Audio Video News

“Cheek to Cheek” Special Hailed as First Concert Streamed in 4K

LG today announced that this past summer’s “Cheek to Cheek LIVE!” concert, featuring Tony Bennett and Lady Gaga, will be the first concert to be streamed in 4K/Ultra HD when it becomes available on Amazon Instant Video in October. LG is the official Ultra HD sponsor of the event.

Marking the 25th anniversary of the introduction of the world’s first digital loudspeaker, Meridian will demonstrate its Special Edition DSP Digital Active Loudspeakers at live events in Torrance, CA and Memphis, TN. The details are as follows:

Walkman NWZ-A17 Hailed as “World’s Smallest and Lightest” Hi-Res Audio Player

The iconic Walkman name will appear on what Sony is calling the “world’s smallest and lightest” high-resolution digital music player, the Walkman NWZ-A17, slated to hit store shelves in November with a suggested retail price of $300.

American cable subscribers get way more cable channels than we really want. In 2008, according to Nielsen’s Advertising & Audiences Report, U.S. households received an average of 129.3 channels and viewed 17.3 of them. In 2013, the number of channels jumped to 189.1, of which 17.5 were viewed. So the number of channels went up 46 percent, but the number viewed rose only 1 percent. Why are cable systems jamming so many channels down our throats? Their dilemma is that channels travel in packs—and a network that owns a popular channel will always insist that cable operators buy all of its channels. “However,” says the Los Angeles Times, “the rising cost of sports programming is starting to lead to louder calls that at least some content should be sold to consumers who want it and not forced on everyone.”

Atlantic Technology announced plans to introduce by the end of the year a compact Dolby Atmos-enabled speaker module that can be added to existing speakers in its line or any existing home theater setup.

With the new Dolby Atmos surround format on the immediate horizon we wondered how many Sound & Vision readers’ are using special surround processing to derive height channels in their current home theater setups. Turns out that nearly a quarter of respondents have setups with height channels—a respectable showing considering the effort involved in installing extra speakers.

Here’s the complete breakdown of answers to the question we posed: Is Your Home Theater Configured with Height Channels?