Audio Video News

Samsung may use LG LCD panels in future TV models, reports the Korea Herald. Samsung has been seeking a new supplier to replace Sharp, which bowed out after being acquired by Foxconn...

Sony’s Android smart TVs will run Comcast’s Xfinity TV Partner app in 2018. Watch live, on demand, and cloud DVR material via the X1 program guide...

Verizon will stream the Super Bowl under a recent deal with the NFL that brings games to Verizon-owned websites and apps, including Yahoo, Yahoo Sports, and go90. The Yahoo Sports app is available in both Android and iOS. Of course, the game is also available for streaming via the NFL app…

Vizio’s SmartCast TV platform now has a working NBC app. Just the thing to catch that SNL skit they’re talking about at the water cooler...

Hulu’s new Live TV service and user interface are now running on the open-source Tizen OS, used in Samsung’s 2017 smart TVs and other products, plus Android, iOS, fourth-gen Apple TV, Amazon Fire TV, Nintendo Switch, Roku, and Xbox One. Samsung TV owners can upgrade service to include enhanced cloud DVR...

HDR10+ is now streaming from Amazon Prime Video on Samsung premium smart TV models. This is the streaming debut of Samsung’s HDR10+ high dynamic range format, which like Dolby Vision uses metadata that can vary from scene to scene or frame to frame in contrast (no pun intended) to the standard HDR10 format, which uses the same static metadata throughout the program...

Netflix may expand HDR support someday, an executive told TechRadar. It already supports the widely used HDR10 high dynamic range format and is mulling over HDR10+ and Dolby Vision, though not for the near future...

Channel Master’s Stream+ combines over-the-air TV reception with support for all apps in the Google Play store except Netflix and Amazon Video. It includes two tuners, voice search, Dolby Digital (and DD Plus), Wi-Fi, Ethernet, and USB port (version 3.0, for future applications)...

HDR-enhanced TVs will grow from the current 12.2 million sets in homes to 47.9 million by 2021, says an IHS Markit forecast. However, only 23 percent of 4K/Ultra HDTVs shipping this year offer “the full HDR experience,” an analyst adds, citing the cost of backlights as an obstacle...

Chrome for Android is getting high dynamic range (HDR) support. LG, Samsung, and Sony make HDR-compatible Android smartphones...

Cable broadband is leveling off, with growth slowing by 17.2 percent this year for Comcast, and 17.9 percent for Charter/Spectrum. Telco broadband providers like AT&T and Verizon are starting to eat the cable operators’ lunch...

Comcast has added iHeartRadio to its X1 set-top boxes, offering access to traditional radio stations around the world. Search for stations with the X1 voice remote...

Verizon will launch 5G wireless broadband service in Sacramento, California and four other undisclosed markets. It has tested “pre-commercial” gigabit service in the millimeter wave spectrum in 11 markets...

Verizon added Netflix to some of its FiOS TV set-top boxes. Comcast and the Dish Network previously have done the same...

BluOS is streaming Amazon Music on Bluesound and NAD audio products. You’ll need the latest software update for BluOS devices (2.14.2) and the latest BluOS app (2.14.0 or higher)...

DirecTV Now passed the one million subscriber mark. The AT&T-owned streamer plans to roll out cloud DVR, 4K/Ultra HD (UHD) support, more video-on-demand (VOD) titles, individual profiles, and a new user interface...

Comcast pulled remote DVR scheduling from its Stream app after the International Trade Commission ruled that the feature violated two TiVo patents. You can still use Stream to download and play content...

Voxx International, owner of Klipsch, has expanded its membership in the Wireless Speaker and Audio Association (WiSA) to include its Acoustic Research, Energy, Jamo, Heco, Magnat, and RCA brands. That may mean more WiSA-compliant wireless products are on the way...

Pay-TV operators will lose 26 percent of their subscribers by 2030, forecasts the Diffusion Group. Household penetration will drop from 85 percent to 79 percent of U.S. homes...

A new board for NAD’s modular two-channel products adds three HDMI-ins and one out. The MDC HDM-2 supports 4K/UHD including HDR10, 24/192 audio resolution, and sells for $299...

Voice search is used by only half of those who have access to it, says a TiVo study. Of those using it, 46.5 percent do so with satellite TV, 28.7 percent with Amazon Fire TV, 19.6 percent with Apple TV, and 17.2 percent with a game console...

Cinemark’s Movie Club gives you one 2D film ticket per month at any of 350 theaters for $8.99/month. You can also bring a friend at that price, enjoy a 20 percent discount on snacks, and roll over unused tickets to the following month...

Key Digital has added Sonos to the streamlined integration products in its Compass Control Pro program. Bidirectional drivers afford control of EQ, audio, playback, queue and browsing along with now-playing info...