LATEST ADDITIONS

Audio Video News
Consumers High on Passive 3D, Says LG
Mark Fleischmann  |  Jun 30, 2011
A study sponsored by LG Electronics has found that an overwhelming percentage of consumers prefer passive 3D technology over the active kind.

Miraculously, passive 3D happens to be the very kind LG is selling, versus the kind with active-shutter glasses being marketed by the likes of Panasonic, Samsung, and Sony. What are the chances of that happening?

Continue Reading »
Ask S&V
AVR Surround Modes
Scott Wilkinson  |  Jun 29, 2011
I have a Harman Kardon AVR 146 5.1 receiver. Which surround mode (Dolby Digital, Dolby Pro Logic II, DTS, DTS Neo:6, or Logic 7) will provide the most enveloping sound without cranking up the surround speakers? I'm currently using Dolby Digital, and while the rear speakers are supposed to provide ambient sound, I find them lacking. I use a sound meter to set the Channel Adjust levels and a tape measure to determine the distance to the sweet spot for the Delay Adjust settings.

Brian Porter

Continue Reading »
Ask S&V
HDMI Audio Return Channel
Scott Wilkinson  |  Jun 29, 2011
I have all my source devices (TiVo, Roku, Blu-ray player) connected to my Denon AVR-791 via HDMI 1.4a cables, and a single HDMI cable goes to my Panasonic TC-P50VT25 television. If I use the Internet apps on the TV, I cannot hear any sound. How should I set up the AVR and cables to get sound from the TV to my speakers? I have the onboard speakers disabled, of course, and if I turn them on, the sound does work. I don't know if the AVR can take audio back over the HDMI cable through the HDMI output port.

I ask because the Netflix app on the TV is pretty good. I thought the same version would be on the matching Panasonic 3D Blu-ray player, but it's not. Right now, we use the version on the TiVo or Roku.

Paul Wurster

Continue Reading »
Home Theater Geeks Podcast
Podcast 70: Chris Connaker
Scott Wilkinson  |  Jun 29, 2011
Chris Connaker, founder of ComputerAudiophile.com, talks about the basics of high-resolution computer-audio files, including file formats and compression, adaptive and asynchronous USB DACs, ripping physical discs, online sources for high-res music files, the Simple Design Sonore Linux-based music-server appliance, cloud-based systems, using a preamp/processor with high-res music servers, local-area network streaming, answers to chat-room questions, and more.

Run Time: 57:01

Continue Reading »
Audio Video News
Biggest production rear-projection 3D TV?
Michael Berk  |  Jun 29, 2011

...who knows? It'll change next week, I'm sure. I'm not going to get into that question again.

Continue Reading »
Soundbar Reviews
Polk SurroundBar 6000 Soundbar Speaker System
Mark Fleischmann  |  Jun 29, 2011
Price: $500 At A Glance: Self-contained soundbar with wireless sub • Proprietary Polk SDA and Digital Logic processing • Relatively few user controls

Mellow Bar

As I’ve noted so many times in the recent past, soundbars are a viable step up from horrific built-in HDTV speakers, which have only gotten worse as flatpanel HDTVs have gotten flatter. Soundbars are especially suitable for people who don’t like component audio systems, with their speaker-placement requirements, cabling, and—perhaps the ultimate deal breaker for the flat-panel-owning Luddite—the need to be mated with one of those scary man-eating A/V receivers. But what if there’s a second deal breaker lurking in the bushes?

Continue Reading »
Audio Video News
Net Neutrality Comes to Europe
Mark Fleischmann  |  Jun 29, 2011

Net neutrality has become a political and regulatory football in the United States, with internet service providers squaring off against electronic libertarians, and the feds uneasily caught in the middle. But in one European nation, for the first time, it may be about to become law.

In the Netherlands, the parliament is weighing a net neutrality bill designed to prevent the dominant (and newly privatized) telco from discriminating against certain kinds of net traffic.

Continue Reading »
Ask S&V
Hybrid Plasma?
Scott Wilkinson  |  Jun 28, 2011
A salesman at a store I visited said the Samsung PN64D8000 is a hybrid plasma with LED backlighting, which makes it much better than the Panasonic plasmas. He says it has the brightness of LED and all the qualities of plasma. What is your opinion of this technology?

Joe Souders

Continue Reading »
Premiere Design
NuForce Reference 18 Monoblock Power Amp
Scott Wilkinson  |  Jun 28, 2011
Since 2005, the mission of NuForce has been to "thrill the ear, delight the eye, and please the pocket." I've not heard the company's flagship Reference 18 monoblock power amp, but it does have a delightful appearance and a pleasing price—at least as far as high-end power amps go.
Continue Reading »
Audio Video News
Samsung Streams Free 3D
Mark Fleischmann  |  Jun 28, 2011
Would you like to put your new 3DTV through its paces? Your guests will be impressed when Samsung's Explore 3D app gets the show on the road.

Sign up via your PC and the Rovi-powered app will deliver movie trailers, music videos, educational stuff, and (via Wealth TV) full-length shows—all of it free—to any 2010-11 Samsung LED-LCD smart TV or plasma smart TV. Paid content will become available later this year.

Continue Reading »

Pages

X