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This Week
New Blu-rays for December 18 2012: Last Chances, Southern Gothics, and Bad Sci-Fi
Josef Krebs  |  Dec 18, 2012

Total Recall

As a fan of the 1990 version of the science fiction action thriller Total Recall, loosely based on the 1966 Philip K.

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This Week
Get Ready for a High-Rez Christmas
Mark Smotroff  |  Dec 18, 2012
This weekend, I pulled out my SACD of Vince Guaraldi's classic soundtrack to A Charlie Brown Christmas, marking the beginning of the holiday season for me personally.
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Blu-ray Movie Reviews
The Best of the Boxes: 2012’s Best Blu-ray Collections
Chris Chiarella  |  Dec 18, 2012
What better gift than a Blu-ray box set? We cherry pick the best of the best so you don't have to hunt to find that perfect gift for a family member, special friend or... yourself.
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TV ReviewsLCD TV Reviews
Sony XBR-55HX950 3D LCD TV
Al Griffin  |  Dec 18, 2012

When it comes to picture quality, LCD TVs ?with a full-array, “local dimming” LED backlight tend to outperform their edge-lit LED brethren by a not insubstantial margin. We’ve covered the particulars of LED backlight tech before, so I won’t get sidetracked in explaining it here, but the finer control afforded by a full-array design allows for improved contrast and, for the most part, better uniformity when displaying dark images. Sony was among the first TV makers to push full-array for LCD, and then mysteriously put the tech on hold. But it roared back in 2011 with the XBR-HX929 line, a series that pushed full-array to new heights. The newest such sets to arrive from Sony are the HX950 series, which started shipping in late 2012. Can they match, or even exceed, Sony’s vaunted HX929 TVs?

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SmartStream
Yes, Virginia, There Is Netflix 1080p Streaming Video
Barb Gonzalez  |  Dec 18, 2012  |  First Published: Dec 17, 2012
Netflix stops X-High HD streaming but still offers 1080P Full HD streaming at lower bitrates.
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Audio Video News
Studio Stocking Stuffers from Korg and Focusrite
Michael Berk  |  Dec 17, 2012

Here at S+V we spend most of our time telling you about the coolest products for listening to music and watching movies - but many of our staffers and contributors also make their own sounds , and we know a whole lot of you readers are also musicians, whether seasoned pros or weekend hobbyists. And if there's one thing we know about musicians, it's that they love cool new gear.

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Audio Video News
The Pinnacle for Blu-ray Soundtracks?
Bob Ankosko  |  Dec 17, 2012
Wondering what it means when you see a Blu-ray Disc with a gold seal that says “Dolby TrueHD Advanced 96K Upsampling”? In its never-ending quest to squeeze every last drop of detail out of movie and music soundtracks, Dolby Labs has created a tool that enables studios and authoring/mastering facilities to take sound quality to an even higher level.
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Audio Video News
CEA Adopts Ultra HD Moniker
Mark Fleischmann  |  Dec 17, 2012
4K x 2K video with to-die-for resolution now has an official name. The Consumer Electronics Association (CEA) has decreed that it will be called Ultra High-Definition or Ultra HD. The latter rolls trippingly off the tongue, doesn’t it? Try it a few times. Ultra HD sets must have at least 8 million pixels, 3,840 horizontal x 2,160 vertical, with an aspect ratio of 16:9 or wider, and at least one digital input must provide that minimum resolution without upconverting.
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Headphone Reviews
Review: Sony MDR-X10 Simon Cowell and MDR-1RNC Headphones
Geoffrey Morrison  |  Dec 17, 2012

Noise cancelling and celebrity-endorsed headphones are two of the biggest categories in big headphones. You can thank Beats for that, I suppose. In one hand, I've got the MDR-1RNC which apparently are not endorsed by the Republican National Committee. At least, I don't think. They've got digital noise cancelling (the headphones, not the Republicans) and some great design and build quality.

In my other hand I've got the shiny MDR-X10's which are "unique and powerful headphones designed by Sony and Simon Cowell." Yeah, they're unique all right.

Six ears give a listen to create one verdict (Well, OK, technically two verdicts).

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Audio Video News
Superphone Spectacular: The Samsung Galaxy Note II and HTC 8x and Droid DNA
Michael Berk  |  Dec 17, 2012

It's that gadget-buying time of year again, and in case you haven't noticed, there's been something of a mobile-device convergence going on lately, with tablets shrinking and smartphones getting bigger and bigger. Under the hood, they're all very similar to begin with, so it shouldn't come as much of a surprise.

But is there a compelling reason for S+V readers to pick up one of these barely-pocketable chunks of Gorilla Glass and plastic? To find out, we took a look at three of the current leaders in the competition for your inside jacket pocket: HTC's Windows Phone 8x and Droid DNA, as well as Samsung's boundary- (and pocket-) stretching Galaxy Note II.

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