Easy Hometheater.

Most of the time I just want to casually watch a movie. I don’t need to own every DVD I have a passing interest in. I even have trouble watching movies I really love more than once. Back in 2001, I was browsing the Michigan Ave Borders in Chicago and found the Atlantis the Lost Empire Illustrated Script. I discovered after a few pages that one of my favorite comic book artists, Mike Mignola, designed all the characters and mecha. Later, in Hollywood Video I rented the non-special edition DVD. When I watched the disc through my home theater set up, I was disappointed that its Dolby Digital soundtrack was broken.

Disney’s Atlantis the Lost Empire was one of a few discs at the time that were mastered with bad audio flags (including Pearl Harbor and Jurassic Park 3), that in combination with my Onkyo 7.1 AV receiver output a few seconds of audio mixed with a few seconds of silence every few seconds (some Denon receivers had the same problem).

Disney DVD’s solution was to try a different receiver. Onkyo’s solution was to avoid Dolby Digital and run the DTS track, only available on the $40, non-rentable Atlantis Special Edition 2-disc set. Both of these solutions were unacceptable. I turned to the internet for answers. I found you could re-encode the Dolby Digital track with proper flags with Apple’s DVD Studio Pro. So all I had to do was grab the separate video and audio tracks from the disc, repair the audio and then burn the fixed movie to a DVD-R.

Defeating a commercial DVD’s CSS DRM is the first problem you’ll hit in this process. Fitting a feature film onto a single layer DVD-R is another problem you will run into while making a backup of any commercial DVD. Luckily, the Atlantis disc crammed both the widescreen and pan and scan versions of the animated feature on the same disc. The widescreen extraction could easily fit on a DVD-R.

DVD Studio Pro needed the original AC3 audio from the MPEG-2 stream. I demuxed the audio and video into different streams or tracks. I then imported the tracks into DVD Studio Pro. I left the video untouched. The Dolby Digital soundtrack required pointing the six separate channels to the correct speakers in DVD Studio Pro’s GUI (L, C, R, LS, RS, Sub). DVD Studio Pro produced a new MPEG-2 stream and burned a DVD-R.

The re-encoded DVD-R played perfectly. The movie regained its full surround sound majesty in my home theater. Without the offending flags from the original Dolby Digital stream, my flagship Onkyo TX-DS989 AV Receiver had no problem. I enjoyed the movie I rented for $4.

My $4 should have gone down the drain with this defective disc. But, through many hours of my valuable time and many expensive software and hardware resources, I was able to enjoy a very mediocre animated feature from Disney’s catalog.

Large corporations screw up and they don’t like to publicize it. Personal DIY can fix these screw ups. Part of this DIY process, defeating DVD’s DRM protection, was criminal. I don’t feel like what I did was theft. I just wanted to watch the movie I paid for.

Father, Husband and Geek. My geeky interests have not changed since I was a kid. I still love comic books, anime, role-playing games, console video games, indie rock, imported toys and mecha models, bad American and great British sitcoms, and all the tech that let’s me experience these hobbies to their fullest. Now that I’m married with children, I’ve had to strike a balance between supporting and pleasing my family and feeding my geekery hunger. Lucky for me, my wife is very accomodating and even geeks out with me on occasion (the ladies love Joss Whedon’s “Firefly”). My two year old likes anything that moves on the front projection screen and makes noise, so far she is easy to please. Geekwithfamily.com exists to enrich the lives of fellow geeks and the friends and family who put up with them.

Share This

Selecting a TV isn’t as easy as it used to be in years gone
by. Rather than going to the local department store and
choosing a console that would take up a large portion of
the living room, we now have other options. Along with
those options comes the chore of locating, comparing and
narrowing down a multitude of models to just the right one
for your viewing needs.

First, of course, you’ll need to consider the size of the
room which will house the unit. Since Big Screen TVs offer
a much larger viewing scenario, the room needs to be able
to accommodate whichever model you choose. For instance,
you might like the idea of a 60″ screen, but you might only
have enough space to accommodate one that measures 42″.
Don’t make the mistake of purchasing one and then
discovering that, as much as you thought you might be able
to squeeze it into the room, it just won’t work.

Display type is another consideration when bringing such a
system into your home. You’ll need to choose a glass tube
or flat tube (the latter being the more expensive). For
higher viewing quality, you’d be better off with the flat
tube variety. Direct-views are smaller with a brighter
picture and wider viewing angle than their larger
rear-projection counterparts. If you prefer the
rear-projection variety, however, they range in size from
40 to 82 inches diagonally. Those who like the idea of
such a large picture - and have the room to house such a
unit - will be happy with the 82″ variety.

Next, you’ll have to decide whether you prefer SDTD
(Standard Definition Television), EDTV (Enhanced Definition
Television) or HDTV (High Definition TV). The STD is
really nothing more than the usual type of television that
has been in homes across America for years. The enhanced
version is an upscale of that, but doesn’t quite offer the
quality of the HDTV variety. HDTV offers high definition
viewing, and is touted as being the best viewing experience
that there is to offer to the general public.

Financial considerations are always on the horizon, and
this will be one of the biggest factors that you’ll need to
consider when determining which type of set to purchase.
Although the EDTV and HDTV models carry weightier price
tags, they also pay for themselves over the long run, if
you consider how much money you’d be spending to go to the
local cinema on a regular basis. If your budgetary
constraints are so tight that you can’t even consider such
an option, then you can still find standard televisions
which utilize the big screen TV presentation.

The bottom line is that you’ll need to consider finances,
available space in the room, type of viewing presentation,
display capabilities and the reputation of the
manufacturer. Manufacturers such as Sony, Pioneer and
Panasonic are among the highest ranked manufacturers of TV
and big screen TV systems in the current market. Others
also have a strong reputation for quality, as well, so it’s
simply going to be a matter of doing a bit of comparison
shopping.

(c) 2005 Simon Canfield - All Rights Reserved

Simon Canfield is a hi-tech enthusiast and freelance author.

AllAboutHeadPhones.com
BigScreenTVsecrets.com

Share This

If you’re new to Internet shopping, then you’re going to be overwhelmed with how many shopping malls are available online today. There are online malls that offer everything from jewelry to DVD players to cell phones. There are malls that specialize in one particular category such as sporting goods, toys or electronics. There are even shopping malls that offer products from many different countries. The choices are endless.

Here’s a quick guide to online shopping malls that reveals how to choose the right Web site for a fantastic shopping experience.

Product Organization

A key ingredient for a great online shopping mall is site organization. Make sure the site is divided by categories and subcategories to make finding your products quick and easy.

One example is a category such as “Sporting Goods” and then a subcategory named “Camping.” Under the “Camping” category, a shopper can locate different types of camping equipment.

Another example might be a main category called “Video Games,” a subcategory called “Game Consoles,” and then the actual products - Xbox 360 and PSP 2.

Having organized categories helps keep the mall homepage from being cluttered with hundreds of unrelated products while also providing a quick way to find what you’re looking for in the shopping mall. There should also be a quick search feature that enables you to search for specific items or brand names.

Payment Methods and Security

Be sure the shopping mall offers secure, convenient payment methods such as credit card acceptance. Some malls accept checks, money wires, money orders, COD, or other methods as well.

To be sure the payment page is secure, check the bottom of your Web browser for a secure lock/key symbol and also check the Web URL address for an “S” after the “HTTP.” Example: “https:// ” in the browser’s Web address field. This means the page is an SSL encrypted page that has been designed for processing orders in a secure fashion.

If you feel uncomfortable about ordering at a particular shopping mall, do a Web search to find out if there are any negative comments about the mall’s customer service. Silence about the company is usually a good thing!

Shipping and Handling

Before ordering from any online shopping mall, you should understand their shipping terms and costs. Make sure there are no hidden fees for processing the order. If the item is being shipped overseas, be sure to keep all receipts and tracking information for your shipment. Some malls have several distribution centers in a variety of locations, giving you the benefit of a faster, less expensive shipment.

Products Galore

Many online shopping malls today can offer hundreds, or even thousands, of products at discount prices because they don’t actually carry inventory. Once you find a mall that’s dependable, you can literally do all your online shopping there!

Imagine shopping for the holidays at only one location - and never leaving your home. You can purchase a new home theater for your spouse, a camcorder or digital camera for your son or daughter, a new TV for yourself, or even luggage for your friend who is a frequent traveler.

Products are available for men and women, boys and girls. Whether buying perfumes, a car audio system, a computer or lingerie, a shopping mall on the Web usually has it all. The product list is endless, and buying in quantities usually means savings on shipping as well.

The next time you’re thinking of driving to the nearest mall, go Web surfing first to discover the many benefits of online shopping malls.

Share This