HDMI Case Studies

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Balancing Usability, Convenience and Performance: New Equipment for Today's Market Realities

By Josh Oebel

Our first job as integrators is to listen to our client's desires and then translate them into a system that balances performance and usability. Implementing the latest technology is part of the excitement of our business. Integrating technology wisely is our responsibility. This case study details an upgrade to an existing home theater that finally met the client's performance and functionality needs. Calculated equipment selection and automation assisted us in reaching this goal, not to mention listening carefully to the client's wishes.

The Job

Upgrade a family room/home theater from its existing 108 inch rear projection system, high performance surround sound and automation system. The upgrade entailed the using a 103-inch plasma, a Blu-ray disc player, and improved automation. The right choice of equipment – both in displays and accessories – can make the difference between a successful installation and one that will leave the client with a negative opinion of the firm’s and the industry’s capabilities.

The Problem

The original installation company failed to meet the client's expectations for video performance and usability. The theater was a multi-purpose room with dramatically varying levels of ambient light, primarily due to very large bay windows in the room. The client was simply not satisfied with the picture brightness from the projector during daytime use. Inconvenient system operation only added to his disappointment. The operation was plagued by prolonged startup times, source switching delays, and a generally unfriendly user interface.

In addition to addressing these complaints, the client wanted to integrate a Blu-ray disc player and upgrade to an HDMI connection to preserve the quality of his digital video sources. The client had always been very happy with the audio portion of the original system, which included a high performance Meridian surround sound processor, and thus wanted to maintain all existing audio components. The challenge lay in the limited video switching capabilities of the Meridian processor and the proposed new video display.

The Solution

Fortunately, the client already had a Panasonic 103-inch plasma TV which was in use in another part of the house. The Panasonic plasma replaced the rear-projection system. Knowing that the direct-view plasma display would perform more consistently in varying lighting conditions, it was the best option to overcome the lighting dilemma. Using the plasma TV would also help resolve the slow startup time which was, in part, due to the projector warming up. Replacing the entire display system, however, meant removing the rear-projection system, modifying the custom cabinetry, and building a custom floor stand for the 485 pound plasma TV.

The next issue was video switching. Some installers may sacrifice audio performance by opting for lesser quality components that offer “everything in one box,” and may ignore high performance, specialty audio products because they don't have the latest video switching features.

The reasoning is that that one device handling both audio and video switching, while simplistic, is easier to control. However, one of the keys to creating a great system is using the right tool for a specific function. An audio component should be selected because of its sound performance and not necessarily for its ancillary features such as video switching. In this case, the client already owned a quality audio processor, which was the right tool for the sound. But as is often the case with high-end audio components, it lacked the latest video switching capabilities. Given the large size of the new display and the addition of a 1080p Blu-ray player, the client definitely wanted to maintain the 1080p resolution and preserve the quality of the digital video signals from the Blu-ray player and the high definition satellite service. HDMI, of course, is the best option to achieve this. The right tool for the job of handling the HDMI switching was a dedicated video switcher. My associate, Allen Mueller, specified Key Digital's iScan Pro. It would handle the video switching for the HDMI components and gave us the added benefit of scaling and trans-coding the legacy sources in the system to 1080p over HDMI. It would also maintain consistent response time when switching between video sources regardless of the source.

Using separate components for the individual functions of the system (i.e. separate devices for audio and video switching) can often raise the complexity of a system. This, in turn, makes the automation of the equipment that much more critical. Vice versa, solid automation control can overcome the complexities thereby enabling us to design the system around performance priorities without sacrificing convenience and usability. To ensure reliable performance and intuitive operation for the client, we integrated a Crestron control system with a handheld touch-screen interface. Using our knowledge of the client's habits and carefully listening to his wishes, we designed a user interface to give him the flexibility he desired and the simplicity of operation he and his family needed. Not to mention a bit of graphical wow factor.

As you can see from the block diagram below, we used the following source devices:

DirecTV H20 satellite receiver
Samsung BD-P1400 Blu-ray player
Motorola HDC6415 cable box
Mitsubishi HS-U775 S-VHS player

The 103-inch Panasonic plasma described above was a TH103PF9UK model.

The two primary video sources - the DirecTV receiver and the Samsung Blu-ray player were connected by HDMI to the Key Digital switcher. The cable box was connected by component cables and the VHS player by S-video. The 103 inch plasma was connected to the switcher by HDMI. The audio portion of the installation was handled by a Meridian 568 surround sound processor, which is included in the diagram. However, we have removed the audio output and speakers from the diagram to focus exclusively on this case study's main subject - video switching. Further below is the diagram for the Crestron control system also showing the updated house-wide audio distribution.

The Takeaway

As audio/video professionals, it is our responsibility to listen to our client's desires and then translate them into a working, media marvel! In this case, we had a tech savvy client who knew that he wanted the latest and greatest but was not sure how to make it all exciting and comfortable at the same time. We used the latest in high resolution sources and digital HDMI switching to deliver the excitement. We used the right tools for each function and a solid control system to make it comfortable. All that into consideration, we gave the client exactly what he was looking for-a truly satisfying entertainment experience!

Josh Oebel is an experienced home-theater designer at Modia, a CEPro Top 100 custom-residential installation firm based in Texas. Josh specializes in room layout, Crestron programming and advanced home-theater project management. Josh can be reached at josh.oebel@modia.com.

The views and opinions expressed herein are those of the author and do not necessarily represent the views and opinions of HDMI Licensing, LLC, the HDMI Founders or any of their respective parent organizations or affiliates.