Using a Little Screen While Viewing the Big One

 

While watching Prime's series House of David with Jayantha, my eye caught a brief, unscripted moment in the background of a scene. A tiny mouse scurried out of view in the dark corner of an ancient stone dwelling. Because the historical setting of the show is anchored firmly around 1000 BC in the Kingdom of Israel, it made me consider the domestic reality of the Levant in that era. I began to wonder about the prevalence of house cats during the early Iron Age and whether the characters on screen would have shared their quarters with feline companions to manage such pests.

A query to my digital companion revealed that the modern, pampered house cat did not exist in the ancient Levant. Instead, the local population interacted with the regional wildcat, Felis lybica, an animal that was certainly not a pet in the contemporary sense. These wildcats were leaner than today's domestic breeds, possessing longer legs and a more solitary disposition. While they were not invited to curl up by the hearth, they were highly tolerated in grain warehouses, agricultural stores, and communal dwellings because of their innate ability to keep the destructive rodent population in check. It was a relationship based entirely on mutual utility rather than affection. To visualize this historical reality, an image was generated of a feral cat of household size, depicting a sleek, vigilant predator hunting among ancient storage jars.  I had my AI create the image you see above.

The situation was markedly different just a short distance away in Egypt during this exact timeframe. By 1000 BC, the Egyptian relationship with the feline had progressed far beyond mere pest control into the realms of the sacred and the domestic. Egyptians viewed cats not merely as working animals, but as physical manifestations of divine protection, closely associated with the goddess Bastet. Felines in Egyptian households were pampered, fed scraps of fish, and treated as integral members of the family. The respect afforded to them was so absolute that the killing of a cat, even by accident, carried severe penalties, and deceased household cats were frequently mummified with great care and buried in dedicated cemeteries.

This contrast highlights the unique cultural landscape of the ancient world. While the inhabitants of ancient Israel viewed the local wildcat as a useful, distant ally against the very mice seen on television, their Egyptian neighbors had already elevated the creature to a position of luxury and divine reverence.

Our Fourth Wide Screen, I Think.

Televisions are sort of like mobile phones nowadays; in that after a few years, even if one's still working, it is missing out on the newest features. 

Our former television was okay. We got the old LG LED TV right after getting back on one of the final flights through Narita during the COVID pandemic. We were still under quarantine when the Amazon delivery guy knocked at the our door. He was in the elevator, half way to the ground floor, before we could open it! 

I suppose the LG 55SM8600PUA was a good 2019 TV. However the backlit LED never had deep blacks. The 4K refresh rate wasn't robust. It was sort of a standard workhorse.  In retrospect though, we did spend a whole lot of our lives in front of that screen. 

This past winter, I did a whole lot of 'homework' after deciding it was time for a new TV. While in Sri Lanka this winter, I decided on an LG OLED. We couldn't move up in screen size as our apartment is only around 750 sq ft. Our living room television cannot be larger than 55". I noticed the smallest demonstration sets in stores are now 65". 

I pulled the trigger on Saturday via bestbuy.ca as the clearance prices are starting in order to make room for new 2026 models. If the price drops further in the next month, I'm covered by the price guarantee. 

 

As well as the optimum size for our apartment, yesterday, we found that this is the largest screen that we'd be able to squeeze into in our Kona EV.

A Nvidia Shield Replacment

It was a pretty long run. My Nvidia Shield (tube) has been serving my Netflix, local IPTV, Prime, and all my streaming requirements. Jay and I got the old device in 2020 after getting a new television during COVID restrictions. We got back on one of the last flights out of Malaysia. So some delivery guy got the box with the widescreen to the outside of our doorway, knocked on the door, and ran towards the elevator. My little device was been starting to show its age although it is far more capable than the software built into most TVs. 

   

Lots of things have been attached to my televisions over the years. I had an HD TV satellite receiver nearly twenty years ago. 

I started to set up the replacement streamer today. It fits right into the Google Home environment in the apartment. The software has recently been updated to use Gemini AI. It has prompted me to do some online research and rethink some of our viewing habits. I set up most of the software today but will completely replace the Shield tomorrow.

A New Week Arrives

 

We've been back in town long enough to be fairly well set up and organized. However, we've not been here long enough to have transitioned to this time zone. We both got out of bed at 5:05 in the morning for no other reason than we were awake.  The sun still hadn't risen by 6:53 though.  This is the view mostly south but a bit east.  The water in the foreground is the Fraser River.  The buildings on the hill are in Surrey, BC and none existed when we moved into this apartment.  The picture was snapped from balcony when I stepped on the cold tiles.  Without the later sunshine, it was just 1°C.

Jay and I didn't accomplish a lot.  We did drive up to the uptown Walmart for a few more groceries.  I snapped a photo of Jay in the electronics section in front of clearance TVs in boxes.  The 75" LG cost CAD $800 ($US 580).  I've been planning a new TV purchase but we cannot fit more than a 55" screen in the living room.  I also want to pick up an OLED and have had it picked out for purchase for a while.  When the price drops due to the arrival of the new 2026 models, I'll strike.  I like doing research on big ticket items.  My choice will cost substantially more than the huge screens in a box we saw today.

I don't do all my shopping at Walmart.  We've been home only five days and have received three packages with smiles already.  Two items will arrive tomorrow as well.  I love having packages delivered the next day and right at the door of our 10-floor apartment.  I found that my battery powered tire pressure gauge in the car glovebox died.  I don't have to worry with this mechanical one which was about the same prices as a pack of new, coin batteries.  Oh, and one can never ever have too many adapters, wires, and cables.  The other items in the package included a pack of six USB to USB-C adapters.  My Prime membership is so much more important than the Costco one we seldom used.

 

A Net Connection and One's Location

Day 033 of Our Winter: It was a perfectly relaxing day with nowhere to go and nothing that needed to be done. We did throw a load of wash into the machine and put it out on the line to dry. I guess that would've been my photo opportunity of the day but I missed documenting that. 

Rather, I spent a great deal on my phone looking at 2025 television technology. This is what I added on Whatsapp to a friend back home. 

"You never commented about your new TV. I've been using my time to try to catch up on where the tech has gone over the last six years. AI is extremely helpful for scouring reviews and making comparisons into tables. Changes that used to take decades is now accelerating over a much quicker timeline. I think the profound shift in viewing choice selection is going to be the developing news story of 2026. That will be in the software side as much as hardware."

Even though we've only been home for four of the last six years, I'm thinking it'll be time for an update when we return to New Westminster in the spring.  Our last screen was dropped off at the apartment during our COVID quarantine.  Screens seem to have improved so much during the interim years.

I've also spent a lot of time looking into replacing my old mini- Nvidia Shield with a new Google streamer.  By the time I'm ready to buy, Gemini AI should have replaced the old Google Assistant on those devices.  I'm guessing until the end of the decade, software will continue to profoundly change the experience of how we choose what we watch.  

With an adequately robust Internet connection, one's location no longer dictates what one spends time learning about.  Weird, eh?  So, rather than any photo showing the beauty of Sri Lanka, this is the living room here as I complete this journal entry.

 

Power Cord Triumphs

This is the second time this same photo has been included in 'my eJournal and images'. 

It last appeared here when I bought the power cord during the second week of June. Since then, it's been sitting in the closet. Luckily, the other day, I did a bit of cleaning and threw away all the old boxes of products that I'd kept for no reason. Some were, you know, small like new phone boxes or other electronic devices. It seemed as though one should keep the box until one was sure the item worked. However, I had several old phone boxes. Obviously, they had worked, so I had armfuls of boxes to bring to the enormous cardboard container dumpster in our building. 

This was when I found this power cord again in its box. I originally bought it as it has a fuse and has a lot of space between the eight power outlets. I had far too many things plugged into an ordinary extension cord in the TV stand. I guess I was afraid to fight with all the dust bunnies during these past few months.

   

Today, I fished around the one zillion wires for the home theatre system, the TV, an NVidea Shield, a Mini-PC, and some TV lighting. Now everything is plugged into the new power cord and I still have at least three normal outlets and three USB outlets free. The inside of the stand has been cleaned too. I got that little rush of accomplishment that nearly made the whole frustrating effort seem worthwhile.

Finding Movies Good Enough to Watch Again

 

There's a portable hard drive on our home network that is expressly for movies. Today, it contains two new classics; in this case, one Italian and one French. They were mentioned last night in a conversation with friends. 

Over the last one hundred or so years, there have been many moving pictures that should be considered common knowledge for all.  We are in interesting times now that one can curate titles themselves.

Making Use of What I Have

I've been eyeing a NAS drive for our home network. I have a mobile drive with a collection of movies and it'd be handy to be able to stream them from the network rather than directly plugging the drive into the television.  For example, on my Nvidia Shield, there are excellent programs to sort and maintain info on my entire, current collection of around 1,000 titles.

   

The cheapest, 2-bay network-accessible drive enclosures go for about $CA 250 and that's without the actual disks!  I cannot justify paying over $CA 500 for this solution. So, I dug through the closet and located a really old Android TV box. 

I should be able to plug my existing 5TB mobile drive into the device. I won't even bother with video output from the box as I'll just need the movie files' network locations to play them. I may even be able to plug this box/disc combo into the extra ethernet port on the bedroom mesh router.  Yay, something new to try.

Yay! More Cables to Hide!

It has been interesting getting up to speed on a new cable modem and mesh wifi router with satellite.  I really enjoy researching and learning about new and evolving tech.  However, for the third day in a row, I ordered products on Amazon Canada.  Fortunately, I only spent CA$15 today. 

My two TP-Link Deco X60 devices arrive tomorrow and will be generally unnoticeable.  They look like four-inch, white, plastic cans. One will sit in the bedroom but the main one has to sit right near our TV stand. That is where coaxial cable runs into the apartment, and it, sort of, works out.

I presently use two ethernet jacks for wired internet for our LG TV and Nvidia Shield streaming device. Yet, the new, unobtrusive plastic can has just one free port.  I want to continue having my TV and Shield hardwired though. 

   

So, I had to order this TP-Link 5 Port Gigabit Ethernet Network Switch.  Oh goodie, more things to plug into that octopus-looking wall outlet and more wires to tuck on top of the current spaghetti mess behind the TV stand!

Today's Facebook Comment

Were we the first generation raised with television? 

Hey, we didn't turn out so badly.  Even though we may have rushed home as middle-schoolers to watch 'Dark Shadows'.

 

Success in Avoiding Messy Menus!

I love my new Nvidia Shield TV for its power and flexibility.  It is a small cylindrical device that hides right inside the TV stand.  It surely beats the two, odd Android boxes I've owned over the years. In fact, I am pretty sure that we now won't be bothering to switch to apps running on our new LG TV as it'll pretty much stay on HDMI Input 1.  The streaming device provides everything we will need to view on the big screen.

   

One major headache with Nvidia's menu is that it doesn't recognize apps unless they're loaded directly from the Google Play Store.  However, we get IPTV for our local, Canadian channels through a local provider, Surf Internet. Unfortunately, their television app must be sideloaded.  Even getting the APK file onto the Shield for installation took a little planning.  I set up the Nvidia device to share files on my home network; therefore, I was able to drag and drop from our main Win 10 computer.  

Next, I had to search around for an easy way to access Surf TV through the menuing interface. The most elegant way was to use the online app atvlauncher.trekgonewild.de/index.php and build an additional APK.  

I had nearly decided to simply use a side-launcher app.  They are ugly and not very good at determining which apps should be included.  My results were definitely worth the effort and now I do not fear the thought of sideloading any apps not exclusively designed for my Nvidia Shield TV.

Another Device I'm Convinced I Need

Today, I found out that my TV provider has created a new version of their Android APK. Unfortunately, I discovered that it requires Android Oreo at minimum. The current TV box I'm using is too old. So, I started looking on Amazon Canada today for a new, cheap, streaming box. 

Yet, you know me. I had to know specifics. I found myself writing a question on a specific device that went something like this: 

"Does this device allow HDMI passthrough of a Dolby 

Atmos signal to a capable receiver?"

In typical Amazon fashion, they queried an average Joe customer who felt the need to answer that he/she really didn't know what I was talking about.

Well, I'm not surprised as it was a relatively technical question.  My experience of not being able to find specifics has pointed me towards a new Nvidia Shield TV.  Damn, there's is always something for me to buy, isn't there?

Two Ears Can Hear in 3D

Paying a bit more to Netflix every month provides us with 4K HDR and a bit better sound quality. The majority of new series are streamed with a clearly better picture and in the newer Dolby ATMOS format.

On my new Onkyo system, the front two speakers, which up-fire towards the ceiling, do not provide a noticeable 3D environment. I suppose the extra enclosed speakers do help to produce better overall sound. After reading about ATMOS, I'm convinced that sound mixing for movies and TV will continue to improve acoustically in order to keep up with this advancing technology.

The bigger question: In 2020, why does the music industry still downmix to a mere two channels?

Not Ready to Ease Restrictions

Wall Mural on a building at the corner of Columbia and Fourth Street entrance to New Westminster, BC Downtown Parkade - 2019
Late this afternoon, after my nap and time in the hot tub, I was on the couch. I was surfing the online LG channels and stopped on America's Test Kitchen. The episode was showcasing a quick, sheet-pan, baked dinner with Pacific salmon, broccoli, and potatoes. I watched the screen intently.

Don't try to tell me I don't have this COVID-19 stay-at-home thing down pat. I'm an ace at it.

Atmos Replaces Pro Logic

If you'd been here earlier in the day, you might have got tangled in a web of wires. Although I haven't found a TV stand, I had to switch over from the old receiver and speakers to the new Onkyo HT-S5800 5.1.2 system.


The old speakers are larger. How shall get rid of the old system?
So, right after getting back from uptown, I started. There have been a fair number of improvements in surround-sound setups in the last 17 years! I like how the TV and receiver can now be connected with a single HDMI ARC cable. I got a kick out of the easy method for setting speaker volume. I had to plug in a cable with a small microphone, set it on the back middle of the couch, and let the system adjust itself. The equipment is still sitting in approximate locations but everything appears to be working.

Who knew that I'd be able to find so many Netflix movies and shows available in Dolby Atmos! The tiny up-firing speakers on top of the main left and right enclosures do not really make a whole lot of difference. Still, it's a fair sight more immersive than the tiny, mono TV speakers of my youth.

8" More When Viewed Diagonally

We've spent the better part of the week viewing the new television. It's better for a few reasons, one being it plugs directly into our router. Here is my quote on Facebook about the screen size though ...

Our Third Widescreen Since 2006

One of the best things one can do to help the economy in times like these is to go out and spend some cash. Due to the amount being printed and thrown around by governments nowadays, our money is being devalued at an astonishing rate. I may as well turn some into a product that will provide some satisfaction.



I have been considering upgrading our TV for a while. Most new televisions have been 4K for a couple of years. Our present LG still works but it is just 1080p and over 8 years old. I notice the edges now appear a bit darkened when showing a really white screen. I've got more than enough Internet speed to stream and download UHD. So, I ordered this through Amazon and a 'Purolator guy' carried the box up to our apartment this morning.

It is still in its box. I look forward to setting up the new TV tomorrow after vacuuming all the dust bears (bunnies are little) from the wiring in the corner behind the present TV. My biggest concern is wondering if a 55" screen will fit where the 47" is presently sitting.

An Early Satellite Dish

Day 30 - The other day I added this status update to Facebook:

Arthur C. Clark lived here, in Sri Lanka, from 1956 until his death in 2008. I wish I could show him all the things a mobile phone does nowadays.

I learned that Arthur C. Clarke lived here on one of my very first visits in the 1980s. I'm not quite sure I recall what prompted me to think of it that day but it had something to do with my phone. The science fiction writer and futurist might have been pleasantly surprised to see how quickly the technology has incorporated so many everyday uses.

I found a photo of the first satellite dish in Sri Lanka in the mid-1970s. It was at Mr. Clarke's residence in Colombo and a gift by the government India. It was part of the Satellite Instructional Television Experiment, designed jointly by NASA and the Indian Space Research Organization (ISRO). The project made available informational television programs to rural India.

Amazon Prime Video

I ended up with Amazon Prime when I accidentally added a year's membership as I created an order last month. I have decided to keep it to see if it makes sense for my shopping habits at the site. We're only in New Westminster for seven months out of twelve. I just re-discovered Prime Video though.



I had no idea the video collection on the site had grown to be was so extensive. Do you have any suggestions for things to watch which we shouldn't miss?

Big Television!

I do miss one little aspect of Facebook. When I was a user, I created a limited group for friends who were truly interested in TV and movies. We'd post about shows or films we'd discovered and our opinions. There is just so damned much available nowadays that it's hard to keep up without the help of others. If I were still on Facebook I'd add some information about this recent viewing experience.



We just finished binging our way through three seasons of Versailles. Don't try to tell me that television is a wasteland nowadays! We were able to catch a lavish production of nearly thirty hours. Even if the series took a little liberty in historical accuracy, we were exposed to something fairly new to us. It was amazing.