April 22nd, 2012
The last two years on the North Shore have shown the danger that electrical outages can pose for audio and video equipment. Blackouts and brownouts cause unpredictable voltage fluctuations that can damage televisions, receivers, and other electronic devices. We at The Big Picture have seen an increasing number of cases in which our customers’ equipment has been damaged, even though their surge suppressors worked perfectly well. This is because surge suppressors only stop surges, not drops in voltage, which can be equally damaging. The best way to combat this risk is by utilizing an Uninterruptible Power Supply or UPS.
 UPS is a small unit that acts like a typical surge protector, but also includes a battery. The battery does what you might expect: provide alternative power for a limited period of time when the lights go out, but it also plays an even bigger role. When the voltage dips (rather than dropping out completely) the UPS battery takes over, giving your equipment the consistent power supply it needs. The UPS can detect a drop in power and automatically engage without any user interaction. During complete power outages, it will keep your electronics up and running until you can turn them off normally. During voltage drops, the battery will automatically hold until the power level returns to normal.
We’re careful at The Big Picture to recommend only those components that make a true, discernible difference in the performance of your audio and video equipment. Because of the increasing number of voltage drops on the North Shore, and the increasing harm they have been doing to our customers’ systems, we now recommend that every home entertainment system include a UPS. If you don’t have such a unit, please call us, and we’ll recommend the right kind of unit for your system, with options starting as low as $169. It will help protect your home entertainment system from a growing danger, save you from downtime during repairs, and save you money in the long run.
Tags: ups
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April 22nd, 2012
 Despite Chicagoland weather, outdoor living has always been popular. The temperature sneaks above 50 degrees and we’re all outside in our shorts. Recent technological developments in audio and video equipment now let us enjoy movies and music outside, too: filling a patio or backyard with music for summertime entertaining, watching sports on a high-definition flat panel television while lounging by the pool, or inviting the neighbors over for outdoor movie night on a 10-foot outdoor home theater screen.
These home entertainment systems, especially music systems, extend beyond the months of summer, providing music while gardening in the spring, raking leaves in autumn, or roasting marshmallows over a fire pit on a winter evening.
 Three of the most remarkable developments are weatherized TVs, inflatable home theaters and frogs. At least two companies are producing high-definition televisions that stand up to rain, dust, insects and extreme temperature variations. Each unit contains its own climate control system, but otherwise works like any other high-definition, flat panel television. Other companies are producing outdoor home theaters, complete with screen, projector and sound system–easy to set up and easy to take down. Some of these systems include an inflatable screen–think Michelin Man holding a signboard. And most spectacular of all, several speaker makers have grown increasingly creative in fashioning outdoor speakers as functional planters, faux rocks and lighting fixtures, statues, and other items from benches to birdhouses to . . .yes . . .frogs. What’s not to like?
Tags: outdoor TV
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April 22nd, 2012
3D TV was the big news at the 2010 Consumer Electronics Show in January, with dozens of manufacturers showing 3D products of all types, including 3D televisions for the home. Some of those products are now shipping, and you can now test drive the technology for yourself at The Big Picture, with a 58″ television set up and calibrated on our showroom floor. Monsters v. Aliens 3D is in heavy rotation.
3D has generated a lot of excitement, but also a lot push-back. Many are excited; many are not. Avatar 3D has been the highest grossing picture of all time, but Roger Ebert of the Sun-Times has declared 3D to be one of the worst ideas ever. The technology has generated a swirl of controversy whose intensity is really quite surprising.
 We have lived with our own 3D setup for several weeks now, and here is our thumbnail report: When its good, it’s very good; it’s just plain fun. It works better in low light (i.e at night or in a room where lighting can be controlled). It looks better the closer you sit. The glasses are easier to get used to than you might imagine. This may be the technology for serious movies, but for action-thrillers and game playing, it will be a force for years to come.
Our view: Come see for yourself. The premium to be paid for TVs that handle 3D as well as regular shows is not very large, and growing smaller. So, if you like it, you can jump in right away, or monitor things a little longer as the scene develops. If you don’t like it, you can take a pass on this particular technological wave. But in any case, it’s better to make that decision after you’ve seen the birds fly right out of the screen and past your left ear…
Tags: 3D TVs
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April 22nd, 2012
Here in the fall of 2009, the latest and most heavily promoted advancement in television technology is LED lighting. Several manufacturers have become so enamored with this advance that they have renamed the whole television an “LED TV,” even though LED lighting is just one part of how the picture is produced.
There are some good reasons to be excited about LED lighting, but let’s start by taking one step back. In the world of flat panel televisions, there are still two main varieties: LCD TVs and plasma TVs. Both produce a great picture, but also have their pros and cons. The right choice depends on the size of screen you need, the kinds of programming you normally watch and certain facts about the room where the set will be located.
The two kinds of televisions work differently, too. In plasma TVs, the pixels that produce the colors also produce the light. In LCD TVs, on the other hand, the light is produced by a separate, dedicated light source. Traditionally, that light source is a (sophisticated) fluorescent bulb.
Enter the LED. Instead of using a fluorescent bulb to illuminate the LCD panel, we have now developed ways to use LEDs (light-emitting diodes) for that purpose. We can skip the technical details to note that LEDs are a particularly compact and efficient light source.
 And now comes the excitement. LCD televisions that use LEDs for their light source can be built very thin, on the order of an inch deep. Even very large panels can be built this thin. In addition, LED-driven televisions use about 40% less energy than similarly sized, fluorescent-driven televisions. Plus, LEDs have a longer life than fluorescent bulbs and are better at retaining their original color so that reds, blues and greens in later years will look like those same colors when the set was new.
So, is there a catch? Of course. Because the LED-driven panels are new, production runs are shorter and costs are higher—and that means higher consumer prices than traditional LCD TVs. The question then becomes whether the aesthetics, energy savings and picture advantages are worth the extra cost. And, we’re still working out some kinks. LED TVs are less forgiving of viewing off-axis, so that noticeable changes in picture quality can be seen as you move too far from watching the set head-on. Also on some models, brightness levels are not even over the entire screen surface (the edges being brighter than the center).
Still, the technology shows great promise, and even now the picture and aesthetics are eye-popping. Even for the veterans, it’s hard not to stop every morning in the store, peek behind the new TVs, and marvel at their astonishing depth.
Tags: LED TVs
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