Now that 2019 is done, it's time to take stock of the year by reviewing the list of products that received Sound & Vision Top Pick awards. It's also time to single out some trends.
A key trend is that OLED and LCD TVs have become available in substantially larger screen sizes—the 70-plus-inch category is where the action is at for set makers. Not surprisingly, high-end models in general are also getting less pricey. While at $3,800 our 2019 TV Top Pick of the Year at isn't any cheaper than last year's winner, it's notable that the list includes a full-featured $1,000 LCD Ultra HDTV with a full-array LED backlight. Projectors, too, are part of the downward pricing spiral, with good-quality 4K-capable models now selling for under $1,500, and great ones selling for under $3,000.
GoldenEar Technology, the highly-regarded speaker company founded by audio industry icon Sandy Gross, has been acquired by The Quest Group, the California-based owner of AudioQuest brand cables, Niagara power products, and the popular DragonFly line of digital-to-analog converters (DACs).
The news releases are starting to trickle in as companies gear up for the biggest technology trade show of the year — CES 2020 — which opens Tuesday in Las Vegas.
The 8K Association (8KA) today announced the availability of a certification program for 8K TVs that boast a resolution of 7,680 x 4,320 pixels, four times that of the 4K Ultra HD standard.
The editors of Sound & Vision would like to extend a heart-felt Happy New Year to everyone as we get ready to ring in a new decade while taking stock of our Top Picks for the month of December, which produced a handful of AV gems that may have gotten lost during the 2019 holiday shuffle. Among them, a thoroughly modern take on the classic stereo receiver, a killer all-in-one wireless music system, and a unique product that gives enthusiasts a simple way to migrate treasured music and 4K movie discs to a rich digital environment with a user-friendly interface. May 2020 be prosperous and filled with the latest and greatest AV technology has to offer!
With its childlike innocence and a universal charm that's born of its exquisite characters, The Wizard of Oz is likely the greatest family film of all time, the sort we may never see again. The adventure of a willful Kansas farmgirl transported to a strange, wondrous land is a heart-tugging journey of music and laughter that should continue to enthrall generations to come. There are 80 years' worth of observations for me to draw upon here, but I'll just go with this: Not enough can ever be said of Margaret Hamilton's turn as the gleefully, irresistibly, deliciously wicked villain.
Amina Technologies, the U.K.-based maker of “invisible architectural speakers,” say it has updated the performance and installation flexibility of its sound panels, which use exciters integrated in aluminium honeycomb or composite soundboards to radiate sound.