BEYOND AUDIO INC

Technology Trends 2012

2012-01-10T16:13:00.000-08:00

This isnot about the latest cell phone, gaming system, or the latest even flatter flatscreen TV, but trends that will impact our lives in a broader sense.

Analog Sunset
Digitaltransmission of audio and video is the new norm. Regular cablevision TV is decreasinginimportance; YouTube, Netflix, On-Demand Services, and Angry Birds are hereto stay. All of this impacts your computer network; your trusty old router orwiring which may not be up to the task. Newerservices and equipment have different wiring needs and your old equipment maynot work with the new equipment.

Energy
Informationhelps us make better decisions, including the use of energy. We can display energyuse on devices like the iPad, smart phones and at a low cost. There are lots oftechnologies for smart heating and cooling controls, and they can be installedvery cost effectively. We routinely add an economy mode which will dim lights,set back the thermostat, drop the blinds and more, automatically or by pressingthe “green” button.

Remote AccessSecuritycameras, remote control door locks, door bells that ring our cell phones areall available now and at low cost.

Anytime,Anywhere, Anyhow
We all expect everything to work24/7 until the end of time. Brand new electronics products frequently do not work all thatwell, especially when they first come out. You combine a bunch of theseproducts into a “system” and you are lucky if it works at all. It rarely issimple to operate and a pleasure to own…

The Cloud
Storeyour digital information – photographs, documents, music and data where it canbe retrieved easily anywhere in the world and has little chance ofdisappearing. Scan your passport and other ID just in case. Imagine how you’d beif you did lose your wallet and everything was already backed up securely.

Wecan now log into your system remotely, re-boot things if needed or diagnose a problem.The industry-leading equipment actually sends us an email BEFORE it has aproblem! This means lower maintenance costs, lower service costs, and fasterservice.

Open CuratedSystems
Clientsdo not understand about the latest Java, Flash, Firmware or restrictions on use- they simply expect things to work.

We work with companies that havedone the legal work and the technical engineering to make sure their systemswill work properly and over time. Believe it or not, Blue Ray playerfunctionality can be turned off by Hollywood lawyers. Yikes!

Better Video
Just like 3D, vastlyhigher resolution video is coming whether you want it to or not.
To look at this chart, you would think that your life has been a giant,low-resolution mess up to this point with all the extra detail that you’ve beenmissing.
Still a few yearsaway from full implementation, but if you are paying someone to wire yourhouse, they should know what to do today as we will all expect this in all of ourhomes a few years from now.

As I was writing this, an email came in from a supplier touting a brandnew video distribution system costing thousands. It is woefully out of date andnearly useless; you cannot even plug in the latest Apple TV or Xbox system.

If you are building, renovatingor considering a large ticket item, you should use a professional electronicsystems designer. I don’t mean the electrician or the nice guy who happened tostop by the jobsite, or your friend’s cousin who is “into computers”. Thisstuff costs real money and is harder to do properly than it appears.

Here is a link to a Ted Talk on thegenomic revolution – very exciting stuff!

http://www.ted.com/talks/richard_resnick_welcome_to_the_genomic_revolution.html

4K Video

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/4K_resolution

Sony 4KProjector, Available Now.

http://www.extremetech.com/electronics/95561-sonys-30000-projector-leads-the-way-to-4k-resolution

2011-12-08T16:22:00.001-08:00

The work is done as agreed, so whywon’t you pay us?

Every oncein a while I am confronted with customers who for whatever reason will not paytheir bill. The details are always different, and the justifications neversurvive the scrutiny of simple logic.

One of ourlong-term customers always (and I mean each and every time) always thinks hehas paid us in full when he has not. This has happened 5 times over the past 10years (really great guy but for this behaviour). It typically goes like this;Dwayne (not his real name of course), here is the final invoice for the work wedid, please submit payment blah blah blah. If he replies to the email orvoicemail (sometimes we have to send multiples of both), he inevitably tells ushe is “absolutely certain this has been paid”. We use computers for our accounting partly because computers are Good atMath.

Typicallywe then print out each and every quote, change order and corresponding invoice,do a separate document reconciling all charges and payments, dates, chequenumbers and related minutia (all of which he has received of course) to showhim that in fact our computer does do math accurately. Eventually we get paidbut why all the BS I wonder?

Another guythis summer had us do a retrofit of his home theatre, and he had boughteverything online. Normally we would not bother but we helped him out. He, ofcourse, changed things as we went about the job, adding items and making ittake longer than estimated. More work = more cost. Plus our estimate clearly says Estimate, clearlyprinted in both black and white. He refused to pay the additional charges oreven discuss the matter.

Someothers simply never want to pay, thinking they can re-negotiate the deal afterit is done, regardless of how much proof you have that they in fact authorizedall work in writing etc. They prefer instead to fight over every single itemand every dollar, the whole while calling me buddy and acting like we are bestfriends.

Sometimesthe perception is they have spent SO much $$ on a system, there is literallythousands of dollars that can be deducted from the bill. People go into storesevery day, bringing armloads of items to the register, rarely thinking “I can’twait to pay less”.

The mostegregious “customer” to date; let’s call him Mr. Johnson because that is hisreal name, refused to pay the second 50% because the system “was not goingto work”. That’s right, we were half way through the final stage of theinstallation, and he was at one of his other mansions hundreds of miles away.He somehow thought that this was appropriate behavior, our lawyer thinks not.

Mike’s Moral: Doing the right thing is never the wrong thing to do. This is one of the things thathas helped us to stay in business 15+ years. I like to give someone a bill oran estimate – a fair and honest write-up that reflects the work that we did andthe equipment that we installed – and have them, you know, pay it. Ihave screwed up on occasion, and felt horrible when charging for something thatwas not done to a high standard or not completely finished.

If youfeel that you need to negotiate a better price up front, do so….up front.(Remember, we sell consumer electronics, not exactly a bastion of sales marginsand profit). But at the END of the job trying to re-negotiate makes you anA-Hole, plain and simple.

So whatcan I learn from this, how can I prevent this stuff from happening again?

We couldartificially inflate things, and then give customers a “deal”. Ask about our 60%off sale, this week only… what a pant load. I know there are companies outthere that do this; we've lost jobs due to "but they are giving us a 25%discount!" FYI - some manufacturerssuggest a 1,000% markup - no kidding, buy it for $100, sell it for $1,000. Thenyou can offer a huge “discount” while totally ripping off the customer. Happensevery day.

We coulddesign systems that initially omit some of the necessary items like TV’s, brackets,and the related installation labour. I have seen quotes that follow this“design philosophy”, tantamount to lying to the customer who is relying on usto be professional and provide the solutions and services they have requested.

We coulduse the cheapest equipment. Not sleazy, but not exactly professional either.Systems costs still add up fast. When was the last time you priced out 120different items all at once, plus installation labour and thought “wow, I can’tbelieve how little this all costs?” Using the cheapest stuff however does lowerthe price which may get us paid sooner, and would also get us more “petropoints” for all the additional fuel our service vans would need.

We have beenforced to put strict “policies and procedures” in place in order to get paid. Andwe all hate “policies and procedures”. Basically we have to assume that we’renot going to get paid as agreed and now call ahead to make sure in no uncertainterms, full payment will be waiting for us when we arrive to finish up.

Thanks toall those lovely customers who do what they say they will after we do what wesay we will.

How To Shop for a New TV

2011-10-12T20:52:00.000-07:00

Shopping for the perfect TV can easily become a frustrating experience. In the old days (well, not that old) we had one choice: Tube TV's. Now TVs come in a variety of technologies, and even within each technology there are important variations.

LCD

The first Flat Screen Televisions were small, expensive and didn’t look that great compared to other popular display technologies. A lot has changed in that time. Today’s LCD TVs come in any home theater size, and feature the best performance characteristics to meet a videophile’s standards.

LCDs, which work by allowing light to pass through a liquid crystal encased in a cell, require a light source. Traditionally this was done with a type of fluorescent light called a CCFL. CCFL TVs had the disadvantage of allowing a lot of light to leak around the cells, producing a duller image with poor contrast. Many newer TVs now use light emitting diodes or LEDs to produce the light. LED-based LCD TVs use a lot less energy than CCFL TVs, they can be brighter, show more accurate colors and, when combined with a local dimming technology, can have better contrast. LED-based models can also be extremely thin, sometimes less than an inch thick.

To make matters more complicated, LED LCD TVs come in two varieties: full back lit and edge lit. Edge-lit TVs have the LEDs mounted around the edge of the panel and employ channels to get the light to the screen. Edge-lit TVs can be very thin and are usually a little less expensive than full back-lit models. Back-lit TVs usually are a little thicker, but can be designed with hundreds of LED clusters that will shut off for dark scenes on screen (called local dimming) resulting in a much better picture.

LCD TVs sometimes have trouble with fast action, so manufactures have come up with systems to double, triple or quadruple the standard refresh rate of the screen. TVs that feature 120 Hz or higher processing can make action look smoother. However, sometimes that same processing makes film-bases movies look like sitcom videos. It’s a good idea to experiment to see what looks good to you.

LCD TVs are usually the brightest of the TV technologies, which makes them good for rooms with lots of light or windows.

Plasma

The first popular flat-panel TVs were plasma TVs, and plasma still makes the most pleasing picture. Plasmas work similarly to the old-fashioned CRT TVs in that they have a screen coated with phosphors. The difference is that each phosphor is encased in a cell with plasma gas. When the gas is triggered electronically, it causes the phosphors to emit light. Thus, in a plasma TV, the light essentially comes from the surface of the screen rather than from a light source behind it.

Because there is no light source behind the screen, there’s no light leakage. That benefit allows plasmas to have very good contrast and black level, which helps to create the rich picture home theater fans want. Plasmas are usually not as bright as LCD TVs, and the glass can be more reflective.

In the past, plasma TVs had a reputation for burn-in or image retention. That happened when a static image remained on the screen for extended periods. This was a problem for channels that posted a network logo or video games that kept the score in the same place for long periods of time. TV makers have resolved this problem.

Plasma TVs are usually less expensive than equivalently-featured LCD models.

All three TV technologies are available in 3D TV models.

And as always, you get what you pay for.

Specifications are Often Bogus.

2011-09-27T14:31:00.000-07:00

Manufacturers of consumer grade speakers, TVs and electronics publish the specifications of their products at least partially in the hope that their “numbers” will seem more impressive than the other guys “numbers” and help persuade you to buy their shiny new thing. Much of this is meaningless, a lot of it is misleading and serves to confuse rather than clarify. The specifications game also makes my job a lot harder, especially when we try to provide systems that are actually better rather than only appearing better.

Here are the worst offenders.

Contrast Ratio: The difference in the amount of light between the “darkest black” and “whitest white”.

I have see claims of up to 30,000,000:1 contrast ratio. Higher is better of course, but since there is no official, standardized way to measure contrast ratio for a system or its parts, nor is there a standard for defining "contrast ratio," comparing the contrast ratio between products is a waste of time. A real world no BS contrast ratio is more like 240:1. Some manufactures are inflating the numbers by a factor of over 10 million! (We try not to do business with manufacturers who lie about their products for many reasons).

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Contrast_ratio

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Display_contrast

Lines of Resolution: This refers to the measurement of the number of lines that can be displayed or resolved. In camera’s it is expressed as Megapixels, or the number of “dots” that make up the image.

The difference in the image quality between my phone and my camera is huge, even though they are the same “resolution”. The lens, the video processing, the ability to deal with light and more each has a huge effect on the end result. Same goes for a home theatre projector - essentially a camera in reverse. Any deficiency in the system degrades the image, no matter how many lines of resolution in the specification.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lines_of_resolution

Watts Per Channel: This one has been around for over 50 years, and is easy for us to grasp - more is better of course, but there is much more to this than meets the ear.

Many manufacturers of audio video receivers make claims that defy physics. For instance,180 watts per channel in a 7 channel receiver - this adds up to 1260 watts - sound impressive but is not possible using a typical household electrical outlet and typical Class A/B Amplifier topology, there is simply not enough power at the wall socket to allow such a claim.

This does take some math to disprove their claim; if you have nothing better to do check Wikipedia on Class A/B amplification efficiency and electrical outlet wattage.

1080p Resolution: This refers to the lines of vertical resolution, usually on a TV. 1080p provides 1,920 x 1,080 pixels of resolution. Studies have shown most consumers can't tell the difference between 1080p and 720p resolution, especially on smaller screens.
Mark Cuban (owner of HDNet) was asked why he chose to broadcast in 1080p. He famously deadpanned, "It’s a bigger number. It’s always easier to market the bigger number."

And as with the other “specifications” this one is meaningless unless the rest of the system, including the room, viewing distance and more is all taken into account.

http://www.myce.com/news/beware-the-1080p-hd-scam-on-small-screens-33243/

Specifications do not tell the real story:

Here is a real world example of how specifications do not tell the real story, even when they are not inflated.

We have a projector that uses LED’s instead of a traditional bulb in our showroom. In a side by side comparison, it generates 1.6X lumens in perceived luminosity compared to a bulb based projector of similar cost and quality. On paper however it seems less bright; in real life it has a much more saturated color space, which we perceive as 60% more brightness. Check out the work of Hermann Von Helmholtz for more on this (if you are a total geek of course)

No matter the hue (whether Red or Purple), colors toward the outside of this model are more saturated and, as this diagram shows, are seen a substantially brighter even if they contain the same value and even if the reflected measurement of that color off a screen surface is the same.

Manufacturers of good equipment don’t rely on bogus specifications; rather they rely on partnering with companies that are experienced and trained to design and install systems properly, own the proper test and calibration equipment to confirm it is all working properly, and the integrity not to BS their way into your project.

Mike Ohman

Don't Work with A-Holes

2011-09-22T10:33:00.000-07:00

Taken mostly from Rick Green’s Blog with modifications reflecting my personal experiences.

In this current economy I can get a bit down on myself and the state of our world in general, and frequently ruminate on assholes. I seem to be surrounded by them.

Getting people to do what they say they will, getting customers to pay us on time, or pay us period. The TV manufacturer who routinely lied to us about their ability to ship our orders on time or at all (we fired them a few months ago) A potential client who claimed he could get the equipment I was recommending for 70% less on the Internet. Another client who had me quote his entire job, start the project, then bought all his equipment on the internet and expected us to install it all at a specific, but unstated “budget” amount. The customer who sent in “final payment” of only 2/3 of his actual invoice. They're all assholes.

A potent business theory was made popular a few years ago in a book by Stanford professor, Robert Sutton: The No Asshole Rule: Building a Civilized Workplace and Surviving One That Isn’t. It's a policy that might just save you some grief.

I first heard about the No Asshole Rule from Larry Pexton of Triad Speakers. I've always admired Larry's frank and straight up way of doing business. He builds loyalty. In his company lunchroom up in Portland Larry has a No Asshole sign prominently posted over the water cooler. Yep, and he practices what he preaches. Dealers, suppliers, employees, sales reps. They are all candidates, and when sniffed out, eliminated. That's smart, and really hard to do.

So what exactly is an asshole? Go ahead and evaluate yourself at this web site: The Asshole Rating Self-Exam (ARSE). 24 simple questions that I fear many of us would answer true. www.electricpulp.com/guykawasaki/arse/

From Wikipedia: "Two tests are specified for recognition of the asshole:”

1. After encountering the person, do people feel oppressed, humiliated or otherwise worse about themselves?
2. Does the person target people who are less powerful than he?

During a business training seminar a few years ago, the instructor, Chris, told this story (paraphrased):

A customer pulled up in a McLaren ($ 1M sports car), walked into the office and proceeded to describe exactly how his project was going to proceed, what equipment was to be used, what schedule we had to follow, how our pricing was going to be structured, the amount of money he was going to pay for each item, in general he was the boss of everything, period. Chris pulled out his checkbook, wrote his client a check for $1000 and handed it to him. Stunned, the Type A client asked what the heck this was all about. Chris calmly replied Time is money, I have obviously wasted yours as we are the wrong company for you, please take this as my way of saying thank you for coming in. He fired a client because that client was an asshole. In reality, Chris knew he would lose a lot of money and a lot of sleep if he took on this client.

I have done this same thing (without writing a check) on a few occasions and believe me this is the smartest thing I can do, given the long term relationship we must have with clients.

Times are tough so we tend to take more abuse than we used to. Perhaps we dish it out too. Stop it -- the risks are too high. Treat people fairly and chances are they’ll return the favor. Of course sometimes they don’t. We all have clients who refuse to pay their final bill, some never intended to. When you’re hungry even assholes seem appealing. The guy who wants to pay only part of his bill was all peaches and cream until we got going, then it was downhill fast. Now I wish I had written him that $1000 check. Bye bye!
Don’t get me wrong. Be gracious. Look for the positive oin the world and in those around you. Work with good people, the best you can afford. But if they turn out to be assholes, fire them! Choose your clients with the wisdom of Chris. When they misbehave, fire them! No Assholes. Now I think I’ll go take a look in the mirror…

Beyond Audio featured in Electronic Lifestyles Magazine Fall 2011

2011-09-21T11:54:00.000-07:00

We got a call a few months back from a magazine writer who had heard about our new showroom / my apartment through one of our sales reps. She asked me a ton of questions, I sent her a few pictures and promptly forgot about it. Received our copy of the magazine a few days ago and on page 35 was reminded of the conversation.

A lot of effort went into the design and building of our new experience centre (we did the majority of it ourselves) and are proud our efforts have been noticed by our industry as being among the very best. Send me an email for a copy of the article, or check out our Facebook page http://www.facebook.com/beyondaudio?sk=wall