LATEST ADDITIONS

A/V Veteran
Big TV or Projector?
Thomas J. Norton  |  Aug 17, 2021
In case you haven't noticed, big screen TVs are becoming almost affordable. And by big screen, I mean BIG, as in over 80-inches diagonal. I was browsing in Sam's Club the other day where rows of TVs in that size were on sale. If an 85-inch Vizio P-Series Quantum X at $2,900 isn't surprising enough, how about an 82-inch Samsung Crystal UHD 7-Series TU700D for $1,396?

Granted, both sets were 2020 models on closeout and not the latest 2021s. The Vizio was that company's best, or next to best, model for 2020, but the Samsung was in a 2020 budget range. But still, about $17 per diagonal inch for the Vizio and $34 per inch for the Samsung?

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Audio Video NewsNew Products
Monitor Audio to Deliver Silver Series 7G this Fall
Bob Ankosko  |  Aug 16, 2021
Monitor Audio, the British company that has been building high-quality speakers for almost a half a century, is putting the final touches on the seventh generation of the Silver Series it introduced 22 years ago.
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EISA Awards
EISA Home Theater Audio & Video Awards 2021-2022
SV Staff  |  Aug 14, 2021
EISA, or the Expert Imaging and Sound Association, is an organisation representing 60 of the most respected special interest publications and websites from 29 countries that cover Hi-Fi, Home Theater Video, Home Theater Audio, Photography, Mobile Devices, and In-Car Electronics. Every year EISA's Expert Group members, including editors from this publication, test a very wide range of new products from their field of expertise before comparing results and voting to decide the cream of every product category.
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Blu-ray Movie ReviewsUltra HD Blu-ray Movie Reviews
My Fair Lady
Thomas J. Norton  |  Aug 13, 2021
Picture
Sound
Extras
George Bernard Shaw's play Pygmalion premiered in London back in 1913. Loosely based on an ancient Greek myth, its plot involves a linguistics professor, Henry Higgins, teaching a bedraggled flower girl, Eliza Doolittle, to speak proper English—not only well enough to pass her off as a duchess at an embassy ball, but to "get her a job as a lady's maid or a shop assistant, which requires better English!"
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Audio Video NewsNew Products
New Gear August 2021
Bob Ankosko  |  Aug 12, 2021
NAD, JBL, LG and other top A/V brands have all announced new products in recent weeks. Here’s a look at some of the gear coming your way.
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Projection Screen Reviews
EPV Screens DarkStar UST 2 Efinity Projection Screen Review
Al Griffin  |  Aug 11, 2021

Performance
Setup
Value
PRICE $2,799

AT A GLANCE
Plus
Highly immersive image from 123-inch screen
Easy assembly
Five-year warranty
Very good value
Minus
Requires high brightness projector for best performance

THE VERDICT
If you're looking for an ultra-large screen to pair with your ultra short throw projector, the DarkStar UST 2 Efinity offers impressive performance and value.

With ultra short throw (UST) projectors available from a growing list of companies including Epson, LG, Hisense, Optoma, Vava, and now Samsung, it's clear that the category has become firmly established. That's no surprise given the ergonomic and screen real estate- per-dollar benefits such models offer, but getting the best picture quality from a UST setup requires a specific screen pairing. We've frequently discussed ambient light rejecting (ALR) screens in Sound & Vision and have reviewed a fair number of them. But a UST projector requires a specialized type of ALR screen—one like the DarkStar UST 2 Efinity from EPV Screens.

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SmartStream
Hands On With YouTubeTV's New 4K Plus Bundle
Barb Gonzalez  |  Aug 11, 2021
YouTubeTV has added a 4K tier to its live TV subscription service. The 4K Plus bundle includes other benefits like downloading recordings and unlimited concurrent streams. While it may be desirable to stream live 4K HDR TV shows, there are limitations, and it may be best to wait before committing to this add-on subscription fee.
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Audio Video NewsNew Products
Elac's Solano Series Features Signature Jet Tweeter
Bob Ankosko  |  Aug 10, 2021
The speaker-meisters at Germany’s Elac are keeping busy these days. Following closely on the heels of the new Uni-Fi Reference series, the Solano series brings the brand’s signature Jet 5 folded-ribbon tweeter to more affordable price levels.
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Signals
Note to Disney: Avenge This
Ken C. Pohlmann  |  Aug 09, 2021
You, my friend, are a movie star. That might be a notch below rock star, but it's still pretty darn good. Congratulations! But even movie stars can have a bad day. Case in point: your employer pays you a salary, then does something that you think causes you to lose money that was promised to you. Superhero team of attorneys, assemble!

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Audio Video NewsNew Products
LG’s Disappearing 4K OLED TV Is Finally Here
Bob Ankosko  |  Aug 05, 2021
It’s been a long time coming but the futuristic roll-up OLED TV LG previewed at CES two-and-a-half years ago is finally here — with a catch.
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