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Jay Levitt
Guest
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 Posted:
Sat May 14, 2005 4:43 am Post subject:
CCTV vs. glass, projection vs. LCD |
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There was a discussion on this topic back in 2001, but technology's
improved enough that I think it's worth revisiting. Especially because
I'm moving, and building a new studio, so now it matters to ME. That's
totally different.
I will have a 20x50 basement space to do roughly whatever I want. It's
a rowhouse with shared walls, so we're going to have to build the
control room and live room as rooms-in-a-room for isolation.
We're trying to figure out where to situate the control room, and the
studio architect suggested considering a two-way CCTV hookup.
Simultaneously, we were talking about where to put the computer monitor
for mixing in-the-box: a screen on the wall gets in the way of the
glass, and a screen above the console gets in the way of the speakers.
Right now I have the screen embedded into the console furniture, which
sort of works but involves an awful lot of neck-craning at bad angles.
(See
http://www.blackberryrock.com/main_studio.htm for current setup.) He
suggested an acoustically-transparent projection screen.
I'm starting to realize that these two ideas actually dovetail quite
nicely. Advantages:
- Control room doesn't need to face live room
- Don't need to break the wall if it's an existing structural wall
- Can overlay PC monitor with "heads-up" transparent live-room view
- Easily achieve full isolation from live room
- No weird live-room reflections from window glass
- No ergonomic issues with PC screen
- No worrying about speaker vs. screen placement
- Easily transition to surround mixing if I want to do post work
- Much easier to read tiny mixing controls, etc. when they're 5' tall
Potential issues:
- Need a screen in the live room. This can be noisy if I'm not careful.
- Less "in-person" feeling. I don't know how real that is. I can't say
I feel particularly connected to someone at the other end of a 60' room
behind a foot of glass, two doors and a talkback mic. But maybe CCTV is
even worse.
- Eyestrain. This one worries me. What's it like to mix on a
projection screen for eight hours compared to an LCD?
Anyone have any experience working with two-way CCTV-linked control
rooms and/or projection screens?
--
Jay Levitt |
Wellesley, MA | I feel calm. I feel ready. I can only
Faster: jay at jay dot fm | conclude that's because I don't have a
http://www.jay.fm | full grasp of the situation. - Mark Adler
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Chris Hornbeck
Guest
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| Posted:
Sat May 14, 2005 4:43 am Post subject:
Re: CCTV vs. glass, projection vs. LCD |
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On Fri, 13 May 2005 23:06:14 -0400, Jay Levitt <jay+news@jay.fm>
wrote:
Will you be comfortable at the reduced room light levels? Adequate
contrast is dependent on Draconian control of room ambient light
levels. Or possibly, very low wash levels and *very* careful
placement of spots.
Not a deal-breaker, just that lighting design is part of the
package.
| Quote: | - Eyestrain. This one worries me. What's it like to mix on a
projection screen for eight hours compared to an LCD?
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What's a good focal distance for you? Are you over or under 45?
Those older will love the focal distance. Mileages vary very
personally.
Good fortune,
Chris Hornbeck |
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Chris Hornbeck
Guest
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| Posted:
Sat May 14, 2005 9:31 pm Post subject:
Re: CCTV vs. glass, projection vs. LCD |
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On Sat, 14 May 2005 10:40:37 -0400, Jay Levitt <jay+news@jay.fm>
wrote:
| Quote: | I'm 34, but that could change. I hadn't even thought about the focal
distance. As you can see from the current photo, I'm about 4 feet from
a 24" screen, and that's just way too far. I'm severely nearsighted,
but even with full-correction contacts (-3.25 diopters, no astigmatism),
I still prefer to read up close. My regular PC screen (1920x1200) is
about a foot away, and that feels just right.
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I had exactly the same correction when I was your age. Good news is
you'll always be able to see up close; could've been worse.
| Quote: | I was more concerned about sharpness. I know my eyes felt much better
moving from a CRT (21", 1600 x 1200) to an LCD with its real pixels, and
I assume a projector is a step in the other direction - but again,
perhaps the size increase outweighs that. I think I need to find
someone in Boston with a computer and projection screen.
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CRT's can't make sharp edges, which are what the eyes need to focus
on. If you can spend five figures, you can buy a plasma that will
knock your socks off in normal light, but that's a hard check to sign.
Good fortune,
Chris Hornbeck
"That's the way Stravinsky was. Bup, Bup, Bup, Bup.
The poor guy's dead now. Play it legato." -Eugene Ormandy |
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