The Future of High Fidelity Honolulu HI

HDTV is Here
After much hullabaloo, HDTV has finally arrived, though the transition has been painfully slow. Aside from paid programming and sports, HD content is still in short supply for many viewers who have access to only about a half dozen highly compressed HD channels.

After years of waiting for an HD playback format, the good news is Blu-ray and HD-DVD disc players are finally available for under $400. These discs and their players finally deliver the quality of picture and sound that we should expect from HDTVa vital step in the transition.

Remote Not in Control
Now that the TV makers have had years to perfect their HDTVs, you would think that they might better understand the basic end-user experience. The bad news is that manufacturers still dont have a clue about how to properly build remote controls. They are blind to the fact that millions of home theater owners are completely frustrated trying to use their remotes.

HDTV has multiplied the complexity of the average home theater. Homeowners will never understand all of the video and audio formats involved today. Switching video on an HDTV while simultaneously switching audio on a surround receiver is just not possible with supplied remotes. This remote control chaos is a gift to custom installers and CI-centric manufacturers, as it leaves the door wide open for them to step in as heroes and provide intelligent control systems.

The iPod and Hi-Fi
While HDTV is the center of attention in home video, iPods are center stage in the home audio world. They represent a near-perfect user interface, and as system designers, we must fully comprehend the implications of this phenomenal success. The clear message is that a great controller with mediocre sound beats out great sound with a mediocre controller. For home systems this means picture quality is getting much, much better while sound quality is getting much, much worse.

As I contemplate the future of custom AV installation, I am concerned that high-fidelity sound is declining significantly. Just about every maker of audio distribution products has rushed to create installed-iPod solutions. Any installer who can plug in an iPod interface is now selling whole-house systems. This approach has lowered the price for entry-level multiroom music systems and at the same time has significantly lowered the quality of audio.

At the same time, the switch to flat screens has created a trend to downsized plastic speakers for the home that look nice next to a four-inch deep TV.

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