Scott Wilkinson

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Passive vs. Active 3D
Scott Wilkinson  |  Jun 03, 2011
My fiance and I will be buying a house soon, and once we're moved in and settled, we are going to buy a new HDTV. Unlike Leo Laporte, we are BIG fans of 3DTV. I have been following 3D and the various incarnations of 3DTV over the years. Now that real 3DTV is here, we can't wait!

The tough part will be deciding between the active-shutter system and the passive-polarized system. I have been looking at active systems for over a year, and I saw my first passive system at Best Buy about a month ago. It was quite impressive.

Is there any risk of a format war between the passive and active systems? Does all 3D programming work on both active and passive systems?

Frank Ireland

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CEDIA 2010
Pathos Adrenalin Monoblock Power Amp
Scott Wilkinson  |  Sep 25, 2010
At $50,000/pair, the Adrenalin monoblock from Pathos is a serious investment. But for all that bread, you get 180W of pure class-A power with a tube input stage and MOSFET output stage. And it looks wicked cool, too!
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The Big Picture
Pawn Stars
Scott Wilkinson  |  Apr 15, 2011
On my way out of Vegas, I had to stop by the Gold & Silver Pawn Shop where the History Channel series Pawn Stars is shot. Unfortunately, Rick, Old Man, Big Hoss, and Chumlee weren't there at the time, but it was cool to be in the store seen on the show, which is one of my favorites these days. Awesome!
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PCM or Bitstream from Blu-ray Player
Scott Wilkinson  |  Feb 03, 2012
Which is best, PCM or bitstream from a Blu-ray player to the A/V receiver? I have reviewed many posts on various forums, but I have not found a definitive answer. I have an Onkyo TX-SR608 AVR and an LG Blu-ray player capable of decoding DTS-HD Master Audio and Dolby TrueHD lossless audio. I view Blu-ray discs and regular DVDs about 50/50; certainly Blu-ray when available. Should I set the player to output PCM or bitstream? Why one over the other? Do I need to tell the AVR which stream is incoming?

James

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Ask S&V
PCM vs. Bitstream
Scott Wilkinson  |  Aug 03, 2012
Which is best, sending PCM or bitstream from the player to the A/V receiver? I have reviewed many posts in the A/V forums and other areas that don't seem to give a definitive answer. I have an Onkyo TX-SR608 AVR and an LG Blu-ray player capable of decoding DTS and Dolby lossless audio. I view Blu-ray and DVD discs about 50/50; certainly Blu-ray when available. Should I set the Blu-ray player to output PCM or bitstream? And why the final choice? Do I need to tell the AVR which stream to expect?

James

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Premiere Design
Pearls of Great Price
Scott Wilkinson  |  Jul 17, 2009

For the last 30 years, Ken Ishiwata has served as European Brand Director for <A href="http://www.marantz.com">Marantz</A> while designing some of the company's best high-end audio products. To celebrate this incredible legacy, Marantz has announced two limited-edition components designed by Ishiwata and dubbed the <A href="http://www.marantz.eu/kipearl/">KI Pearls</A>.

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The Big Picture
Perfect Is as Perfect Does
Scott Wilkinson  |  Mar 25, 2009

<I>A reader posed the question whether he should buy a Pioneer Kuro now that they have been greatly discounted. I want the best too, but this raises another question. Do the new Panasonic G10, V10, or Z1 plasma TVs surpass the Pioneers' picture performance, and at what price? The dilemma is this&#151;if one waits too long and the Panasonics disappoint, the Pioneers may be sold out forever.

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Philips DVDR985 DVD recorder
Scott Wilkinson  |  Nov 16, 2002

Ever since DVD first appeared five years ago, I've longed for the ability to record video material to disc rather than VHS tape. Well, as the old saying goes, "Be careful what you wish for; you just might get it." Not only is it now possible to record onto a DVD disc, there are no fewer than five formats available! Among these are DVD+R (write-once) and DVD+RW (rewritable), both created by Philips.

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Premiere Design
Phoenix Rising
Scott Wilkinson  |  May 21, 2009

When I first heard about the BeoVision 4-103 from Danish design king <A href="http://www.bang-olufsen.com">Bang & Olufsen</A>, I thought I knew the story&#151;a 103-inch 1080p plasma, undoubtedly sourced from Panasonic, with B&O's unique stylistic treatment. That's all true, but there's much more to it, as I discovered at a recent press demo held at the Aston Martin dealership in Beverly Hills, California.

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Physical Media vs. Online Distribution
Scott Wilkinson  |  Feb 15, 2012
I've been seeing announcements from the pop-music industry about the discontinuation of physical media in favor of online content. What will this mean for home theater, considering the increasing bitrates for video and 7- and 11-channel audio? If we are moving toward 4K, won't we need physical media for a long time to come?

Michael Johnston

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