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TV ReviewsLCD TV Reviews
Sony Bravia KDL-55EX720 3D LCD HDTV
Thomas J. Norton  |  Jun 23, 2011
Price: $2,400 At A Glance: Solid 2D performance • 2D-to-3D conversion • Visible ghosting in 3D • Extensive Internet features

Order of LEDs on the Side

The movement to replace the traditional fluorescent (CCFL) backlighting for LCD displays with LEDs has become a flood. Sony’s 2011 lineup is dominated by LED-lit LCDs. While the line-topping XBR-HX929 sets have full-array LED backlighting with local dimming, the remainder position their LEDs just beyond the edges of the screen. Aside from lower power consumption compared with CCFL blacklights, LED backlights of either type offer another benefit: They can adjust rapidly in accordance with the changing signal. Edge-lit LED backlights have two primary advantages to manufacturers over the full-array approach that has made them the more widely used. One is lower cost; the other is the ability, at least in some HDTVs, to shrink the depth of the panel to something that seems to approach that of a credit card.

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TV ReviewsLCD TV Reviews
LG 55LW5600 3D LCD HDTV
Thomas J. Norton  |  Jun 23, 2011
Price: $2,400 At A Glance: Crisp resolution and accurate color • 2-step and 10-step calibration controls • Bright, vivid 3D

Living on the Edge

So far, three manufacturers have released 3D HDTVs that use passive polarized glasses rather than active shutter glasses: VIZIO, Toshiba, and LG. All three use technology developed by LG. In our June issue, we took a close look at VIZIO’s 65-inch entry, so this month, it’s perhaps appropriate that we go straight to the source and dive into LG’s first passive-glasses 3D HDTV.

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TV Recommendation, In-Ceiling Speakers, Panasonic or Samsung Plasma
Scott Wilkinson  |  Jun 23, 2011
Which 46-inch non-plasma, non-3D TV do you recommend? Can I get in-ceiling speakers individually instead of in pairs? Should I get a Panasonic VT30 or Samsung D8000 plasma?
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TV Recommendation, In-Ceiling Speakers, Panasonic or Samsung Plasma
Scott Wilkinson  |  Jun 23, 2011
Which 46-inch non-plasma, non-3D TV do you recommend? Can I get in-ceiling speakers individually instead of in pairs? Should I get a Panasonic VT30 or Samsung D8000 plasma?
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What to Look For in a Home Theater
Scott Wilkinson  |  Jun 23, 2011
I'm going to look at a new house with a home theater in the basement. I just hope the theater was professionally done; I would hate to have to rip it out and have it done right. The house is 10,000 sq. ft. Original price was around 3 million, but the current asking price is $1,939,000. What are some things I should look for when I go to see the theater? BTW, I love the Home Theater Geeks podcast!

Stephen Wedel

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Audio Video News
Best Buy Offers Music Cloud
Mark Fleischmann  |  Jun 23, 2011
Cloud-based storage is clearly the trend of the year. Best Buy is the latest company to offer a cloud music player, joining Amazon, Apple, and Google.

The Best Buy Music Cloud uses a PC or Mac application which scans your iTunes library (though this is not specifically an Apple-related service). Then it accepts music uploads and streams them to computers or mobile devices, the latter including iOS, Android, or BlackBerry. You can upload playlists as well as music files.

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Music Reviews
The Mahler Symphonies on SACD — and Vinyl LP
Robert Ripps  |  Jun 22, 2011

Back in September 2002, I interviewed Michael Tilson Thomas about the launch of a bold new project with the San Francisco Symphony: a complete cycle of the Mahler symphonies to be released on hybrid multichannel SACD via the orchestra’s fledgling in-house label, SFS Media. At the time, Thomas already had clearly formed ideas about the sound he wanted:

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Aging Projector Lamps
Scott Wilkinson  |  Jun 22, 2011
Given that projector lamps change over time, what should one do to keep their projector up to snuff? Periodic full recalibration? Just tweak the brightness once in a while using a setup disc?

Doug Farrow

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Home Theater Geeks Podcast
Podcast 69: Tyll Hertsens
Scott Wilkinson  |  Jun 22, 2011
Our own Tyll Hertsens, editor-in-chief of InnerFidelity.com, talks about the surprisingly social hobby of headphones, measuring the performance of headphones and how that relates to the subjective experience of listening to them, in-ear versus on-ear versus over-the-ear designs, simulating surround in headphones, how sound levels impact sound quality and hearing safety, noise cancelling, breaking in headphones, answers to chat-room questions, and more.

Run Time: 58:21

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Audio Video News
Near Field Communication: payment- and party-enabling
Michael Berk  |  Jun 22, 2011

While we have yet to see an explosion of NFC-enabled products, Nokia's brought the near-field communications protocol to a new range of home entertaiment products launching along with its much-lauded new

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