Knowledge is power

Education, education. It all started when I passed my THX Home Theatre Level One earlier this year. The next stage has to be Level Two, but in the meantime I’m about to embark on a ‘Part P’ course for domestic electrical installation.

One of the surprising aspects of finding out where I can study for Part P was the difference in the cost of courses - it all depends on whether the commercial or the local government-funded route is taken. There is merit in both, but costs of the former can be alarming.

Friends have reminded me that I am a journalist, not an installer, so why would I want Part P? Someone also made the point that a lot of custom install companies don’t have Part P-qualified people on the staff.
I responded with the oft-quoted Baconism, “Knowledge is power.” And not to forget that installers with a Part P staffer or two, find it a distinct advantage to perform, and be able to pass, domestic electrical work associated with the custom installation. Being able to officially install stuff in my own house is handy for me too - as a self-confessed automation freak, the whole thing comes together nicely.

Education also helps when writing about technical things, and while I would struggle to program a Pronto, I actually managed to come up with a motorisation control circuit for a colleague involved at the periphery of the custom install industry. After the circuit was built and tested (it actually worked!), he asked me if I would like to see the installation where it was going to be used.

We duly turned up at the site and found to my surprise that it was quite an expensive project with some motorisation and lighting control but no global system or centralised equipment. The overall modifications were far-reaching, giving the impression that the client was not short of cash, but it seemed that no traditional integration company had been involved at any stage of the job.

It appeared that the client might not have been exposed to all the possibilities by an experienced custom installer and ended up with what can only be described as a mish-mash of disparate events within the house. A matter, perhaps, of client education?

Moving on, it’s been a long time since I’ve contacted the British Audio-Visual Dealers Association (BADA), but recently caught up with developments at their AGM held at the Royal Institute of British Architects building in Portland Place (if you ever need to go there, avoid the official website map for directions, it shows streets which aren’t there!).

More talk of education came up, this time it was about the new Demcraft and Visioncraft courses. It was suggested by a spokesperson that the training taken by BADA members who do installations as well as shop presentations, equips them with extra skills to perhaps do a better job than dedicated custom installers.
Education for custom installers feeling left out of the BADA loop can easily be addressed, as I hear that Demcraft and Visioncraft courses are available to CEDIA members.

A company involved in installs and hi-fi demonstrations might be tempted to say ‘we are the best’ but perhaps the best of both worlds is the custom installer who uses, when appropriate, the facilities of a retailer with good dem rooms. I know that Maidstone-based Alphabet AV Solutions have a cooperative venture with Unilet (New Malden) and Home Media’s (Maidstone) demo facilities to show potential install customers the combination of free-standing equipment alongside an integration package.

Many installers I know would disagree with audio systems which major on discrete equipment when the custom route is to fill a room with sound without the clutter of CD decks and AV receivers. As an installer said to me once, “We use one of our show homes to give the client an experience and prove beyond doubt that you don’t have to SEE loads of kit to get good results.”

Martyn Williams is HCD’s Contributing Editor, and chief CI writer

On demand, or in the clouds…?

The idea that I can watch Sky TV on a Xbox360 might have sounded a tad odd a few years ago, but I’m thinking… what took you so long?

Live and on-demand TV on all kinds of gadgets is edging us closer to an era when we can watch content from ‘the cloud’ (aka a massive bank of hard drives in Arizona, probably) while chop n’ changing the device
we’re using.

And what home cinema doesn’t have a games console? Or an iPhone? All kinds of ‘apps’ are arriving on the iPhone to control multi-room AV systems – it’s fast becoming a de facto remote control in the high-end CI sphere.

The iPhone is also a TV in its own right. DRM restricts what you can do with downloadable films from iTunes, but that’s not an issue with TVCatchup, a website that supplies live TV channels straight to any iPhone. Combine that with access to the BBC’s iPlayer, and it’s a formidable free package.

But who wants to watch TV on such a small screen? Hold a phone up to your face and it looks like a 50-inch plasma, right? Well, maybe not, but it does remind me of the Flight Of The Conchords chaps, who in a gig at CES 2008 ‘converged’ gadgets live on-stage. Brett instantly converged a camera and a phone using Sellotape, then put the sticky gadgets on top of a CRT to create a TV-phone-camera. “Does it have HD?” asked Jermaine. “Yes,” said Brett, “you just sit closer.”

Being innovative on an iPhone ‘app’ is easy and probably not long lasting. I also suspect that the iPlayer’s success in its current format is fleeting; who really wants to sit at their desk to watch TV? And the idea of snuggling up on the sofa with a laptop quickly becomes a literal pain in the neck.

Enter IPTV, and the arrival of iPlayer services on the TV via a set-top box. A whole host of set-top boxes are now on the market that provide digital TV, deliver video on demand (VOD) services and even
indulge in home networking. Virgin Media’s V+ box is perhaps the most impressive, where navigating the sheer volume of VOD content is its only problem.

Over a quarter of iPlayer use comes from Virgin Media subscribers, and with iPlayer now available to Wii and PS3, PC hits for the service are bound to decrease.

Sky is keen to catch-up despite its VOD-unfriendly satellite infrastructure. It’s recently started a process that will see it piggy-back on other devices – first via a super-slick interface on the Xbox360. To watch live Sky channels and hundreds of VOD movies, customers need an Xbox360, an Xbox LIVE membership (£60 a year), a 2MB broadband line and a £15+ Sky subscription. Too pricey for many, but the free mirror image it gives existing Sky subscribers makes it a mighty tempting – and instant – multiroom solution. It even works in a second home. If Sky Player offered access to iPlayer and some HD, I’d abandon TV tuners altogether, although the Xbox’s constant hum does grate.

It can’t do HD, of course, because the UK’s broadband speeds are too slow. High definition would require around 8Mbps when 2Mbps is still the norm. And that’s the only brake on the developing IPTV market, which is dominated by set-top boxes. Sales of Freeview STBs are down by a quarter on last year, with more choosing integrated TVs.

This downward trend could happen to IPTV, too. Recent TVs from the likes of Samsung, Sony, Philips and Panasonic have tried to include the all kinds of online widgets and apps, but they just don’t look right on the edge of a TV screen, however logical it may seem to put them there. And do I really want to pay a premium for a TV whose internet capabilities amount to news headlines, weather reports and YouTube – especially when my phone already does a whole lot more.

In 2010, Project Canvas will lay down industry standards for an IPTV open platform, and IP-TVs could appear, but perhaps the TV should stay as a simple display. The IPTV, VOD and portable media landscape is developing too fast and loose for TV manufacturers to keep pace. Instead they should concentrate on developing common standards so that all CE devices can seamlessly share content. Virtual ‘mouse’ apps are already available for the iPhone that can control a PC via WiFi.

Forget the ringfenced internet experience some TVs offer – I want my TV to mimic what I can see on my phone’s screen, and control a web browser using its touchscreen. Simple! So why is it taking so long?

Jamie Carter is Editor and Publisher of HCD

What happened to the entry-level in hi-fi?

I know this isn’t something in which a high-end magazine like the one wot I edit [Hi-Fi+] has any significant interest, but it wasn’t so long ago that people bought products costing a few hundred quid a unit from a number of manufacturers. They were the life-blood of many hi-fi retailers. And now, this market’s all but vanished. Why?

OK, so ‘vanished’ is stretching things somewhat. The product category is still there, but it’s lost all its energy and vitality. New and exciting products are still being launched at all prices, but those products under £500 (perhaps even under £1,000) are being met with little more than ‘meh’ by the (non) buying public. Cambridge Audio is one of the rare exceptions to this rule, as the product line is still vibrant and popular. But there has been a shift.

The highest of the high-end is - in contrast - relatively buoyant. The word ‘relatively’ is key, here. People who spend £20,000 or more on a system are not common; they were not common a few years ago and they are just as uncommon today. If you sold one pair of £50,000 loudspeakers a year ago and sold another pair this year, you are seeing precisely zero downturn in the high-end speaker market.

That leaves what’s in the middle; the four-figure products that represent the bulk of today’s separates hi-fi sales. In some places (£1,000+ turntables and loudspeakers for example) there has been a small increase in sales, both sales volume and value. Even GfK statistics reflect that sales uptick, despite the GfK rarely analysing the sales from most of our specialist retailers. In others, sales are unchanged or down, but not as down as the lower end of the market.

I suspect the reason for this is the recession, at least in part. Recession generally hurts those with the least, the most. Yes, there are upper middle class types who downshifted from Waitrose to Tescos and decided not to upgrade their Chelsea Tractor for another year or two, but for many of these people, their mortgage is lower than ever and they have more disposable cash than they might have had in years. They can afford to spend several grand on a hi-fi system. They are just too frightened to spend it. However, those who don’t have as much are struggling, and no-one wants to extend a line of credit for a discretionary purchase in times of financial turmoil. So, suddenly £300 is a lot harder to come buy for that new amplifier.

Then there’s the ‘yoof’ problem, a generation to whom separates audio is something dad did before there were iPods. This is the audience that might well buy an entry-level product, and we are singularly failing to reach them.

The combination of these two factors alone can make the entry-level audio world a very sad and lonely place.

We’ve all noticed this, almost unconsciously. The magazines are all converging on that four-figure sweet spot, dealers see it in their sales figures and manufacturers see it in their order books. It’s a pity no-one told the public, as the forums have more than their fair share of disgruntled budget buyers finding their beloved magazines entirely free from products they could actually buy.

The worry is that without that entry-level, hi-fi quickly becomes an elitist hobby. Nothing intrinsically wrong with that, but to make an elite, first you need a mainstream. If all you have is an elite, the hobby quickly dies in a fit of pique. You couldn’t have a Ferrari without a Fiat. Not simply because in this case Fiat owns Ferrari, but because of those hundreds of people driving round in red Fiats, dreaming of the day when their car sports a prancing pony on the bonnet.

I started out with a Dual deck, but I wanted a Linn. I started out with a NAD and wanted a Naim. I started off with Wharfedale Diamonds, but wanted Linn Kans. Eventually, I got my Linn/Naim/Kan system… and still wanted more. Thing is, without that Dual/NAD/Wharfedale system, I would have never even considered the next step, and certainly not considered a Linn/Naim/Kan system as the first rung on that same ladder.

Of course, highlighting the problem is easy. Coming up with solutions… now that’s the real problem.

Alan Sircom was HCD’s launch Editor and now edits Hi-Fi+ as well as writing audio columns for HCD

The 3D future

I wonder how many senior executives at Panasonic read the first wave of reviews from the preview screenings of James Cameron’s sci-fi epic Avatar and thought: ‘Oh crap…’ ?

The movie has long been touted as a trailblazer for the next generation of 3D entertainment. It’s the first mega-budget live-action film to employ cutting-edge 3D cinema tech, and Panasonic has committed to using it as the launch vehicle for its 3D Blu-ray roll-out, expected mid-2010.

Anticipation for the film has been so great that Fox recently took the unprecedented step of screening 15 minutes of footage free of charge at cinemas in key locations worldwide, presumably to generate a tsunami of positive word-of-mouth. Unfortunately that plan may have back-fired. Most viewers who caught the previews seem to have come away somewhat under whelmed. The CG spectacular has been called a curious cross between Aliens and eco kiddie ‘toon FernGully: The Last Rainforest…

Now while I don’t subscribe to this view (I’ve only seen the trailer and think it looks pretty darn sweet), for Avatar to stumble at the box-office could prove devastating for the introduction of 3D Blu-ray. Speaking at the official announcement to herald Panasonic’s cross-promotion with Fox, GM Masayuki Kozuka declared: ‘We want to get global interest rolling. For people to want to watch 3D at home, the movie has to be a blockbuster.’ In short, everyone needs Avatar to be as big as Cameron’s Titanic - and not to sink. But those looming icebergs of skepticism suddenly look a lot bigger after the screenings than they did before.
Not that such negative comment will derail the 3D Blu-ray bandwagon from rolling. The first 3D TVs from Panasonic will be heavily promoted with Avatar visuals and 3D road shows featuring 3D Blu-ray presentations around the movie’s Blu-ray release are also planned.

Panasonic’s chief technology officer Eisuke Tsuyuzaki, charged with mobilizing both hardware and software industries behind the format, recently told me that he expects a 3D BD standard to be ratified as early as September (’It could be an interesting month…’), with licensing details completed by December.

Personally, I continue to be conflicted by the prospect of 3D. My enthusiasm rises and falls depending who I’m talking to. Tsuyuzaki is such an enthusiastic advocate that I find myself totally sold on his vision of the future whenever we meet. He is convinced that this is not so much a gimmick as a pivotal change in the evolution of consumer electronics. ‘I’m not saying that 2D is dead,’ he told me. ‘There will still be a lot of 2D. Probably the transition from 2D to 3D will take five to seven years; if you look at any major transition in consumer electronics it takes probably seven years. More recently, with digital technology, it’s a shorter time period than seven years. My feeling is it’s getting shorter. This is the risk: if we don’t do it now, everyone is going to go in different directions and it will not be successful.’

He reasons that 3D hi-def will succeed because people will find it immersive. ‘It’s like 7.1 audio. Why do you need two more speakers? Because it’s subtle, it’s better. One could argue that audio is already providing that immersive experience. Well now the picture is catching up.’

While Avatar is destined to be the 3D poster boy for BD, the 3D Blu-ray system could launch with a 100-strong catalogue 3D Blu-ray discs! That tantalizing nugget was revealed by Panasonic’s US EVP Bob Perry. He made the prediction during an event to announce his company’s alliance with Fox to co-promote James Cameron’s epic. Significantly, all 3D Blu-ray discs will play back on existing BD players, but deliver only 2D 1080p.

The unknown player in the 3D game remains Sky. The satcaster has already announced a 3D channel for 2010, and has shown a variety of programming made in the format. Sky has a got a great track record with broadcast innovations and rarely gets it wrong. The big difference though is that Sky’s 3D proposition is not hi-def. Sure it uses the sky+HD platform, but only because it can deliver two-picture channels offering 540 lines of resolution per eye. It remains to be seen if Sky’s initiative will help of hinder Blu-ray. Subscribers may conclude that (a) it’s good enough thereby removing any incentive to buy a new BD player, or (b) decide that it’s an inferior viewing experience to 2D HD, and so dampen the whole market.

Frankly, I have no idea how this is going to play out. But it’s fascinating watching from the sidelines.

Steve May is Senior Editor of industry fave Home Cinema Choice, and oversees Future Publishing’s extensive range of AV titles, including What Plasma & LCD TV and What Video & TV.

Awards fillip for consumer confidence?

It’s been almost 30 years since the first What Hi-fi? (as was) Awards, but I doubt there’s been a time when they took on more importance - for both industry and consumers (or indeed us at What Hi-fi? Sound and Vision!)

Consumer confidence remains low - though has rallied slightly from its recent nadir of late last year - and purchase-justification is paramount, even in the minds of those relatively unaffected by the recession; impulse buys in the CE market are now a rarity.

So, what better call to buying arms than a tried-and-trusted Awards line-up that removes the risk - plus the often bewildering choice - from the buying decision; featuring winners specifically chosen for their performance-per-pound value, rather than spec sheets or looks?

When Awards testing - a process that, this year, started in July and ended in late-September, when we could no longer hold off engraving trophies and producing winners’ logos - both the consumer’s reliance on our reviews and the effect those verdicts would subsequently have on manufacturers and retailers weighed more heavily than ever.

It’s another reason this year’s Awards feature more products than ever - 92 winners in 18 categories. We wanted to be sure that for every home and mobile entertainment need, at as wide a price-point as possible (but keeping it real-world), we named the best-value option. We also needed to ensure that every product deserving of an Award received one - that we weren’t limiting the number of Awards to an arbitrary figure. Hence that slightly odd ‘92′ winners - not to mention a massive bill for trophies and a bumper Awards issue to fit it all in!

That Awards issue has some changes, too - such as a clearer emphasis on why the products won compared to others in their class; singing an individual product’s praises just isn’t enough, and with many categories incredibly close this year, it’s only fair to mention some of the (still excellent) products that didn’t quite make the top step of the podium.

In a year where our online users and traffic have grown 70 percent, our Awards website (whathifi.com/Awards) is also of paramount importance, and adds video reviews of all the Products of the Year.

But enough about us… onto the winners, and why they won. There were some gong-gatherers whose names were first to be etched on. For example, Cyrus’ CD players (despite a strong new five-star challenge from Naim) remain untouchable in their respective price classes. Meanwhile, in the budget hi-fi space, Marantz won a fierce three-way battle with Cambridge Audio and NAD to pick up both the entry-level CD player and amplifier Awards. Add in the superlative Wharfedale Diamond 10.1 speakers - astonishing value at £200 - and the consumer’s never had it so good at this price.

Talking of Naim… its naimuniti system, despite being a premium contender, was the unanimous choice for Product of the Year in the all-in-ones class. The Uniti is a timely reminder that traditional hi-fi values don’t have to be relinquished in the rush to embrace new technologies. For that, I can even forgive Naim for the disturbing pregnant-belly adverts for the product!

Moving onto AV, pricing - and hence our performance-per-pound evaluations - came even more into play than in the two-channel categories. For example, the Style Speaker Package line-up was shaped as much by price-rises as it was new contenders. Meanwhile Sony’s incredibly aggressive pricing (as well as superb, tech-packed products) saw it dominate the key Blu-ray category; though - unlike in previous years - no one manufacturer swept the board in the also-buoyant receiver class.

Next onto TVs, where the absence of any Sony winners has caused some raised eyebrows. Well, firstly, there was a quality charge from Philips that saw it the clear Product of the Year winner (for the superlative 42PFL9664) as well as our favoured 32in TV choice. Secondly, there were the pricing and technology advantages of the remaining size/price-class sets from Samsung, LG and Panasonic. And finally, there’s the fact that the majority of Sony sets we’ve reviewed this year have suffered from unacceptably uneven backlights; we feel the company has to seriously address this issue before we can wholeheartedly recommend what are otherwise typically stunning TVs.

As I write this, I’ve just come back from the first Manchester Sound & Vision Show, where we unveiled the Awards issue, showcased the winners and tackled vast crowds of eager visitors. The pent-up demand to buy new, exciting products was palpable; add in a pre-VAT-rise rush and this could be the sales-packed Christmas we’re all hoping for. Here’s to it being a rewarding Awards season for you all!

Clare Newsome is Brand Director and Editor-in-Chief of What Hi-Fi Sound and Vision, the UK’s best-selling hi-fi and audio-video consumer buying guide magazine

CEDIA Awards 2010 set to stun

As the residential custom installation industry expands and consumer appetite for home technology increases, so too the work of our members diversifies. Take home entertainment systems; once the exclusive preserve of the wealthy enthusiast with a private screening room, we now see the wider adoption of media rooms, each designed to satisfy the desire for a varied and media-rich diet.

As the CEDIA Awards grow in stature, it is important that they continue to reflect the industry and that is why we have decided to make the important distinction between home cinema and media room with the introduction of two new categories. Best Media Room under £15,000 and Best Media Room over £15,000 will run alongside the existing home cinema categories, showcasing what is unique about each solution and providing more opportunities than ever before for participants to walk away with a coveted title.

Providing a clearer dividing line between what is a multi-purpose media room and what is a dedicated home cinema, these new classifications will give further clarity for both entrants and for judges. In essence home cinema rooms are gathering spaces with one main purpose: watching movies. True, a home cinema can support other media uses, such as music, gaming, and broadcast TV. However, whatever its use, the best home cinemas should be able to carry out their primary purpose to the highest standard, faithfully reproducing picture and sound content and demonstrating minimal compromise within the given budget.

In contrast, media rooms are spaces which integrate at least one screen and two speakers, but whose primary purpose will be to support many different media uses, such as, watching movies, listening to music, gaming, and viewing broadcast TV. The best of these multi-purpose spaces will afford high quality audio and video performance, but they will typically demonstrate technical compromises to fit the multi-purpose functionality of the space and the aesthetic scheme of the room.

The CEDIA Awards judging panel will be looking for media rooms which show not only how the space has been engineered to maximise audio and visual performance, but also demonstrate intelligent and creative integration of the technology into the room. Whilst the home cinema categories will be measured against a guideline set of key design and engineering criteria as outlined within the entry forms. Bringing together criteria from across CEDIA’s structured curriculum, the introduction of Best Practice will ensure that the Awards remain a credible and worthy celebration of the very best the industry has to offer.

We are committed to ensuring that the CEDIA Awards continue to set the standards for technical expertise, design creativity and professional installation within the industry. In addition to which, it is equally important that they remain reflective of the work and the unique skill set of our members. So, from dedicated rooms designed for the primary purpose of watching movies, to multi-functional spaces for multi-media consumption and all that’s in between - there’s a category for every installation as part of the 2010 scheme!

The full list of ‘CEDIA Awards 2010′ categories is as follows:
* Best media room under £15,000
* Best media room over £15,000
* Best home cinema installation project under £40,000 (42,000 Euros)
* Best home cinema installation from £40,000-£100,000 (42,000-110,000 Euros)
* Best home cinema installation over £100,000 (110,000 Euros)
* Best integrated home under £100,000 (110,000 Euros)
* Best integrated home from £100,000 - £250,000 (110,000 - 270,000 Euros)
* Best integrated home over £250,000 (270,000 Euros)
* Best integrated solution for a multi-dwelling development
* Best dressed rack
* Best marine
* Best innovative solution - residential
* Best trade supplier
* Best training initiative by a trade supplier
* Industry lifetime achievement award

With a black-tie Awards ceremony planned for Friday 16th April 2010, the deadline for entries has been confirmed as Friday 12th February. For more information including the full list of awards categories, judging criteria, timescales and an entry form, visit www.cedia.co.uk/awards

Wendy Griffiths is Executive Director of the Custom Electronic Design and Installation Association (CEDIA). CEDIA is an international trade organization, spanning three continents with a global membership of over 4,000 companies.