LATEST ADDITIONS

AV GlossaryHDTV SetupHDTV Tech
Aspect Ratio Oddities
Joshua Zyber  |  Feb 09, 2009
In movies, one size never fits all.

By now, most home theater fans have undoubtedly grown used to seeing letterbox bars on many movies they watch. In today’s high-definition era, any content with an aspect ratio that’s greater than a 16:9 (a.k.a. 1.78:1) HDTV screen must be presented with black bars on the top and bottom of the frame. Blu-ray viewers have many examples of this. Approximately half of all modern theatrical films are photographed in the scope aspect ratio of 2.40:1. Iron Man, Tropic Thunder, and Wall-E fall into that category. Scope photography is sometimes referred to as 2.35:1 for reasons that are too complicated to explain in detail here. Just know that 2.40:1 is technically correct, although many people in the industry continue to use the term 2.35:1 interchangeably. At the other extreme, material narrower than 16:9 (classics like Casablanca and The Adventures of Robin Hood are 1.37:1) will have pillarbox bars on the sides. In the middle, movies composed for 1.85:1 (such as the The Sixth Sense, Hellboy, or Knocked Up) nearly fill an HDTV.

Continue Reading »
AV Receiver Reviews
Marantz SR5003 A/V Receiver
Mark Fleischmann  |  Feb 09, 2009
Price: $800 At A Glance: New rounded front panel is borrowed from higher-end gear • Audyssey MultEQ auto setup and room EQ • Audio circuits on separate circuit board

The Middle Kid Syndrome

As the third child in a series of four, I know what it’s like to be in between. My older siblings arrived a decade before I did and towered over me with their adult-like achievements. They had summer jobs, bought Volkswagen Beetles, headed off to college, and—most fatefully, I now recognize—turned me on to rock ’n’ roll. I was the pampered baby for a few years until my younger sibling arrived and, predictably, absorbed more of my mother’s time. This made me terribly jealous.

Continue Reading »
Audio Video News
No More Pioneer DTVs? Say It Ain't So!
Mark Fleischmann  |  Feb 09, 2009
Pioneer is considering retreating from its status as the manufacturer of some of the world's best flat-panel DTVs.
Continue Reading »
Audio Video News
Will EchoStar Lunge for Sirius XM?
Mark Fleischmann  |  Feb 09, 2009
EchoStar, the owner of the Dish Network, is accumulating debt from the recently merged Sirius XM Satellite Radio Inc., according to The Wall Street Journal. The newspaper speculates that this "could be the first salvo in an attempt to take control of the battered company," either inside or outside of bankruptcy.
Continue Reading »
Blu-ray Movie Reviews
Clerks II—The Weinstein Company (Blu-ray)
Kris Deering  |  Feb 09, 2009
Video: 4/5
Audio: 4.25/5
Extras: 4/5
Ten years after the original, slacker heroes Dante and Randal have become "funployees" at Moby's fast food. In addition to offending customers and debating anything and everything, their responsibilities now include ragging on their uber-nerd co-worker and teasing their sexy manager. But when Dante announces his plan to leave New Jersey, Randal plots a shocking and hysterical going-away party that will alter their lives forever.
Continue Reading »
Definitive Technology Mythos STS SuperTower home theater speaker system
Al Griffin  |  Feb 08, 2009
The Short Form
$4,616 (as tested, with Gem stands) / DEFINITIVETECH.COM / 410-363-7148
Continue Reading »
Music Reviews
Cameron Carpenter: Revolutionary
Robert Ripps  |  Feb 08, 2009
Telarc
Performance •••• SACD Mix ••••½Extras •••½
Despite his American Boychoir and Juilliard training, 27-year-o
Continue Reading »
Audio Video News
Farewell Kuro?
Scott Wilkinson  |  Feb 07, 2009  |  First Published: Feb 08, 2009

In a report from the Nikkei and Kyodo news agency in Japan on Saturday, Pioneer is said to be quitting the plasma-TV business altogether—not just getting out of panel manufacturing and handing it over to Panasonic, but abandoning its TV business entirely. The global economic downturn, plummeting demand, and fierce competition led the company to take the drastic action in order to stem growing losses, which are expected to reach almost $850 million in the home-electronics division this fiscal year.

Continue Reading »
Fred Manteghian Blog
The Great Kuro Sorrow
Fred Manteghian  |  Feb 07, 2009

Here's the thing about a sagging world economy, it puts a damper on the number of yachts being sold. Or in this case, the yachts of the plasma TV world. Pioneer, recognized by all as manufacturing the best plasma TV, at a price that naturally reflects its quality, is throwing in the towel, if <a href="http://forums.cnet.com/5208-7596_102-0.html?forumID=60&threadID=329158&m... target="new">this report</a> is to be believed. The Kuro line of plasma TVs is just a production run away from coming to a close and the planned switch to Panasonic glass to reduce cost is now also falling by the wayside.

Continue Reading »
Blu-ray Movie Reviews
The Rundown—Universal (Blu-ray)
Kris Deering  |  Feb 07, 2009
Video: 4/5
Audio: 4.5/5
Extras: 3.5/5
Beck is a bounty hunter sent into the treacherous jungles of the Amazon to bring the rebellious Travis back to the States. When Beck and Travis reluctantly join forces to hunt down a priceless treasure this unlikely team embarks on a pulse-pounding, non-stop thrill-ride.
Continue Reading »

Pages

X