The invitations had gone out a few weeks before. It was the first demo night for Rapallo at its new location in East Tamaki. On June 18th, Nick, Bram and Bart showcased the new Epson LS10000 laser projector. Due to the strong interest from our Rapallo customers, the Rapallo team organised 3 sessions at 5, 6 and 7pm. Over a dozen of customers enjoyed the beers and pizzas, but what they really came for was a New Zealand first: The Epson LS10000.

Remember how the world of audio was turned upside down when Stereo sound was introduced and Mono was abandoned? Well, we are about to experience a similar sound revolution.We are talking about 3D sound or Immersive Surround Sound, which comes in 3 formats you may be familiar with: AURO-3D, which hasn’t really caught on in New Zealand or the States. Dolby Atmos which made a much bigger splash and was used by Peter Jackson for The Hobbit movies and last but not least DTS:X which has not been released yet, but is highly, I mean HIGHLY anticipated (We will talk some more about these formats in a later blog)

When it comes to setting up a great video projection system in your home theatre, the screen is nearly as important as the projector. A white wall or sheet simply won’t do, except in a pinch as a temporary stopgap. There’s no substitute for the real thing.But choosing the right real thing requires research, together with examination of your individual needs.

Even though movie tickets can run $20 a pop, people still line up for premieres. One reason: The enormous screen. It’s so much easier to lose yourself in a movie when the action takes place on a 200-inch screen than when it’s displayed on the 50-incher you might have at home. So do you choose a large TV or a projector and a screen?

HDMI, in its all its glory, has profoundly changed the audio video world offering high resolution audio and high definition video through a single cable.HDMI has been out for sometime, has gone through a few updates and advancements, and is well set to become the one and only standard on your display devices as time goes on.So where does this leave your older legacy equipment which don’t use HDMI?

When wanting to send an HDMI signal over greater distances within your home there are three common options to go for: direct HDMI cable, wireless HDMI and HDMI over Cat 5/6 extenders.The best solution so far in my opinion would be using a quality HDBaseT or similar single cat extender for a number of reasons, let’s take a brief look at the pros and cons of all three options:

Home automation and sound distribution is no longer in the realms of science fiction – nowadays it is possible to have complete control of lighting, media systems, home audio, heating/air con, security systems, all nicely integrated into an easy to control software available at your fingertips anywhere throughout the home.

What is ARC (Audio Return Channel)?Audio return channel, or ARC, is a technology which allows sound to travel back to your ARC enabled AV receiver or sound bar, from your television.How does it work?