AliceWith all the technology options around us, it’s easy for people to assume that if they invest in the right acronyms at their local technology superstore and a subscription to one of the many content streaming services, they will have the best ‘home cinema’ experience out of the box when they get home.
With the rapid technology advancements over the past decades, it will of course be a far cry from what most of us grew up with, but in reality, will also be a far cry from what is really possible today.
“Unfortunately, all too often, even those customers that enlist the help of what they believe to be a ‘professional’ fail to check their credentials and installation history, ending up with a solution that is an extra investment, but doesn’t provide an experience that is commensurate with that investment,” says Tim Sinnaeve, head of Barco Residential.
“As a result, people are not entirely satisfied, and a lot (if not most) of potential business for the custom integration industry is lost. That’s why our primary focus needs to be on delivering an exceptional experience. Clients need to be inspired with what is possible and experience the difference a truly high end system brings. To deliver excellence, we need to set the bar high and define what that means.”
The first critical ingredient needed to create a true cinema experience at home is a professional custom integrator with the skills and knowledge to curate that experience for their client. “The work that CEDIA is doing with the industry to ensure prospective clients have access to the best professionals cannot be underestimated,” Tim notes.
“The technology choices are critically important. Without the finest equipment, you cannot create the best experience and deliver its full potential. All elements, including sound and image, need to be perfectly balanced. Barco Residential’s core strengths lie in our technology leadership, proven in the most demanding professional markets, including commercial digital cinema and post-production, as well as in our focus on enabling amazing experiences for our clients, paying special attention to design and architectural integration.”
“People tend to assume 4K resolution ensures the best quality, but this doesn’t tell the full story.What about the quality of the pixels? The use of lossy compression means that data is lost in the encoding process, so image quality is sacrificed for the sake of convenience and smaller file sizes. This might be fine on the bus when you’re watching your smartphone or tablet, but not when you’re into a true cinema experience at home.”
Barco residential draws from a diverse professional technology base, building its projectors and systems from the ground up, giving the manufacturer full control over the image quality and performance.
“Given that we power the largest screens in the commercial world, we are also uniquely qualified to deliver on the trend of larger screens in the home with more light on screen while maintaining the best possible image quality,” he says.
“For these reasons, industry professionals like acclaimed director Michael Bay and producer Jerry Bruckheimer have chosen Barco Residential for their homes.”
Another important element is content quality. As the content industry is shifting away from physical media, many people are using digital streaming from services like Netflix, but these services use compressed file formats with relatively low bitrates.
“People tend to assume 4K resolution ensures the best quality, but this doesn’t tell the full story,” Tim says. “What about the quality of the pixels? The use of lossy compression means that data is lost in the encoding process, so image quality is sacrificed for the sake of convenience and smaller file sizes. This might be fine on the bus when you’re watching your smartphone or tablet, but not when you’re into a true cinema experience at home.”
This is another important factor to take into account when you are curating an experience. With Barco Residential’s DCI level projectors, home cinema enthusiasts can now take advantage of the highest possible quality day-and-date Hollywood content that is becoming available to high end cinema-at-home installations.
CEDIA 2016 will provide an opportunity to experience Barco’s technology, including its 4K DCI flagship 6P laser projector and the new Loki 4K projector that is setting a new standard in its category, providing the “highest light output without compromising image quality”.
Visitors to CEDIA 2016 are encouraged to see Barco Residential’s systems for themselves during the exhibition at booth 1310.