Physical & Digital EST: The Future of Home Video Discussion Thread

[gotmule]

Originally Posted by Vilya

Would you recommend the Panamax M5300-PM or the M5400-PM?

https://www.crutchfield.com/S-xdXxrW...PM.html?tp=568

https://www.crutchfield.com/S-jp2F2F...PM.html?tp=568

Or a different model altogether?

Not sure how your power is out there so don’t know if you need to regulate your voltage with the 5400. 5300 should be enough just as long as you don’t have frequent brown outs or voltage dips.

[Wendell R. Breland]

Originally Posted by Vilya

Or a different model altogether?

If your power is dirty in your area you want to look into a double conversion UPS (here). This style converts your AC to DC and back to AC so the AC out never changes assuming a good battery. Most inexpensive UPS only switch to battery with loss of AC. Because double conversion types are always on line means always on cooling fan.

I have my projector connected to this one.

[Steedeel]

Originally Posted by crutzulee

Caught THE BIKERIDERS a couple of nights ago on streaming... This will definitely be a purchase on disc when available.. I didn't expect it to be so personal for me.

The spoiler below is to protect you from boring personal info about me AND about the movie

[Show spoiler] While my recent holiday was an overwhelming success, there was a point on one of the last days in Rome where I found myself a little out of sorts. I had spent months planning (perhaps overplanning) every single moment so that we could get the most out of what may be a once in a lifetime opportunity.

Despite growing up catholic (and still knowing more about the religion than most current practitioners), I had not planned our trip to the Vatican around avoiding the feast of St Peter and was devastated to find the main church blocked off with seating in a fashion that precluded me giving the tour that I wanted to give my family (having been there many times and having an intimate knowledge of the building)...Moreover, Michaelangelo's PIETA was closed off for renovation ahead of next year's jubilee.

After a quick walk around in a predetermined cattle like line, we were thrust unceremoniously back out onto the front steps.. As my family was assuring me that they still had an educational and entertaining time and that the error was purely random chance, I realized exactly where I was and meditated on the nature of random chance.

More than a half century earlier, a 27 year old woman had been sitting right where we were. She had been deemed too old to get married, and as per the custom in her family, she had to take the step towards becoming a nun, so that her younger sisters could settle down. Her only request was that she take something of a world tour before taking the orders.

This trip found her sitting on the steps of the vatican agonizing about the last exposure she had in her camera and wanting to get a picture of herself in this iconic spot. Fortunately, for me, and my kids, she spotted a young American soldier. Having served in Vietnam, he was now stationed in Germany and was on some sort of leave. The LEICA camera around his neck indicated to her that he knew how to take a picture...The rest was history...I'm here (and my kids ) today because of that random chance meeting.

The romance of the story wears pretty thin from there.. LOL...perhaps the most ridiculous marriage in history... On their wedding day my dad was 6' 2" and 250 lbs...My mom is well under 5 feet and was 98 pounds when she was 9 months pregnant with me. She had been well established in a career with the Canadian federal government...Like many Vietnam vets, my father found it very difficult to adjust back into civilian life. There was nothing positive for him in his native Tulsa, Oklahoma so they settled up north in Toronto...where he found a home and acceptance in what I would best describe as an outlaw motorcycle gang. He would call it a club with a clubhouse.

The BIKERIDERS tells the story of the founding members of THE VANDALS and begins in 1965.. I went in thinking that this movie would have little to do with my father's experience...but as the scope of the movie widened into the early 70's and depicted the violent shift of biker culture with the influx of members returning from Vietnam and specifically mentions the emergence of chapters running guns and drugs from Canada, I started having a visceral reaction to the movie.

My dad left us when I was 4 but the "clubhouse" scenes in this movie were ingrained in me from my personal memories.. Big hulking men, with long hair sporting tattoos and earings wearing denim and leather....brandishing guns and knives ...violent horesplay...The movie is spot on in it's depiction of these things from my (repressed?) memories of these things

The biker life is very precarious for the wives and women involved. There is a scene where a wife gives her gang member husband an ultimatum - Turn in his colours or leave... I was in the room when my parents had that exact conversation...It would be the last time I would see my dad for more than 20 years... I remember him picking up the family cat and tucking it under his arm on the way out.. He was closer to 350 pounds by then.

Thanks for sharing, interesting stuff.

[Steedeel]

Just started my Poltergeist trilogy boxset. The first one holding up even better than I remember. A true horror classic.

[cheez avenger]

Originally Posted by Wendell R. Breland

If your power is dirty in your area you want to look into a double conversion UPS (here). This style converts your AC to DC and back to AC so the AC out never changes assuming a good battery. Most inexpensive UPS only switch to battery with loss of AC. Because double conversion types are always on line means always on cooling fan.

I have my projector connected to this one.

Thanks for that recommendation Wendell. I have an old school Monster Power Center that is made out of metal and other sturdy materials. It's really old, though, so might need to get with a new component.

[Wendell R. Breland]

Originally Posted by cheez avenger

Thanks for that recommendation Wendell. I have an old school Monster Power Center that is made out of metal and other sturdy materials. It's really old, though, so might need to get with a new component.

IF the voltage limiter(s) (ZNR) is not blown and other components not over heated then your device is probably still working fine.

ZNR info here. I would believe most consumer grade gear incorporates ZNR’s on their AC line and have done so for some time. ZNR’s are really cheap devices, about a $1 a piece at Amazon.

My Crown DC-300 audio power amp turned 52 last month, 3 Haffler amps turned 41, all still going strong.

[cheez avenger]

Originally Posted by Wendell R. Breland

IF the voltage limiter(s) (ZNR) is not blown and other components not over heated then your device is probably still working fine.

ZNR info here. I would believe most consumer grade gear incorporates ZNR’s on their AC line and have done so for some time. ZNR’s are really cheap devices, about a $1 a piece at Amazon.

My Crown DC-300 audio power amp turned 52 last month, 3 Haffler amps turned 41, all still going strong.

I have this one:

Monster Power Hts-1000 Powercenter Surge Protector Ac Home

[Vilya]

Originally Posted by Wendell R. Breland

IF the voltage limiter(s) (ZNR) is not blown and other components not over heated then your device is probably still working fine.

ZNR info here. I would believe most consumer grade gear incorporates ZNR’s on their AC line and have done so for some time. ZNR’s are really cheap devices, about a $1 a piece at Amazon.

My Crown DC-300 audio power amp turned 52 last month, 3 Haffler amps turned 41, all still going strong.

So, would you think that my 18 year-old Panamax power conditioner is still alright? It's the Panamax M5500-EX.

The only obvious sign of aging is that the fluorescent display does not light for each outlet bank indicator; three of 5 banks are dark while two are faintly lit. Which bank indicators are lit, or dark, sometimes varies for no apparent reason. The "wiring ok" indicator is lit normally and the voltage and amp meters are also of normal brightness.



https://panamax.com/wp-content/uploa..._datasheet.pdf

Replace it with a new one or does the old girl still have some life left in her?

[gotmule]

Originally Posted by Vilya

So, would you think that my 18 year-old Panamax power conditioner is still alright? It's the Panamax M5500-EX.

The only obvious sign of aging is that the fluorescent display does not light for each outlet bank indicator; three of 5 banks are dark while two are faintly lit. Which bank indicators are lit, or dark, sometimes varies for no apparent reason. The "wiring ok" indicator is lit normally and the voltage and amp meters are also of normal brightness.



https://panamax.com/wp-content/uploa..._datasheet.pdf

Replace it with a new one or does the old girl still have some life left in her?

Back in the day when I was in consumer electronics, I was told by manufacturers that ZNRs will eventually wear out as they handle the various spikes over the years, ultimately turning into fancy extension cords. Not sure of the validity of that however.

If it were me, I would go with a new one for piece of mind and to remove any doubt.

[gotmule]

Originally Posted by Wendell R. Breland

IF the voltage limiter(s) (ZNR) is not blown and other components not over heated then your device is probably still working fine.

ZNR info here. I would believe most consumer grade gear incorporates ZNR’s on their AC line and have done so for some time. ZNR’s are really cheap devices, about a $1 a piece at Amazon.

My Crown DC-300 audio power amp turned 52 last month, 3 Haffler amps turned 41, all still going strong.

I don’t think you can compare amps with power centers when it comes to age. You can know amps are still chugging away and working, but power centers or surge protectors you don’t really know if they are still up to the task and might be giving a false sense of security.

[Wendell R. Breland]

Vacuum fluorescent displays have a heater element that is heated to just below glowing (more here). As such the heater electron emission will decrease over time which will reduce the light output.

As to ZNR’s, they can be tested but the procedure requires equipment that most here probably do not have. As stated earlier, I would wager your displays, disc players, power amps, all have ZNR’s on their AC line in.

If you have had a close proximity lighting strike then you may want to procure new protection device(s). A few years back I had a very close lighting strike. It took out a DVB-S2 satellite receiver and the HDMI input that it was connected to on the flat panel TV. The TV continued to operate fine otherwise, the quad LNB on the satellite dish was fine as was another satellite receiver and two DVB-S2 tuner cards, one in the office PC the other in the HTPC. All were connected to the same LNB.

There are 4 coax cables connected to the LNB, it is a fairly short distance from the LNB to the quad grounding block. Dish and grounding block connected via #10 copper wire or larger to main AC power in ground. Point is, a lighting hit is very hard to guard against.

[mng]

Originally Posted by Vilya

Does anyone have any recommendations on home theater power conditioners? My current one is an 18 year-old Panamax model and I am thinking it may be long overdue for replacing.

It is also my understanding that Panamax and Furman are one and the same company now.

I have two Panamax. The only thing I have had to do is to replace the batteries.
So stick with Panamax

Mike

We have frequent power outages. So MB5100 (UPS + Power Conditioner)

[Vilya]

Originally Posted by mng

I have two Panamax. The only thing I have had to do is to replace the batteries.
So stick with Panamax

Mike

We have frequent power outages. So MB5100 (UPS + Power Conditioner)

Do you mean the Panamax MB1500? This one:

https://www.crutchfield.com/S-RnTx3A...00.html?tp=568

I am not sure that I need UPS functionality; it does add a LOT to the price. Panamax only warrants the battery for two years unlike their customary three year warranty on everything else. How long does a UPS battery typically last? Does this unit let you know when the battery needs replaced or do you have to find out the hard way?

[bhampton]

I read new larger capacity HDDs like 22TB can reduce cost of ownership for servers.

I'm thinking eventually I may go back to using a media server and I wish I knew what size was the largest I could put in my NAS units but that also may not matter if they can just go in a USB hub for basically the same performance.

[gotmule]

Originally Posted by Vilya

Do you mean the Panamax MB1500? This one:

https://www.crutchfield.com/S-RnTx3A...00.html?tp=568

I am not sure that I need UPS functionality; it does add a LOT to the price. Panamax only warrants the battery for two years unlike their customary three year warranty on everything else. How long does a UPS battery typically last? Does this unit let you know when the battery needs replaced or do you have to find out the hard way?

If you don’t lose power frequently, I would wager it is not necessary. Projector setups will often have them as powering down will often involve a fan for a bit, so a sudden loss can be a bit more detrimental.

[Vilya]

CNN today has an article about M. Night Shyamalan's movies:

‘The Sixth Sense’ turns 25. Here’s a list of M. Night Shyamalan’s freak movie endings, from ridiculous to incredible

https://www.cnn.com/2024/08/06/enter...ary/index.html

[Vilya]

Originally Posted by gotmule

If you don’t lose power frequently, I would wager it is not necessary. Projector setups will often have them as powering down will often involve a fan for a bit, so a sudden loss can be a bit more detrimental.

Power outages are infrequent here, but they are not rare events, either. They are usually of the off and immediately back on again variety.

I am inclined towards getting the Panamax M5400-PM. I do not know for certain that I need the voltage regulation that this model offers, but it does not cost all that much more to have it.

[bhampton]

Originally Posted by crutzulee

The new firmware on the Z9X is quite nice...

Partly because of this comment and partly because I recently read about things like 22TB HDDs under $300 ....

I'm playing around a bit with my Z9X after it's been in an extended time out.

It still works but I haven't updated the FW in a loooooong time and it's still claiming it's current.

It shows 6.4.42 dated 11/22/2022

Is that the "new" one and if not where do you get your Z9X FW ?

[Wendell R. Breland]

Originally Posted by bhampton

Is that the "new" one and if not where do you get your Z9X FW ?

The new version is v6.4.68, available here. I have not updated my Z9X. I am still on 1.0.75 for the Zidoo UHD5000, 1.0.95 is available.

ADD: I always download the zip file, transfer the zip file to a USB thumb drive to update. IIRC some say the Mac will unzip the file, do not unzip, the Zidoo updates from the zip file and must be on the root drive.

[Steedeel]

Originally Posted by Vilya

CNN today has an article about M. Night Shyamalan's movies:

‘The Sixth Sense’ turns 25. Here’s a list of M. Night Shyamalan’s freak movie endings, from ridiculous to incredible

https://www.cnn.com/2024/08/06/enter...ary/index.html

Love the guy, his films don’t always work, but I find the majority interesting at the very least, with some being thoroughly enjoyable.