LATEST ADDITIONS

A/V Veteran
Sony 3D Glasses: A Tale of Two Pairs
Thomas J. Norton  |  Nov 09, 2012
In our experience, most active 3D glasses are sensitive to head position or, more precisely, head tilt. With most of them, however, the effect is minor and limited to a slight darkening of the picture.

But Sony's active 3D glasses, up to now, have been different. When using the company's HDTV 3D glasses, a 3D image on the Sony displays we've tested doesn't darken as you tilt your head from side to side. Instead, the left and right images break up, producing significant 3D crosstalk or, as this artifact is more colorfully known, ghosting. In addition, the Sony's 3D color varies with head position, shifting reddish with a tilt in one direction from vertical and bluish in the other. The latter effect makes it impossible to do a reliable 3D calibration; one eyepiece of the 3D glasses has to be placed over the lens of the measurement meter for a 3D calibration, and even a slight tilt can affect the result. Fortunately, the Sony 3D sets we've tested recently have produced visually satisfying 3D color even without a 3D calibration, though it's unlikely to be accurate. Nevertheless, the head-tilt ghosting and color shifting are annoying.

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3D Blu-ray Player ReviewsBlu-ray Player Reviews
Oppo BDP-103 Blu-ray 3D Player
David Vaughn  |  Nov 09, 2012

Performance
Features
Ergonomics
Value
Price: $499 At A Glance: Impeccable build quality • 4K x 2K video output • The first Blu-ray player with HDMI inputs

We’ve come a long way since Blu-ray hit the market in 2006. Back then, players retailed for over $1,000, took more than a minute to boot up, and as long as two and a half minutes to load a disc. Thankfully, those days are behind us and the user experience with Blu-ray is now approaching that of a DVD player—although we’ll never get rid of the frequent firmware updates thanks to Hollywood’s piracy fears.

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Tech2
Review: XCOM: Enemy Unknown
Geoffrey Morrison  |  Nov 09, 2012

I have to admit, I didn't think I'd get into this game. I like my action games actiony, and my strategy games real-time. A turn-based action game? What kind of unholy chimera is that?

I never played the original X-COM (the 1994 version had a hyphen, and an incredible following), so the excitement surrounding this remake was lost on me.

Once I tried it, though. . . wow is it easy to get sucked in.

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Blu-ray Movie Reviews
American Reunion
Corey Gunnestad  |  Nov 08, 2012
Picture
Sound
Extras
Interactivity
I saw American Pie in the theater and enjoyed it enough to stick it out through two sequels: American Pie 2 and American Wedding. By that point, though, I felt the creative teat had pretty much been sucked dry and it was time to call it a day. Imagine my astonishment when I discovered that the success of those films had spawned no less than four direct-to-video sequels: American Pie: Band Camp, American Pie: The Naked Mile, American Pie: Beta House, and American Pie: The Book of Love. Not done by a long shot, the original cast now reunites for another go-round in American Reunion. As the title implies, it’s been more than a decade since our fresh-faced and inexperienced teenagers graduated from high school and made the awkward transition into adulthood.
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Vintage Gear
Onkyo TX-SV7M Surround Receiver
Steve Guttenberg  |  Nov 08, 2012
The Onkyo TX-SV7M is said to be the first Dolby Surround A/V receiver sold in the U.S. and Canada, way back in the all-analog days of 1987. Dolby Surround was the consumer version of the theatrical Dolby Stereo format that was used in movie theaters in the 1980s. Dolby Surround soundtracks were matrix-encoded into stereo formats such as VHS tapes, Laserdiscs, etc. The TX-SV7M was a four-channel receiver, with front left, right, and two surround channel amplifiers (the surrounds were monophonic).
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Headphone Amp/DAC Reviews
There's an App for Jazz: The Blue Note App
Michael Berk  |  Nov 08, 2012

The Blue Note label has, over the course of its history, managed to put out some of the most challenging, beloved, and genre-defining records in jazz. Now a new Blue Note app brings that rich heritage to your tablet.

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SmartStream
FCC Ruling Ensures Higher Bills for Basic Cable Subscribers in Future
Barb Gonzalez  |  Nov 07, 2012
The FCC has ruled to allow the National Cable & Telecommunication Association's (NCTA) to scramble (encrypt) basic cable. While the cable companies claim that it is more cost-effective and easier for customers if they can scramble all signals sent to homes, the new ruling ensures that people who don't pay for basic cable can't access it without a cable box or CableCARD.
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New Products
New Gear: JH Audio Introduces Freqphase
Michael Berk  |  Nov 07, 2012

Over the past few weeks, we've been looking into some promising new room correction solutions, using both frequency-domain and time-domain approaches. If you've been wondering why nobody's been applying such thinking to headphones, think again - in-ear monitor innovator JH Audio has been on the case.

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Headphone Reviews
Review: Phiaton Moderna MS 200 In-Ear Headphone
Brent Butterworth  |  Nov 07, 2012

I'm always surprised at headphone companies' efforts to make super-stylish in-ear monitors. 'Cause who's gonna stare into some stranger's ears on the subway? Personally, I'd never buy an IEM for its looks unless it had an image of Bandit on the side. But I have to admit Phiaton's new Moderna MS 200 looks pretty cool with its carbon fiber sides and red cables and accents.

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This Week
New Blu-rays for November 6, 2012: Sunset Boulevard, Ready for its Close-Up
Josef Krebs  |  Nov 06, 2012

Sunset Boulevard

After having his latest screenplay rejected by the studios, screenwriter-on-the-skids Joe Gillis (William Holden), chased by a pair of repo men, pulls into an open garage in what seems to be an abandoned, run-down mansion.

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