It's hard to say whether my interest in music and audio started with my first experiences with multichannel sound in the movie theater or whether my interest in movies in theaters, and later in home theater, started with my interest in music. But the fact remains that the film score, mainly of the orchestral variety but sometimes of other sorts (looking at you, Guardians of the Galaxy, Vol.1 and Vol.2), remains one of my favorite forms of music.
Film music doesn't have an enviable reputation among classical music connoisseurs. But I see no reason to disparage it because it was written for a more popular type of entertainment...
Just in time for Veterans' Day (November 11) comes a movie about the WWII battle of Midway. In June 1942, six months after Pearl Harbor, this unlikely American victory over Japan's attempt to occupy a seemingly insignificant American outpost on a tiny Pacific atoll was, if not the turning point in a war that would rage for another 3+ years, at a minimum a major blow to Japan's then formidable naval strength.
I've said it before, but it's still true, that whenever we have a new video format the movie studios eagerly line up to sell us our favorites all over againfrom VHS tape to Laserdisc to DVD to Blu-ray. But today, with movie streaming swamping video discs sales, the line of consumers eager to replace their existing discs is now shorter than ever.
Ultra HD's, however, appear to be fighting the trend. UHD re-releases of popular films are showing up like flies to a picnic.
In a recent review, not yet published, I opened with a few remarks on the cost of today's premium Ultra HDTVs. Are they much more expensive than they were decades ago when adjusted for inflation? It's question worth revisiting in more detail.
In the early 1970s a good, 21-inch console color television might cost you $500. In today's money that would be around $3300
The old Blue Bear kept trying to break in but was forever doomed to be on the outside looking in. But the rest of us were more successful, and for three days last week the Denver Convention Center was full of all sorts of goodies needed by custom installers.
In TV Tech Explained: Mind Your Gamma I covered gamma and its importance for playback of standard dynamic range (SDR) video. But high dynamic range (HDR) is a new and very different animal.
Unless you're accustomed to turning on your new set and never touching any of the controls beyond volume (and if you're reading this that's probably not you) Gamma is a control and a subject worth knowing more about.
We've all encountered the problem: Guests who haven't yet seen or heard your home theater setup are coming over for a movie night. But which movie to choose? If you know the guests' tastes the choice should be easy. But that isn't always the case.
If you don’t understand the pun above, don’t be confused. Even though 30 million viewers in the U.S., and untold millions more around the world, watched every one of the over 70 episodes of HBO’s remarkable series Game of Thrones, most of the world remains oblivious to this noteworthy achievement — or perhaps actively avoiding it…
Sony recently invited journalists to its New York City facilities to brief us on the company’s 2019 TV product strategy, along with comparative demonstrations against the best offerings of its key competitors.
The annual Audio Expo North America (AXPONA) show in Chicago has exploded into the biggest audio show in North America. 2019 was my first experience there, and it lived up to its reputation. The only show that’s now bigger, based on the number of exhibitors (though I understand it’s heavy on static displays), is May’s Munich show in Germany.