Wide Angle

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Wide Angle
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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Wide Angle
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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Wide Angle
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 2019Wide Angle
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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Editor's EyeWide Angle
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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Wide Angle
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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Wide AngleAudio Video News
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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Wide Angle
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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Wide Angle
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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Director's IntentWide AngleSpecial Features
The Sound of Speed: MotoGP Racing and Audio-Technica Microphones
Mark Henninger  |  Jul 19, 2023  | 
The electrifying hum of motorcycles, the animated chatter from the paddock, the anticipatory hush in the pit lanes, and the unmistakable roars from the crowd - these are the exhilarating sounds of the Red Bull Grand Prix of the Americas MotoGP™ race. Sounds that are meticulously captured and delivered to racing fans worldwide, live and on-demand. And the real star behind the scenes? Audio-Technica microphones.
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Wide Angle
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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Wide Angle
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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Honey's Not Dead: The Jesus and Mary Chain Live
Al Griffin  |  Aug 06, 2012  | 

It's summertime, and that means outdoor concerts. Here in the far other end of New York state, we typically get to lay out our blankets and take in a predictable bunch of touring acts from the '70s and '80s. Peter Frampton? Check. Huey Lewis and the News? Check. Yes? Yes. The Jesus and Mary Chain. Um, did you say "The Jesus And Mary Chain?"

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Wide Angle
Behind the Screen: PSB at the NRC
Al Griffin  |  May 24, 2012  | 

Ever wonder why there are so many great Canadian speaker companies? Here’s one reason: government intervention. Canada’s government-sponsored National Research Council, which, among other things, facilitates research in the fields of speaker measurement, signal processing, and noise control, has proven to be a breeding ground for speaker design.

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