Audio Video News

THX Live! Certification is designed to improve concert audio systems. It made its debut in April with the kickoff of Beyoncé’s World Formation Tour...

Pirate Bay Now Streams torrents in your browser. The bad news is that, according to Gizmodo, it’s in beta, and like torrenting in general, may be illegal or pose security hazards...

YouTube Red Originals launched the streaming giant’s first round of original programming including the movies A Trip to Unicorn Island, Dance Camp, and Lazer Team, the documentary Untitled Gigi Gorgeous Project, the TV series Foursome, and the reality-adventure series Scare PewDiePie. A monthly subscription costs $9.99...

Philips ColorSpark HLD is a light-source technology that helps projectors muster images three times brighter than conventional LED gear. Hitachi and Optoma are among those using it...

8K Video Production got easier when NTT researchers realized they needn’t process the whole image in one pass. Instead they divide it into four pieces and process it with existing 4K gear...

Skinny Pay-TV Bundles, which let you pay less for less, will reach 16 percent of budget-conscious U.S. customers in the next five years, forecasts Evercore ISI Group. Most companies are expected to start offering a skinny bundle in the next two years...

Cincinnati Bell’s Starter Package features 38 channels including local stations plus AMC, Discover, and HGTV—but no ESPN—for $29.99/month. Add Genre Packages for $6 to $25/month...

In the January Blizzard that hit the Northeast, snowed-in viewers watched Comcast VOD in record numbers. The 1.29 million tally outperformed hipper video streaming services...

Comcast Added 89,000 video subscribers in fourth quarter 2015, its biggest gain in eight years, offsetting the year’s previous losses for an annual loss of 36,000—way less than the loss of 194,000 in 2014. Charter added 33,000 subs for a net gain of 11,000, its first in a decade...

Pay-TV Companies Are “Greedy,” according to 52 percent of respondents to a Harris Poll conducted for TVfreedom, a broadcaster lobby group. DVR and cable box fees are too high, according to 79 percent, but only 22 percent consider pay-TV operators “unpleasant” and 18 percent “heartless”...

Streamers Love Smart TVs, says a Diffusion Group study of 2,000 broadband customers. Smart TVs top the list of preferred devices at 32.1 percent, followed by game consoles at 25.1 percent, Internet boxes at 16.8 percent, and single digits for Internet sticks, Blu-ray players, and DVRs...

Smart TVs Will Reach half of U.S., European, and Japanese households by 2019, says IHS. UHD, HDR, and streaming are driving growth...

Streaming Is Integrated by 20 percent of pay-TV operators, notably Netflix via the Dish Network. But whether this is bolstering subscriptions or encouraging cord cutting is unclear, says an SNL Kagan analyst...

Netflix Streams from Amazon? It’s true—Netflix has closed its last data center and contracted all its streaming operations to Amazon. But their corporate entities and libraries remain separate...

T-Mobile’s Binge On video streaming service has added Amazon Video, Fox News, Spanish-language Univision, and WWE. None of these viewables would affect your data cap...

CinemaNow, which has changed hands numerous times in its 17-year history, has been acquired by FilmOn. It will continue to stream major-studio movie titles under its own name, adding FilmOn licensed TV and VOD content...

RIAA Has Added Streaming to its certification of gold and platinum records. Mirroring Billboard and Nielsen methodology, 1,500 song streams equal 10 track sales, which equal one album sale...

Amazon’s Echo Speaker has added Spotify Premium to the existing Amazon Music, iHeartRadio, Pan- dora, Prime Music, and TuneIn. What took them so long?...

Sonos Has Added Apple Music streaming to its multi-zone audio systems. The $9.99/month sub includes a Sonos station curated by artists...

Circuit City Is Returning under new ownership with the first store launching in Dallas. Outlets will have CC branded Bluetooth speakers and other gear and will use a combination of small-box stores, mobile stores, and Circuit City Express sections, kiosks, and other presences tucked away into other stores...

Meridian’s MQA Encoding is now appearing in Meridian products including the Explorer2 USB DAC, Prime headphone amp, and other products including DSP speakers. MQA brings studio-quality sound to streaming...