If you thought 1080p is as good as it gets, think again. Long known for its reference-quality audio products, <A href="http://www.meridian-audio.com">Meridian</A> now offers a video projector with <I>five times</I> the resolution of 1080p. Dubbed the 810 Reference Video Projector, this 140-pound behemoth uses three D-ILA panels, each with a resolution of 4096x2400 for a total of nearly 10 megapixels.
At the recent Showest trade show for the commercial-cinema industry, one the most important announcements was a $315M deal between Sony and AMC, one of the country's largest movie-theater chains, to install Sony 4K SXRD digital-cinema projectors for all 4628 screens in its 309 theaters over the next few years. Currently, AMC has 150 Sony 4K projectors in 11 theaters.
Price: $5,690 (with SubSeries 300 subwoofer substituted for discontinued SubSeries 6i, updated 3/10/15) At A Glance: Open, clean, and detailed • Expansive, cinematic sound • High value
Imagine: Airy Soundscapes
When deciding whether or not to set product priority for evaluation, every reviewer (consciously or unconsciously) applies a filter based on his or her previous experience with that manufacturer. Of course, there are always breakthrough products that demand to be covered and new companies that deserve to be discovered. But given the options available in the speaker world—including the new and the fascinating but rarely the revolutionary—you look first to those that have proved that they can make a great product.
Price: $2,200 At A Glance: Ultra-sophisticated setup and calibration system • Punchy-sounding ICEPower amplification • Versatile LAN-based Home Media Gallery with iPod connectivity
Too Much Functionality?
One step down from Pioneer’s flagship $7,000 SC-09TX A/V receiver, the SC-07 offers an equally dizzying feature set and plenty of ICEpower. It’s all packed into a far more compact, shelf-friendly package, and it sells at a steeply lower $2,200 price point. If you lusted after the SC-09TX (HT, November 2008) but were put off by the price, consider what the SC-07 offers for so much less.
YouTube is talking to Sony Pictures about the possibility of licensing full-length movies for viewing through the popular website. While this would not be the first time YouTube has licensed content, it would be the first time major motion pictures have been approved for free YouTubing.
This month, the Sound & Vision Custom Install Network features Phoenix Home Theater, an Arizona-based, CEDIA-certified custom installation firm. PHT specializes in home theaters and home automation, and boasts over 2 decades of experience in the industry.
Video: 5/5
Audio: 4/5
Extras: 2/5 A professional writer finds his life turned upside down when he attracts the amorous attention of his late client's sister in this dark romantic comedy about a quirky young man who can't tell "write" from wrong.
Video: 4.5/5
Audio: 4.25/5
Extras: 3.5/5 When Skeeter Bronson babysits his sister's children, his imagination runs wild as he dreams up elaborate bedtime stories - always casting himself as the hero. Entranced, the children add their own ideas to these once-upon-a-time tales of heroics and chivalry. Then...magic happens. These nighttime fantasies become Skeeter's daytime realities, leading him on a real-life adventure in search of his own happy ending.
Video: 4.75/5
Audio: 4.5/5
Extras: 4.5/5 In the film, a renowned scientist finds herself face to face with an alien called Klaatu, who has traveled across the universe to warn of an impending global crisis. She quickly discovers the deadly ramifications of Klaatu's claim that he is "a friend to the Earth." Now she must find a way to convince the entity who was sent to destroy us that mankind is worth saving - but it may be too late.
Price: $2,200 At A Glance: Ultra-sophisticated setup and calibration system • Punchy-sounding ICEPower amplification • Versatile LAN-based Home Media Gallery with iPod connectivity
