LATEST ADDITIONS

HDTV Tech
Contrast ratio vs black level
Geoffrey Morrison  |  Mar 16, 2013

I occasionally peruse Internet A/V forums to see what the techier web denizens have to say about the latest news and reviews.

One thing I've noticed a lot of lately, especially after our big projector 3fer, is a fixation on black level, with no mention or thought about contrast ratio.

This is a big deal, as black level without contrast ratio can result in some pretty terrible picture quality.

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Out Of The Blu
From Sci-Fi to SyFy: Star Trek: Enterprise Season: One, Storage 24, Continuum
Chris Chiarella  |  Mar 15, 2013
Jump back a few years to the 22nd Century, remain in the present and let 2077 come to you, or just try to survive in a storage depot with a killer alien.
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Song From My Soundtrack
Fang Bian on "Telegraph Road" by Dire Straits
Geoffrey Morrison  |  Mar 15, 2013

Dr. Fang Bian founded HiFiMAN in 2006, which has become one of the leading manufacturers of audiophile headphones and portable audio products. Here he picks a Song from his Soundtrack.

In the audio industry, we are constantly listening to music so there are many songs that have special memories for me.

One in particular though stands out and that is "Telegraph Road" by the British rock band Dire Straits and written by Mark Knopfler.

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Tech2
Review: SimCity
Geoffrey Morrison  |  Mar 15, 2013

I can't recall a game in recent memory that so embodied corporate hubris, a distaste and distrust of fans, or a launch so bungled that it was the story not the game.

Which is too bad, because underneath all the noise and hate are pieces of a great game, one that I've played a lot over the last two weeks.

But you know what? Don't buy it.

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Headphone Amp/DAC Reviews
Wadia 121 Decoding Computer
Mark Fleischmann  |  Mar 14, 2013

Performance
Features
Ergonomics
Value
Price: $1,299 At a Glance: DAC, headphone amp, preamp for digital sources • Asynchronous USB input • Makes your audio files sing

The Wadia 121 calls itself a decoding computer. While the term DAC (digital-to-analog converter) also fits, Wadia understands that nomenclature is destiny. This product just may be destined to change forever the way you hear high-resolution music files, signaling a new chapter in audio history that no audiophile can afford to ignore.

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Audio Video News
Inca Fold-Down and Swivel TV Mount
Bob Ankosko  |  Mar 14, 2013
Video projectors that reside in the ceiling have long been a fixture of high-end home theaters and are usually accompanied by a screen that retracts into a wall-mounted sleeve or disappears behind a curtain—everything controlled by remote control. Flat-panel TVs can benefit from the same sort of crafty concealment.
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Vintage Gear
JVC HR-D725 VHS H-Fi VCR
Steve Guttenberg  |  Mar 14, 2013
Life before the first VCRs arrived in the late 1970s was pretty boring. TV watching was limited to whatever meager offerings were available at that moment from broadcast and cable TV stations. VCRs and time shifting changed all that.
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Projection Screen Reviews
Elite Lunette Curved Projection Screen
Thomas J. Norton  |  Mar 13, 2013

Performance
Setup
Value
Price: $1,600 At A Glance: Outstanding picture at any viewing angle • Cinematic curvature • Excellent value

At one time, two of my favorite Los Angeles–area theaters were in Westwood: the Village and the National. The Village had, and still has, a huge, flat screen. The National (tragically closed and torn down in 2008) had a gently curved one of about the same size. While the Village had the more awesome audio, I always preferred the subtly more immersive visual presentation at the National.

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Projection Screen Reviews
Screen Innovations Black Diamond G2 4K Projection Screen
Thomas J. Norton  |  Mar 13, 2013

Performance
Setup
Value
Price: $2,899 At A Glance: viewable with ambient lighting • Works best with carefully planned lighting • Image dims significantly from center screen to the side

The best projection quality has always required a completely darkened room. This takes the edge off that Super Bowl party, with guests stumbling around in the dark spilling their buttered popcorn and drinks in your lap.

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Tech2
Review: Torque Audio t103z tunable in-ear headphone Page 2
Brent Butterworth  |  Mar 12, 2013

When testing headphones with multiple listeners-our standard practice at S+V-I've learned that perceptions of a headphone's tonal balance can differ among listeners. Of course, individual taste in sound varies, too.

One solution to this problem is a headphone that can be tuned to the user's taste, a feature we've encountered on in-ear monitors from AKG and Phonak. Both have interchangeable filters that can alter the headphone's tonal balance. But the former costs $1,299, and the latter uses extremely tiny filters that require a special tool to change.

A new company named Torque Audio has what looks like a more practical approach.

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