LATEST ADDITIONS

Audio Video News
NFL on FOX now showing in 16:9
SV Staff  |  Aug 19, 2010
For years, FOX has shown NFL games in 4:3, even when in high-def. This was fine for SD TV users with old-fashioned 4:3 screens, but for widescreen HDTV users this meant two huge bars on either side of the screen, wasting space that could better be...
Continue Reading »
Audio Video News
Cox to Sell TiVo Premiere DVR
Mark Fleischmann  |  Aug 19, 2010
Hate your cable company supplied DVR and its inferior interface? Cox subscribers will get a new and better option later this year when the company begins supporting TiVo Premiere DVRs.
Continue Reading »
Home Theater Geeks Podcast
Podcast 31: Walt Husak
Scott Wilkinson  |  Aug 18, 2010  |  First Published: Aug 19, 2010
Walt Husak, Director of Image Technologies at Dolby Labs, explains the three types of digital-cinema 3D, why Dolby 3D is called "color interference" technology, how 3D is delivered to the home, what makes good and bad 3D, why most 3D content is animated rather than live-action, 2D-to-3D conversion, and answers to chat-room questions.

Run Time: 49:14

Continue Reading »
Audio Video News
Amex Digital claims "world's smallest" 1080p player
SV Staff  |  Aug 18, 2010
At just a little smaller than 7" by 5", the Amex Digital MP-501 is the world's smallest 1080p media player. At least, that's what the company claims. The little device can play MPEG-2, MPEG-4, H.264, and even Windows Media 9 files at 1080p...
Continue Reading »
Custom Installation Equipment ReviewsCustom Installation How-ToHome Movie Theaters
The iPad Chair
Kim Wilson  |  Aug 18, 2010

With apps for pretty much every major home automation system and more that are capable of controlling your AV components, the iPad is replacing more expensive remote control touch screens from companies such as Crestron, Control 4, Home Logic, and Savant. In fact, Savant announced they are no longer supplying their own branded touch panels but instead will provide their customers with an iPad pre-loaded with the Savant control app, and customized for their clients.

Continue Reading »
Ask S&V
Wireless Audio, Dynamic Contrast, 3D PJs
Scott Wilkinson  |  Aug 18, 2010
Going Wireless
I have some very good wired speakers. How can I convert them to wireless in order to have more flexibility in placement? I do not want wires going throughout the room.
Continue Reading »
Audio Video News
Samsung Gets DreamWorks Movie
Mark Fleischmann  |  Aug 18, 2010
Samsung has signed a deal with DreamWorks to include the 3D Blu-ray disc of How to Train Your Dragon in the starter kit included with the company's 3DTVs.
Continue Reading »
Blu-ray Movie Reviews
Hamlet (Blu-ray)
David Vaughn  |  Aug 17, 2010  |  First Published: Aug 18, 2010
Penned over 400 years ago, Hamlet is the tale of a young Prince (Kenneth Branagh) who's approached by his father's ghost describing in intimate detail how he was murdered by Claudius (Derek Jacobi), Hamlet's uncle. Filled with rage, Hamlet vows to avenge his father's death and won't rest until he fulfills his pledge.

Hamlet is Shakespeare's longest play and actor/director Branagh's adaptation doesn't compromise any of the text. The result is a four hour marathon that virtually flies by, if you're a fan of Shakespeare. I had the pleasure of studying Hamlet three times throughout high school and college and was surprised how much of the text I remembered all these years later. Branagh transports the story from twelfth-century Denmark to the nineteenth, which may raise some eyebrows, but the result is magnificent given the lavish sets and all-star cast.

Continue Reading »
Audio Video News
Panasonic puts Twitter on its HDTVs
SV Staff  |  Aug 17, 2010
Twitter, it seems, is inescapable. It's on computers, cell phones, iPads/Phones/Pods, and now it's coming to Panasonic VieraCast HDTVs. The company just announced that several of its VieraCast plasma HDTVs will be getting Twitter Internet apps,...
Continue Reading »
Premiere Design
Eminent Technology TRW-17 Rotary Subwoofer
Scott Wilkinson  |  Aug 17, 2010
And now for something completely different—a subwoofer that looks like a fan and can reproduce frequencies down to 1Hz and below. Yep, you read that right—1Hz and below. Developed by Bruce Thigpen and available from Eminent Technology, the Thigpen Rotary Woofer Model 17 (TRW-17) breaks entirely new ground at the very bottom of the sonic spectrum.
Continue Reading »

Pages

X