Scott Wilkinson

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Home Theater Geeks Podcast
Podcast 96: Phil "Captain 3D" McNally
Scott Wilkinson  |  Jan 24, 2012  |  1 comments
Phil "Captain 3D" McNally, stereoscopic supervisor at DreamWorks Animation, talks about why he thinks 3D is here to stay after several previous attempts to bring it to the market, why people have such strong opinions about 3D, the difference between real-life 3D and stereoscopic images, what makes a good 3D presentation, how filmmakers can support the story with 3D while avoiding eye strain and other negative side effects, active versus passive glasses, autostereoscopic displays, answers to chat-room questions, and more.

Run Time: 1:01:30

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Ask S&V
Best Connections to Older AVR
Scott Wilkinson  |  Jan 23, 2012  |  13 comments
I have a Cambridge Audio 540R V3 receiver, Panasonic DMP-BD210 Blu-ray player, Pace RNG200N HD/ENP cable box, and Panasonic TC-P42ST30 plasma TV. The guy at the store where I bought the two Panasonic products told me to connect the cable box and Blu-ray player to the TV with HDMI and connect the TV's digital audio output to the receiver with a Toslink cable. I am new at all this, but I do not think this is the best way to have the best sound considering my receiver—which, by the way, can only deal with video via HDMI, not sound. What do you think ?

Luc Lesage

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CES 2012
DEG Awards
Scott Wilkinson  |  Jan 19, 2012  |  0 comments
Each year at CES, the Digital Entertainment Group (DEG), an industry-funded, nonprofit organization that promotes the benefits of home-entertainment products, holds a reception to honor the winners of several awards voted upon by its members as well as journalists such as myself. This year marked the group's 15th annual event, which was held at the XS nightclub in the Encore hotel. And the winners are...
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CES 2012
Google TV Makes a Comeback
Scott Wilkinson  |  Jan 19, 2012  |  0 comments
Photo by Barb Gonzalez
After failing miserably last year, Google TV has risen phoenix-like from the ashes to become an important part of several major companies' IPTV strategy. As you may recall, Google TV tried to integrate streaming services with broadcast and pre-recorded DVR content into a unified Android environment, but the user interface was clunky, and too many services blocked access from that particular platform.

Now, it seems Google TV is getting a second chance from LG, Sony, and Vizio, all of whom introduced products that include the service. LG announced two LED-LCD TVs (LMG860 and LMG620; LG's Android Market interface shown above), while Sony unveiled the NSZ-GP9 Blu-ray player and NSZ-GS7 network media player (a media-streaming box like Roku). Interestingly, Sony had a TV with Google TV last year, but not at this year's show. Vizio introduced three LED-LCD TVs with Google TV (R3D470VS, R3D550VS, and R3D650SV) along with the VBR430 Blu-ray player and VAP430 streamer box.

CES 2012
LG EM9600 OLED TV
Scott Wilkinson  |  Jan 19, 2012  |  6 comments
For me, the stars of CES 2012 were the 55-inch OLED TVs from LG (seen here) and Samsung, which both companies promise will be available as actual retail products later this year. Like the Samsung, the LG EM9600 is a mere 4 millimeters thick with the electronics in the base, but if you want to wall-mount it, some of that base will have to come along, increasing the effective depth. The picture quality is absolutely stunning, with truly infinite blacks and vibrant colors. Given that OLED is infamous for degrading over a relatively short time—especially blue—will those colors last? LG claims they will, and I certainly hope they're right.
CES 2012
Samsung OLED TV
Scott Wilkinson  |  Jan 19, 2012  |  8 comments
No doubt about it, the 55-inch OLED TVs from Samsung (shown here) and LG stole the show for me. (Yes, there were a lot of 4K flat panels as well, but without 4K content, they are not all that important except for passive-glasses 3D.) This is the first new TV technology to become a real commercial product in many years, and it beats LCD and plasma in every way. Both manufacturers claim to have solved OLED's longevity problem, but only time will tell if they actually have.

No pricing was announced—nor was a model number in Samsung's case—but I've heard rumors from $5000 to $10,000. If it's closer to $5000, that will be a home run right out of the gate; if it's more like $10,000, these TVs will be a niche product until the next generation brings the price down.

Home Theater Geeks PodcastCES 2012
Podcast 95: CES 2012 Wrapup
Scott Wilkinson  |  Jan 19, 2012  |  0 comments

Home-theater consultant Ray Coronado and HomeTheater.com correspondents Tom Norton and Barb Gonzalez join me to discuss our impressions of CES last week, including OLED TVs, 4K flat panels, 3D, online streaming, audio, answers to chat-room questions, and more.

Run Time: 1:01:48

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CES 2012
35 Miles…a CES Personal Best
Scott Wilkinson  |  Jan 19, 2012  |  8 comments
I couldn't believe it when I looked at my pedometer upon returning to my hotel room after CES closed last Friday—I had walked just a smidge under 35 miles in five days! That's way more than I've ever done before, and my feet knew it.

Lying on the bed, exhausted, I couldn't help thinking about all I'd seen in those 35 miles. Some attendees I spoke with summed up their feelings about the show with a yawn, but not me. I found this year's CES to be very exciting, full of important introductions and announcements that will fill the coming year with plenty of things to write about and lust after.

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CES 2012
LG PM9700 Plasma TV
Scott Wilkinson  |  Jan 18, 2012  |  0 comments
To combat the glare and reflections endemic to plasma TVs, LG has created a TruBlack filter for its flagship PM9700. As you can see in this photo, the screen has a distinctly matte finish, greatly obscuring reflections that are especially problematic in dark scenes.
CES 2012
LG LM9600 & LM6700 LED-LCD TVs
Scott Wilkinson  |  Jan 18, 2012  |  0 comments
Pictured here are LG's LM9600 (bottom row) and LM6700 (top row) LED-LCD TVs. The 47- and 55-inch LM9600 use the company's nano-LED backlighting, while the 60-inch version uses conventional LED backlighting with local dimming, and all incorporate LG's L9 dual-core processor and refresh the screen at 480Hz. The 120Hz LM6700 is LED edgelit with LED Plus pseudo local dimming.

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