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Blu-ray Movie Reviews
Skyline (Blu-ray)
David Vaughn  |  Mar 25, 2011  |  2 comments
A birthday weekend in Southern California goes off the tracks when sunrise arrives two hours early while a mysterious light source draws unsuspecting humans outdoors and are swept into massive alien ships that have appeared over the Los Angeles skyline.

There are a lot of bad movies that come out of Hollywood, but Skyline may be the worst I've seen in years. Character development is non-existent, the dialog is cringe-inducing, and the ridiculous twist ending is the cherry on top of a steaming pile—yes, it's that bad.

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Audio Video News
Apple AirPlay May Stream Video
Mark Fleischmann  |  Mar 25, 2011  |  0 comments
Apple's AirPlay wireless audio streaming technology is finding its way into an increasing number and variety of products. What next? Possibly video streaming.

An unconfirmed report in the business press says Apple is in talks to license AirPlay to consumer electronics manufacturers for video streaming. AirPlay is already capable of video streaming but so far has been licensed only for audio streaming.

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The Big Picture
My Debut as a Radio Talk Show Host
Scott Wilkinson  |  Mar 24, 2011  |  7 comments

As many of you know, I appear as a regular guest on The Tech Guy, a nationally syndicated call-in radio talk show hosted by Leo Laporte. The show airs live on Saturdays and Sundays from 11 AM to 2 PM Pacific time; some stations carry all or part of the show live, while others play the recording at different times. My segment is usually on Sundays right after the 11:30 AM news break, when I talk about home theater and answer reader and listener questions.

On February 5 and 6, I had the incredible opportunity to sit in for Leo as the guest host of The Tech Guy for the entire show. Leo was on vacation for three weeks, and I happened to be in the San Francisco Bay Area during that weekend, so we agreed that I would host the show from his studio, answering phone questions about—what else?—home theater.

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The Thrilling Dead: Dead Space 2
Geoffrey Morrison  |  Mar 24, 2011  |  0 comments

Dead Space 2 (Electronic Arts)
Xbox 360; also for PS3

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The Big Picture
What Would You Like to See From NAB?
Scott Wilkinson  |  Mar 24, 2011  |  2 comments
Next month, I'm heading to Las Vegas for the National Association of Broadcasters (NAB) convention, which runs from April 9-14. Many people have asked me why I'm going, since the annual event is aimed at professionals in the broadcasting and film industry, not consumers. Well, I believe that some parts of the show are, in fact, highly relevant to consumers, and here's why…
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Audio Video News
Met, MoMA display the guitar as (and in) art
Michael Berk  |  Mar 24, 2011  |  0 comments

Since it appeared in the seventeenth century, the guitar has been a work of visual art in its own right, as well as a powerful influence on artists in other media.

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Audio Video News
Beautiful nostalgia...for CRTs
Michael Berk  |  Mar 24, 2011  |  0 comments

Via adafruit...Berlin-based photographer Stephan Tillmans has a new show up, Luminant Point Arrays, consisting entirely of photographs capturing CRTs as they're shut off.

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Audio Video News
Sony, Samsung Adopt Microsoft PlayReady
Mark Fleischmann  |  Mar 24, 2011  |  0 comments
A new form of digital rights management from Microsoft has been adopted by Sony and Samsung, among others. Its first high-profile use is in the Sony BDP-S380 Blu-ray player, available since February.

PlayReady DRM allows downloading and streaming of video, audio, games, and images on multiple home and mobile devices. Supported formats include MPEG Advanced Audio Coding (AAC), AAC+, Enhanced AAC+, H.264, Windows Media Audio (WMA) and Windows Media Video (WMV). Embedded licenses allow content to play without a constantly active broadband connection.

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3D Projector ReviewsProjector Reviews
Test Report: JVC DLA-X7 3D D-ILA Projector
Geoffrey Morrison  |  Mar 23, 2011  |  0 comments

To understand the greatness of JVC’s DLA-X7 projector, it’s important to understand contrast ratio. Every TV and projector company rattles on about a million-to-one this and a billion-to-one that. How come? Because there’s no standard method to measure it. Result: Manufacturers can pretty much make up whatever they want.

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Ask S&V
Dynamic Contrast, 7.1 Demo, Balanced Audio
Scott Wilkinson  |  Mar 23, 2011  |  1 comments
Would you calibrate a TV with dynamic contrast enabled? What's the best Blu-ray to demonstrate 7.1 audio? What's the difference between balanced and unbalanced audio?
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