A few years ago, it was unheard of to think about hanging a television on a wall as you would a picture.  However, since the arrival of flat screen TVs, we often see televisions mounted on walls.  A downside to hanging a flat screen on a wall is the cables.  When a television is resting on a TV stand, it’s easy to organise the wires so that they are not seen.  However, if you have a flat screen hanging in the middle of a wall, hiding the cables can be a difficult task indeed, especially when considering how many cables there are. At the very least, you have to hide the power cable.  These cables can be the trickiest because they are not very flexible and they tend to be thick.  After the power cable, you will probably have a number of audio/visual cables to hide.  Furthermore, if your flat screen is high definition, and it probably is, you’ll have some HDMI cables going from the TV to various items like DVD players, VCR’s, a cable box and gaming consoles.

So how do you begin to hide so many cables?  When hiding cables, ever situation is slightly different because no two rooms are the same.  However, in general, there are two ways that you can go about covering up your cables.  The first way is to run the cables down along the outside of the wall.  The second way is to run your TV cables through the interior of your walls and other structures.

It’s impossible to say which of the two methods for hiding cables is better.  However, without a doubt, it is easier and less time consuming to hide your cables outside your wall.  Furthermore, if you hide your cables are outside your wall, later, if you need to change your set up, you have easy access to the cables and can easily move them.  Most experts would recommend that you hide cables on the outside of your walls.

The easiest way to hide your cables is with a device called a cable cover.  These cable covers are easy to come by.  You can either purchase one online or visit your nearest audio/visual retailer.  These covers are perfect for most situations.  For example, if you have a flat screen hanging in the middle of your wall with five to ten cables coming out of the back, this is most unattractive.  The job of a cable cover is to hide the cables while at the same time, not being an eyesore itself.  This is exactly what cable covers do.  They are designed to fit neatly over your cables, no matter how many you have.  Furthermore, they are very thin and can be easily painted to match the colour of your wall.  So the end result is that all of your cables are hidden and one can barely see the cover.  Furthermore, you don’t need a professional to install your cover.  You can easily do the job in a matter of minutes.

These days, everybody wants to get a flat screen television, and for good reason.  These televisions offer a person a superior picture in high definition.  With a quality flat screen TV, we can enjoy all of our favourite shows, movies, and sporting events in ways that we never have before.  These incredible televisions allow us to really be a part of the action.

Some people hesitate to buy flat screen TVs, however, because they can take up huge amounts of space.  If you live in a large home then chances are that you have enough room to put a flat screen television on a TV stand wherever you like.  But if you live in a smaller house or apartment, you might not have enough room to spare. Luckily, there is a simple solution.  Flat screen televisions are designed so that they can be hung on any wall.

Once you purchase the flat screen of your dreams, mounting it on a wall is a breeze.  There are two ways that you can go about this.  The first is that you can pay some professionals to handle the installation for you.  This can be a bit expensive, however.  Furthermore, because hanging a flat screen is not at all difficult or complicated, you will probably want to do it yourself.

When hanging your new television, the first thing that you want to do is locate the best spot for it.     When choosing a spot, don’t just get a mental picture in your head of what the television would look like in various places.  You should get a piece of cardboard that is more less the same size as your television and place it on the wall in several places.  Once you position it on the wall, tape it in place.  Then take a few steps back and look at it and see what you think.  Keep in mind also that you can also rearrange the furniture in the room where you are going to put the TV.  So, for instance, if one wall is perfect for the television, but your sofa is facing away from that wall, simply turn the sofa around and move the rest of your furniture accordingly.  It’s better to change the set up of a room than it is to hang your TV in a place that isn’t ideal.  Once you get the cardboard in a place where it looks good, make sure that this location is close to a power source.  If it isn’t, find a better location.

Once you have chosen where the TV will go, using a stud finder, you must locate the studs nearest to where you want to hang the TV.  If you don’t have a stud finder, you can rent one, or just borrow one from a neighbour.  When you find the exact places on the studs where you would like to put screws, use a drill to start the holes.  Once the holes are started, you can screw in the mounting brackets that will hold the TV, and then hand the television itself.

And that’s the whole process, simple and painless.  Once you have mounted your new television you can enjoy quality entertainment with an amazing picture.

Projectors for movies and slide shows have been around for ages. Everyone can probably remember the first time they witnessed a projector when their elementary school teacher brought out the old school device to show photographs in science class. Well the times have changed since the days of strictly educational use of projectors. Today projectors continue to be used for education but developments have made projectors a novel way to turn a simple family living room into a big time home entertainment system.

The latest developments in projectors have made entertainment, such as sports, music and movies even more enjoyable to do from the comfort of home. Who needs to pay $10 at the movie theaters to see something that they can see with a similar effect at home. The biggest advancement of projectors came from the digital revolution in the mid-1990s with the development of Digital Light Processing or DLP. DLP projector technology is based off Digital Micro mirror Device (DMD) which is a function that controls the placement and intensity of light with thousands of mirrors. With DLP technology one can see a wide range of colors and good saturation and clarity which make video images appear the same as the old 35mm slides of the classroom days.

The incredible developments of the new projectors are now a practical alternative to a big screen television. All someone needs is a clear wall with conducive lighting and a projector can be set up in almost any location. This is one clear advantage to the projectors of old. A projector can work in various locations within a home. It can be placed in a large living room situation, bedroom, basement entertainment room, kitchen or back patio. A good solid and smooth surface which can project the images well is crucial as well as a spot which isn’t obstructed by too much natural light. If light interferes with the projection the images won’t be visible.

A very common spot for a projector today is the basement because it is a good place to shield out light from the sun during the day. Another more innovative spot is a backyard/patio at nighttime. As long as a neighbour’s light doesn’t affect projection, a back patio can be turned into someone’s own personal movie theatre. Of course excellent speakers (and speaker stands) should also accompany the projector because something which such strong and clear visual images should have something equally as strong to accompany it. Another cool feature with today’s projectors is the remote control which anyone can use to access the screen. All one has to do is sit back relax grab the remote and begin the evening feature presentation. The projector is also easily adaptable to other formats outside of DVD. Most of all the new projector formats can be set up to computers, VCRs and HDTVs.

If it is an incredible visual image someone wants on a grand scale, the new wave of projectors is a good way to go because they are well developed and amazingly clear. With a good projector setup movie watching at home will be taken to a new level.

Going green, or being sustainable seem to be trendy names these days as the society has done everything to change products so that they’ll have a more environment friendly appeal. Today there are electric cars, solar panel housing, and recycling centers for all types of materials (cardboard, paper, aluminum, and electronics) and with all this green hysteria it appears that technology has put another strong green foot forward with the development of OLED or electronic light emitting diode television screens. No the OLED isn’t a new surging brand market name, but a type of television screen that in a few years will strongly compete with the common LCD, liquid crystal displays and plasma television screens.

So what is OLED and how does it work?

Well, OLED works with a series of electroluminescent layers composed of a film of organic compounds which are placed between two electrical conductors. Electrical current is applied to the conductors and a bright light is emitted from the film.

What are the advantages of an OLED television compared to an LCD television?

The first advantage of an OLED television is that unlike LCD televisions it does not have a backlight. This means that an OLED television can have deeper black levels and be thinner and much lighter. Some screens measure to be 3mm thick which is a futuristic contrast to the clunky big LCD screen televisions. OLED televisions also have a faster refresh rate, better contrast and better color reproduction. OLEDs have higher natural contrast ratios because they use cold cathode fluorescent lamps. The greater artificial contrast ratio is measured in primarily dark conditioned settings. Another advantage of OLED televisions is the viewing angle. An OLED has an almost 190 degree viewing angle as the color pixels don’t seem to shift with the viewers position to the screen.

One of the biggest advantages of an OLED television is the decrease in power consumption. The OLED is a green friendly innovation which consumes no light and therefore doesn’t need to power a backlight. They also contain no bad metals in order to be produced. They’re organic illuminating machines, which continue to challenge the future of television screen technology. With OLED it might not be a surprise to see flexible and transparent screens which can be rolled up to make a circle and appear almost invisible when not in use. What appears to be a bare wall can transform into a mega big screen entertainment center with the click of a switch.

OLED screens are already being used for commercial products such as cell phone screens, digital audio players, car radios and digital cameras but it is just a matter of time before this green technology explodes on the scene for the general television consumer. What a world it will be when OLED television screens are used for anything from a family television set, to a portable visual screen for a tee shirt. With OLED television technology going green will become more and more of an increasing trend due to the visual capabilities accompanied by innovative environmental practice.

Take a look at Atacama’s range of TV Stands to compliment your brand new TV.

Every year, the shows displaying the world’s latest and most exciting technology offer consumers a glimpse into the future. Some time ago, the HD television sets must have been thrilling show pieces. Today, they are a fixture in so many homes that they are barely worth mentioning. However, there is no shortage of hopes and dreams of the tech-obsessed consumer. One of the latest crazes – which is one of the oldest crazes – is 3D technology. In actuality, it may be in homes much sooner than most people think.

Why All the Fuss?

You can call it a coincidence or just a happy accident, but it seems more than a little curious that this phenomenon is on the brink of mass distribution just when the biggest movie of all time is using 3D technology. There is no reason to dream up a conspiracy theory, however. As far back as the 1950s, movie theaters were filled with bobby soxers getting their fill of 3D films. Would the clumsy UFOs land on earth and attack the local citizens? Would the Martians wandering across the cardboard cutout landscape take over and alter life forever as we know it? These now hilarious concepts were preoccupying moviegoers back then, who were more than happy to strap on their 3D glasses and visit this strange and enchanting world.

So now, more than half a century has passed. Do viewers still need those hokey glasses to see a 3D film? The answer is yes, but the difference is in the work itself. Anyone who has been near a newspaper or television set in recent times is aware of the fact that Avatar is the most expensive film ever made and was crafted using this 3D technology. The reviews are overwhelmingly positive and the Avatar craze has definitively swept the world. The next step, as all would anticipate, would be to enjoy this same experience within the home. When will it arrive?

The Latest Notices on 3D Tech at Home

The arrival of 3D tech in the home is in many ways like the arrival of most other impossibly sophisticated concepts. You wait and wait, but they never seem to arrive. Then one day a company figures out a way to get it done and the lid is blown off the project. Before anyone knows it, they are accepting deposits on 3D home projectors in advance of the date they go on sale. Then the public sits back and sees if this version of the technology is enough to carry the day for good.

While most people thought 3D tech would arrive in the home around 2015 or after, that date has been pushed up considerably. In fact, everyone is already jockeying for position, especially the television networks. If the technology exists, what will people watch? Avatar cannot captivate the world, forever, so there must be a regular slate of programming to accommodate this demand. It seems like the most natural subjects will be the first to get their shot in 3D: space travel, nature and – oh yeah – sports. The technology is apparently already in place, so the day the equipment goes into mass production and ends up in homes, there will be material to watch.

With sports, there will naturally be an endless supply of material, with the audience clamoring for more every day if the returns are as expected. Most people have a limited amount of time and energy for nature programming: it is awe-inspiring, but in the end it doesn’t hold one’s interest for good. Hence the fact that none of the major networks have yet to cut local news programs so they can be replaced by Shots From the Sahara or another vision of an exotic locale. In that respect, when critics say that Avatar has changed cinema forever, they may be right. Once a large number of homes are ready for it, filmmakers will want to get their movies onto those screens.

The Technology Already in Existence

Most people are not surprised to hear that 3D television sets have already been produced and have been on display at a number of the tech shows around the world. However, what about the brilliant HD TV that many people have only recently bought? Well, it’s true that the tech habit can be an expensive one. As soon as a newer, better form of the same product becomes available, people begin wondering what to do with the ‘old’ one. Can HD TV sets be transformed into 3D-capable machines? While some companies have tried to pull off this trick, the only realistic solution seems to be creating an entirely new 3D model TV. Shortcuts may be possible, but it will probably complicate things and end up delivering less than ideal results.

So anyone looking to jump on board will have to shed their equipment and take a step up into the 3D world from scratch. Fortunately, analysts expect the effect to be similar to that of switching from normal television sets to HD TV. One day, you are watching a film or sporting event and want to yawn, the next day you are wondering where all the magic came from while you see it in HD. The 3D format will take it to the point where a ball will literally seem to fly into one’s plane of vision, or a car drive into the living room. While HD televisions and programming made everything clearer and more thrilling, it could not bring the action into one’s personal space.

The skeptics will appear and campaign against such a format, citing the nausea-inducing effects 3D technology can have. Some people do get a little queasy when watching a 3D film, and as of yet, glasses are guaranteed to be part of the bargain. The question may be whether or not enough people will be willing to don the glasses and sit back on the couch being moved to and fro by an action hero or football star. In the world of video games, the answer has already been a resounding ‘yes.’ Most 3D developers are banking on the same verdict in households everywhere with regular television programming.

No matter when or how 3DTV reaches our living rooms, you can rely on Atacama Audio to provide the best TV Stands for you to place it on!