LATEST ADDITIONS

Premiere Design
Phoenix Rising
Scott Wilkinson  |  May 21, 2009

When I first heard about the BeoVision 4-103 from Danish design king <A href="http://www.bang-olufsen.com">Bang & Olufsen</A>, I thought I knew the story&#151;a 103-inch 1080p plasma, undoubtedly sourced from Panasonic, with B&O's unique stylistic treatment. That's all true, but there's much more to it, as I discovered at a recent press demo held at the Aston Martin dealership in Beverly Hills, California.

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Audio Video News
Discs Still Preferred to Downloads
user  |  May 21, 2009
Physical media like DVD and Blu-ray still dominate U.S. household spending for buying or renting movies. Discs attract 88 percent of spending. For all the hooplah over downloads, they still have only three percent of the movies-on-video market.
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Other Tech
Does BD Live Deliver?
Kevin James  |  May 20, 2009

Like a baseball prospect whose performance hasn't lived up to expectations, Blu-ray Disc's BD-Live feature-which offers access to refreshable online content not contained on the disc-has been a slow starter.

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Blu-ray Movie Reviews
Taken (Blu-ray)
David Vaughn  |  May 20, 2009

<IMG SRC="/images/archivesart/taken.jpg" WIDTH=200 BORDER=0 ALIGN=RIGHT>Bryan Mills (Liam Neeson) is an ex-CIA agent trying to reestablish a relationship with his 17-year-old daughter Kim (Maggie Grace). Against his better judgment, he bows to pressure from his ex-wife (Famke Janssen) and signs a release enabling her to spend the summer in France. She's not even in country for 24 hours when she's kidnapped and sold into a slavery/prostitution ring. Utilizing his special skills, he tracks down her kidnappers and metes out justice in order to rescue his daughter.

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Blu-ray Movie Reviews
Star Trek: Original Motion Picture Collection
David Vaughn  |  May 20, 2009

<IMG SRC="/images/archivesart/trek6.jpg" WIDTH=200 BORDER=0 ALIGN=RIGHT>Since <i>Star Trek</i>'s debut on NBC in 1966, it has become one of the most indelible franchises in entertainment history. Although the original series only lasted three years on network TV, Roddenberry's universe spawned five more TV shows&#151;<i>The Animated Series</i>, <i>The Next Generation</i>, <i>Deep Space Nine</i>, <i>Voyager</i>, and <i>Enterprise</i>&#151;and 11 feature films, the most recent being the wildly successful reboot by J.J. Abrams.

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Audio Video News
First hands on: Creative Zen Aurvana Air Headphones
SV Staff  |  May 20, 2009
Finding headphones that stay put can be a seemingly impossible task for people with oddly-shaped ears. In-ear phones slip out no matter what tip you stick on them and ear buds get bounced out of place the second you move your head. Normally, a big...
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Audio Video News
Boston Acoustics shows off stealthy ceiling speakers
SV Staff  |  May 20, 2009
Look straight up. Do you see any speakers? No? Then this means one of two things: either you don't have any in-ceiling speakers, or you have some remarkably hidden ones. If your situation is the former and you want the latter, Boston Acoustics might...
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Audio Video News
FCC to Do 'Soft Test' of DTV Transition
Mark Fleischmann  |  May 20, 2009
Tomorrow the Federal Communications Commission and local broadcasters will run a "soft test" of the DTV transition. Analog TV broadcasts will be interrupted three times on May 21, 2009 with a message heralding the end of analog broadcasting, coming on June 12. They message will advise consumers who depend on antennas to feed analog TVs to devise a Plan B in a hurry.
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Ask S&V
HTIBs, Signal Switching, Balanced Cables
Scott Wilkinson  |  May 19, 2009  |  First Published: May 20, 2009
HTIB Shopping
I am currently interested in purchasing a 5.1 home-theater-in-a-box system, and I'm reasonably aware of the available products. However, I am unable to determine which is the appropriate system for me. I had short-listed the Harman Kardon HKTS8/AVR-135 bundle (~$630) and the Sony DAV-DZ870 (~$550). I was going through Home Theater's reviews of the best HTIBs, and Onkyo HT-SR800 seems to be pretty good, though I haven't checked it out yet. I am now confused. What would you recommend?
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Blu-ray Movie Reviews
True Blood
David Vaughn  |  May 19, 2009  |  First Published: May 20, 2009

<IMG SRC="/images/archivesart/trueblood.jpg" WIDTH=200 BORDER=0 ALIGN=RIGHT>I didn't connect with this HBO original series based on the books by Charlaine Harris, but the DTS-HD Master Audio 5.1 soundtrack is to die for. The score features a full-bodied sound, the dynamic range is impressive, and the creative sound design utilizes every speaker in the room. Quiet passages reveal crickets chirping, and dialog is never strained. The video is solid, but I'm focusing on the audio for this Ultimate Demo.

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