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My review of Valerian on 4K Blu-ray is up at Sound & Vision. TL;DR version: the movie is terrible, but the disc is great, and my review covers the differences in various formats.
Valerian review – and HDR10 vs Dolby Vision Read MoreMy long tradition of getting behind with work covering new product launches ahead of the holiday season — and therefore not finishing my holiday gift guide until the last possible moment — continues. The guide is up over at techpinions.com.
Avi’s Last Minute Holiday Gift Guide 2013 Read MoreThe problem with 3DTV – aside from the glasses and the nausea and the total lack of content – is that you need to buy an entirely new equipment chain. It is not enough to replace your TV with a 3D capable set, you will also need a 3D-capable Blu-ray player, and – much to the delight of Monster Cable – you may actually need to upgrade your HDMI cables to handle the increased signal bandwidth. The typical HDMI connection in most devices today is 1.3b, but you'll need to upgrade to HDMI 1.4a for 3D. This has implications for audio …
New Onkyo Receivers Come with HDMI 1.4 and Buyer’s Remorse Read MoreOn Tuesday, I, along with a handful of tech journalists, was invited to attend a briefing by Panasonic in New York to show off their latest line of plasma televisions. The emphasis was on the technical capabilities of Panasonic's plasma technology relative to the latest LCD with LED backlighting. Some things I learned: Never have a Japanese engineer who doesn't speak fluent English give a marketing presentation to journalists. Yes, there was a lot of technical detail included, but the fundamental reason Panasonic was doing the briefing was to spin the technical detail, otherwise they would have just provided a …
Lessons From Panasonic’s Plasma Day Read MoreI'm in charge of Consumer Devices at Current Analysis, which is actually composed of two separate groups: Mobile Devices and Digital Home. I've been in charge of the devices portion of our Digital Home service since the beginning of this year, and while I intend to continue posting here about home theater, I thought I'd plug noteworthy Digital Home reports on this blog as well. This year's E3 (the electronic gaming show) crossed over both of my coverage areas. I stayed home this year – I'm on the road a lot as it is – but Bruce McGregor, our Senior …
E3 Wrap-Up Read MoreHere's one from the mailbag: Avi, We want to buy a 37" LCD TV. Is there a significant difference between 720P and 1080P? Yes, there is a significant difference between 720p and 1080p – though it depends on what you’re watching on it, and even then you may not be able to see the difference. The bottom line is that you can almost always get away with buying a 720p set and saving the money, but nobody seems to believe this answer, so here’s a slightly more involved one: First, two quick definitions: 1. the “p” in 1080P …
Home Theater Basics: 720p vs. 1080p, Analog/Digital Switchover Read More