More Technology Woes, With a Happy Ending

After nearly a month of computer and technology woes at Greenlee Gazette, Greenlee Graphics (my home business) and at my work-a-day job as well, you'd think I'd get to breathe a little sigh of relief, and get back to ordinary life, no more dabbling in "new" electronic doohickies and whatnot, right?

But I'm destined to always have to be upgrading and then problem solving, it would seem. The problem was straightforward: my 2007 flat-panel Toshiba HDTV/DVD combo player died. It's my office TV, and it gets a lot of use, not just because I'm at my computer too often, but because The Other Half is so often to bed so early, for work. I get stuck in my office frequently. But solving the problem isn't quite so easily solved as you would think.



It's beginning to look a bit like Mission Control in here! Now, to add another video card to the computer, and
run another cable to the TV, and. . . .

I wanted the DVD built in, because that's the way I've been doing things for my last two (yes, I've had two previous flat-panel TVs, can you believe time flies that fast?) set-ups, and was thinking small. I did the research, narrowed my search down to an RCA 24" model at Fry's. I should mention that I was replacing a 19" set that had an enormous bezel on it, so a 24" takes up about the same space. Anyway, the RCA was the best pick out of a small pool  of options, and it was $169.99 on Fry's website. So, I decided to go get one on Sunday.

Not recommended:
RCA LED24C45RQD 24"
Just trust me.

Surprise, surprise, they had plenty of them, but they were $219.99. Up $50 overnight! But it was really all they had to choose from, so I bought it. I assembled it, plugged it in, and. . .I was underwhelmed to say the least. The screen was clearly pixelated, especially up close, and the sound was atrocious. I mean, so bad that it was a real deal-breaker. I tried plugging in some USB speakers that came with my computer, and it was an improvement, but only barely. It had to go back, or I would have been very disappointed. Too bad I packed it up, and forgot the three screws to the base, and that The Other Half had to drive them to the store for me while I waited! Anyway. . .

Recommended:
Insignia NS-24E400NA14
Sure, just a store brand, but good!

After taking the RCA back to Fry's, I headed to Best Buy, a place that feels oddly out-of-time. I'm wondering how much time they have left, just a gut feeling. But they had a 24" HDTV/DVD combo, by their in-house brand, Insignia. It looked good. It sounded good. And it was $189.99. Cool, I'll take it! And then the salesman dude sold me the wrong set. And here I thought the $139.99 price was an unexpected Labor Day discount*. I'd already been rung up, and would have had to wait in line at customer service, and said to myself, screw it. I put it in the car, drove down to Sam's Club, and bought a Samsung Blu-Ray wifi player for $79.99.


Also a good buy: Samsung Blu-ray Player
BD-FM57C

Long story short (I know, too late), I'm now setup with blu-ray on a really nice 24" set in my office. Though I don't need Netflix or YouTube on my TV (I have a second monitor on my computer) in my office, I now can. The sound is good, the picture is great (Family Guy was alarmingly clear and bright), and the player is small enough that it's not a problem. The best part: I came in about $9 less than the crappy RCA cost me!

On to the next problem!

* As it turns out, it was a Labor Day sale, $40 off to be specific, so it was a good day indeed.
 

How Do I Justify Buying an iPad?

All my phones, from 1995 to 2013

I have too many screens in my life. I spend all day at work with my PC's 22" flat panel screen a foot from my face. While there, I frequently check my Android phone for things. I spend roughly 9 hours all said, and I head home. In the car, I have a stereo/backup camera screen in the car, which interfaces with my phone if I want it to. When I get home, I plug my Android phone into the USB cable to my desktop PC with its 23" screen. But I don't turn the PC on when I get home.

If I have sufficient motivation, I may go for a 3-4 mile walk, in which case, I'll unplug that phone, and pop in some earphones for my walk, periodically checking the screen for mail, messages, and to change what I'm listening to. Back home at last, I put the phone back on the PC to charge, get cleaned up, and head to the family room, where I have a 60" DLP HDTV. Off to one side, is my MacBook Pro 15", which will migrate to my lap, to the arm of the couch and back again for as long as I watch whatever I have on the big TV.

This screen lost its marbles last month, so I upgraded
to a newer MacBook Pro

I may make dinner with the big TV running in the background, or maybe take a brief break from screens while I prepare the meal. But more often than not, I'll take my dinner plate into my office, and put it in front of the PC screen. I'll usually turn on the 20" flat panel desk HDTV. I will then spend an obscene amount of time with two screens, maybe three if you count the times I check on the phone. 

You'd think that when I head to the john, I'd be free of screens. But no. I have a  cheapie Andoid 4.0 tablet, bought mostly as a reader, and I'll sometimes take it to the loo to play Scramble or Words With Friends. But because the tablet is so slow, I'm more likely to just take the phone in there for the same purpose. Through all of this time at home, The Other Half is using his own screens (if not sharing mine), and will sit in his own office on his 21" flat panel on his PC,  or lay in bed, watching the 39" HDTV we have in there.

The screen in my car

Doesn't this amount to a less functional version
of my MacBook Pro?

Whew! That's a long way to go to illustrate the absurd amount of time we spend (well, me mostly) with 1, 2 or 3 screens going. In fact, it is a rare moment when I don't have one nearby. In a few weeks, I will be upgrading my phone (a near antique 2010 Evo) for either the HTC One or the Samsung Galaxy S4, either way a 5" screen. I've already upgraded the MacBook, and will shortly be giving The Other Half my i5 PC, and upgrading to Windows 8 in my office.

So, really. How can I justify buying an iPad? I'm never away from a screen, or computing device. And while an iPad would undoubtedly take up less room than my MacBook Pro, I use that puppy. I'm a touch-typist, and use graphics  programs,  both things better suited to a full-fledged computer. Whichever new phone I get,  its near-tablet size will be much larger than my current phone. Other than "I want one," what possible justification do I have for getting an iPad?

Does "because I want one" justify spending hundreds of dollars for a toy? I'll give Apple this much: they have a talent for inventing expensive items you never needed, but really, really want.

My New TV is DEAD ALIVE!!! (UPDATE)

SOLVED: After a stretch of days of squinting (even with my new glasses) at the 19" flat panel across the room, my 60" TV is once again functional. Though I wasn't happy with the fact that the Mitsubishi WD-60738--which I otherwise love--had its lamp burn out after two months, I'm now satisfied.  If this should happen to you, just be sure to have a receipt of purchase, your model number and your serial number. The lamp ordering page at www.mitsuparts.com is very easy to use. After I filled out the online form, I DID have to scan my receipt, and email it to the parts department. I then had the presence of mind to call them, and make sure that what I sent was adequate. It was. Two days later, the new lamp arrived.

Surprisingly, the lamp comes in a pre-loaded cartridge. Essentially, if you can operate a screw driver, you can do this yourself. Three screws, and a slide-out cartridge. It couldn't be easier. The TV once again is beautiful!


ORIGINAL POST (04/14/11): On this here blog thingy, I chronicled the transformation of my home theater system (TV, stereo and Harmony remote new; cable box, Blu-ray & CD player old). The whole endeavor wasn't outrageously expensive, since I got the stereo at Ultimate Electronics' going out of business sale, the remote on eBay and the TV from one of TigerDirect.com's "open box deals."

An open box deal is a little bit "buyer beware," since the unit has been lightly used, possibly refurbished, possibly "scratch and dent," and possibly missing parts. In my case, there was a tiny scrape on the back of the cabinet, and no manual. So, no big whoop. And the television itself--a Mitsubishi 60738 HDTV DLP--has been the crown jewel of my setup, with a gorgeous, huge picture.

It has not been without its irritations: channel changing takes too long, the cable box menus make the screen go blank for 2-3 seconds between clicks, and worse, the cable box sometimes loses all communication with the television, and must be unplugged or rebooted. Some of that may be the cable company's fault, and there will be no way to be sure until Cox Cable releases a new cable box.

But over the last six weeks, after I ironed out all the kinks, I've been pretty happy with the TV. But today, The Other Half called me at work, semi-whiny, semi-accusey. The TV won't come on, and it has a RED light lit. Hmmmm. I thought (and later confirmed) that the red light meant the lamp was burned out. This is an ordinary occurrence with a DLP TV, a trade-off for the relatively low price. But it usually happens after years, not weeks. Actually, it has been two months to the day.

This is irritating, but it isn't the end of the world, of course. What is more irritating is what I found when I tried to rectify the situation. I perused the TigerDirect website, and found that my TV is covered under the original manufacturer's warranty. Cool. So, I went to Mitsubishi's web site. There, I found out that their parts department is "closed for inventory." They expect to be open this Monday. So, I can't set anything in motion until then. Grumble.

So, as of now, this is just a blog journal about my frustration. I am not angry at TigerDirect, and I'm not angry with Mitsubishi. How this goes after I call them on Monday may change that. I will do an update to this post for anyone who might find it, to used as consumer advice.

The only bright spot is, if I get the runaround and get irritated enough, I can buy my own new lamp on eBay for $75ish. Which is cheaper than profound irritation.

UPDATE I (04/15/11): After calling three local "authorized" repair shops, with no success, I decided to give Mitsubishi's customer service center a try. The operator was friendly, and I wasn't transferred around or anything. But there was a curious delay that was awkward, and a distinctly un-American accent for a Mitsubishi-USA center. No matter, the guy was helpful, and he eventually told me that I was covered, and that Mitsubishi would send me a new lamp in two to three business days! Hazzah!

But not so fast. After he said "may I please to put you on hold for one to two minutes?", he came back on the line and said that their parts department was closed for inventory. I had already told him this. Alas, I will have to start over on Monday. I'm starting to get irritated with Mitsubishi.

UPDATE II (04/19/11): Okay, so I went to work on Monday morning, and I forgot my paperwork. Aarrgh. So, I had to take 40 minutes off, and run home to get it. I logged in to Mitsubishi's parts page upon my return to work, and very quickly completed the order for my lamp. Then I was told, "you aren't done yet!" I had to prove that I had purchased the TV. Hrrmmphhh. Well, I did bring my packing slip with my serial number, so I scanned that and emailed it to Mitsubishi.

Then--while working, you understand, I'm a multi-tasker--I phoned the parts department. After four busy signal tries, I got through. After 10 minutes on hold, I got a live person, and five minutes after that, I had a confirmation that my proof of purchase was adequate.

Upon my return home, I found an email confirmation that the lamp has shipped, and that I should receive it by Wednesday afternoon, April 20. Woohoo! On track. Don't let me down, Mitsubishi!

The Sad Solved Saga of the Sony HT-SS370 Home Theater System!

UPDATE: This issue has been--tentatively--solved, and Sony is for the most part exonerated. Scroll to the end of the post for my solution.


[EDITOR'S NOTE: I've posted this as much for other owners of this system with the same problem, as for its blog value. I've included updates with tests for anyone else seeking answers.]

I know that I've talked a lot about my new home entertainment setup in the last couple of weeks. But when you've got your own web forum and you want to vent, there's no better place. And much of my time has been taken up lately, ironing out the kinks in the system.

I bought a new stereo to go with my new TV, mostly because my old stereo was barely hanging in there, and had no HDMI inputs. So, when Ultimate Electronics started their going out of business sale, I was ripe for the pickings. It turns out everyone had a sale on the Sony HT-SS370 home theater system, apparently, so my "deal" wasn't so special. But it does everything I wanted it to do, and it's super slim, and fit where I wanted it to go. So, great, right?

Well, when the TV arrived, we got everything hooked up, and I was showing it off to some friends. 10 minutes into the new Star Trek Blu-ray, the stereo kicked off, and thus the picture went out. After fumbling around, I got it back on. 10 minutes later, >blink!< out it goes again. After a little study, I found out that "auto standby" is a default setting, and that the stereo will turn itself off if it senses no action for 10 minutes. Okay, stupid feature, and even stupider that it can't sense the Sony Blu-ray player, but whatever. I turned it off. Problem solved?

Sort of. It no longer turns off when playing Blu-rays. It doesn't shut off when watching the cable box. It doesn't shut off when I'm playing music through blue tooth from my PC. But when I play CDs from my old Pioneer 300-disc player, it will shut off unexpectedly, sometimes after only a couple of minutes. When you get it back on again, it might last for half an hour, it might last for a minute. Or 10 seconds. Or two seconds. Maddening, right? And I couldn't take it back, because Ultimate Electronics is going out of business!

The Other Half suggested that I go buy a duplicate, swap out the receiver, and take it back for a refund. That way, I got what I paid for, and the rest is Sony's problem. Unethical? I don't think so under the circumstances. So, I did it. And I did it clean too, I didn't disturb anything else in the package, just swapping out the receiver. Then, one of three things happened: a) I got another lemon, b) karma bit me in the ass, or c) all Sony HT-SS370s do this.

I should mention that before I went the extreme route of returning it, I contacted Sony via online chat with a tech. The girl I talked to had never heard of the problem before, but she told me I should unplug the unit from my power strip, and plug it directly into the wall. As unlikely as it sounds, that worked. The first time I tried it. The next day, it was back to shutting off every 5 seconds.  And this one does too. So, either I'm going to have to phase out my CD player, or replace it with another, newer (possibly HDMI? Maybe Sony?) CD player. And I won't know until after I try it if that is going to work!  Short of that, the only think I can think of is to try a different cable or a digital one. I suppose it's worth a shot.

UPDATE: Though my Pioneer PD-F1009 CD player is very old, maybe 10 years or so, it is still sold by Pioneer Electronics. The exact same machine. So the age of the thing shouldn't be my problem, right? And the only other output is fiber optic, which the Sony receiver lacks. I'm stuck.

UPDATE #2:  Running a test. I set the player on random, at 11:10 pm. It is currently running with no issue. I have the volume at a moderate level, and am curious if turning it up has any effect, because the times it has cut out, the volume has been loud. 11:20, and the system is still on, so the "auto standby" can't be the culprit. If it makes it to 11:30, I may have to try turning it up. Sorry neighbors!

11:31, and it's still playing. Cranking it up a bit now. Frankly, "cranked up" is not very loud, at least with the CD player. No cut-out yet. Could this problem be daylight related? Some sort of stray infrared signals coming from somewhere? It seems unlikely. 11:40, and still no disruption, even at full volume. As for loudness, the left channel still seems weak, so tomorrow I'll check my wires. The difference between playing it today and tonight though is puzzling. The only difference seems to be daylight. More testing tomorrow.

UPDATE #3: It's 12:10 am--an hour later--and the stereo is still playing just fine. But after some tooling around on the internet, I did find something interesting. Each time the receiver has shut down, it has done so abruptly, and the power light has flashed red several times. I found out this is indicating "protect" mode. And protect mode indicates a short of some sort. The only place I could have a short would be in the speaker wires, which may be why I have a left channel problem. Why this would only occur with the CD player is a mystery though. Sigh.

UPDATE #4: Sunday morning, I turned on the system, and it barely made it through a song before it cut out. I turned it back on twice more, and each time it shut off again. Since my left channel speaker has always seemed weak, I decided to unplug it, and remembered my speaker switch box. Yes, I have an A/B/C speaker switch box that allows me to play music on speakers outside! So, I bypassed the box, and plugged the left front speaker wire directly into the speaker.

The stereo did not shut off! I left to run errands (including an unsuccessful search for a new switch box), leaving the stereo on for two hours. It was still playing when I got home.  So, most of the mystery seems to be solved. My switch box was shorting out, and causing a protection fault, pretty much like a GFI. Had I known to suspect a short, rather than the stereo itself, I could have avoided a heck of a lot of trouble.

Sony's troubleshooting and online techs could be well served to have this little nugget of knowledge. The blinking red "protect" light is not clear in the manual. So while I exonerate Sony, and put the blame on my Radio Shack switch box, Sony could have helped a lot by explaining what "protect" means!

I'm not ready to do cartwheels, and think all my problems are solved. For one thing, since this was an intermittent and oddly specific problem, I still can't figure out why it only happened when playing CDs, or why it seemed to only happen in daytime. Mostly though, if the problem is solved, I don't care!


And finally, since this seems to not be a Sony problem, then my ethically dodgy return of the first receiver is moot, because there was nothing wrong with it! No harm, no foul.

My Home Theater is Now in Harmony

Though little glitches have popped up, and required ironing out,* my made-over home theater setup has received its final component, for a while anyway. We replaced our HDTV and the sound system (receiver, sub woofer, speakers), while retaining the 10-year old CD Jukebox, the Logitech wireless music system for the computer, and the Blu-ray player we got for Christmas.


These components are working together in relative harmony,** but there was a still a bit of a problem. Five remote controls. Even the two Sony components had two similar remotes, neither of which could be dumped. Amazingly enough, The Other Half was managing without throwing them at me. But I was unsatisfied. I mean, I got these new HDMI-connected components not only for their zazz factor, but for simplification.

So, what to do? Run down to Big Lots and get a $20 All4One "universal" remote?  In my experience, those devices can be useful, but they are certain disappointments. They'll do the basics, but if you have special features you need to access, you'll need to haul out the old remotes. This is particularly true now, when many of my components have very minimalist control panels on their physical selves. So, I needed something better.

Have you seen the commercial with the dweebie guy who wishes he was Kevin Bacon? You may have missed it while figuring out that he was played by Kevin Bacon, that the commercial is for a fancy universal remote. It's a Logitech Harmony, and they come in quite a variety of classes: cheap, pricey, pricier, expensive, very expensive and ridiculously expensive.  The higher up you go, the more features you get, the more devices you can control, and the flashier buttons and gizmos it has. I wanted the Harmony 650 after some study. It controls 5 devices, has a little color display screen, and seems like what I need.

But the 650 is pricey at about $100. So, I've been scoping out "deals" on it. After sussing out that there were no real deals to be had (even at Ultimate Electronics' going out of business sale), I went to the usual suspects: TigerDirect, Amazon and eBay. Ultimately, I got one for about $50, and it arrived two days later!

So, how does it work? So far, it's fantastic.  The Harmony 650 comes with a USB cable to plug in to your computer. It doesn't work with my Mac PowerBook, but I think Apple's pretty much abandoned me too. Fortunately, it works just fine with a Windows PC. You go to Logitech's website, go through a quick registration, download a little software, and then set up your remote. The process is pretty slick. You just need to know the manufacturer and model of each piece of equipment (which is usually pretty easy to figure out). It walks you through that, and it walks you through how you watch TV, listen to music, watch movies, etc. I'm sort of a techie, and I found it simple. If you're not into gadgets as much, you might find it a little more challenging. But not much. (Apparently, if you have a device that your Harmony doesn't know, you can use your existing remote to program it, button by button.)

The remote has an "all off" button which is very cool. When I select "watch TV," the TV, stereo and cable box all turn on, and the controls are set for that. If I then press "watch movie," the cable box turns off, the Blu-ray player turns on, and the controls are set for that. It's really very, very cool. I didn't realize that audio/video equipment understand "on," "off" and "toggle power." It's a distinction I never thought of before, but it keeps the devices from turning back on when you don't want them to.  Anyway, I've found just a couple of things that the remote doesn't do intuitively, but supposedly, I can go back online and make adjustments.***

I still have all of the old remotes in a drawer nearby, should I need them, but I think I'm going to be able to eliminate them for about 95% of the things I need to do! Mission accomplished.

* Glitches do remain, like a left channel speaker that sounds weak, and my Sony HT-SS370 receiver's troublesome tendency to turn itself off. Still working on that.

**Two puns on the word "harmony" is probably one too many.

***I have already gone back to Logitech's site to fiddle with the settings. I added some favorite channels (with some station icons), added a command that lets me go through the different Dolby/Pro-Logic/Music/Movie settings on the stereo. I added a "random" button for the CD player. Basically, any function that you think you'll need can be added, and put into the control screen or assigned to any button. In short: it's awesome.

Mission (Sort of) Accomplished: We Have Home Theater

The old stereo was from the last century. The old TV was from 2004, and had seen much better days. So, in a shopping spree that started on a drunken whim, I embarked on a nearly two-week transition from the old to the new. It has not been without hiccups, and is not completely solved. But it looks like this:

The TV is a Mitsubishi WD-60738, a DLP system, if that means anything to you.  At 60", it's pretty big, though it replaces a 55" model that was complete with cabinet-on-wheels. The new set actually takes up less space. And the picture is so much clearer, it's like stepping up from our old 26" was back in 2004. Part of the goal of this transition was to get everything connected with HDMI cables. If you don't know, HDMI allows you to connect one device to another with one thin cable, rather than multiple cords with multiple inputs. In theory, with the HDTV, stereo receiver, cable box and Blu-ray player, only three connecting cables are necessary.

Since Ultimate Electronics was going out of business, and our old stereo was so old, I bought a Sony Home Theater System (HT-SS370), which includes the receiver, five speakers and a sub-woofer. And the important part: HDMI inputs. The Blu-ray player we got for Christmas also has HDMI, and happens to also be a Sony that matches the new stereo. Cool, right?  Yes and no.

My first problem is the multiple remotes. I have four. Each has an ability to control more than one device, but none does everything. So, I've got to learn the best combination. My second problem is just to make sure everything is set up optimally, which I'll learn probably this weekend. My third problem is that I haven't figured out which way to daisy-chain the devices together that will allow everything to play through the stereo, while still operating logically. And last--and this is the big one--I have to figure out if my new stereo is broken, or if there's something set wrong.

See, the HT-SS370 turns itself off at random moments. And since the Blu-ray runs through it, when it does this, it turns off the picture. *WINK!* blue screen! With no warning.  It turns right back on, but why's it doing that? To make matters worse, since I bought it at a going out of business sale, I can't take it back!  Sure, Sony will have to honor their warranty, but what a pain in the butt.

So anyway, that's why I haven't posted much in the last several days. I've been quite busy with this stuff!  I'll try to get back into the swing as I settle these issue. Meanwhile, if anyone out there has any advice, I'd love to hear it!

What I've Been Doing All Evening

I already wrote about my impulsive purchase of last week. Yesterday, I finally decided on the platform for my hugemungous new Mitsubishi HDTV. After weighing my options, and finding most furniture either very expensive, too wobbly or both. But I did find one, at Big Lots of all places (with a 20% off coupon too!). The style is sort of "early apartment," but it's rather minimalist, and will be dwarfed by the big teevee machine, so sturdiness was really most of what I was going for.

I started assembly at about 7:30. I moved everything to the edges of the living room, and unboxed all the pieces on the rug. There were lots of pieces. . .

I even used the instructions! 

 Things were coming along just fine. I had the (old) TV on for company, and by this time it was around 8:30.

Things started to move rather quickly. About this time, the instructions told me I'd need somebody to help me. Hah! Ouch! I knelt on the claw of the hammer. . .

 About now, I decided to eat some chicken, and watch whatever that new show after Community is. Married Friends? Maybe it was The Umpteenth Show Tried in This Time Slot? I dunno. But I was done eating so, back to work. This took about another half hour. . .

 I'm really coming along now! Let's flip this puppy over, and see what she looks like.

 

Okay, so it's dusty, and has all the A, B, C stickers on it, but I'm almost done! At this point, I took the hinges and doors into the TV room to watch 30 Rock.  Back in a flash, slapped those suckers on, a little Pledge, and voila!

Ain't she a beaut? Okay, that's a stretch, but it should do the trick. And hey, it's an AmeriWood! Seriously. Back to blogging soon. But I'll be dreaming of the imminent arrival of. . .

I suppose I should mention that I had a few parts left over. . .

Impulsive Me (Or, Why PayPal Should Have a Breathalyzer)

Once a year or so, I get the itch for a big-ticket purchase. Sometimes, I go years without scratching it. In 2006 it was a big French-door refrigerator. In 2007, it was a range, microwave and dishwasher. In 2008 and 2009, I cooled my jets (though there was a new computer in there somewhere). In 2010, even in these economic times, I got a new car, but the old one was eleven years old, and I'd owned it for nine. So that was not particularly uncalled for.

As recently as mid-2010, I got some "found money" of about $650 that wasn't expected, and I really couldn't think of a thing I wanted, and I just put in in the bank. Well, it's spent now! On Friday night, after a night of food, drinks, games and more drinks at a friend's house, I came home and sloshed into my desk chair. When checking my email, I came upon a Google alert that I have set for a particular model of HDTV that I've had my eye on. See, our old HDTV (yes, they've been around long enough to be old) was purchased for $2000 or so in 2004. It still works, but not without quirks. The panel on the front doesn't work, so you have to use the remote at all times. The picture has lost much of its clarity and some of its brightness. There are bars burned in on the sides from 4:3 shows. And when the picture is filled with a light color, you can make out "MSNBC" burned in at the bottom!

Mitsubishi WD-60738, my new toy

Anyway, I've sort of been wishing for my TV to die, so that I could justify the purchase of another. But it keeps hanging in there! And then I got that email alert on Friday night. It wasn't the first. I've let several of them go by. But this time, it was exactly the set I wanted, it was about half the price the set goes for at RC Willey or Fry's, it was tax free, and had no shipping charge! If I'd waited for a sale here in town, I doubt I'd have gotten it even close to that price, I'd have had to pay tax, and would have had to figure out a way to get it home. Filled to the gills with red wine as I was, there was none of my usual pragmatism to worry about, so CLICK! Right on that PayPal button!

So, sometime in the next week or so, we'll be wheeling the old 55" Mitsubishi (all 4-foot by 4 1/2-foot by 2 foot of it) out to the garage, awaiting a friend who's going to use it for salvage. Then, I have to find a piece of furniture to set the new one on, since it doesn't have a base. Then, I have to figure out where to put the cable box, Blu-ray player, center speaker, right speaker, receiver and cd player. Oy. I always forget how much work new stuff is when I'm lusting over it! But the good news is, my total cost for the new set was about a third the price of the set it's replacing.

Full Screen vs. Widescreen: Not as Easy as You Think

Images from plum.cream.org

This is an old subject for many of us, one we've argued (mostly with older folks, like parents or grand parents) endlessly. But until yesterday, I wasn't arguing with all the information. I've preferred widescreen movies since they first became available on LaserDisc and on some "special" VHS tapes. The black bars on my old 26" 4:3 tube TV never distracted or confused me. I was aware that this allowed for the full picture to be seen. Or does it?

The argument was a little simpler when almost everyone still had the old, squarish TVs. You got black bars (sometimes big ones), or you filled the screen. Thus, "widescreen" and "full screen." Now, with 16:9 widescreen TVs much more common, the full screen moniker doesn't really make as much sense. And of course, your dad will still try to stretch and squeeze whatever picture he is watching to the full dimensions of his set, rendering the people either short and fat, or tall and thin.

Considering myself something of a pop-culture guru, I thought I had all the answers. In the old days, movies and TVs were of about the same dimensions. Then when TV really took off, the movie makers started making films wider and wider, so they'd be more special than TV. Eventually, they settled on 1.85:1 or 2.39:1 ratios for the most part. So when the wide movies were ported to TV, they had to "pan and scan" them. Basically, they had to take the theatrical print, and move the image around to capture as much of the action as they could to still make the scenes make sense.

This can lead to dizzying, jarring viewing if there is a lot of action on the sides of the picture. Or--even worse--it can completely obscure what is going on. Say there are two people talking, one on the left and one on the right. With pan and scan, you either have to watch a tennis match, or one of the characters is just cut out of the frame. Movie fans could feel cheated too, because big parts of the picture were just lopped off. This was rectified when "letterboxed" movies started to form a niche.

Letterboxed movies differ from most modern widescreen movies in that they were still formatted for the old-style 4:3 TVs. They included the black bars, and had to shrink down the picture to get it to fit. If you put one of these old movies on a modern 16:9 TV, you'll have black bars on all four sides of the picture (unless you adjust it, in which case you have to zoom, usually resulting in a grainy picture). But letterboxing was a step in the right direction, sort of getting people ready for the widescreen phenomenon.

Even before 16:9 TVs took off, DVD players started becoming commonplace. Fortunately, most of them automatically adjust to most modern DVD discs. The player must be set by the user (wonder how often people know this) to tell it what size the TV is, but once that is done, you don't usually have to fiddle with any settings to get the proportions right. This is complicated by other controls that can be fiddled with on the TV, so I'm betting a high percentage of users still have distorted pictures and don't really understand what to do about it.

This is all starting to iron out, with the advent of HDMI and Blu-ray (and DVRs, and TiVOs, and who knows what). Eventually, everyone will have a set and an input device that automatically snaps to the correct settings. We're not there yet, but we will be. And our dads will still try to muck it up. And full screen movie selections will probably be completely phased out, except in instances where that size is the original and only version. But this still isn't getting to my point that "full screen" isn't always a bad thing.

I can't tell you how many times I've been disappointed to bring home (as a gift or impulse buy) a full screen DVD. "Damn it! It's full screen!" Crappity-crap-crap! I'm not alone, and while perusing a movie lover's message board last night, I happened upon this same age-old argument. There are still full screen aficionados, people who love to fill up their TV with color and abhor black bars. Some don't care if the picture is cropped, some don't understand the concept. I saw widescreen fans calling full screen "yokelvision." Which is pretty danged funny right there.

I then happened upon a few posts insisting that "most" movies are shot in full screen dimensions in the first place, and that widescreen movies actually crop the top and bottom off! I was doubtful of this claim. But it is partially correct. Many ("most" is a dubious claim) films are shot in a more square-ratio fashion. They are "matted" to the widescreen dimension either pre- or post-production, either in the camera (hard matting) or in the projector (soft matting). If it is matted in the camera, you're done, it's a wrap, only the widescreen version will exist as a master product. But if it's soft matted. . .

Many if not all movies on TV until recently were made from theatrical prints, and thus came to the editor hard matted. That's why they had to be panned and scanned. But if the editor gets a soft matted film, he can pan and scan and use the image to the top and bottom that would have been cropped out at the theater. The risk in this is that you might see boom microphones or other equipment. You might see areas of the film that are outside the set, or other extraneous information. But if the director had both full and widescreen in mind when he made it, you might just do better--or equally well--with a full screen DVD. This is assuming of course that you have an old 4:3 TV. On a widescreen TV, your full screen movie will have black bars on the sides! Oy.

So that was a long way to go (and probably inartfully written, as well) to bring you to a site that compares--via the Harry Potter films--full versus widescreen. It's very interesting to see what is "chopped off" from each style. Sometimes the full has more information, sometimes the wide does. Sometimes it is a draw. But as you'll see, when the director chooses to hard matte the source material (as in Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban) there is no choice to make: the full screen version is absolutely dreadful.

[Excerpt]

Harry Potter: Widescreen or Fullscreen?

Which is better: the "widescreen" or "fullscreen" DVD edition of the Harry Potter movies?

Although seperate widescreen and "fullscreen" versions of the first movie were released in all major markets around the world (although, as I recall, Australians only had the fullscreen edition), I find it intriguing and interesting that North America (DVD Region 1) is the only market for which Warner Home Video have released full screen versions of the further movies. I assume that poor sales of the full screen version in other markets caused them not to bother, whilst Americans seemed to prefer the full screen version. . .

Read more at: plum.cream.org

MSNBC in HD, If You're Lucky

MSNBC began broadcasting in high definition this week. I can tell by some spruced up sets, and some modified graphics. But that's all I have to go on, because Cox Communications here in Las Vegas is not offering the HD version in the valley.

I wrote a letter to them yesterday, asking about it:

"MSNBC debuted as an HDTV channel today (June 29, 2009). Can we expect it to be added to the Las Vegas HDTV channel lineup? If so, when? Thank you. "

I got this reply:

"Dear James:

At this time, there are no plans to carry this channel in the Las Vegas market. However, we are always evaluating our line-up in an effort to maintain customer satisfaction and bring the best value to our subscribers.

We value your feedback and work very hard to offer a variety of channels to meet the needs of our customers. We have forwarded your request to our Marketing Department for review.
Please note that there are many factors we consider when choosing to add or delete programming. These factors include programming costs, programming ratings, customer requests and the effect the addition or subtraction will have on the remaining line-up."

I was dissatisfied with this answer, so I followed up with this:

"If you don't mind my asking, why are FOX News and CNN carried in HDTV, but MSNBC will not be? And why are the other news channels grouped together, while MSNBC is way up the dial? I'm curious. And I watch a lot more MSNBC than I do the other channels. Please count my vote for MSNBC in HD. Thank you. "

The response doesn't quite gel with the first answer, in my opinion. See what you think.

"Dear James:

Thank you for your reply and we apologize for any inconvenience this may have caused you.

Please be advised that we are only stating that the MSNBC/HD channel is not yet available to the Cox Las Vegas System at this time. As soon as the MSNBC/HD programming content is made available, we will provide a release date for addition of the requested channel.

Cox is not responsible for channel designations. The channel designations are the responsiblity [sic] of the Network and other government agencies. "

I have to wonder, when I visit sites like TVNewser or the "FOX Fan" site, Johnny Dollar's Place, if the ratings comparisons between CNN, MSNBC and FOX "News" are apples-to apples-to apples. How many other cable outfits have MSNBC segregated like Las Vegas' Cox Cable does? How many are not providing the HD feed? Maybe all the gloating about FOX's ratings are a bit overblown?

The Simpsons Gets a New Opening Sequence

Big deal, you say? Well, except for some tweaks here and there, The Simpsons has had essentially the same opening for 20 years! Of course the chalkboard and couch gags were usually different, but this sequence is a big change. But the biggest change is that the show is now in widescreen high-definition!