Sony Release 3 new 4k Projectors at IFA Show

The IFA Show is currently on in Berlin - This is the worlds leading trade show for consumer electronics and electrical goods, and is now in its 10th year.

Sony has announced three new projectors at the show, all featuring 4k (resolution of 4096x2160 pixels) displays and HDR (High Dynamic Range imaging).

Sony 4k Projector featuring HDR and SXRD 

There are three offerings from Sonys 4k line all of which feature Sony's SXRD Technology.  This technology is also sometimes referred to as LCOS (Liquid Crystal on Silicone) or as D-ILA (when JVC touts it).  Here's what Sony say about SXRD - 

“Advanced SXRD™ (Silicon X-tal Reflective Display) panels with an ultra-fast response rate of 2.5 milliseconds minimize the space between pixels for a smoother, more detailed image. Consisting of a thin LCD layer backed with a highly reflective silicon plate, SXRD splits the white light of the lamp into different colors using mirrors and sends them to a red, green, and blue panel in 4K resolution. Light passes in and out of each panel, allowing more effective light blocking for exceptionally deep blacks.”

— Sony

Sonys Top of the line VW870ES 4k Projector

Basically as per the wikipedia page ; Liquid crystal on silicon (LCoS or LCOS) is a miniaturized reflective active-matrix liquid-crystal display or "microdisplay" using a liquid crystal layer on top of a silicon backplane. Effectively light is blocked from passing through the LCD when blacks are meant to be shown.

The VPL-VW870ES ($35,000/€25,000) is Sony’s premium offering, with 2,200 lumens brightness and an 18-piece All Range Crisp Focus lens said to ensure high precision within a compact and lightweight design. Its Digital Focus Optimiser further provides refined image quality and accurate focus without distortion.

“All three of our new models, from the affordable VPL-VW270ES, to the premium VPL-VW870ES feature a new input lag reduction mode which dramatically improves the performance of the display reaction speed to ensure gamers can enjoy the best possible experience alongside the breathtakingly detailed image quality they have come to expect.”

— Chris Mullins, Product Manager - Sony

Sony have provided their 4k Motionflow technology in all of the new projectors, enabling smoother and clear motion by adding extra frames to reduce blur and maintain brightness.  They also offer up HDMI 18 Gbps compatibility and 4K 60P 10bit processing, and Reality Creation analyzing each element of an image to provide gamers with enhanced clarity and resolution without noise.

In the middle of the range sits the 1,800-lumens VPL-VQ570ES ($10,000/€8000), which features Picture Position Memory to quickly change settings for ideal format as well as high dynamic contrast by Advanced Iris, while the VPL-VW270ES ($5000/€5000) brings a 4K HDR picture at the company’s most affordable price point yet.

Sony at IFA 2018

“A growing number of our customers are not only using our home cinema projector range to enjoy the latest blockbusters in their living rooms, but are also enjoying immersive 4K visuals powered by the latest generation of videogame consoles”

— Chris Mullins, Product Manager at Sony

New SONOS amp

Sonos have unveiled their new Sonos Amp.

This new amplifier which can be used in either standalone or multi room setups with in-ceiling, architectural, outdoor, floorstanding or bookshelf speakers features a massive 125 watts per channel, more than double the 60w RMS per channel in the current Sonos Connect:amp (Previously known as the Sonos ZP120).

New Sonos AMP

Most people will know Sonos for their line of Play speakers that are standalone speakers with an amplifier built-in, but many homeowners who are looking for a bigger, better sound will use the Sonos Amp in conjunction with built-in or stereo speakers such as bookshelf or floorstanders.

Previously they will have used the Sonos Connect:amp, which was originally the Sonos ZP120 and featured 120 watts (60w RMS per channel), before that there was the original Sonos amplifier - The ZP100 which featured 100 watts of power (50w RMS per channel) which was launched in 2005 before iPhones, iPads, Spotify and a slew of other technology that is now integrated into our lives.

Rack mounted Sonos Amps

The new amplifier from Sonos features a lot of new technologies and finishing touches such as;

• HDMI ARC (Audio Return Channel)
• Airplay 2
• Mono Mode
• Ethernet Only mode
• Stackable
• 1/2 Rack Mountsizing

We can't wait to see what it sounds like, 240w RMS is nothing to be scoffed at for home audio and we suspect teamed with a couple of pairs of 8" in-ceiling or outdoor speakers will be loud enough for any party, especially if paired with a subwoofer or the SONOS sub.

Bose joins in with Alexa powered Smart Speakers

Bose today announced a trio of smart speaker products in their new music and home theater line, a new wireless speaker the Bose Home Speaker 500 and two soundbar products the Bose Soundbar 700 and Soundbar 500.  All are powered by Amazons Alexa voice assistant with other voice assistant technology to follow.  Apple's Airplay2 will have functional streaming to the new Bose speakers from early 2019.

Bose Home Speaker 500 - A new smart speaker from Bose with Alexa technology

“All of our new smart speakers double up on functionality. It takes just one Home Speaker 500 to deliver true stereo separation — there’s no need to pair two. Our Soundbar 700 and 500 are thin and discreet with jaw-dropping surround sound — whether you’re streaming Spotify or watching a movie. They combine Bluetooth and Wi-Fi for unbeatable ease of use, can be mixed and matched to play in sync or separately, and with new Alexa functionality and more VPAs on the way, they’ll only get better over time”

— Doug Cunningham - Bose

These new Wifi enabled speakers from Bose feature many of the same features as industry competitors like the HomePod from Apple and Sonos One speaker.  They can stream music, sync for multi room audio and receive and complete voice commands.  The Apple Home Speakers and Sound Bars also feature Bluetooth, so you can stream to them directly from your phone or computer.

The new Bose app will enable you to select music on the fly from your iPhone, Android device or Tablet.

Bose Home Speaker 500 in Black - The new speaker from Bose can be used for multi room audio

The Bose Home Speaker allows you to Play. Pause. Shuffle. Or skip to your favorite song, album or artist.  Access to all of your favourite music is on the tip of your tongue and with Alexa built in, you have access to things like weather reports and news headlines, too.

Boses Full Colour Display

The Bose Home Speaker 500 also features a first in the industry in that it includes a full colour display.  The LCD display shows information about the content currently playing on the speaker, including album art, track name, artist name, music service information, radio station name, and location, etc. There is an optional clock setting available in the Bose Music app, which displays the time when the speaker is in standby mode. The display also shows setup and diagnostic information. It does not play video content and is not a touch screen. It will automatically dim based on the brightness of the room, and will turn off if content is not playing.

“Voice-controlled speakers aren’t new, and there are plenty of great options to choose from. But we had a different vision for ours, inspired by what we could uniquely do to make the experience better”

— Doug Cunningham, category manager - Bose

The two Soundbars will also feature Alexa voice technology but no colour display.  They feature HDMI ARC (Audio Return Channel) and can be combined with wireless rear speakers and a subwoofer for full 5.1 surround sound.

The new speaker range will be available from October 2019.

Home Cinemas of the Rich & (In)Famous - Reunification Palace Saigon

This month on a visit to Vietnam for pleasure and work I had the opportunity to visit the Reunification Palace, or Independence Palace as it is also known, in Saigon.

The Independence Palace in Saigon (Ho Chi Minh) City

Independence Palace (Dinh Độc Lập), also known as Reunification Palace (Vietnamese: Dinh Thống Nhất) is built on the site of the former Norodom Palace in Ho Chi Minh City (Saigon), Vietnam. It was designed by architect Ngô Viết Thụ and was the home and workplace of the President of South Vietnam during the Vietnam War. It was here that heralded the end of the Vietnam War whilst during the Fall of Saigon - 30 April 1975 a North Vietnamese Army tank crashed through its gates.

The Cinema at the Independence Palace

Once a seat of opulence and hosting some of the worlds top dignitaries the Palace featured an extravagant (for the time and location) home theatre which could fit nearly 40 people in it's plush velvet chairs.  The room is pure 70's retro, padded leather doors, red velvet and cold war era panelling finish off the room.

Here the cinema is seen with different seating arrangement and carpet.

View towards the home theatre front stage

Dual Projectors from the Cold War Era

Retro Cinema seating 

Part of the Cinema Sound System

The cinema screen was fed by twin projectors, preserved in museum like care and what must have been at the time a very sophisticated cinema sound system and including a very retro record player from the 1970's.

I can only imagine the stories that this room could tell, For the period it must have been very impressive and it had to be, the South Vietnamese and the United States were waging a war against communism and the palace was held up as a sign of how good things were under their regime and hosted visitors from around the world.

SONOS make registration mandatory and go Public with IPO

Multi room audio specialist SONOS is to make registration of products mandatory for all users.  SONOS is famous for it's Connect:Amp and Play series of speakers and the newly introduced SONOS Beam and Soundbar which pair with it's SONOS SUB.  

The SONOS family of multi room audio products

If you update your iPhone, iOS or Android device to the latest firmware you will be asked to register your products if you haven't already.  Previously you only had to register if you wanted to activate advanced options like home automation or speech control through Alexa.

SONOS bills itself as the maker of the easy-to-use multi-room wireless home sound system, recently went public with an IPO through NASDAQ, raising nearly 100 million dollars and valuing the company at close to 3 billion dollars.

Sonos Beam Home Theatre Setup with SUB and Rear Surrounds powered by Play1

“We’re honored to join the Nasdaq family as we build a future where sonic culture is at the forefront, Sonos has spent the last 16 years building a high-quality easy-to-use wireless sound system designed to work with all of the streaming services, voice assistants, and smart home companies that those who care about great sound want in their lives. Today is an exciting milestone as we work to help the world live better through better listening.”

— Patrick Spence - CEO Sonos

Patrick Spence - CEO of SONOS

Sonos debuted the world's first wireless multi-room home sound system in 2005 and has been a leading innovator in wireless home audio since its founding in 2002. Each thoughtfully designed speaker and component that makes up the Sonos system is built on a software platform that gets better over time and helps the world listen better by giving people access to the content they love, from the services they want. As a result, Sonos homes listen to an average of 80% more music, and a remarkable 93% of units ever shipped are still receiving software updates.

Sonos products are distributed in over 50 countries, with 100 streaming services available globally. Sonos continues to build for the long term, designing for the way customers live while prioritizing amazing sound. Sonos is changing the way people listen to music - one home at a time.

SONOS Lists on the NASDAQ market with IPO

“In nearly two decades, Sonos has become a category leader in easy-to-use wireless home audio with more than 19 million products registered in 6.9 million homes around the world. We are thrilled to welcome Sonos to join our family of visionaries and look forward to forging a great partnership with such a revered company.”

— Nelson Griggs - President, NASDAQ

Control4 Hires Amazon Alexa Mastermind - Charlie Kindell

In what most will seem must be a bit of a coup, Charlie Kindel - the Mastermind behind Amazon's popular Alexa technology and products has been hired by home automation supplier Control4.

“The idea of the smart, connected home is decades old and has been poised to take off many times. It’s gratifying to see individual and industry persistence paying off as connected home solutions are finally hitting mainstream households. However, many products and systems are still too complex and don’t work well across an entire home. By being customer-obsessed, Control4 has become the leader in whole-home connected solutions that are highly-refined, reliable, and simple to use. I’m excited I now get to focus on leading the smart home revolution from this different perspective.”

— Charlie Kindel - Control4

Charlie Kindel spent five years at Amazon heading up what was originally a secret program to create the Alexa and Echo Smart Home products and systems for Amazon.  Prior to thios Charlie spent 21 years working at Microsoft creating Windows Media Centre and Windows Home Server so is well versed in the Smart Home and Integration space.

Charlie Kindel - Control4

“During my time at Amazon, I witnessed the explosive growth in the Smart Home – voice, the most natural interface for the home, has driven consumer demand and acceptance. The problem is, getting all those individual products to work together – throughout the entire home is work typical home owners just don’t want to do. There’s too much fragility and complexity for normal folks to deal with.

For the past 16 years I did everything myself: multi-room audio, smart lighting, smart sprinklers, whole home security, and automation. Even for me, it was a second fulltime job to make all that really work. I’m absolutely convinced that the only way normal people will be able to really enjoy the benefits of a whole-home smart home is with professional help.”

— Charlie Kindel

At Control4 Charlie is the Senior Vice President heading up Products and Services.  Control4 is a leading provider of personalized automation and control solutions, allows you to control virtually any device in a home or business, automatically. Founded in 2003, the company mission is to deliver an elegant and more affordable way to control and automate lighting, music, video, security and energy in a single room or throughout the entire home.

As part of his dedication to his new employer, Charlie set about upgrading his whole house to Control4 Smart Home Automation, including his Dolby Atmos home theatre setup and multi room sound.

Control4 Smart Home Automation

“I went with 148 intelligent lighting loads controlled by Control4’s panelized lighting, 52 Control4 keypads, five rooms of Multi-room 4K video including an Atmos home theater setup, 10 zones of Multi-Room audio using Triad amplifiers and speakers, two Control4 door stations, 15 Pakedge cameras, 9 Control4 smart thermostats, five Pakedge wireless access points, a host of Pakedge gigabit switches, and more. My fireplaces and the air compressor in my garage are all controlled by Control4 too. My network has 98 IP devices 58 Zigbee devices.”

— Charlie Kindel

We wish Charlie luck and it's great to see someone so passionate about technology involved with one of the big smart home companies, I'm sure it will be a very successful partnership for both of them.

Home Cinemas of the Rich and Famous - Charlie Sheen / Kendall Jenner

This Mulholland Drive house was owned by by actor Charlie Sheen until very recently when it was bought by 22 year old Kendall Jenner for $8.55 million.  This 5 Bedroom, 6 Bathroom villa features two swimming pools, and two home theatres, one custom room and another cinema/bar area in the Master Bedroom.

Charlie Sheen's old house now owned by Kendall Jenner

Actor Charlie Sheen

52 year old actor Charlie Sheen who's original name is Carlos Irwin Estévez has appeared in films including Platoon, Wall Street, Young Guns, Eight Men Out, Major League, Hot Shots!, and The Three Musketeers. 

His breakout movie was the 1986, 4 times Academy Award winning, war movie about Vietnam, called Platoon.

Kendall Jenner

Kendal Jenner is an American model and television personality.

Originally appearing in the E! reality television show Keeping Up with the Kardashians, Jenner is now also a model in a movement dubbed "the Instagirl era" by Vogue magazine, or "Social Media Modeling" by Harper's Bazaar, where models are chosen for their online presence and social media following

The home cinema is decorated in a bold Blood Red design with crushed velvet seating and curtains with gothic inspired mouldings and sconces.

The Design scheme of the Mulholland Drive cinema is Blood Red and a little Gothic.

The bedroom also features a full cinema design and mini-bar.

Are Cinema Screens going LED - TV Style? Samsung Hope So!

The begining of cinema

If you go to the cinema, today, anywhere in the world to watch a movie - you will be watching a projected image, shone onto a white (or grey) screen.  It's been that way since 1895 when the first publicly screened movie was shown in Paris, in December.  Cinema's equal projectors, yes nowadays most of those projectors are digital,digital projectors were launched in 1999 to replace film, after all film is hard to move around, load, transport whilst data is not.

That's the Status Quo, except the large Korean electronics manufacturers aren't particularly well known for their projector technology, Samsung and LG are very famous for their LCD technologies (LED, OLED, QLD, ULED, MicroLED) and Televisions.  They also have a not-so-secret weapon in their armoury - Black Levels.

Samsungs Giant 34 foot cinema screen

Black Levels and Shadow Detail are two phrases that are used to describe how well a screen (or projected image) can work when showing darker images.  Black Levels refers to  the level of darkness of the black colors that can be shown, whilst Shadow Detail is just that, the level of detail in the image that can be made out in the darker areas.

A normal projector shines or throws an image onto a blank canvass which reflects back to the viewer. Looking at your projector screen in a darkened room with the projector off will immediately show you the very darkest level of black you will be able to achieve, now most screens are white or grey - so you can imagine this isn't very dark, certainly not black.

Samsung have made a leap with their Giant LED TV technology into the cinema world with a 34 foot LED TV that maybe set to change the way that movie theaters work forever.

Samsung Cinema LED Technology

Named after the jet-black jewel, Onyx.  Samsung latest screen is a giant and it uses LED technology to display perfect black levels.  Each individual pixel can actually be turned on or off, so a true black is possible AND there isn't bleed from the next pixel along, as there often is with projectors.  The Giant 'TV' also offers a very bright, uniform color rendition.

Samsung are suggesting that the new screen is 10 times brighter than standard cinema projectors at 146 foot-lamberts (a measurement used to express luminance).  That's also about 4-5 times the brightness of the newer Laser projectors in cinemas.  The Onyx is currently only available in 4k resolution and can support 3D and HDR images.  Because it's so bright and made with materials to block reflection the screen can be used where you don't have so much light control.

Perhaps what might be the biggest change if TV screens take off in commercial cinemas and home cinemas (if the TV sizes keep growing) is that direct line of site to a projector (with all it's noise and light) is not required.  Movie theaters could save space with no projection room or line of site they would be free to have steeper higher auditorium style seating.

One important distinction between this cinema style TV and the TV you have at home is that the Onyx maintains picture quality from any viewable angle, and because of it's individual pixel control those perfect black levels mean that the contrast and colours really POP.

IMAX Laser Projector - Huge

Dolby and IMAX have competing Laser Projection technologies so it's interesting times in the cinema industry, we can expect display, screen and cinema images to keep getting better, brighter and more detailed, and thats good news for all of us.

Home Cinemas of the Rich and Famous - Jordan Pickford

Fresh off the plane from 4th place in the World Cup 2018 held in Russia, Jordan Pickford of the England Team (who plays for Everton in the Premier League) has purchased a new 2.2 million pound home in Cheshire.

Its a big step up from the 100,000 pounds Tyne and Wear terrace house he was brought up in. He Tweeted back in 2012 bemoaning his parents not having  provided Sky TV in his bedroom, to watch the football on.  That's all behind him now with a successful career as one of England's youngest Goalkeepers and now he's got a fantastic home cinema to watch all the football matches and replays on (or not).

Footballer Jordan Pickford's Home Cinema in his new home in Cheshire.

The Cinema room is decked out all in black and dark greys, it features a fibre optic starlight ceiling and plush sofas and deep pile carpets help to give it a real feeling of luxury.

Plush Bedroom in Jordan Pickford's new Cheshire Home

Jordan Pickford's new Cheshire Home

Multi Room Audio features throughout Jordan Pickford's new home

Jordan's new home also features multi room audio providing music all over his home, the bedrooms, kitchen, entrance, lounge and dining room.

In-Ceiling Speakers provide music in the entrance to Jordan Pickford's new home

H3 New Office Update

It's been a while, we've been very busy with a number of large home cinema and tons of audio visual installs here in Phuket, Chiangmai, Bangkok, Hua Hin and Yangon. We've hired some new staff to help manage the office build whilst we are all busy with installs, we've only got the floor, doors and then the electrics to do and we can start the process of moving in.

Last week we were cutting holes in the container Steel for our office doors and windows, we will be in the top container next to the meeting area.  We were also tidying up some of the painting to the outside, When your building is made of Steel it's very important to make sure it's painted well to keep it from rusting out.

It's exciting times and we can't wait to have all the space to show off some of the incredible home cinema, audio and lighting systems.

Home Cinema Install - San Kamphaeng (Chiang Mai)

Today I'm with Wirut our Installation Director (he's been with us for 15 years) on site in Chiang Mai installing a 75" LED TV and Surround Sound system for our clients Home Theatre room.  It features Nuvo In-Wall speakers, a 12" Subwoofer and Onkyo Surround Receiver.

Planning and marking out the TV and speaker location carefully.

Planning is key to any good install, a good set of design and conceptual plans and wiring plans.  Here we mark out the locations of all speakers and the TV size to ensure it follows the plans and that it suits the feel of the room.  Sometimes what looks great on a CAD diagram or room render doesn't look the same in real life, this is where our experience and judgement can turn what may have been just a good install into an excellent one.

Carefull marking up the TV and speaker positions.

It's also important to keep tidy and clean, we've always been very proud of the way our staff conduct themselves on-site and their overall professionalism.

Tidy and organised is how we like to conduct our AV Installations.

We are also installing a Ubiquiti Unifi home network and Nuvo multi room audio system including music in the lounge, master bedroom, gym, office, outdoors (pool side) and even in the master ensuite.  They will be able to listen to any music they want, in any area of their house, all controlled with their phones, iPads or tablets and with discrete in-ceiling and weatherproof speakers tucked away out of site, with no visible cables. It's going to be a really fun house to entertain in and the owner can't wait to move in.

Sonos IPO - Yes or SoNo?

Sonos, on track to do 1 billion dollars of sales this year plans to list shares on the Nasdaq under the ticker symbol SONO.

With a reported net loss of $14.2 million on close to a billion dollars revenue ($992.5 million) is it a good time for the smart speaker company to be going Public?

Some people think No, with James Titcomb from the Telegraph making a point that the smart speaker space is being invaded by Amazon, Apple and Google.  He has a point, If people are really interested in sound quality (And I mean really) then they won't be shopping for an all-in-one speaker/amp combo.  They will have a proper set of stereo speakers and an amp (perhaps a Sonos amp) but Sonos have been moving away from this market and more towards smart speakers.

The trouble with smart speakers is that Amazon and Google are effectively using their smart speaker products as a loss leader to grab market share on data, search, advertising and purchasing.  So not only are Sonos up against the biggest technology companies in the world, but those companies don't need to make a profit on their products, Sonos does.

Sonos currently makes a loss, but it has a great platform and a great product.  They need to leverage the relationships they have with distributors (Best Buy sells 1 in 3 of the Sonos units sold in the USA).  From their prospectus you can see that 61% of purchasers have more than one Sonos unit in their household with buyers on average buying a further 1.4 units.  So customer loyalty is high but...

Sonos notes in regards to risks, customer dissatisfaction is a very clear and dangerous one if Sonos decides to stop supporting older versions of its products - furthermore they go on to say “that in the near to intermediate term, this backward compatibility will no longer be practical or cost-effective.”

Personally, for myself and many customers, Sonos shoot themselves in the foot if you cant use your older products anymore, or worse if they borked or bricked them with a forced firmware update.  It's good that they note the danger of this, however the very fact they made the above statement shows that it's likely at some stage, silly and pointless IMHO and just the way to alienate your customer base - Lets see if the bean counters win that war.