got screens?

Relax in southern comfort on the east bank of the Mississippi. You're just around the corner from Beale Street and Sun Records. Watch the ducks, throw back a few and tell us what's on your mind.
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JR.
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got screens?

Post by JR. »

Since I bought a 65" tv that was too cheap to pass up ($399)... I moved the 55" over to my computer desk (nice), and bumped the 44" down to permanent squirrel monitor duty.

Since I am a packrat I still had an old 21" computer monitor that still works (mostly). Since the cheap surround decoder has no display it does have a Y video output so I can use that computer monitor to see volume control status.It may go away if I determine it contributes to hum noise floor.
screens1.jpg
The small blue screen in front on floor is the surround decoder monitor
screens2.jpg
Not a great picture but relatively big screen on right is computer, smaller screen on left is squirrel monitor.

I have one other monitor not in picture for 3 of my old PCs.

Next project is to hardwire the amp inputs to the jacks bypassing the level pots to see if they cause noise floor hum.

JR

PS: While shopping on thursday they had a 75" display on sale for like $800... pass.
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mediatechnology
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Re: got screens?

Post by mediatechnology »

At Dallas Sound Lab in Studio B (a VO studio) we used to have a giant projection screen sitting right behind the meter bridge.
The distance between it and the eyeballs was so close it was dizzying.
I couldn't imagine what a 55 incher would be like as a computer monitor on a desktop at close range.

We're not TV people that much - our biggest is 23".

Speaking of "got screens" I have a bunch of unused 4:3 LCD monitors I have no idea how to put to use other than security cams.
Our single cam is Android only so it's a phone thing.

I have thought about putting a big screen in the fireplace for a virtual fire and also hanging one in the living room as a digital picture frame.

Looking out the window in the den at the woods and wildlife is some of the best entertainment we have.
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JR.
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Re: got screens?

Post by JR. »

It is already a few feet away, and I can just about get by without my reading glasses... reading the keyboard is the harder part.

The new improved larger TV screen changes the experience when watching some movies I haven't seen for years revealing things I missed before. I may have already shared this here but in one final movie scene a tiny butterfly flew up the middle of the scene that was referenced to earlier in the movie. That tiny butterfly would be all but invisible with a smaller screen.

It must be annoying to movie producers trying to make films that work on laptops or tablets. I guess the big screen effects are just extra.

JR
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mediatechnology
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Re: got screens?

Post by mediatechnology »

Kinda off-topic but does your DSL connection have enough bandwidth to support streaming?

In some of the areas we've been looking at neither cable, DSL or fiber are available.

There is only fixed-point wireless which is a problem given our propensity to hills and large trees and satellite Internet using Viasat or Hughes Net.
I saw one house yesterday that must have had a 100 foot tower to hit a fixed wireless cell site.
It was on the side of a hill and had to overlook some 60-80 foot eastern red cedars.
billshurv
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Re: got screens?

Post by billshurv »

When desk space is limited I've used 4:3 as side monitors, but I like as many monitors as possible on my computer. I've been slumming it with 2 over lockdown and miss the 3rd. For a while I used a 1600 by 1200 21" sun monitor. it was huge but the picture was superb.
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terkio
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Re: got screens?

Post by terkio »

JR. wrote: Sun Jul 26, 2020 2:08 pm Since I bought a 65" tv that was too cheap to pass up ($399)... I moved the 55" over to my computer desk (nice), and bumped the 44" down to permanent squirrel monitor duty.
This deserves automatic picture analysis for squirrel alert.
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JR.
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Re: got screens?

Post by JR. »

terkio wrote: Mon Jul 27, 2020 12:49 am
JR. wrote: Sun Jul 26, 2020 2:08 pm Since I bought a 65" tv that was too cheap to pass up ($399)... I moved the 55" over to my computer desk (nice), and bumped the 44" down to permanent squirrel monitor duty.
This deserves automatic picture analysis for squirrel alert.
They already do, I have 3 cameras pointing at different trees, and movement detection switches the active camera to full screen. The sensitivity routinely ignores cars, but triggers on large trucks driving by. Enough sensitivity to detect a squirrel would also detects leaves moving in the wind.
mediatechnology wrote: Sun Jul 26, 2020 3:32 pm Kinda off-topic but does your DSL connection have enough bandwidth to support streaming?

In some of the areas we've been looking at neither cable, DSL or fiber are available.

There is only fixed-point wireless which is a problem given our propensity to hills and large trees and satellite Internet using Viasat or Hughes Net.
I saw one house yesterday that must have had a 100 foot tower to hit a fixed wireless cell site.
It was on the side of a hill and had to overlook some 60-80 foot eastern red cedars.
Yes I think.... The new monitor has Roku and I have experimentally watched some free programs streamed but unlike watching with my DVR I can't FF through commercials.... I haven't signed up for any paid services but my remote has dedicated buttons for Netflix, Disney, hulu and vudu whatever those are.

I'll figure it out.

===

Yesterday I bypassed the amp input pads and still have low level hum... next experiment is to ground the decoder chassis to amplifier ground (floating now). Old decoder didn't hum floating.

IIRC the Hypex amp has a 5V power out, so using that to power the decoder could elegantly ground it.

JR
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JR.
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Re: got screens?

Post by JR. »

JR. wrote: Mon Jul 27, 2020 10:41 am

Yesterday I bypassed the amp input pads and still have low level hum... next experiment is to ground the decoder chassis to amplifier ground (floating now). Old decoder didn't hum floating.

IIRC the Hypex amp has a 5V power out, so using that to power the decoder could elegantly ground it.

JR
A little drama finding the Hypex cable to grab power, I knew I didn't throw it away but took a while.

It can supply 10W so 5V@2A, the decoder draws 400 mA so all good.

Now the system is so quiet it is almost unnerving, not even audible hiss with my ear in the speaker.

Next project is increase the signal swing so it will drive the amps to full scale (needs 2.5V, decoder puts out 1V).

In my desire to KISS I am now thinking of using some modern rail to rail CMOS op amps that will run from 5V and swing within mV of rails.

An inverted differential output gets that up to 2V, so not much more work to get it to 2.5V 8-)

JR
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terkio
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Re: got screens?

Post by terkio »

Enough sensitivity to detect a squirrel would also detects leaves moving in the wind.
You need a better filter.
Movement detection is not good enough, it must add squirrel recognition.
AI technology.
We have the technology: Militarizing your backyard.

https://youtu.be/QPgqfnKG_T4
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JR.
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Re: got screens?

Post by JR. »

terkio wrote: Mon Jul 27, 2020 3:02 pm
Enough sensitivity to detect a squirrel would also detects leaves moving in the wind.
You need a better filter.
Movement detection is not good enough, it must add squirrel recognition.
AI technology.
We have the technology: Militarizing your backyard.

https://youtu.be/QPgqfnKG_T4
That wouldn't be fair... and since the birds are eating my figs shoot them to..

.====
Now that my surround is almost dialed in, I am hearing the best surround sound ever... and I used to design and sell surround sound systems back in the 80s...

Of course this yet another thing that digital does better, discrete surround sound.

I caught the end of Guardians of the Galaxy 2, very tasty surround mix at the end... I hope I don't select movies to watch for the sound efx...

JR

PS: I am downgrading my meter design to maybe only two LEDs per channel... one for signal present , one for LOTS of signal present... maybe three LEDs.
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