Hello all!
I'm back! Sorry I've been a bit on the silent side lately.
I thought I would do a quick catch up with you for today's post.
This weekend was indeed a momentous one. Why? I hear you ask. Well, it was the weekend that Matthew was unveiling his 55 inch 4K HDR smart Android TV...and XBox One X.
To start off, all other clutter had to be moved out of the way and everything needed to be unplugged and polished before anything major could happen. Matthew had elaborate visions of what he wanted the finished article to look like and nothing and no-one was to stand in his way.... except Tilly and one or two of her toys, of course.
Once all the clutter was out of the way, it was time to wall mount one of the speakers above where the TV would be sat (see, the "vision") This was more of a palaver than Matthew had first thought as it involved drilling the holes initially then holding the speaker up on the wall in the desired spot until it was secured onto the wall. I obviously offered my help here- I’m not that mean- however I seemed to manage to somehow twist it slightly meaning it all came out of alignment just when he was about to screw the speaker in. This thing was bloody heavy so holding it still for precise screwing was hard, however I reckoned that doing the screwing to the wall in what essentially was the shadow of the speaker, was even more of a tough task. Long story short, my services were soon no longer needed because of my ineptitude and I was relegated to the sofa where Tilly resumed her position lounging across my lap and me and his mum watched on as Matthew struggled to get the speaker in straight. Not long after my relegation, his mum was called in to help and she herself got relegated too, so there we both were with Tilly on the sofa watching Matthew try again to get the knack of wall mounting his speaker. Eventually his valiant efforts paid off and the speaker was proudly placed on the wall. Now to the next phase of TV set-up. Well, just after Matthew got over the mild concussion from banging his head repeatedly on the damn thing. Something told me this was setting the tone for the rest of the afternoon.
Next up was sorting all the wires and other speakers ready for the new TV’s grand unveiling. The TV stand was already polished and in place, so the new TV had a clean and grand throne to sit on. The initial wiring set-up didn’t take too long and soon it was time to unveil the 55 inches of glory!
Come on guys, pick your minds up from the gutter please, we haven’t got all evening!
Right, yes, so the 55-inch monster was about to be released in the wilderness of Matthew’s front room but first we had to double check that everything was in place and everyone was briefed on what was about to happen. There was no mention of “what if’s” however as there was to be no room for error on this very important TV ‘throning’ task. Firstly, the base was put onto the TV stand in readiness and our roles were all well prepared; me and Matthew both had the integral task of moving and placing the TV onto the stand, while his mum was to be there poised in case anything went catastrophically wayward. The move went without a hitch thankfully and while there was an initial flap about getting the TV to slot perfectly onto the stand (and after a lot of expletives and “come on, this thing weighs a tonne!!”), everything went smoothly. Soon the TV was officially on the throne and after taking off the remaining packaging and its efficiency rating sticker (it’s B by the way), it was then crowned officially as the new TV of the front room. A proud moment for Matthew as he stood back to admire his handy work and bask in the shiny aura of his new toy…. I mean TV.
I'm back! Sorry I've been a bit on the silent side lately.
I thought I would do a quick catch up with you for today's post.
This weekend was indeed a momentous one. Why? I hear you ask. Well, it was the weekend that Matthew was unveiling his 55 inch 4K HDR smart Android TV...and XBox One X.
To start off, all other clutter had to be moved out of the way and everything needed to be unplugged and polished before anything major could happen. Matthew had elaborate visions of what he wanted the finished article to look like and nothing and no-one was to stand in his way.... except Tilly and one or two of her toys, of course.
Once all the clutter was out of the way, it was time to wall mount one of the speakers above where the TV would be sat (see, the "vision") This was more of a palaver than Matthew had first thought as it involved drilling the holes initially then holding the speaker up on the wall in the desired spot until it was secured onto the wall. I obviously offered my help here- I’m not that mean- however I seemed to manage to somehow twist it slightly meaning it all came out of alignment just when he was about to screw the speaker in. This thing was bloody heavy so holding it still for precise screwing was hard, however I reckoned that doing the screwing to the wall in what essentially was the shadow of the speaker, was even more of a tough task. Long story short, my services were soon no longer needed because of my ineptitude and I was relegated to the sofa where Tilly resumed her position lounging across my lap and me and his mum watched on as Matthew struggled to get the speaker in straight. Not long after my relegation, his mum was called in to help and she herself got relegated too, so there we both were with Tilly on the sofa watching Matthew try again to get the knack of wall mounting his speaker. Eventually his valiant efforts paid off and the speaker was proudly placed on the wall. Now to the next phase of TV set-up. Well, just after Matthew got over the mild concussion from banging his head repeatedly on the damn thing. Something told me this was setting the tone for the rest of the afternoon.
Next up was sorting all the wires and other speakers ready for the new TV’s grand unveiling. The TV stand was already polished and in place, so the new TV had a clean and grand throne to sit on. The initial wiring set-up didn’t take too long and soon it was time to unveil the 55 inches of glory!
Come on guys, pick your minds up from the gutter please, we haven’t got all evening!
Right, yes, so the 55-inch monster was about to be released in the wilderness of Matthew’s front room but first we had to double check that everything was in place and everyone was briefed on what was about to happen. There was no mention of “what if’s” however as there was to be no room for error on this very important TV ‘throning’ task. Firstly, the base was put onto the TV stand in readiness and our roles were all well prepared; me and Matthew both had the integral task of moving and placing the TV onto the stand, while his mum was to be there poised in case anything went catastrophically wayward. The move went without a hitch thankfully and while there was an initial flap about getting the TV to slot perfectly onto the stand (and after a lot of expletives and “come on, this thing weighs a tonne!!”), everything went smoothly. Soon the TV was officially on the throne and after taking off the remaining packaging and its efficiency rating sticker (it’s B by the way), it was then crowned officially as the new TV of the front room. A proud moment for Matthew as he stood back to admire his handy work and bask in the shiny aura of his new toy…. I mean TV.
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| Imagine this in a front room displaying it's 4K glory |
To say that was the end of the process would be lying as the wiring still needed attention, the HDR blu-ray player still needed to be installed and the Sky box needed to be plugged back in. But first, he saw to it that the TV did its first royal duty- turning on and setting up. This is where a couple of scary moments came for Matthew as the TV was having a problem updating. It seemed to take years to even get to 3% so the challenge was on to find out what exactly was going on. The answer to this conundrum was a simple and straight-forward one to fix- the wireless network was still not set up yet so that obviously needed attention before we could do anything else. This was where the second problem came in as the TV wasn’t liking Matthew’s wifi password despite him verifying it over and over (and shouting “come on!!” a few times). Again, it transpired this was an easy fix too- unplug the dodgy ethernet cable. Once this was done, the wifi connected and then the TV was happy to update, and gladly, it updated a lot than faster before. Panic over. Normal TV set-up activities could resume.
Now that the TV was up and running we could really have a play about and see what this TV could do. Obviously our first port of call was to put something on that was in 4K. The picture was so clear it made me wonder how I’d been putting up with standard definition for so long. As for standard definition, we did go onto one of these channels and my goodness, the difference is remarkable. Standard definition unmistakeably and miserably pales in comparison with HDR and 4K in a way that made it almost unpleasant to sit through. It just amazes me how far tech has come sometimes. There was a time where we would’ve all been bragging about having standard definition, or even colour TV, but now the 4K HDR big guns have arrived, standard definition just isn’t quite enough anymore- it doesn’t scratch the itch quite like it used to.
We then spent most of Sunday watching everything in 4K and even utilising the smart and fun, if not slightly gimmicky, toys that the TV had in its repertoire. The Android TV is a relatively new addition so it was interesting to see what could be done. There are the obvious things like pairing with your phone- rendering your Chrome-cast obsolete- as well as the ability to use your phone as a remote, but what was immediately noticeable was the sheer amount of stuff you can pack onto your TV. Like how laptops are now, TV’s are becoming the hub-another branch if you like- for your mobile content. Everything is there from Google services, to your apps, and even your photo albums. It’s often said that the sky’s the limit and now with an Android smart 4K HDR TV, you could really explore beyond that. If you didn’t think all that was enough, you even have the ability to bring up a cursor to the TV which is great for when you want to pause the TV and quite literally point something out. Fed up of missing the important intricate moments of a film or TV show? Want to point out that really fit actor in the background of a scene? With the cursor, all your problems are solved!
Me and Matthew put this cursor to good use over the weekend while watching another of Kay’s good cooking Youtube videos. In one episode , she was egging some pastry for a vegetable pie (it’s the most pathetic, miserable looking vegetable pie I’ve ever seen) Matthew saw she’d missed several spots and proceeded to get his cursor out to show me exactly where. I must say, clarity will no longer be an issue in his household, that’s for sure!
So, that’s all from the story of the TV installation. I hope you’ve enjoyed reading it as much as I secretly enjoyed, and not-so-secretly laughed, at Matthew banging his head over and over on the wall-mounted speaker. The set up still isn’t 100% complete though, there are still a couple of cables that need to be sorted but other than that the TV set up was a success. Except one veeeeery tiny thing: NO XBOX X WAS SET UP. Yes, the most observant of you would have noticed that there was absolutely no mention of the Xbox. That is because the Xbox, even now as I type, is still sat in its box; all wrapped up and unloved. Most people wouldn’t show such restraint however, Matthew is one of a very small minority of people that can show restraint. I’m not bitter at all mind you, I’m just merely pointing out that my vision of what was to be the most exciting part of the whole weekend was totally crushed and I had to leave on Monday morning with an Xbox One X shaped hole in my life that is still yet to be filled.
And on that very sad, sad conclusion it’s time for me to go. Once again, I’m sorry I left you all for so long but I’m back now and I’ll see you again here on Thursday!
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