A/V Veteran

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A/V Veteran
Zulu on Blu-Ray
Thomas J. Norton  |  Nov 22, 2022  | 
At the height of European colonial ambitions in Africa, two of Great Britain's key colonies there were Cape Town, at Africa's southern tip and, north of there, Natal. The latter abutted Zululand. The Zulus, a powerful warrior nation, was created from local tribes conquered earlier in the century by the iconic Zulu chief, Shaka. )...This superb 1964 film Zulu...depicts ...the battle of Rorke's Drift...It can still be viewed via streaming, but instead I seriously recommend the 50th anniversary Blu-ray release (in the red jacket shown above). The stereo audio on this disc is satisfactory though underwhelming. But its widescreen videos is exceptional...
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A/V Veteran
Rediscovering Movie Critic Richard Schickel's 'Keepers'
Thomas J. Norton  |  Nov 02, 2022  | 
A recent 650 mile drive round trip, with a stay at the far end of unknown length, sent me scurrying to my bookshelf to select a few titles that I hadn't yet read, and that's when I rediscovered Keepers, sub titled "The Greatest Films, and Personal Favorites, of a Moviegoing Lifetime by Richard Schickel.
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A/V Veteran
It's Showtime! The A/V Show Season Gets Underway
Thomas J. Norton  |  Oct 18, 2022  | 
After a long, hot summer (in more ways than one!), the audio and A/V show season recently kicked off with the annual CEDIA Expo. CEDIA stands for the Custom Electronics Design and Installation Association, and as the name implies, it caters to attendees in the business of installing custom home theaters and media rooms. As such it also offers a wide range of training sessions to supplement its trade show exhibits.

In recent years CEDIA has moved beyond traditional A/V gear and into peripheral products such as home automation, security, and home health assistance — areas a custom install company might find useful in expanding its services. But traditional audio and video are still CEDIA's core attractions, and in showcasing both current and new products it draws a huge contingent from the A/V press.

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A/V Veteran
Flashback: HD DVD vs. Blu-ray
Thomas J. Norton  |  Oct 04, 2022  | 
Readers new to the home theater universe might not be aware that the Blu-ray video disc format wasn't always the only game in town. Back in the late aughts it was engaged in a brief but hard fought format war with a similar competitor for the consumer's high definition dollars: HD DVD.
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A/V Veteran
Swords, Sand & Sandals: Revisiting CinemaScope Epics
Thomas J. Norton  |  Sep 20, 2022  | 
A few blogs ago I commented on the 1954 movie, The Egyptian. In the '50s, the introduction of CinemaScope inspired, or rather demanded, epic tales in a genre often referred to as Swords and Sandals. Many of them, but not all, were set in the ancient world, typically Egypt or Rome. Here we look at a few more of those classics.
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A/V Veteran
TV Tech Explained: What Are Quantum Dots?
Thomas J. Norton  |  Sep 06, 2022  | 
Quantum dots have been used in TVs since 2014 but what are they and what do they do? Let's find out.
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A/V Veteran
Laserdiscs, Blu-rays...and Egypt
Thomas J. Norton  |  Aug 16, 2022  | 
I've written early and often about where the current mania for streaming will take us, and the slow, possible demise of packaged media. Yes, new and re-releases on disc are still common, to which anyone who follows the website The Digital Bits website can attest. But what does the future hold for disc-based entertainment?
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A/V Veteran
The Evolution of Audio: A Brief History
Thomas J. Norton  |  Aug 02, 2022  | 
Change is a constant in the audio-video world, but never more so than in the changing formats that constantly roil our hobby. Every twenty to thirty years, and sometimes more often, an old format we thought would last forever bites the dust, only to be replaced by a shiny new toy. Here's a brief history...
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HDTV TechA/V Veteran
Home on the High Dynamic Range
Thomas J. Norton  |  Jul 19, 2022  | 
High dynamic range is still the hot tamale in today's video world. While it's been around for a few years now, nothing new in video has yet made HDR yesterday's news. Here’s why.
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A/V Veteran
8 Animated Movies on Disc Everyone Can Love
Thomas J. Norton  |  Jul 05, 2022  | 
I love animation but recognize that there might be barriers to overcome with some of your family and friends if you’re playing host on movie night and plan to serve up a Disney classic. Here are a few of my favorite animated titles on disc. With any luck, one of them just might do the trick.
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A/V Veteran
Celebrating Independence Day with 1776
Thomas J. Norton  |  Jun 27, 2022  | 
The 1972 movie version of the Broadway musical 1776 has been available on Blu-ray for some time, but it was only recently released on a multidisc package headlined by an 4K Ultra HD transfer. And it's certainly an appropriate month to have a look at it. 1776 began as a hit Broadway musical in 1969, winning several Tony awards (including best musical) and ran for three years. It hit the big screen in 1972...
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A/V Veteran
Never Underestimate the Impact of Room Acoustics on Sound Quality
Thomas J. Norton  |  Jun 14, 2022  | 
Looking to improve the sound of your system? Before you start switching out gear, assess the acoustics of your room. You may be surprised by what you find.
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A/V Veteran
The Ups and Downs of the Hi-Fi Show
Thomas J. Norton  |  May 31, 2022  | 
Spring is traditionally prime time for the audio industry to dust off the cobwebs and bring out their best and latest gear at a hi-fi show for the public to see, hear, and touch. But the pandemic of the past two years wreaked havoc on the show front.
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A/V Veteran
Custom Home Entertainment in Covid Times
Thomas J. Norton  |  May 17, 2022  | 
It's been a strange two years for home entertainment as Covid came and went, came and went, came and... It's been even stranger for home theater.
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A/V Veteran
Subwoofer Setup Steps
Thomas J. Norton  |  Apr 26, 2022  | 
Audiophiles have an inherent advantage over home theater enthusiasts: when it comes to setting up their systems, they need only make room for two loudspeakers plus a convenient location for the sources and amplifiers needed to drive them. For a home theater we need to find space for more, often much more. Those multiple speakers must also support the screen, and often there isn't much flexibility in where to put the latter—be it a TV or a projector with a separate screen. In any home theater setup the locations for the center, surrounds, and perhaps overhead speakers are then usually fixed by the placement of those front speakers and the main listener/viewer positions, with little room for deviations in a proper setup.

But positioning one or more subwoofers for the best results is a chore that takes time and patience. Subwoofers are relatively rare in 2-channel systems, which is unfortunate because they can achieve soul-satisfying bass while limiting the need for hulking, and expensive, front left and right loudspeakers.

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