OPPO HM-31 HDMI Switch
For the HM-31 you will find everything from specs and a wall mount template to RS 232 codes: HM-31 Advanced 3x1 HDMI Switch. Opening the Box OPPO enhances even the simple things with quality packaging. The switch box comes in a cloth envelope along with stick-on rubber cushions for set top applications versus wall mounting.
When you take it out of the bag you find this cute and appealing little plastic box with piano black on the sides, a sleek silver trim on the top beveled edge along with a black brushed aluminum top that can easily compliment other visible products in your system. A card-type remote provides one button for switching to the next active input or 3 individual buttons for each input. All of this is packed in a nice velvet plastic divider along with the power supply.
The power supply wall wart is offset to the side to avoid taking up two outlets. That seems like a great feature but that will depend on the orientation of your outlets. Oddly enough for me my outlets and strips made that the most difficult part of this installation.
It supports hot plug and play and auto switching as evidenced when I hooked it up. I simply inserted the HM-31 in between a Toshiba HD-A35 HD DVD player and a Denon AVR-3808Ci receiver while in the midst of a movie. I looked up at the screen and within a few moments there was Phantom of the Opera in 1080p24 with sound. A quick look at the receiver confirmed my bitstream DTS True HD was still engaged.
From there I connected a Sony PS3 and switched over finding a picture and "PCM" displayed on the receiver. Priority, Auto and Remote Switching Priority and Auto switching logic can easily make remote control unnecessary. Auto switching logic detects live HDMI connections automatically selecting the active source if the other two sources are turned off.
Simply by turning sources on and off you can automatically switch without doing anything more. To turn off the HDMI on these devices requires pulling the AC power. In this application, Priority Switching logic becomes your auto switching best friend. Input 1 has the highest priority and input 3 the least.
By connecting your always active HDMI source to input 3 you can switch to input 2 by turning on that source. You can leave input 2 on along with input 3, but when you turn on input 1 it will switch to that. Conversely, if input 1 is on then you can't auto switch to input 2 or 3 without turning it off. If you have more than one HDMI source always active you can toggle through the three inputs via the front panel or use direct input select via the remote.
If the HM-31 can't be easily accessed or will be hidden from view, OPPO provides an external IR sensor accessory to get the IR detector in view of your remote(s). HDMI does not specify cable length, only a minimum performance standard which can be extended by the quality of materials used. This is what OPPO calls Cable EQ.
This is a very beneficial feature, but should be taken with a grain of salt. The OPPO website documents a successful 100 foot HDMI application, two 50 foot cables with the HM-31 in between, yet provides a disclaimer that your mileage may vary.
The best general advice is that once you hit 30 feet, you are pushing the tolerance of the HDMI system design. At 40 feet you have reached design limitations so going beyond that can open yourself up to problems. How much further you can go will depend on the integrity of the source, cable and display HDMI design. For More Information When it comes to cable lengths and the HDMI specification, you can find more information in the HDMI FAQ at HDMI.org. However, I find that their site tends to gloss over the finer points of the specification.
For a thorough analysis of the HDMI specification and dealing with it in the real world, I recommend Blue Jeans Cable. Radiient Select-4ce Four-Input HDMI May 11, 7:52pm Here is the website: www.radiient.com How do you all think these two switches compare to each other. Here is some info on the Radiient switch.
Four selectable HDMI Re: OPPO HM-31 HDMI Switch May 12, 12:42pm It's just a switcher.. Provided it meets HDMI specs it can be reviewed now.
The Radient provides a nice little holding area for the remote plus one more HDMI input The OPPO remote has more features, the switcher provides an optional IR extender alo Looking for the perfect Switch May 14, 5:35am For my Home Theater System, I'm looking for a way to run an X-Box 360, a Blu Ray DVD Player, and a Media Player all through HDMI and through the Home Theater Speakers.
My Samsung DVD Home Theater in a Box has 1 HDMI Input and 1 HDMI Output. So.. Tech Services USA, a division of Mastertech, creates sites, communities and libraries for consumers and professionals to share their technology knowledge and learn from each other. These include The ISF Forum and HD Library. HDTV Magazine exclusively publishes HD Library and Forum for Tech Services USA.
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Keywords:hdmi, hdmi design, hdmi source, hdmi switch, hdmi input, hdmi specification, hdmi specs, advanced hdmi, hdmi connections, hdmi oppo
The New DTV Delay Act - What They Forgot to Tell You
ST. LOUIS, MO, February 15, 2009 24-7PressRelease -- Broadcast technology has evolved by leaps and bounds since the first television was made commercially available back in the early 1930's, but we have come into an even newer age with the advent of digital television.
On February 19th, 2009, all full-power analog television broadcasts were due to cease entirely and give way to the new digital television era, but it was not to be so. The DTV Delay Act was enacted on February 4th, 2009 and effectively extends the analog cutoff date to June 12th, 2009.
Among the reasons for the delay is the fact that there are still millions upon millions of people who are still not prepared for the transition, even though a large number of coupons for DTV converter boxes were given out by the US government since 2005.
We believe it is irresponsible to ask mostly rural, or elderly consumers to reach into their own pockets to deal with this transition when many folks, including the federal government, are making a profit," said Joel Kelsey, a policy analyst at Consumers Union. Older analog antennas are not designed to pick up the digital or HD signals.
Some stations are switching early to digital transmissions only, which means a number of consumers will lose some of the channels they are used to receiving since the DTV Delay Act does not require stations to wait until the June 12th deadline to switch. They may do so at any time before then and some have stated that they are going ahead with the former deadline. Not only that, but neither cable companies nor satellite providers give you the full HD that the over-the-air digital broadcasts are able to give you.
An HD broadcast is a lot of data to be sending over a network that used to only send lesser analog data, but instead of building more infrastructure to be able to send consumers the real thing, the signal is crunched and compressed. This has begun to upset those that have purchased a big screen HDTV or plasma screen who want what they're paying for every month: real 1080i HDTV signals. That depends on where you live in relation to your closest HD tower.
The placement and style of antenna affects how far away you can pick up a signal, but some can pick up as far as 100 miles away. Is there a reason to buy an HD antenna, even if you already have cable television? Almost everyone has experienced the cable going out before, especially in the middle of severe weather, but the antenna will almost always pick up a signal.
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Keywords:release, press release, release contact, release unable, release complete, information release, release press
Review: HP HDX18 notebook
Despite the wide adoption of 16:10, with an increasing amount of people using laptops as entertainment devices and Blu-ray appearing more often every month it makes sense to improve the viewing experience.
With some notebooks touting 18- and 16-inch displays the focus on outputting video to a television is diminished as well-they still can, but an 18-inch, 1920×1080 display is good enough for most people. Click to enlarge HP's HDX18 is their newest entertainment powerhouse.
It, along with the HDX16, is it the company's first 16:9 offering, marking one of the earlier releases in what will be a major trend. The HDX18 is a do-it-all computer that HP is hoping will appeal to people who want to accomplish a lot with one purchase, from a Blu-ray player, to a media PC, to an entertainment hub, to an HD television. It runs Windows Vista Home Premium 32-bit.
Also included is an HDTV tuner, and two remote controls, one which fits the ExpressCard slot for easy storage. This is to say that it's built well enough for home use and light traveling, but it doesn't compare to something like the company's Elitebooks. This approach has generally been more than sufficient for consumers.
The 8.82-pound notebook is on the thin side for what it is, but the 18.4-inch display is going to ensure that it doesn't get moved around much. Above the trackpad is a button that will disable it, in case you want to use your mouse instead.
Above the keyboard is a touch-sensitive panel where users can adjust the volume, use media controls, and toggle WiFi. It uses stylish white LEDs along with blue orange for the WiFi indicator. This panel was actually the part of the HDX18 that gave me the most trouble. The problem was that our test system kept adjusting settings for no reason.
When this happened HP's software would be triggered and it would say that the volume, bass treble, or WiFi status had changed, which would interrupt a movie or gaming session. HP's Assistant software could be removed to stop these pop-ups, but it didn't seem to fix the touch strip. Anyway, WiFi still toggles itself off and then back on occasionally but, from my research, this problem appears to be isolated to our test system.
From a performance standpoint, the HDX18 did quite nicely under most circumstances. The T9600 processor did its job well and combined with 4GB of RAM and 9600M graphics means 1080p playback goes very smoothly. You can upgrade to quad-core, but it's not necessary for the vast majority of users.
Desktop work, even intensive tasks, can be handled with relative ease. This is not a system that you'll want to take on the road much, but it is under the nine pound mark, so it's better than some other "luggable" systems. This is a respectable number for a system this large, but nothing amazing. The use of a 16:9 display along with included Blu-ray makes it a great system for watching television and movies.
Throw in a remote controller, better-than-expected sound, and a setup powerful enough to playback 1080p video and you have yourself a very nice media machine. On-board Firewire, eSATA, and a TV tuner all help complete the experience. I purchased to replace a zd8000. The HDX runs cool - and quiet - the zd8000 had its fans running constantly. The 17-inch screen on the zd8000 is sharper than the 18-inch. But the extra resolution is definitely worth it to me.
Both laptops are about the same weight, but the zd8000 seems more robust. I do not travel much with my laptop, but they do get heavy carting them around airports. My big issue is screen flicker. Occasionally the screen appears to flicker when coming out of sleep mode. This can last a couple of second to 30+ seconds.
I plugged in an external monitor and only the laptop screen flickered. Tech support round 1 went as expected - flash the BIOS and reinstall the video driver. To be expected, but not the solution. A couple more contacts resulted in the ticket being closed.
The "explanation" is that this can occur when the battery is installed and the AC plugged in. The system clickers as it determines which power source to use. I can accept that this explanation is correct. THe laptop screen dims when on battery and the flicker could simply be the screen switching brightness. However, this worries me.
If the problem gets no worse, the I can live with it. But I worry that this is a hardware issue. I am interested in knowing if I am the only one experiencing this problem. I looked at the reviews on the HP site. I also posted a review so I will see it that appears. The screen does dim when you unplug the power cord, but that's because of a setting in Windows power management. Sounds like their may be something wrong with your notebook.
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Keywords:screen, laptop screen, screen flicker, screen switching, screen flickered, screen dims, screen zd, screen dim, issue screen, owners screen