Archive for the ‘Home Theater’ Category

My Week of Audio: Part 4 – SRS Labs Multi-Dimensional Audio

My Week of Audio: Part 4 – SRS Labs Multi-Dimensional Audio

My trip to California last week had already brought me to both Dolby and DTS to experience new home theater product demos. Knowing that I’d be in L.A., however briefly, my friend (and occasional Roundtable contributor) Chris from Big Picture Big Sound clued me in to the existence a third audio-themed conference that I might want to make time for. After some last-minute schedule adjusting, I was able to squeeze in a presentation for SRS Labs’ new Multi-Directional Audio (or “MDA”) format.
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My Week of Audio: Part 3 – DTS Tour

My Week of Audio: Part 3 – DTS Tour

After spending two days in San Francisco witnessing the latest products that Dolby Labs wanted to showcase, I next jetted off to the Los Angeles area to visit Dolby’s biggest competitor: DTS, Inc. I’ll be honest that I had no idea what to expect when I walked into the company’s headquarters in Calabasas. My arrival was not scheduled around a specific event or product introduction, but was rather more of a general meet-and-greet and facility tour. Nonetheless, the folks at DTS had some interesting stuff to show me, including one product prototype that really blew me away. I’m not kidding; when this thing is ready, it may be a game-changer in home theater audio. I’ve never experienced anything like it.
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My Week of Audio: Part 2 – Dolby Atmos

My Week of Audio: Part 2 – Dolby Atmos

As part of this year’s Fidelity Forum conference, Dolby Labs invited a group of home theater writers to the company’s headquarters in San Francisco for a tour of the facility and a look at some of its latest and greatest tech. The highlights of this two-day event were demonstrations of two new products. As I described in yesterday’s post, I wasn’t entirely sold on the need for 96k upsampling. However, the unveiling of the new Dolby Atmos theatrical sound format is considerably more exciting and easier to appreciate.
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My Week of Audio: Part 1 – Dolby 96k Upsampling Explained

My Week of Audio: Part 1 – Dolby 96k Upsampling Explained

While last week wound up being a lot busier around here in The Bonus View than I initially expected (thanks to our staff of regular bloggers and special guests), I was absent for much of the week to attend not one, but three audio-themed conferences. As someone who has always considered himself a videophile much more so than an audiophile, I found this very instructive and educational. My first stop was a two-day visit to Dolby Labs in San Francisco, where I attended a tour and experienced some very interesting product demos from the company. Our site’s Mike Palmer was also present and will write up more coverage of the event for the HDD front page. What I wanted to do here is to focus on the technical side of the new products that Dolby unveiled, and explain what they are and why you should care. The first is a new process that the company calls “Advanced 96k Upsampling.” Sounds intimidating, doesn’t it?
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Hitchcock Blogathon: Hitch’s Movie Posters

Hitchcock Blogathon: Hitch’s Movie Posters

As you all know, I’m a huge movie poster fan. I’m also a huge Alfred Hitchcock fan. So, when the Hitchcock Blogathon was announced, I just had to get in on it with a special Hitchcock-themed edition of Posterizing.
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Mid-Week Poll: Voice and Gesture-Controlled TVs

Mid-Week Poll: Voice and Gesture-Controlled TVs

With the success of the Wii and Kinect videogame systems, several TV manufacturers have worked to revolutionize the way we interact with our televisions by adding gesture or voice controls in place of the traditional remote control. Are these worthwhile innovations, or useless gimmicks? Tell us what you think in our poll.
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Posterizing: All ‘Avengers’ All the Time

Posterizing: All ‘Avengers’ All the Time

Since ‘The Avengers’ hits theaters this week, I’d like to dedicate this whole Posterizing article to all the posters for what’s expected to be one of this summer’s biggest blockbusters.
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Mid-Week Poll: What Brand Is Your Home Theater TV/Display?

Mid-Week Poll: What Brand Is Your Home Theater TV/Display?

In recent polls, we’ve asked you how large your home theater screen is and how old your TV or display is. This week, let’s take a look at what brand names you favor.
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Lumagen’s Latest Feature – Convert Any 3D Format to Any Other

Lumagen’s Latest Feature – Convert Any 3D Format to Any Other

Some time back, I detailed the installation of a Lumagen Radiance video processor into my home theater system. Despite a difficult learning curve regarding its complicated set-up (which I still find a little frustrating, to be honest), the Radiance has been an extremely powerful and useful device, and I’ve been very pleased with the purchase. One of the great advantages of Lumagen over its competitors is the company’s dedicated support for its products. Lumagen constantly updates the Radiance with firmware enhancements based on user feedback. One recent upgrade added a new feature that I find particularly interesting: the ability to convert a 3D picture from one 3D video format to another.
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Posterizing: ‘Total’ Recalling

Posterizing: ‘Total’ Recalling

In today’s edition of Posterizing, we take a look at some truly unique poster designs and wonder if the generic artwork on the ‘Total Recall’ poster is a bad omen for the movie.
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