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Audio Video News
Samsung ups the ante on immersive TV
Michael Berk  |  May 09, 2011

Samsung today unveiled the biggest 3D set to come to market (that's just the Korean market for now) thus far.

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Ask S&V
Conventional EQ vs Audyssey
Scott Wilkinson  |  May 09, 2011
Other than auto-calibration, what's the difference between "traditional" EQ units like those from DBX and Rane and systems like Audyssey?

Theo Nicolakis

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Curtain Call
Master of His Domain
Michael J. Nelson  |  May 09, 2011
Sometimes, despite taking great pains to avoid it, one finds oneself having to go to the Internet for information. An inconvenience, to be sure, especially if one is trying to limit one’s exposure to ads for home mortgages that feature photos of hideously ugly deformed men, the kind you expect to see under freeway overpasses sitting in a shopping cart filled with rags and using a Ralphs Rewards card to eat generic franks and beans from a dented can. But if it’s trivia about Sid and Marty Krofft’s H.R. Pufnstuf you’re after (and I assume that represents more than 80 percent of Internet traffic), then you can be on and off in relatively short order and with a minimum of bother. (Oh, and I’ll spare you the searching. Yes, it’s drug inspired. And no, the Magic Flute was not killed in action in Vietnam.)
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Blu-ray Movie Reviews
No Strings Attached (Blu-ray)
David Vaughn  |  May 09, 2011
Meeting in camp as teenagers, Adam (Ashton Kutcher) and Emma (Natalie Portman) almost had a hook-up, but Adam's advances were repelled at the time. Fifteen years later, the two meet again but with Emma's busy schedule as a resident doctor, she doesn't have time for a relationship. In lieu of that, she proposes that she and Adam become sex buddies with no strings attached.

Portman is one of my favorite female stars in Hollywood and I had high hopes for this one. Wow, what a disappointment, but I shouldn't be surprised when Kutcher's name is on the cover. How does he keep getting roles? He can't act worth a damn and virtually every project he's involved with stinks. The screenplay had some potential, but it drags way too much and the only reason to watch it is to see Portman romping around half-naked.

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Streaming Device ReviewsCustom Installation How-To
Digital Media Receiver Roundup
Geoffrey Morrison  |  May 09, 2011

DEFINING A NEW PRODUCT CATEGORY

I'm struggling with this: What do you call these things? Digital Media Streamers? Digital Media Receivers? How about media extenders, media streamers, or digital media adapters? Maybe Internet Streaming Devices? If you abbreviate that last one, it sounds a bit sinister. "Dude, I got an ISD." Annnnnnnd, you're on a list somewhere.

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Audio Video News
CEA Unveils Spectrum Crunch Clock
Mark Fleischmann  |  May 09, 2011
Should the spectrum allocated during the DTV transition be left alone? Or should some of it be reallocated to wireless broadband? The Consumer Electronics Association leans to the latter side and is dramatizing its position with the Spectrum Crunch Clock.

The SCC, as it explains itself, "tracks the lost opportunity costs to the U.S. economy and consumers with every minute we delay responsibly managing our nation's spectrum resources. The Spectrum Crunch Clock estimates that we have been losing $14,444 per minute since the clock started ticking on March 16, 2010, when the FCC introduced the National Broadband Plan."

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Vote
What Do You Think of 21:9 Flat Panels?
Scott Wilkinson  |  May 06, 2011
Recently, I've answered a couple of questions about 21:9 flat panels; you can read my comments about them here and here. These ultra-widescreen TVs display 2.35:1 movies without the annoying black bars above and below the image as on 16:9 sets, and they can display a 16:9 HDTV image on one side of the screen and online apps on the other without overlapping.

So far, Vizio is the only company to announce 21:9 flat panels for the US market, which will be available "sometime this year" in three screen sizes—50, 58, and 71 inches (diagonal)—though no pricing has yet been revealed. Philips has offered a 21:9 set in Europe for a couple of years, but it's not available in the US. Will other manufacturers follow suit? I suppose that depends on consumer demand.

Which leads me to this week's poll question: What do you think of 21:9 flat panels? Are you eager to get one, or do you think this just another gimmick designed to sell more TVs? Once you make your selection below, please leave a comment explaining your choice. Opinions seem to run hot on this topic, and I'd love to hear yours!

Vote to see the results and leave a comment about your choice.

What Do You Think of 21:9 Flat Panels?
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Blu-ray Movie Reviews
The Dilemma (Blu-ray)
David Vaughn  |  May 06, 2011
Since college, confirmed bachelor Ronny (Vince Vaughn) and happily married Nick (Kevin James) have been through it all. Partners in an auto design firm, the pair are vying to land a dream project with Chrysler that will launch them into the big time, but when Ronny inadvertently sees Nick's wife kiss another man, he makes it his mission to get answers.

Off the top of my head, I can't think of a bad film Ron Howard has directed over his career, so I'm going to cut him some slack for this middling effort. While the two stars are supremely talented when it comes to comedy, the editing is this film is terrible and it really kills the pacing. Scenes drag on forever and there are certain subplots that could have been cut altogether (sorry Queen Latifah) that would have improved it immensely.

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Music ReviewsBlu-ray Movie Reviews
Blu-ray Review: Treme
Ken Korman  |  May 06, 2011

Consider the dense, multi-layered, centuries-old, and sometimes impenetrable culture of New Orleans — especially in the months just after Hurricane 

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Audio Video News
Cutting the Cord?
Michael Berk  |  May 06, 2011

Two recent surveys have come to different conclusions on whether or not American consumers are abandoning cable in favor of Web-based on-demand and streaming media.

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