Al Griffin

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CEDIA 2016
B&O’s New TVs Offer Ultra HD Resolution, Wood
Al Griffin  |  Sep 16, 2016  |  0 comments
The BeoVision 14, a new Series of Ultra HDTVs unveiled by Danish manufacturer Bang & Olufsen today at its CEDIA press event, up the ante on the aesthetics front by providing an element not often seen in modern TV design: wood.
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B&W XT Series Home Theater Speaker System
Al Griffin  |  May 03, 2006  |  0 comments
What We Think
A gorgeous system that delivers great sound - but you'll pay for the pleasure.
When TVs made the transition from bulky, oversize boxes to a slimmer, wall-friendl
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Editor's Eye
Back to Basics
Al Griffin  |  Jun 10, 2021  |  0 comments
Yes, it had to be done. Consider it a form of spring cleaning. The “it” is in this case is a streaming service — HBO Max to be specific — that I decided to drop. My video streaming plate had become over-filled during the pandemic as I spent much of my free time at home, and now that I was vaxxed up and ready to re-engage (as much as possible) with the world, I made the decision to dump at least one service. It’s not that I wanted to lose it — in the final days of my active subscription, I of course happened upon a new original series, Mare of Easttown, that was right up my alley — but something had to give, and it was going to be HBO Max.
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Ask S&V
Balanced vs. Unbalanced Cables
Al Griffin  |  Nov 06, 2013  |  3 comments
Got a tech question for Sound & Vision? Email us at AskSandV@gmail.com.

Q I have a legacy AV receiver (Integra DTR-7) and am considering replacing it with a separate preamp/processor and amplifier. I’ve noticed that some preamps only have RCA outputs, while other, more expensive preamps also have balanced XLR outputs. Is there a noticeable difference in the sound quality when using balanced XLR cables versus unbalanced cables? The length of the cables needed to connect the two units would only be 1 meter. —Ed Mendelson / via e-mail

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CES 2014
Bang & Olufsen Makes Wireless Audio Essential
Al Griffin  |  Jan 09, 2014  |  0 comments
Bang & Olufsen’s CES press event was held in a comfortable, stylishly decorated room that drove home the company’s message of merging good sound with good design.
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Other Tech
Battle of the Sub-$300 Blu-ray Players
Al Griffin  |  Jul 30, 2009  |  0 comments

When the Blu-ray Disc format was first announced, a feature that industry execs liked to pimp in their PowerPoint presentations was BD-Live. With your player plugged into a home network, we were told, a BD-Live-enabled disc could access all manner of wonders by way of the Internet -things like games and extra scenes and commentaries not included on the original disc.

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Audio Video News
Begin at the Beginning
Al Griffin  |  May 28, 2018  |  Published: May 27, 2018  |  14 comments
Who are you?

I’m Al Griffin, the new editor of Sound & Vision magazine. While readers might know my name from the Ask S&V column and from product reviews, my involvement with the magazine actually spans back to its formation. Let’s begin at the beginning.

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CEDIA 2016
Behind the Scenes With Barco's 4K Laser Projector
Al Griffin  |  Sep 16, 2016  |  0 comments
Thor, as we all know, is the hammer-wielding god from Norse mythology. Thor is also the name of Barco’s Residential’s flagship 4K projector, a refrigerator-size 4K DLP model that sells for nearly $400,000. Why would anyone pay that much for a video projector? Maybe you want the image in your home theater to not only match, but exceed the quality of your local cinema, even those RPX and ETX ones they charge a premium ticket price for.
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Wide Angle
Behind the Screen: PSB at the NRC
Al Griffin  |  May 24, 2012  |  0 comments

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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Projector Reviews
BenQ Cineprime HT3550 4K DLP Projector
Al Griffin  |  Jan 15, 2020  |  4 comments

Performance
Features
Ergonomics
Value
PRICE $1,499

AT A GLANCE
Plus
Extended color
Good brightness
Great value
Minus
Contrast could be better
Difficult to access HDR adjustment

THE VERDICT
BenQ's budget 4K DLP projector delivers solid overall video performance at a very affordable price.

[Editor's note: BenQ raised the price of the HT3550 to $1,699 after this review was originally written. According to the company, the price increase is due to "tariffs."]

As you might expect, low-cost projectors are much more common than premium models. Survey the market, and you'll find loads of options in the under-$3,000 range, while projectors priced above $10,000 are rare birds, indeed. Even so, affordable models are by no means basic: a look at the under-$1,500 range will turn up plenty of projectors with features such as 4K and HDR10 support—BenQ's CinePrime $1,499 HT3550, for example.

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