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A/V Veteran
Evaluating High Frame Rates: Billy Lynn's 60fps Walk
Thomas J. Norton  |  Feb 21, 2017
Before the era of sound movies the frame rates for silent films varied considerably due to the hand-cranked cameras of the time. When picture and sound became the future of movies in the late 1920s, however, the industry settled on 24Hz (24 frames per second) for both production and display standards. But 24fps alone would have produced significant jitter. For acceptably smooth motion, each film frame was flashed on the screen twice, using a two-bladed shutter in the projector (or, more rarely, three times with a triple blade shutter). This rate was also chosen, rather than an even higher one, to keep film costs manageable.

Even though the digital bits that now convey our films from the studio to the screen are far cheaper than celluloid, 24fps still dominates the films we see in both the multiplex and at home. But occasional efforts have tried to break the mold...

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Audio Video NewsNew Products
Como Audio Expands Wireless Speaker Lineup
SV Staff  |  Feb 21, 2017
Como Audio has expanded its line of wireless music systems with a two-way speaker that converts its entry-level Solo into a stereo system.
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Audio Video News
Smartphones: It’s All About Video
SV Staff  |  Feb 21, 2017
The thought of watching video on a smartphone might have seemed crazy a decade ago, yet nearly six in 10 consumers (57 percent) around the world watch videos on their phones every day, according AOL’s annual advertising study—virtually the same as the number of people (58 percent) who watch videos on a laptop or desktop every day.
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Audio Video NewsNew Products
Elite Unveils Light-Rejecting, Ultra Short-Throw Screen
SV Staff  |  Feb 21, 2017
Elite Prime Vision (EPV) has introduced an ambient-light-rejecting projection screen designed for use with ultra-short-throw projectors that sit against the wall at the base of the screen.
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Audio Video NewsNew Products
Esoteric ‘Opens New Horizon’ with $27K SACD Player
SV Staff  |  Feb 20, 2017
Sometimes a product name says it all. Like the recently introduced Grandioso K1 SACD player from Toyko-based Esoteric, which sells for a cool 27 grand.
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Audio Video News
Facebook TV Video App Coming Soon
SV Staff  |  Feb 20, 2017
Facebook has announced plans to launch a free app in the coming weeks that will let owners of Apple TV, Amazon Fire TV, and Samsung Smart TVs watch Facebook videos on the big screen.
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Bluetooth Speaker ReviewsWireless Multiroom Speaker ReviewsGrace Notes
Ears On: JLab Audio Party Series Wireless Speakers
Leslie Shapiro  |  Feb 20, 2017
When JLab Audio launched their new Party Series wireless Bluetooth speakers last month, they quickly created quite a stir. After they won a 2017 CES Innovations award and a 2017 Dealerscope IMPACT! Award, I knew I had to check them out in person. I’m certainly glad I did.

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Tech2
Are True Wireless Headphones Worth It?
Lauren Dragan  |  Feb 17, 2017

By now, you’ve probably heard all the hype surrounding “True Wireless” headphones. If you’re not familiar with the term, you’re likely familiar with the category’s poster child: the Apple AirPods. You know, the cordless in-ear headphones that some have described as looking akin to “soggy cigarettes sticking out of your ear.” Weird looking or not, the category is booming: at CES 2017, dozens of companies were scrambling to tout their own version of the format. From Monster to Motorola, more True Wireless are on the way. So… are they worth a look?

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Audio Video News
CTA: Consumers Who Know VR Are ‘Excited’ About It
SV Staff  |  Feb 17, 2017
Even though Best Buy has decided to close 200 of its 500 Oculus Rift demo stations, all is not bleak in VR-land.
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Blu-ray Movie Reviews
Independence Day: Resurgence
Brandon A. DuHamel  |  Feb 17, 2017
Picture
Sound
Extras
Two decades after Independence Day, the bug-like aliens that threatened humanity are back with their queen in Independence Day: Resurgence, bigger and badder than ever. Earth has been preparing for the return of the aliens, and humanity has come together to cooperate in unprecedented fashion, using the aliens’ own technology to build up planetary defenses. No one anticipated the aliens would return more advanced, with a mothership 3,000 miles in diameter with impenetrable force fields and a swarm of hive-like fighter jets. Central command must devise a plan with the help of recovered friendly alien technology to take out the enemy aliens’ queen.
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