My friends know me as a super-techno-gadget-junkie. Alas, it’s true. PDA? Started with the original PalmPilot Professional. I roll with a Blackberry now. Digital Camera? Nothing less than 8X zoom and 5 megapixels will do. MP3 Players? iPod and iRiver both rock. Alternate Storage? Zip, JAZ, Imation, USB, SD, and MemoryStick all have a warm place in my heart. Digital TV? Had it for over ten years, starting with Primestar, a company subsequently purchased by DirecTV. Media room? Two THX-quality surround sound rooms are in the home we built, in addition to ceiling speakers in four other rooms and monster outdoor Bose cabinets on the patio. High Definition? Have three—CRT, Rear Projection, and LCD. So what’s my beef? What gives me agita? What is it that’s working my last damn nerves these days? HD compatibility. A little background is in order here.
[Those who are intimately familiar with video output formats can skip this section; otherwise, hang in there, hopefully the summary won’t put you to sleep]
There have been conflicting standards for some time for transferring signals from an HD receiver to an HD monitor, but most use one (or more) of three types: VGA, DVI, or HDMI.
- VGA is an abbreviation of video graphics array, a graphics display system for PCs developed by IBM. VGA has long been one of the de facto standards for PCs. In text mode, VGA systems provide a resolution of 720 by 400 pixels. In graphics mode, the resolution is either 640 by 480 (with 16 colors) or 320 by 200 (with 256 colors). The total palette of colors is 262,144.
- DVI, short for Digital Visual Interface, a digital interface standard created by the Digital Display Working Group (DDWG) to convert analog signals into digital signals to accommodate both analog and digital monitors. The standard specifies a single plug and connector that encompass both the new digital and legacy VGA interfaces, as well as a digital-only plug connector. DVI handles bandwidths in excess of 160 MHz and thus supports UXGA and HDTV with a single set of links.
- HDMI is an audio-video standard with enough bandwidth to transfer content that is uncompressed between devices such as your HDTV and receiver or set top box. HDMI is built upon the existing DVI standard and can handle everything DVI can and much more, while also fixing some of the DVI incompatibility problems. What DVI problems you ask? Well here’s the deal: The DVI standard is very loosely maintained and enforced; many vendors have created different flavors of DVI while still calling it DVI and as a result some DVI equipment just won’t work together with other DVI equipment. So what the fix? Silicon Image is a semiconductor manufacturer in Sunnyvale, CA who developed the DVI standard back in 1999 with the help of Toshiba, Hitachi, Sony, and Matsushita. Silicon Image has identified DVI’s shortcomings and is set out to fix the compatibility issues by developing a backward compatible standard that would be more tightly controlled and have some added features, thus HDMI is the fix.
I tell people frequently that the single best gadget I have purchased in the last five years has been a DirecTV-TiVo box. What makes the product so fantastic is its ease of use—and for the record, the recent crop of DVR knock offs distributed by the cable companies don’t even come close. That is until I purchase the DirecTV HD DVR (model HR10-250). Model HR10-250 is the ONLY DirecTV receiver that has both an HD receiver and TiVo. So here’s the dilemma: the receiver has an HDMI output, while my SONY WEGA LCD Monitor has a DVI input. The difference, in and of itself, is not the issue— the receiver comes with an HDMI-to-DVI adapter cable. The fact that the receiver HDMI output goes haywire every two months is.
After using the HR10-250 for 30-45 days, the picture deteriorates to something that looks like a Leroy Neiman picture—limited variations of primary colors. You can still see the picture, but the picture is worse than an RGB video game. Since purchasing the HR10-250 receiver a year ago, I’ve had to have the receiver replaced by Best Buy seven times (and counting)! Best Buy is no saint in these transactions. Against my better judgment, I purchased a MonsterCable® HDMI-to-DVI adapter cable at the recommendation of one of the Best Buy “specialists.” $150 dollars later, I still have the Leroy Neiman problem and Best Buy won’t take the cable back! My only saving grace was that I purchased the extended warranty on the receiver; thus, Best Buy has had no choice but to continue swapping out the receiver boxes until the manufacturer discontinues making the model.
I’m hoping my anecdote and a few tips will save the reader the annoyance I’ve had over the past year.
Tip #1: Do your homework. Every time I walk into Best Buy, I fume over the fact that none of those knuckleheads understands enough about HD technology to sell monitors and receivers to consumers. Thus, the burden is on you. Research the equipment you’re interested beyond the made, model and price. Research how the components will be compatible with each other or with components you already have.
Tip#2: Stick with a common manufacturer. For years, I had always bought SONY equipment exclusively. It didn’t matter if it was a stereo, television, or clock radio, I always bought SONY. SONY products are almost always a little more expensive than comparable competition, but my SONY products seem to last forever, and have been consistently compatible with one another. My problems really began when I built my first media room around heterogeneous components. While I could program some remotes to control a few components, none of the programmable remotes were capable of controlling all the components.
Tip #3: Get the extended warranty only on “big ticket” components. Make an electronics purchase these days and you’re bound to be offered the option of an extended warranty. The extended warranty (a.k.a. service agreement) is what I call the “sucker’s bet.” In short, if you buy an extended warranty on anything that cost less than $750, consider yourself as having been suckered. Most electronics have (at least) a 90-day warranty, and the actuaries have shown that if a component doesn’t fail in the first thirty days, it will generally last 2-3 years or more. These components are “disposable.” The tide turns when you start talking about components above the $750 mark—of course, this figure may vary based upon the price of the service plan. For instance, if you purchase a $1500 television and the extended warranty is $500, that’s no deal…unless price is no object for your peace of mind!
Tip #4: Understand the store return policy. Most electronics vendors have anywhere from 13-to-90-day return policies, depending upon the store, the item purchased, etc. For instance, generally speaking, most stores don’t accept returns at all for software once the box has been opened. Others—e.g., Best Buy—accepts nothing back after 90 days. It’s important to know whether or not you need a receipt—Circuit City retains receipts on file—and whether you need to retain the original packaging. As a general rule, keep packages at least 30 days just in case you need to return an item—longer for more expensive items.
Tip #5: Don’t waste your money on high-end cable upgrades. I’m going to take heat from my audiophile buddies on this one, but the fact is most cables use copper at the core—this includes the popular Monster Cables. What differentiates the upgrade cables is shielding, gold-plated tips, upgraded insulation, and packaging. As blasphemous as this may sound, you can get most cables you need that work just as well as the name brands from Home Depot or Radio Shack. Mind you, you don’t want long runs of 24-gauge wire to your speakers, but that’s a topic for a later discussion.
Tip #6: Try key features out on the floor model. I can’t emphasize this one enough. If you need to break out a manual to do rudimentary tasks—[Are you listening Kenwood, Onkyo, Pioneer, and SONY?]—such as adjusting volume, changing surround settings, or taking pictures, then consider a different brand. Now this may conflict with Tip #2, above, but the fact of the matter is that you’ll generally less than half the features of most any device you purchase…okay, except for TiVo!
Epilogue
At the time of this writing, I am watching game five of the NBA finals in HD via HR10-250 number seven. The picture is great, but the cynic in me knows the party won’t last more than sixty days or so. The manager I spoke to at Best Buy indicated that he hadn’t heard of a problem with this model before. I politely retorted how interesting that statement was given that I had replaced all seven boxes at the same store. Furthermore, I spoke with DirecTV customer service, DirecTV technical support, Best Buy technical support, and Hughes electronics. I didn’t call them to chastise, I contacted them to inform them of the problem in the hopes that they would fix it for the next person. Unfortunately, no one seemed to care enough to direct me to someone with the ability to enact change. This, in and of itself, is pretty disappointing in the age of Customer Relationship Management (CRM) software and tools available to “improve” service.
Manufacturers have an opportunity—no, an obligation—to make components more compatible with one another. There really is no excuse given technological advances in the last five years. This is 2005 after all. Y2k was five years ago. Corporate Average Fuel Economy (CAFE) is up. Vehicles can go 100,000 miles before requiring a manufacturer recommended tune-up. Lithium batteries now come in conventional sizes AA and AAA. Personal and Server computer CPUs regularly exceed 3 GHz. All of these changes seem monumental when compared to the fact that manufacturers still have not produced the ideal universal remote! Woe is me? Not really…but there’s a great business opportunity for a corporate catalyst out there…and if you happen to work for DirecTV, FIX MY PROBLEM, DAMN IT!!!
Peace,
J
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