Thomas J. Norton

After a long, hot summer (in more ways than one!), the audio and A/V show season recently kicked off with the annual CEDIA Expo. CEDIA stands for the Custom Electronics Design and Installation Association, and as the name implies, it caters to attendees in the business of installing custom home theaters and media rooms. As such it also offers a wide range of training sessions to supplement its trade show exhibits.

In recent years CEDIA has moved beyond traditional A/V gear and into peripheral products such as home automation, security, and home health assistance — areas a custom install company might find useful in expanding its services. But traditional audio and video are still CEDIA's core attractions, and in showcasing both current and new products it draws a huge contingent from the A/V press.

A few blogs ago I commented on the 1954 movie, The Egyptian. In the '50s, the introduction of CinemaScope inspired, or rather demanded, epic tales in a genre often referred to as Swords and Sandals. Many of them, but not all, were set in the ancient world, typically Egypt or Rome. Here we look at a few more of those classics.

PRICE $7,000

AT A GLANCE
Plus
Deep blacks
Exceptional resolution
Dynamic tone mapping
Minus
So-so remote control
Dense owner's manual

THE VERDICT
With its exceptional overall performance, JVC's DLA-RS1100 projector defines the law of diminishing returns where increasingly subtle improvements command dramatically higher prices.

True native 4K projectors have only been widely available — and reasonably affordable — for the past few years. Prior to that, most home projectors used a process called "pixel shifting" to produce 4K images: A 2K imaging device first presents half of the pixels in each 4K frame, shifts the image by less than the distance of a single pixel, and then displays the other half of the pixels. All of the pixels in the 4K source appear on screen — just not at the same time. The shift takes place so rapidly that it is undetectable to the human eye.

PRICE $8,550

AT A GLANCE
Plus
Excellent A/V performance
Processes up to 16 channels
HDMI 2.1 connections support 4K/120, 8K/60 video pass-through
Minus
Expensive
Complex Dirac Live setup
Onboard amplification limited to seven channels
Glitchy operation

THE VERDICT
The JBL SDR-38 is expensive, but offers exceptional A/V performance. The effects of its Dirac Live room EQ are rewarding, though the setup process can be frustratingly complex.

Up until a few years ago, the heart of a JBL Synthesis installation was the brand's Synthesis SDP-75—basically a rebadged Trinnov Altitude surround preamp-processor. But in 2017, JBL's parent company Harman International bought British audio manufacturer Arcam, and the lights went on. Could they take the already well-regarded Arcam line of AVRs and A/V processors, alter their cosmetics, maybe add a bit of Synthesis secret sauce, and rebadge them as JBL Synthesis models at prices dramatically lower than the nosebleed-level Trinnov?