LATEST ADDITIONS

Audio Video News
More Stations to Make Early DTV Transition
Mark Fleischmann  |  Mar 20, 2009
The DTV transition scenario continued to develop this week when the Federal Communications Commission announced that 158 more stations plan to complete their switch from analog to digital broadcasting before June 12's final drop-dead deadline. The FCC made the announcement in a brief Public Notice (PDF).
Continue Reading »
Blu-ray Movie Reviews
Bolt (Blu-ray)
David Vaughn  |  Mar 20, 2009

<IMG SRC="/images/archivesart/bolt.jpg" WIDTH=200 BORDER=0 ALIGN=RIGHT>Bolt (voiced by John Travolta) the wonder dog and his "person," Penny (Miley Cyrus), co-star in one of the biggest shows in Hollywood. Unfortunately for Bolt, he thinks it's real, and when he is accidentally shipped to New York City and separated from Penny, he soon finds out it's a dog-eat-dog world as he tries to find his way home. With the help of two new friends, a street-smart cat named Mittens (Susie Essman) and a hilarious hamster, Rhino (Mark Walton), Bolt soon discovers he doesn't need super powers to be a super hero.

Continue Reading »
Audio Video News
SXSW 2009, Day 2: Quincy, Unlearn Guitar, more
SV Staff  |  Mar 20, 2009
Welcome back, my friends, to the post that never ends — or at least it seems that way. For here I am, Ken Richardson, back at the laptop at the end of Thursday, to give you the very latest from SXSW (including U Can Unlearn Guitar, shown...
Continue Reading »
Other Tech
Natasha Richardson
Mike Gaughn  |  Mar 19, 2009

By now, you've heard about the sudden death of actress Natasha Richardson. I wrote about her and husband Liam Neeson's home theater for the January '09 issue ("A Class Act"), and wanted to share a few thoughts about her:

Continue Reading »
Audio Video News
Bang and Olufsen announce BeoVision 103-inch rotating plasma
SV Staff  |  Mar 19, 2009
In case the $70,000 103-inch Panasonic TH-103PF9 wasn't already fancy enough for your refined tastes, Bang and Olufsen have set it on an impressive-looking automated stand. The panel is designed to adjust to the proper viewing height and angle...
Continue Reading »
Ask S&V
PS3, Blu-ray, Mom
Scott Wilkinson  |  Mar 19, 2009
PS3 PCM
I was getting ready to buy a new A/V receiver to take advantage of the new audio formats Blu-ray has to offer, but I found out my PS3 will not pass Dolby TrueHD or DTS-HD bitstreams—instead, it decodes them to PCM internally. Will the PCM signal be as good in quality? Or do I need to buy a new Blu-ray player and receiver? Or should I buy a Blu-ray player with 7.1 analog outputs and hook that up to my existing Denon receiver's multichannel inputs? It does not have HDMI inputs.
Continue Reading »
Kim Wilson Blog
B & W Music Club Goes 24-Bit
uavKim Wilson  |  Mar 19, 2009

The Peter Gabriel-curated <A HREF="http://www.bowers-wilkins.com/display.aspx?infid=3550">B&W Music Club</A> is now providing music downloads in 24-bit FLAC (Free Lossless Audio Codec) files. Subscribers now have a choice of three formats for download. The new 24-bit FLAC format, a 16-bit FLAC version and a 16-bit Apple Lossless version. The new file format is also available for people on a free trial, who can download an EP of 24-bit lossless music. Full membership runs $59.95 for a year and $39.95 for six months. You can download one new album a month, which comes to $5 an album with the annual membership. Sometimes there are bonus downloads, making the membership even more valuable.

Continue Reading »
Audio Video News
FCC Tweaks DTV Transition Scenario
Mark Fleischmann  |  Mar 19, 2009
Having managed the transition of some of the nation's television broadcasters from analog to digital broadcasting in February, the Federal Communications Commission is using what it learned to set down rules for the remainder of the stations, which will complete the transition in June.
Continue Reading »
Audio Video News
SXSW 2009, Day 1: Bob Ludwig, the Grates, more
SV Staff  |  Mar 19, 2009
My feet may be aching already, but my fingers are eager to give you the scoop on the first long day and night at the South by Southwest Music & Media Conference. Ken Richardson here, your faithful Entertainment Editor, down in Austin for my...
Continue Reading »
Other Tech
Gadget Gary: Viva Las Vegas
Gary Dell'Abate  |  Mar 18, 2009

For years, I've heard about a magical convention - a convention where people like me can go to see the latest, coolest, most cutting-edge electronics that are slated to be "coming soon." We all know it, of course, as the Consumer Electronics Show, or CES, and lucky for me the Sound & Vision fairy tapped me with his wand and sent me to the big event in Las Vegas this past Janua

Continue Reading »

Pages

X