Al Griffin

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Ask S&V
The Bigger Wow: Atmos/DTS:X or 4K/HDR Video?
Al Griffin  |  Jul 25, 2016
Got a tech question for Sound & Vision? Email us at AskSandV@gmail.com

Q About five years ago, I got serious (at least by my tightly budgeted standards) about home theater and purchased a 50-inch Panasonic plasma TV, a Yamaha 7.1-channel AV receiver, and Klipsch speakers. This setup has provided me with a great in-home listening/viewing experience, but I wonder which upgrade could better take things to the next level: Atmos/DTS:X audio or 4K/HDR video? Both would require a new receiver. For audio, I could easily add Klipsch Reference Premiere Dolby Atmos elevation speakers to my current system and be ready for Atmos/DTS:X. That option would be quite a bit cheaper than buying a new receiver plus a 60-inch or larger high dynamic range (HDR)-capable 4K TV. Which upgrade do you think would provide the biggest wow factor?—Adam Head / via email

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CES 2014
The Business of Interactive TV
Al Griffin  |  Jan 07, 2014
Despite the word “Consumer” in its title, the Consumer Electronic Show is basically a B2B event: It’s for companies to introduce products, technologies, and concepts to other companies with the goal of getting down to bizness and making money. That’s one reason why there are hundreds of conference sessions and press events related to stuff other than huge TVs, headphones, and other gadgets.
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Wide Angle
The Day S+V Met MCA
Al Griffin  |  May 04, 2012

I met Adam Yauch back in 2000 when he and bandmate Mike D. spent an afternoon hanging out at the old Sound+Vision testing facility in NYC.

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Editor's Eye
The Evolution of Bass
Al Griffin  |  Jun 15, 2022
In recent months we experienced the happy convergence of having three formidable THX Certified subwoofers in house for testing, including M&K’s beastly X15+, all of which tied in perfectly with technical editor Thomas J. Norton’s overview of the latest version of Audyssey’s room EQ processing, MultEQ-X
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Other Tech
The Future of Flat-Panel TVs
Al Griffin  |  Sep 03, 2006

After it was introduced in the middle of the last century, the TV set remained basically unchanged for decades.

While there were minor design variations along the way, it wasn't until flat-panel plasma and LCD sets arrived that manufacturers finally gave us a new take on the tired old tube.

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Blu-ray Movie ReviewsUltra HD Blu-ray Movie Reviews
The Green Knight
Al Griffin  |  Dec 10, 2021
Picture
Sound
Extras
The Green Knight, director David Lowery's film adaptation of Sir Gawain and the Green Knight, an anonymous 14th century poem, is a fantastical, visually intoxicating take on Arthurian legend. Following a night of drinking and carousing at the local brothel, carefree young Gawain of Camelot (Dev Patel) is summoned on Christmas morning to the Round Table, where he is invited to sit beside his uncle, the king. Gawain's feeling of unworthiness is only deepened by Arthur's graciousness, and by his request for the young man to share a story of himself so they may know each other better.
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Other Tech
The HDTV Picture Show
Al Griffin  |  Jun 02, 2007

Chances are you bought your HDTV with one purpose in mind: to watch movies, sports, or the many network and cable TV series like Lost and The Sopranos that look stunningly good in a widescreen, high-definition format.

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Other Tech
The High-Definition DVD Dance
Al Griffin  |  Jan 07, 2006

The Pioneer Elite BDP-HD1 Blu-ray player is due in May at a price of $1,800

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CES 2019Editor's Eye
The Inescapable Temptations of CES
Al Griffin  |  Jan 07, 2019
Last year — oh, around the same time that I’m sitting down to write this — I penned an editorial lamenting changes to the Consumer Electronics Show in Las Vegas that made it inhospitable to writers covering the high-end audio and home theater categories. The gist of my article was that for us CES had become mostly irrelevant, and that I would sit the 2018 show out and quite possibly future ones as well.
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HDTV Buying TipsHDTV Tech
The New TV Tech: What You Need to Know
Al Griffin  |  Dec 22, 2015
TV shopping has become vastly more complicated over the past decade. Buyer confusion used to revolve around issues of 720p versus 1080p, LCD versus plasma, edge-lit versus full-array, 3D or not 3D, and “What’s a smart TV?” All manageable problems, in retrospect.
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