• Lifestyle Control: Touch screen devices for home automation
• Home Networks: A complete guide to home networking
• The Everything  Gadget: How the revolutionary iPad is reshaping home entertainment and control.

Plus much more. It’s all waiting for you in the Fall 2010 issue of HD Living Magazine!

SoundVision's opinion of the difference in overall experience between SDTV, HDTV and 3D TV.

It is our opinion as an organization that the technology behind 3D still has some significant maturing to do before it can become as widely adopted and essential as HD. The technology behind the 3D TV sets today is a vast improvement over the anaglyph method that has been used to reproduce both still and moving 3D images since the turn of the 20th Century, there still is a requirement to wear glasses in order to view 3D images. The glasses required by today’s 3D displays use active shutter technology, opening and closing the lens in front of each eye many times per second. The human eye cannot detect this motion, and the technique tricks our brain into seeing a 3D picture. This technique of reproducing 3D can also slightly sacrifice image quality by reducing the overall resolution of your TV.As we talked about last week in our post about the new 3D flat-panel TV lineups from Panasonic and Samsung, with the upcoming 3D Blu-ray Disc and cable network launches, there is going to be demand from early adopters to integrate 3D technology into media systems. As always, SoundVision is here to help our clients navigate the 3D waters. Most high-performance plasma and LCD TVs will be “3D ready” in 2010, so it’s a very real possibility for anyone purchasing a new TV this year will be bringing this new technology home, and we’ll be here to help you get the most from it.Do you have an opinion on the new 3D technology? Let us know in the comments!

1. Tower (floor standing) speakers
2. Bookshelf speakers
3. Wall-mounted speakers
4. In-wall speakers
5. In-ceiling speakers
6. Invisible speakers (behind or part of the sheetrock application in walls or ceilings)

All of these speakers will offer a much improved sound experience when they are paired with a subwoofer to handle deep bass and low frequency sounds. This is an entirely separate speaker that is placed in an another area, away from the main speakers.Tower/floor-standing speakersTower speakers usually have an array of at least three speakers, or drivers: a tweeter for high frequencies, a mid for middle frequencies, and a woofer for low frequencies. These three drivers are matched and configured to work together to produce consistent performance across the audible frequency range.In a perfect world, these speakers would be located a minimum of 30 inches from walls, aimed at the listening area and spread out around 30 degrees from the listening area.Advantages

• Speaker drivers are placed at proper heights relative to the listening position
• Speakers can be placed at the correct location to eliminate boundary effects, which are changes in tone caused by sound reflecting off nearby surfaces (walls, ceiling, etc.)
• Delivers full spectrum sound due to fully engineered and matched drivers with crossovers set up to maintain consistent tone and output qualities across the audible frequency range

Disadvantages

• Tower and floor-standing speakers tend to be large and difficult to fit into a typical living space’s style and decor.

Bookshelf speakersBookshelf speakers usually have an array of at least two drivers: a tweeter for reproducing high frequency sound, and a combined mid/woofer for middle and lower frequencies. While many bookshelf speakers produce great sound, it is a compromise from their larger, floor-standing brethren because it combines the mid and woofer drivers into one, compromising clarity. It is also more susceptible to boundary effects due to its typical placement on shelving or in cabinets. (This problem can be rectified by placing it on a stand, away from walls.) For best performance, these speakers are placed as close to ear height as possible and aimed at the listening area. These speakers also benefit greatly with the addition of a subwoofer to provide fuller sound at lower frequencies.Advantages

• Speaker drivers can be placed at the proper height relative to listening position
• Speakers can be placed at the proper location to minimize boundary effects
• Can be integrated into some living spaces without a major impact on the room’s existing decor

Disadvantages

• Performance is inferior to tower speakers due to placement, boundary effects and lack of a full-spectrum driver array
• Occasionally difficult to properly integrate into room’s existing interior design

On-wall speakersThe on-wall speaker is essentially a bookshelf speaker with a form factor modified for an on-wall mounting application. On-wall speakers also usually have the same two-driver array where the tweeter takes care of high frequency sounds and a combination mid/woofer handles the lower frequencies. However, since it’s placed on the wall, these speakers are subject to boundary effects,  but many models integrate compensation circuitry to compensate and minimize this.Advantages

• Speakers mounted on walls provide proper speaker placement relative to wall-mounted TVs
• Blends in with the style of wall-mounted TVs, creating a uniform look
• Can be integrated into many living spaces without a negative impact on decor

Disadvantages

• Performance is inferior to tower and bookshelf speakers due to placement, boundary effects and lack of full driver array

Stay tuned… I’ll review the last three speaker types (in-wall, in-ceiling and invisible) in part two, coming on Monday!