Power to the People I'm buying a new HDTV for my girlfriend for Christmas, but her neighborhood has more then a few power outages a year. What kind of protection do you recommend?
Kevin Wines, Image Technology Director for THX, talks about the history of THX and its commitment to preserving the content creators' artistic intent, what's involved in THX certification of 2D and 3D displays, the variability of measurements in THX mode, 3D technology at home and in the commercial cinema, how to optimize the 3D experience at home, THX Optimizer on discs and in set-top boxes, and answers to chat-room questions.
When Steve Guttenberg, occasional Stereophile contributor and author of the excellent Audiophiliac blog on cnet.com, told me about the LCD-2 headphones from Las Vegas-based Audeze, I was intrigued. Could these cans rival the incredible Stax SR-007 MKII I reviewed last August?
Sony, Imax, and the Discovery Channel have announced new 3D programming for 2011, with three new series, two specials, and the broadcast debut of Open Season in 3D, the first feature-length animated movie from Sony Pictures Animation. The specials include Imax's Space Station narrated by Tom Cruise and a 3D episode of Discovery's Ghost Lab.
Last May, I profiled the new M-Class Blu-ray movie server from Kaleidescape, which lets you rip Blu-rays to a server's hard disk and stream their high-def content to any M-Class player connected to your home's Ethernet network. There was only one problemthe physical disc had to be inserted in an M500 player in order to satisfy Blu-ray's copy-protection requirements, which defeats the purpose of a movie server. Today, the company announces a solution to that problemthe Modular Disc Vault.
I'm pleased and proud to announce that Home Theater Geeks is among iTunes' "Best of 2010" podcasts. It shares this honor with 12 other shows produced by our friends at TWiT, which garnered more entries on the list than any other networkNPR has the next highest number with eight.
If you're planning to go out and see The Chronicles of Narnia: The Voyage of the Dawn Treader or Gulliver's Travels, which open in theaters this weekend, you might want to stop by a Blu-ray/DVD retailer on your way and pick up one or more select titles from MGM and Fox. In the packaging, you will find a coupon for up to $10 (Blu-ray) or $7.50 (DVD) of Hollywood Movie Money toward a ticket for either flick. Just look for titles with one of the stickers depicted above.
Home theater using Force One by Sphere Custom Design, South Africa. Photo courtesy of Christaan Beukes.
Last April, I profiled the magnificent Force One 3-chip DLP projector from French maker Cineversum. Now, just in time for the holidays, the company has announced a new model, the Force Two, and 3D capabilities for both.
For those who think 3D on a flat screen is bogus, how about this? Swiss university École Polytechnique Fédérale de Lausanne (EPFL) is working on a camera that captures images in all directions at oncewell, to be precise, all directions within a hemispherical patternand processes the resulting data to calculate the distance from the camera to each object in its visual field.
Update: This story now includes video of the inventor explaining the technology!
Whither 4K? When I got my first real job, I decided to buy a big TV, so I got a 65-inch Mitsubishi rear- projection TV that accepts 1080i signals. As the years have passed, 1080p showed up as well as HDMI and other features. I started looking around and decided I wanted a Pioneer Kuro, but then Pioneer stopped making them. From everything I've read, Panasonic plasmas can't match the Kuro in picture quality, and I couldn't care less about 3D.
So, here are my questions. Should I wait for 4K to become mainstream? Do you know when such TV sets might become available? Do you have any idea what the 2011 line of Panasonics will be?