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FAST Times: The Rise of Free Ad-Supported Television
Mark Henninger  |  Apr 15, 2025
Free, ad-supported television (FAST) services began to take root in the early-to-mid 2010s, when a handful of pioneering platforms set out to recreate the linear TV experience in a streaming environment. Pluto TV was one of the first to offer curated, round-the-clock channels, initially focusing on reruns and older content but quickly finding an audience that appreciated the familiarity of a “live” feed.
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Best TV of 2024 for Picture Quality Purists? Quantum Dot OLED
Mark Henninger  |  Dec 26, 2024
When shopping for a top-tier TV, picture quality is the big deal. You want enough brightness to make HDR content pop, plus deep blacks and accurate colors—otherwise, it’s just not going to feel like the cinematic experience you’re paying for. Right now, Quantum Dot OLED (QD-OLED) technology leads the pack on those fronts. Let’s talk about what makes QD-OLED so compelling.
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The Worst Thing I Watched This Year: Jake Paul vs. Mike Tyson
Mark Henninger  |  Nov 17, 2024
I signed up for Netflix for the first time in a year just to catch the Jake Paul vs. Mike Tyson boxing match. Having previously canceled my subscription due to lack of use, I shelled out $23 for the top-tier plan that includes 4K streaming. I had high hopes for a big, entertaining event—and, well, hopes were all I got.
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Logos and HDR10 Broadcasts: An Open Letter to the TV Networks
Michael Hamilton  |  Sep 29, 2024
As with many communities across the USA, the Tampa Bay area has implemented ATSC 3.0 broadcasting, which has been in service for over a year. Well, of sorts…
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Epson Announces 3 Advanced Laser Projectors
Bob Ankosko  |  Aug 20, 2024
Epson today announced a new line of 4K 3LCD laser projectors that uses the company’s “most advanced technologies to date” to boost brightness.
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Sonus Faber Design Lab and Factory Tour
Al Griffin  |  Oct 11, 2021
Veneto, a region in the North of Italy—the easternmost top of the boot—is most famous for its canal-lined capital city of Venice, but it’s also home base to Sonus faber, a speaker manufacturer known for unique, elegant designs that regularly incorporate natural materials such as wood, leather, and marble.
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CEDIA 2019: Demos to Die For
Al Griffin  |  Sep 24, 2019
Following an overriding trend that started many years back, the annual Custom Electronics Design & Installation Association (CEDIA) expo, held this year at the Denver Convention Center, showcased an abundance of home automation technologies — everything from networked, voice-controlled window shades and lighting to home security systems. The show even had “wellness rooms” that seek to bring the outdoor experience indoors via circadian lighting, purified air, and ambient nature sounds.
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Magnepan’s Flagship Loudspeaker Hits the Road
Al Griffin  |  Jul 30, 2019
Road trips are a common enough activity in the U.S., but most, if not all, drivers leave their loudspeakers behind. Not Wendell Diller. The marketing mind behind Magnepan hit the road earlier this year with the company’s 30.7 Magneplanar loudspeaker, a flagship model, in tow. The plan? To visit every one of the company’s U.S. dealers and demo the new $30,000/pair loudspeaker.
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Download 8K/HDR Video From Space
Al Griffin  |  Feb 01, 2019
Need something to watch on that new 8K TV? (You have one of those, of course, don’t you?) Florian Friedrich, a developer who creates HDR mastering software and who has worked with video expert Joe Kane to develop UHDTV test content, has created a reformatted 8K version of the 8K footage NASA recently made available for download on its website.

It apparently was necessary for Friedrich to reformat the original NASA 8K footage because it wouldn’t play on the Samsung 8K TV that he initially tried it with. Why not? According to Friedrich, “The whole encoding was not optimized for playback with CE-devices: wrong video levels, incompatible MPEG profile, critical bitrate.”

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IFA 2018: Up Close with LG’s 8K OLED TV
Al Griffin  |  Sep 01, 2018
Not to be outdone by Samsung, LG had its own 8K TV to show at IFA 2018, this one an 88-inch OLED model.
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Wide AngleAudio Video News
IFA 2018: Up Close with Samsung’s 8K TV
Al Griffin  |  Aug 31, 2018
The IFA show happening right now in Berlin, Germany is as much about home appliances as A/V electronics — I’ve never seen so many refrigerators in one place in my life. Still, there are interesting products to report on, particularly the new 8K TVs from Samsung and LG.
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The Sweet Sound of 78s
Al Griffin  |  Jun 11, 2018
For me, a thrill that comes with the arrival of spring and summer months is jumping in my car and traveling in pursuit of music. Two months back, I saluted the warm weather, loaded up my Impreza, and drove a few hundred miles south to Takoma Park, Maryland to attend The Thousand Incarnations of the Rose, A Festival of American Primitive Guitar.
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Blu-ray Review: Spider-Man (Mastered in 4K version)
Al Griffin  |  May 29, 2013

The 2002 film version of Spider-Man was a success on many levels, but most of its magic can be attributed to director Sam Raimi (he of Evil Dead fame), who put his distinctive visual stamp on the production. Spider-Man is also perfectly cast, with Tobey Maguire playing a wide-eyed Peter Parker, Kirsten Dunst as Mary Jane, and Willem Dafoe chewing up the screen as Spider-Man nemesis Green Goblin.

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Streaming Deathmatch: Spotify Premium vs. MOG
Al Griffin  |  Jul 19, 2011

Sometimes the mere fact of something being inaccessible can enhance its value — a lot. Take Spotify, for example. For years we’ve wondered when music labels would finally allow the European online music service to make its supposed 15 million-track library available here. That day has finally arrived.

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Smart TV, Evolved
Al Griffin  |  Jan 02, 2013

Samsung is about to make good on a promise to make Smart TVs even smarter.

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