It’s not every show that I see a truly unique new display category emerge, but Seura’s displays are just that. Damned difficult to photograph, but fascinating. Building flat panel displays into pretty looking art and picture frames is one thing, and Seura does that too. But Seura is building flat panels seamlessly into mirrors, kitchens, bathrooms and even showers. Shown here is the waterproof Hydra and its color matching options. I tried to get a shot of one of the mirror displays, but the reflections were out of hand. You have to see it to believe it. Utterly unique. I can’t wait to shower with Monday Night Football!
Up on stage during Sony's gala press conference Wednesday night was a dark, rectangular column. The front projectors and Blu-ray players got the bulk of the run during the presentation, but the HES-V1000 Home ENtertainment Server is no less fascinating.
Aperion Audio also showed a nifty and thrifty small system called the 422 S8, which retails for $799. It includes four 422-LR satellites, a 422-C center channel, and, you guessed it, an S8 powered sub.
If you build them (and sell them really cheap), will they come? Toshiba is sure as hell hoping so. And no, I"m not talking about consumers. We know that around 100,00 of them will show up. I'm talking about the studios.
Here's a freebie. I love this industry, and I love HDTV in spite of the format war. But this is too funny to not pass along to as many people as possible. Check out this <A HREF="http://www.wired.com/news/columns/0,72768-0.html?tw=wn_index_11">HDTV FAQ</A>, and have a good laugh. As an industry, we probably deserve this.
The Coen Brothers’ Inside Llewyn Davis is a fascinating but bleak amalgam of people, places, and events at the dawn of the folk music scene in 1961 Greenwich Village, viewed through a visual pastiche inspired by the album cover for The Freewheelin’ Bob Dylan and a titular character who channels early folk institution Dave Van Ronk (in look and vocation, not temperament). While outrageously funny at times, with superbly chosen music exuberantly performed, this isn’t a farcical romp through the ’60s; it’s a black comedy about the artist versus the entertainment business that’s thematically reminiscent of the Coens’ polarizing Barton Fink.
Month in and month out I receive letters from readers about pricing on Blu-ray, and noting that the public won’t buy in until Blu-ray is cheaper. What the public at large will or won’t buy into isn’t quite the same thing as what Home Theater readers will buy and for how much. For you, as a Home Theater reader, how cheap is cheap enough? Cheaper than an iPhone or an iPod? Walking through Costco the other day I saw every day pricing on players that was well below $299, and I’m sure we’ll see cheaper prices around the holidays. But realistically, is Blu-ray cheap enough to make it down your chimney this year? Was there ever a case to make that Blu-ray was genuinely “expensive” to begin with?