel. Even the electronic components including a CD player, high definition cable box, Blu-ray, and audio server are stored in the basement, nowhere to be seen in the living space. What a relief to get rid of all those wires! Even corporate America seems to be having a love affair with electronics in the board rooms. Many offices that I visit have flat panel televisions mounted on the walls displaying digital art scenes, including my favorite: the Rocky Mountains. Soothing yes, but also serving a dual purpose, because with the switch of a remote on goes the television. Barrett’s Home Theater Chicago, also installs projectors mounted high over board tables for presentations. Who knows what technologies will emerge in the next few years, but this I know, the manufacturers are making flat screen televsions and other products sleeker and more sophisticated. Barretts Home Theater located in the Chicago suburbs of Naperville and Algonquin, have all these and more, including the latest offerings from Sony, LG, Samsung, and Pioneer. |
By Dianne Barrett
Barrett’s Home Theater has been a member of Home Theater Specialist of America (HTSA) for ten years. Consisting of retail and custom installation specialists across America, HTSA has provided the entire team the ability to network several times a year in all facets of business operation to determine best business practices by attending education forums, conferences, and online web casting. In addition, because HTSA is a consortium of buyers, our Director Richard Glikes, is able to ensure purchasing power in the marketplace.
Last year, Joe Barrett, president and owner, and I had the opportunity to visit with several of our HTSA partners in their perspective cities including Seattle and Dallas. We saw firsthand how the custom installation design centers and retail home theater stores integrated several technologies for home and office use.
“Because the audio/video and technologies industry is changing so rapidly, networking among business owners is critical, especially in these challenging times.” states Joe.
Our staff from sales consultants to custom installers and programmers are provided ample opportunity through professional training to continue their education to provide the customer with the latest and most timely information to meet their needs.
According to John Cook, Project Manager for Barrett’s Home Theater Chicago, “Our custom installation team and programmers are CEDIA (Custom Electronics Design & Installation Association) trained and certified. The advanced education for the management team through HTSA sponsored educational forums enhances the shopping experience for the customer because the staff knows the business at all levels.” In addition most staff has attended some or all of the following training:
Since all of us in the HTSA buying group are sailing in uncharted waters, as technologies continue to change on a daily basis, the support and teamwork approach across the globe are key strategies to meet the lifestyle for each and every customer. For more information on HTSA and CEDIA visit their websites.
By Dianne Barrett
CONSUMER ALERT
On February 17, 2009 all full-power broadcast television stations in the United States will stop broadcasting on analog airwaves and begin broadcasting only in digital.
CONSUMER CORNER
• A digital-to-analog converter box will allow you to continue using your existing analog TV to watch over-the-air digital broadcasts.
• All local broadcast networks including CBS, NBC, ABC, and FOX will continue to be available through a converter box.
• The digital TV (DTV) transition does not affect cable or satellite TV subscribers.
• DTV offers improved picture and sound quality.
• DTV offers more programming choices.
• DTV is available now. If you watch over-the-air television today, you should be able to receive all or most of your local stations’ digital signals if you have a DTV receiver.
According to Brian Perreault, general manager of Barrett’s Home Theater Chicago, updating to a new high definition or digital ready television will allow consumers to take full advantage of the DTV transition which will offer vastly improved picture and sound quality, and more programming choices. Hooking up a convertor box to an existing analog television will simply convert the digital signal back to an analog signal which allows accessibility to the DTV channels without the full benefits of this new broadcast standard.”
At Barrett’s Home Theater Chicago, our sales and custom installation staff are more than happy to answer any questions related to these changes in technology.
For more information contact Mr. Perreault at 630-898-2850.
By Dianne Barrett
Make no mistake, this is going to be the fall Chicagoans remember for a long time. With summer winding down, we have two baseball teams heading for the playoffs, and a football season that opens with the Superbowl rematch against Peyton Manning and the Indianapolis Colts.
Do you want to make the most of spectator sports as they come alive in your family rooms and basements? Think no further, than Barretts Home Theater and their custom installation division, Chicago. Introducing Pioneer’s most recent and advanced Plasma ever; the new 1080p Elite KURO, which boasts black levels five times greater than its predecessor. It is built with the highest resolution (1920 x 1080p); the new Elite KURO offers an entertainment experience of unequaled measure.
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Pioneer KURO displays do not use the traditional second layer of glass found in other plasma manufacturer’s panels. According to Takashi Miyata, screen engineer for Pioneer, “We bond our exclusive high performance color filter to our panel’s glass which greatly reduces secondary reflections and unwanted ambient light. The result is a clear, pristine picture with sharp bright images even in brightly lit room conditions.” In addition, the latest plasma is ENERGY STAR rated, giving it superior energy efficiency. |
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Watching sports on a plasma almost makes you want to give up your tickets and hunker down in comfort of your family room or basement with family and friends. Dennis Evens, six year customer of Barretts Home Theater, Chicago has invited a multitude of guests to his sports headquarters. Whether they arrive by plane, train or automobile, as long as they are prepared to sing the fight song, “Bear down Chicago Bears,” they are welcomed with open arms.
He goes on to state, “My custom installed home theater equipped with a 65” and 37” TV makes life easier. I avoid the hassles of traffic getting to games, parking, cold weather and it is like being at the game.”
So before the winds start howling and the fluffy white substance starts coating our driveways, remember you don’t have to BEAR the weather to see the detail and feel the emotions of the game. With a Pioneer plasma you will be able to see icicles forming on their beards of fans, the steam rising from players and the intensity of coach’s face.
So saddle up sports fans, this is the year to get that Home Theater you have always dreamt about; Barretts Home Theater and the custom installation team are ready to educate and serve you.
By Dianne Barrett
It is a known fact that there are fundamental differences in the way men and women remove themselves from life’s stresses. Having been married for 28 years to the same man, (President Joe Barrett of Barretts Home Theater Chicago) it has always been understood, when the clock strikes 12 on a Sunday afternoon, he checks out. I know not to disturb him allowing him the freedom to do his ‘Man Cave’ thing.
According to the Urban Dictionary, ‘Man Cave’ is defined as: a room, space or area that is specifically reserved for a male person to be in a solitary condition away from the rest of the household to work, play or involve himself in certain hobbies, activities without interruption. And yes ladies, that means without any interference from female influence.
But what mostly lurks in these caves is T.Vs and the bigger, the better. Some men have taken it to new levels by trying to upstage their buddies down the block with the newest and flashiest flat screens on the market and having them custom installed. Did you ever notice, one TV is not enough in the ‘Man Cave’ because men could be watching two or three different sports programs at once; now this must be heaven. God forbid if one would have to get up to get a beverage, use the toilet or grab another brat and miss a play. Is this the reason TVs are now custom installed in hotel bathrooms alongside telephones?
This growing trend the last couple of years has opened up innovations for companies like Barretts Home Theater Chicago. Last year the custom installation department installed over 50 ‘Man Cave’ projects in the Chicago land area. Moving from the garage to take over the basement with sports memorabilia, girly pictures and blinking beer signage coupled with the state of the art home theater technologies is what makes the ‘Man Cave’ such a cool spot to be.
Recently I spoke with a Barretts Home Theater Chicago customer, Steven Wits from the western suburbs, whose custom installation job, alias ‘Man Cave,’ provided a much needed resprite from his high stress job and three teenage children. “Tired and worn out from a long day of work, the ‘Man Cave’ is a place for therapy of the mind, body and soul,” Witz explains.
“Barretts Home Theater Chicago knew how to custom install my ‘Man Cave’ to fit my needs. The custom installation team retrofitted the basement to incorporate surround sound for enhanced effects. Sometimes a grouping of my male friends respond to the shear entertainment of hard core grunting and hitting of football players on T.V by striking mid air high fives, bellowing out animalistic sounds, thrusting their chests while screaming at their TVs,” Witz continues. Now that I think about it, maybe this is the reason women and children have good reason to disappear from the scene of the ‘Man Cave’ due to Neanderthal behaviors that have not progressed to what we are familiar with, at least in mixed company, the modern man.
Here’s to all the men who celebrate life by sharing their big screens and home theaters with other men who may not be as fortunate as to have their own ‘Man Cave.’ Let’s just hope whatever happens in the ‘Man Cave’ stays in the ‘Man Cave.’
By Dianne Barrett
Prewired vs. Retrofit
Energy efficiency, conservation and improving technologies are at the forefront of constructing and utilizing electronics these days. While most companies Barretts Home Theater Chicago partners with are leaders in using energy efficient components in their manufacturing processes, many have taken it a step further by ensuring the products they sell at Barretts Home Theater Chicago locations are packaged to reduce waste, recycled at the end of their lifespan and use less energy to operate over a longer course of time. In addition, companies such as Sharp and Hitachi, both seen at Barretts Home Theater Chicago showrooms, have taken the word “GREEN” to a new dimension.
Sharp and Hitachi have built design and manufacturing facilities that are using energy efficient technologies including solar and cogeneration systems, thereby reducing the need to buy energy from outside grids, and reducing CO2 emissions.
Hitachi’s products are rated using eight criteria, including resource reduction, product longevity, resource recycling, and ease of decomposition, to name a few. Their products are shown in catalogs and websites with an ‘eco-products’, accounting for 83 percent of total net sales across all departments.
Sharp, along with two other electronic companies, established a new electronic product recycling management company, Electronic Manufacturers Recycling Management Company to manage collection and recycling in the U.S.
Thanks to these innovations and progressive initiative from both companies to create energy efficient, long lasting products, the number of LCDs televisions (manufactured by both companies) sold at Barretts Home Theater Chicago has increased; LCD, liquid crystal display is a thin, flat display devise made up of color or monochrome pixels. It utilizes battery powered electronics because it uses smaller amounts of electric power. LCDs produce bright images with same resolution as plasma television. The life span and reduced heat emission while operating is a real plus for eco-conscience consumers, with the average lifespan of new LCDs televisions ranging from 60,000 hours to 80,000 hours.
According to Ross DiGiacomo, a veteran salesman at Barretts Home Theater in Naperville, Illinois, customers are beginning to request the more energy efficient products; “most of our company’s panels are becoming Energy Star compliant, such as Sony, LG, Pioneer Elite to name a few; customers are asking for such products and manufactures are producing them because of the increased costs of energy.”
DiGiacomo believes Barretts Home Theater sells a bit more plasmas than LCD’s but the gap is closing. “LCD has come on strong recently due to coming out sooner with the higher resolution panels and making larger panels several years ago. Otherwise plasma was a dominate panel” It really depends on what the customers priorities are in life and how they plan on optimizing these electronics.
For more information on the latest technologies related to ENERGY STAR ratings and companies Barretts Home Theater Chicago partners with that comply with GREEN manufacturing, distribution and disposal practices, contact Ross DiGiacomo at rdigiacomo@barretts.tv or visit our showrooms in Naperville or Alquonquin, Illinois.
By Dianne Barrett
