Hi
I am designing a new project studio that will be atached to my house and be an occasional control room and a regular place to compose, mix and master ( and practice the drums......).

It will be about 12ft deep and I was considering getting a big plasma screen so that I could sit away from the display and the speakers, have bluetooth computer keyboard and mouse, and a mixer and midi controller keyboard at my seating position.

THis is rather than having a big desk along one wall with a mixer on it with nearfields perched on the meter bridge and having to sit there all crammed up - or having the desk in the middle of the room and making it unusable for anything else.

This would mean the family could use the room as a kind of home cinema too when I am not working.....

I wondered if anyone had used a LCD TV screen (eg 1368x 768 32") for use as a computer monitor for work in a DAW when you are sitting 6 to 10ft from the screen?

Any views feedback appreciated on the wisdon (or lack of this idea...)

NB considering PMC speakers and a sub

Tommy Banana

I can tell you this much. . .
a mac bluetooth keyboard works from behind the drumkit in my one room studio from about 15 ft away from the bluetooth receiver on my G5. I can work the transport, delete takes, save etc...
But I haven't tried the wireless mouse yet. Maybe if you get a set that both work off of bluetooth you'd be OK. So far all I've needed is the keyboard though.

good luck.

SV

You might also consider a little wireless device that I saw at AES - they carry it at GC now. Its about 8" x 6" has a jog wheel, assignable soft keys and all transport functions and works with lots of software. I can't remember the name......

Thats gonna suck trying to edit from 6' away. And is the screen above your eye line? Screens should be placed to keep your head looking downward at a 10degree angle.
It will be nice to use every now and then, but I wouldn't recommend t as your only monitor. We have a pair of 42's in one room and a pair of 30's in the other, but the monitoring screen is seated at the engineers position.
Do a search, I think Tony Belmont an myself replied to a post of this nature or something about screen resolution some time ago.


Don't let me completely knock you idea down, you can always add a screen close to the engineers spot later. Thats a lot easier than adding a screen to the wall later.

I've seen it done. My girlfriend's dad has a huge one on the wall of his "computer room" which is basically a big lazyboy chair in the middle/back of the room and a wireless keyboard and mouse and that massive-ass screen, and a huge record collection.

It's not the way I'd care to work, but if it fits your style, then by all means...

It can work great. Just consider the acoustics totally first. Locate the screen way out of the field of the speakers. BTW, NOT EVERY LCD screen will take in all the computer resolutions. Many of the 16:9 screens are only able to accept HD resolutions (like 720p or 1080i), and if you try to feed it 1360x768 or 1368x768 they won't take it, OR worse, they will scale it to an HD resolution and you'll get somewhat grainy graphics or unsharp text. Your best bet is to take a laptop to Best Buy and plug directly into a monitor you are considering. Go to the AVS forum http://www.avsforum.com/avs-vb/index.php? which uses the same BB software as Gearslutz, and also do a Google Search for "1366x768" to find an important thread on that resolution. You may need a custom video driver (PowerStrip on the PC, SwitchResX on the Mac) to run 1360 x 768 into some of the LCD or Plasma monitors currently out there.

I've been trying to get information from Samsung about whether the 46" LCD model I am interested in really can accept its native 1366x788 (actually use 1360, see the thread on AVS) pixel resolution without scaling. I was not able to get that in tests at Best Buy. You should have seen the Best Buy salesmen standing over my shoulder. They were very interested!

It's called "Tranzport". I personally would prefer a wireless multimedia keyboard like the Belkin as it has much more flexibility and power. But I have not tested the Tranzport and it's possible it has all you need. I use a wireless keyboard to talk to my SADiE, it has a built-in mouse and it's great.

You may be thinking of the Frontier Designs Tranzport :
http://www.frontierdesign.com/Products/TranzPort

I have one and it works really well. (except sometimes the connectivity is flakey behind my drum set but the reciever is in another room behind lath and plaster walls)

Make sure to get the adapter so you can mount it on a mic stand etc.

Yeah, I have a tranzport too, but I do prefer good old keyboard if I can see the screen.

hi as you may remember I am setting up a pro music composition/mixing/mastering studio in my house but wanting it to double as a home cinema for the family.......( I know having 2 objectives always muddies the water...)

thanks so much for all the input and advice. so I went to comet today (I live in scotland) and I tried a samsung 32" LCD today with 1368X768 res with a DVI output from my Macbook pro laptop. the salesman were a bit like ....are you definitely buying one?...as they faffed around getting the cable.

It looks great with hdtv signal and all that but with the output from the MBP but there wasnt an exact match of output chopices in the MBP to 1368x768. It went up to 1920x780 i think. Anyhowthe result was a bit on the wooly side for reading menus and text in software for extended use and for the price. I think it may just be the nature of getting a sheep to do a cow's job ( if you'll excuse the metaphor). I am asking on the avs forum recommended by bob on whether or it is somethign I could expect to improve with tweaking or just getting used to it.

so currently I am tending toward at getting a hi res 24" lcd monitor or 2x 19" or 20" and kind of giving up on the home cinema doubling...... A 30" ACD would be the job but too much money!! and there are lots of gripes on the apple forum...

best

tommy banana

I ended up deciding to invest in the screen. I got a DELL 30" and I am watching the germany soccer match on it right now while typing this message on a logitech wirelss keyboard.

screen is amazingly sharp. very comfortable reading from 2 metres.

thanks for all the help.

cheers

Tommy Banana