The Surround Sound Principle

Tuesday, August 02, 2011

By James Wood

I distinctly remember the first time I experienced surround sound. I was at my uncle’s house and he had just set up his system. He popped in a VHS tape of Star Wars: The Empire Strikes Back and away we went feeling like the snow speeders were about to clobber us in the back of the head. It was an amazing jump forward in my home-theater experience. From then on I longed for surround sound of my very own.

Fast forward to college where my roommate supplied our tiny apartment with a surround sound set-up. He grabbed a home-theater-in-a-box that had the speakers, tuner and DVD player all bundled together. All we had to supply was the TV. The thing was that every time we switched from watching a movie to sports to sitcoms he would need to fiddle with the remote and change the surround sound settings. He would keep pressing buttons, interrupting the sound and creating a jarring experience. That was the beginning of what we’ve come to call “The Surround Sound Principle” in our house.

It all gelled for me when my other roommate moved out and bought his own surround sound tuner. He’s something of an audiophile, so I knew it would sound good, but what thrilled me was that it automatically adjusted its settings for each input. So he’d turn on his DVD player and the tuner would switch over to DVD mode. He’d fire up the game console and the tuner would recognize those settings and switch. He’d eliminated all the button mashing and moved to enjoying his entertainment.

Now when we talk about The Surround Sound Principle, what we mean is that technology needs to get out of the way and let us enjoy our entertainment. This can apply to quality as well as complexity. I was, shall we say, cheap when buying my first surround sound tuner (I was a broke grad student, in my defense), and it showed. Every time we tried to listen to something the tuner got in the way, with low sound levels, poor balance and just all around crudiness. I skimped on the quality and we suffered every time we wanted to use the tuner. My roommate in college skimped on the usability so we suffered.

Runco makes the kind of technology that will get out of the way of your entertainment. Though we don’t make surround sound tuners (your Runco dealer can recommend several that will suit you well), we do make everything up to the highest quality. You will know how to get the most out of your Runco product, from our outstanding dealers to our customer service to our calibration, and we promise that everything will look its best. Whether you’re getting an LED projector, a DLP projector, a Plasma display or an LCD display, your Runco product will meet The Surround Sound Principle with flying colors.

Design by Runco

Tuesday, August 31, 2010

Design by Runco enables a synthesis of design and technology in any room of the luxury home. Starting with Runco ColourPalette™ comprised of 13 colors that enhance every décor for Runco’s home theater projectors, plasma displays and LCD displays. Beyond Runco’s custom palette we can color match any swatch of fabric or paint to ensure your display fits seamlessly with your room’s décor.

Runco FrameGallery™ introduces seven handcrafted custom frame solutions for Runco CrystalSeries CX LCD flat panel displays. Each Runco LCD with the FrameGallery option is also wrapped in Runco’s all-black light absorption Cinema Velvet Finish ™ (CVF) matting. In concert with FrameGallery, Runco also introduces its unique mirrored SilverSheen™ technology allowing FrameGallery customers the option of a mirrored surface on their flat-panel display. FrameGallery and SilverSheen deliver solutions with incomparable elegance and style for the luxury home.

Most recently Runco introduced FinishPalette™, custom finish options for LightStyle projectors including Runco Signature colors in single or duo, NCAA and NFL themes and multiple series designed by artists.

Photo courtesy of http://gapingvoid.com/

New Runco Climate Portfolio Outdoor LCD Displays Bring the Home Theater Outdoors

Thursday, June 03, 2010

Rain or shine, Runco’s new Climate Portfolio displays enhance any luxury outdoor lifestyle.

Runco’s Climate Portfolio CP-42HD and CP-52HD are full-high-definition widescreen flat panel displays that utilize Runco’s advanced LCD technology in an enclosure designed to withstand the elements. The 42- and 52-inch displays have native 1080p resolution and integrate reflection-rejection glass for easy viewing outdoors. Offering exceptional video quality, features, flexibility and connectivity to achieve the ultimate custom outdoor viewing experience, both flat panel displays feature an amazing 176-degree viewing angle, making it easy for a large number of viewers with widely dispersed seating positions to enjoy the display in an outdoor living space. Read more...