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4K TV ReviewsTV ReviewsLCD TV Reviews
LG 65UH8500 LCD Ultra HDTV Review
Rob Sabin  |  Dec 22, 2016
2D Performance
3D Performance
Features
Ergonomics
Value
PRICE $1,700

AT A GLANCE
Plus
HDR10 plus Dolby Vision HDR
Great color
Wide viewing window
Minus
Middling black levels
Backlight artifacts

THE VERDICT
LG’s midpriced 65UH8500 delivers good image quality with a super-wide viewing window, and it’s one of the few sets around that plays both predominant types of HDR content.

A year ago, I tested the LG 65UF9500, an LCD Ultra HDTV that retailed for $2,999, and I criticized it for offering no future-readiness for soon-to-emerge high dynamic range (HDR) content. Since then, Ultra HD Blu-ray has come to market, bringing HDR along with it, and there’s a growing library of HDR movies available for streaming. To LG’s credit, their line of so-called Super UHD LCD TVs for this holiday season, including the midline 65-inch 65UH8500 tested here ($1,700), recognizes both predominant types of HDR—namely, HDR10 (used currently on Ultra HD Blu-rays) and Dolby Vision (still only available via web streams). LG is one of only two TV makers to support both formats on a single chassis (in both their LCD and OLED models), the other being Vizio, which updated their Dolby Vision sets for HDR10 in mid-2016. So how does this wellfeatured, attractively priced set perform? Let’s have a look.

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Audio Separates Buying TipsOther Tech
Class Act: Amplifier Classes Explained
Daniel Kumin  |  Dec 22, 2016
From time to time, in these pages—err, screens—and elsewhere, you’ll see references to amplifier “class”: Class A, Class D, and so on. What’s it mean?
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Throwback Thursday
Flashback 1998: AOL Goes Hollywood
SV Staff  |  Dec 22, 2016
When the romantic comedy You’ve Got Mail opened in theaters 18 years ago this week, the Internet was crossing over into the mainstream—as evidenced by the movie’s title, borrowed from AOL’s iconic email notification “voice.”
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Ask S&V
Can I Use Wireless Ceiling Speakers for Dolby Atmos?
Al Griffin  |  Dec 22, 2016
Got a tech question for Sound & Vision? Email us at AskSandV@gmail.com

Q I’m ready to upgrade my surround sound system to a 5.1.4 Dolby Atmos configuration. My current 5.1 system uses GoldenEar Technology speakers, which I want to keep. Here’s my problem: I have no way to run wires through the ceiling to mount in-ceiling speakers, and I don’t want to deal with the unsightly wires that an on-ceiling speaker installation would require. Here’s my question: Are there any wireless speakers I could use for my Atmos upgrade? —Michael Henn

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The S&V Interview
Rainbow “Since You Been Gone” Vocalist Graham Bonnet Opens a New Book
Mike Mettler  |  Dec 21, 2016
Rainbow was looking for a hit, as bandleader/guitarist Richie Blackmore wanted to hear his songs on the radio. After scores of vocal auditions in 1979, they finally hit upon Graham Bonnet, who sang lead on Rainbow's breakout track, “Since You Been Gone.” Bonnet got on the horn to discuss his new solo album The Book, where he likes to hear his vocals in a mix, how he transformed “Since You Been Gone” from a pop song into a rock hit, and coming to grips with living in the streaming universe.
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HDTV Buying Tips
How To Buy An Ultra HDTV
Al Griffin  |  Dec 21, 2016
If you’re considering buying a new TV, you can be forgiven for having questions, possibly many of them. Several big-screen TV technologies—Ultra HDTV, high dynamic range (HDR), OLED—have been introduced over the past few years. At the same time, some older ones, including 3D and plasma, have faded from prominence. There have also been changes on the connectivity front, with new versions of the HDMI standard added to sets to accommodate new, higher-bandwidth signal formats.
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Audio Video News
Ditch That HDMI Dongle
Mark Fleischmann  |  Dec 21, 2016
Phones, tablets, computers, and cameras using the up-and-coming USB Type-C port won’t need a dongle or dock to convert the new standard’s DisplayPort video signals to HDMI.
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Audio Video News
Study: Voice Control Tops List of 2017 iOT Trends
SV Staff  |  Dec 21, 2016
Voice control tops a list of 10 top consumer technology trends recently released by Dallas-based research firm Parks Associates.
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Audio Video News
Look! Up in the Sky! It’s a…7-Eleven Drone
SV Staff  |  Dec 21, 2016
If you had any doubts, drone delivers are on the path to becoming a real thing.
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Surround Sound System ReviewsTower Speaker Reviews
Emotiva Airmotiv 5CH Speaker System Review
Daniel Kumin  |  Dec 20, 2016

Performance
Build Quality
Value
PRICE $1,177

AT A GLANCE
Plus
Neutral balance with fine imaging
Very good center-channel performance, integration
Superb value
Minus
Towers may require substantial tilt-back

THE VERDICT
Emotiva’s new passive loudspeakers combine serious audio design and refinement with sufficient construction and finish quality to establish unprecedented value.

There’s been plenty of ink spilled, print and digital, in Sound & Vision and elsewhere, about Tennessee’s direct-to-consumer brand Emotiva and the disruptive pricing the company has brought to various audio categories. To date, this has been mostly focused on electronics, where power amps, preamps, pre/pros, and DACs have been offered up for surprisingly small sums that seem to belie their inherent engineering and build quality. Corner company founder Dan Laufman about how he does it, and he’ll enthusiastically share his prior life as an OEM for other audio brands (many of which you know well) and how he’s learned a few tricks about where and how to stretch raw material costs in the most meaningful ways.

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