LATEST ADDITIONS

Media Server Reviews
Sony SMP-N200 Media Player
Barb Gonzalez  |  Sep 19, 2012

Performance
Features
Ergonomics
Value
Price: $100 At A Glance: Adds Vudu and more apps to SMP-N100 • Smooth streaming performance • Controlled by other HDMI CEC remotes • Xross menu displays only 10 files at a glance

Testing the Sony SMP-N200 made me consider how far network media players have come in the past few years. Sony’s base model, an upgraded version of its first player, the SMP-N100, handles most of the basic media streaming options with ease. It plays nicely with others, easily finding connections to DLNA servers, computers, tablet media controllers, and smartphone apps. It plays a wide variety of file formats. And it does it all for $100.

Continue Reading »
Turntable Reviews
Table Talk: How To Set Up a Turntable
Brent Butterworth  |  Sep 19, 2012

ACROSS THE CONTINENT, thousands are taking part in an almost-forgotten rite. It melds advanced technology, knowledge handed down through the decades, and a little dose of black magic. As most rituals do, it appalls many nonbelievers, but that fact only makes its practitioners relish it more.

Continue Reading »
This Week
New Blu-rays for September 18, 2012: Treasure Hunters, Creatures of the Demimonde and the Underworld
Josef Krebs  |  Sep 18, 2012

Indiana Jones: The Complete Adventures

In Indiana Jones and the Raiders of the Lost Ark (1981), renowned archeologist, Dr. Indiana Jones (Harrison Ford), is hired by the U.S. Government to find the Ark of the Covenant before Hitler uses its powers to enslave nations.

Continue Reading »
SmartStream
Nintendo TVii Comes to Wii U
Barb Gonzalez  |  Sep 18, 2012
The upcoming Wii U will include Nintendo TVii. See how Nintendo is rocketing past its competition to bring you a complete streaming video experience.
Continue Reading »
Audio Video News
Coming Attractions
HT Staff  |  Sep 18, 2012
Panasonic TC-L55ET5 3D LCD HDTV
Images are said to be bright and clear from almost any seat in the room thanks to a new high-efficiency LED-backlit LCD panel that maintains brightness over a wide viewing angle, while consuming 25 percent less power than Panasonic’s 2011 LCD HDTVs. A Web browser and built-in Wi-Fi make it easy to access online content, select apps from the Viera Connect Market, and video chat (optional camera required). The TV supports passive (polarized) 3D viewing and can convert any video to 3D; four pair of 3D glasses are included.
Continue Reading »
This Week
New Music for September 18, 2012: Monsters Walk the Earth Again
Mark Smotroff  |  Sep 18, 2012

Continue Reading »
The S&V Interview
The S+V Interview: Borderlands 2 Lead Writer Anthony Burch
Timothy J. Seppala  |  Sep 18, 2012

As great a game as the first Borderlands was, it didn't offer much in the way of story. Developer Gearbox Software realized this and brought in Anthony Burch (best known for the often inappropriately hilarious web series, "Hey Ash, Whatcha Playin'?") to write Borderlands 2. Burch was also a member of the video game press corp whose equally sharp analysis and humor made him a must-read in his time at Destructoid and other places around the Web.

Continue Reading »
Other Tech
The Future of Surround Sound
Geoffrey Morrison  |  Sep 18, 2012

Close your eyes. Wait, don’t do that. You won’t be able to read. Imagine yourself sitting in the center seat, center row, of a dark and empty theater. It’s a good theater, quiet, and you can feel the space stretching out from you in all directions. A sound rises to an audible level far in front of you. It’s a bee. Okay, maybe you don’t like bees. It’s an old plane, rotary engine struggling to turn over, the sputters emanating from a center channel speaker unseen behind the screen in the dark theater. The plane taxis left. There’s no picture on the screen: You localize it just by how the sound moves toward the left speakers.

Continue Reading »
Music Reviews
The Art Of Listening
Mike Mettler  |  Sep 18, 2012

“Anything that we sit down in, we’re good at.” This is Steven Wilson, 5.1 mixmaster nonpareil, discussing two of the gold medals that Great Britain won in the Summer Olympics — one in cycling, the other in rowing. If there were Olympic medals given for achievement in surround-sound mixing, then Wilson would own more golden hardware than Michael Phelps has collected a dozen times over.

Continue Reading »
TV ReviewsLCD TV Reviews
Test Report: Sony KDL-55HX850 3D LCD TV
Al Griffin  |  Sep 18, 2012

When I tested Sony’s flagship XBR-55HX929 TV for our November 2011 issue, I called it out as having “the best-looking picture I’ve seen from an LCD TV in a long time.” Jump forward a few months, and I’m attending a demonstration at Sony’s HQ. During the demo, Sony put its flagship XBR, a model with a full-array LED backlight, up against a group of other TVs, including the company’s new edge-lit HX85 Series set. If you follow our reviews, you’ll know that LCDs with edge-lit LED backlights typically don’t fare well, mostly due to screen uniformity issues. However, the HX85 set in Sony’s shootout not only smoked the competition but was about on par with the company’s XBR model. Naturally, I was eager to get my hands on one.

Continue Reading »

Pages

X