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Blu-ray Movie Reviews
Noah
Josef Krebs  |  Oct 22, 2014
Picture
Sound
Extras
Is man ruled by heaven or his own will? Is the great flood coming again? Does man deserve to survive? Often defying logic, this mythological story where miracles occur regularly explores such questions. Noah, who follows the ways of God and respects fellow creatures, is conservationist, vegetarian, but not pacifist, slaughtering those who oppose the Lord’s work. Those, the descendants of Cain, have created cities, ripping minerals from the land to forge weapons and armor. But the land is dying, and the cities are dead. And since selfish man has broken the world and exploits other creatures, God decides to annihilate humans. This, once the family is isolated on the ark and all special effects are done with, sets off a smaller, more intimate drama closer to Greek tragedy with sons murderously set against father.
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The S&V Interview
Producer Andy Jackson on Recording the Final Pink Floyd Album, The Endless River
Mike Mettler  |  Oct 22, 2014
“It’s a very common name. Back of $20 bills, that’s me.” Producer Andy Jackson is being typically self-effacing as he leans back in a chair across from me in front of the massive Neve 88R console that dominates the control room in the Astoria, the grand houseboat recording studio moored on the Thames somewhere near Hampton, Middlesex in England. It’s late August 2014, and it was my distinct honor to be summoned across the Pond to partake in an exclusive listening session for The Endless River, which has been deemed the final Pink Floyd album. (River will be released worldwide by Columbia on November 10.) After a rousing listening session in a place where much of the music I heard was either created, recorded, and/or mixed, I sat down across from Jackson exclusively to discuss the genesis of River, the costs and benefits of mixing in both analog and Pro Tools, and what may (or may not) be in Floyd's future.
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The Connected Life
Getting Surrounded
John Sciacca  |  Oct 22, 2014
Manufacturers have been so busy focusing on video upgrades with 3D, 4K, local dimming, and OLED, they’ve pretty much forgotten that audio makes up at least 50 percent of the experience. The end result is that we haven’t really seen any significant surround sound advancements since 2000 following the release of Star Wars: Episode I—The Phantom Menace, which brought Surround EX and rear channels.
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Audio Video News
CEA Refines UHD Definition
Mark Fleischmann  |  Oct 22, 2014  |  First Published: Oct 21, 2014
The Consumer Electronics Association (CEA) is getting more specific about its standards for Ultra High-Definition TVs and projectors. Building on its initial 2012 specs, it requires UHD TVs to have: resolution of 3840 x 2160 pixels; aspect ratio of 16:9 or more; upscaling of HD to UHD; one or more HDMI inputs supporting 3840 x 2160 pixels at 24, 30, and 60 frames per second; one or more such inputs with HDCP 2.2 (or equivalent) copyright protection; support for the ITU-R BT. 709 color space or wider colorimetry standards; and a minimum color bit depth of 8 bits.
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SmartStreamAudio Video News
Google Announces Nexus Player, First to Run on New Android TV Platform
Barb Gonzalez  |  Oct 22, 2014  |  First Published: Oct 20, 2014
Google's Nexus Player, the first Android TV, is available for pre-order with delivery set for early November. That is, of course, if it isn't sold out...
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Audio Video News
Denon Announces Auro-3D Firmware Upgrade for Top Receivers
SV Staff  |  Oct 21, 2014
Denon has announced that a fee-based firmware upgrade for the new Auro-3D surround-sound format will be available for its AVR-X5200W ($1,999) and the AVR-X4100W ($1,299) AV receivers in early December. Both receivers have built-in Dolby Atmos surround sound processing.
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4K TV ReviewsTV ReviewsLCD TV Reviews
Sony XBR-55X900B LCD/LED Ultra HDTV
Thomas J. Norton  |  Oct 21, 2014

2D Performance
3D Performance
Features
Ergonomics
Value
PRICE $4,000

AT A GLANCE
Plus
Exceptional blacks and shadow detail
Excellent color and resolution
Impressive sound with optional subwoofer
Minus
Price
Small screen for 4K

THE VERDICT
Short of sitting very close, you’ll need a screen bigger than 55 inches to see the full benefits of 4K resolution. But the XBR-55X900B is, nevertheless, a champion in all respects, including one we didn’t anticipate: state-of-the-art edge-lit local dimming.

The XBR-55X900B is the smallest set in Sony’s X900B series, which also includes the 65-inch XBR-65X900B ($5,000) and the 79-inch XBR-79X900B ($9,000). Fifty-five inches is a relatively small size for achieving the maximum benefits of 4K resolution. But it’s also perhaps today’s most popular size for the principal home HDTV, so there’s no denying its market importance for Ultra HD as well.

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Signals
Adapt or Die
Ken C. Pohlmann  |  Oct 21, 2014
Congratulations! You, the president of a multinational audio technology company, are a man among boys. You are a captain of industry, a titan of corporate prowess. Under your command, your dozens of factories and thousands of employees toil to bring forth wondrous new products. And what wonders they are—your portable CD players are the best of the best. People line up to buy your cutting edge in-dash head units. In a few months, your keynote will blow away the 1987 Consumer Electronics Show. Then you wake up, alarm buzzing. It's 2014. Hitting the snooze button isn't an option.

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Audio Video News
RIP: a/d/s Founder and Audio Pioneer Godehard Guenther
SV Staff  |  Oct 20, 2014
Published in The Boston Globe on October 19, 2014. Scroll to the bottom of the page for more on Guenther's legacy.

Godehard A. Guenther, of Concord, MA, and Reno, NV, physicist and home electronics entrepreneur, died on October 16, 2014, at the Miriam Boyd Parlin Hospice Residence in Wayland, MA...

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Audio Video News
Poll Results: Home Automation? Eh…
SV Staff  |  Oct 19, 2014
Sound & Vision readers who participated in last week’s poll are not exactly falling over themselves to smarten up their homes with the sort of automated amenities Darryl Wilkinson wrote about in his recent blog, “Affordable New Home Automation Systems Put the Smart in Your Home.” Four in ten respondents...
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