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Audio Video News
Roku Owners: Visit Space from Your Living Room
SV Staff  |  Sep 17, 2018
We were pumped when NASA did the first 4K live stream from the International Space Station a year and a half ago, and now we can hardly contain our enthusiasm with the news that spectacular views of space from NASA are now available on the Roku streaming platform.
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Audio Video News
A Smart Speaker Is In Your Future
SV Staff  |  Sep 17, 2018
Source: Adobe Analytics survey “State of Voice Assistants” (September 2018)

Like it or not, smart speakers are on a roll. A serious roll.

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Blu-ray Movie ReviewsUltra HD Blu-ray Movie Reviews
Ready Player One
Chris Chiarella  |  Sep 14, 2018
Picture
Sound
Extras
How many more movies and TV shows will simulate virtual reality to tell a “thought-provoking” story about the fate of society? I gave up on Netflix’s Black Mirror because I could not bear another tale of VR gone awry, but Ready Player One brings the pedigree of Steven Spielberg, plus Ernest Cline’s bestselling novel. How could it miss?
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Audio Video News
Paradigm/Anthem at CEDIA 2018: A Demo to Remember
SV Staff  |  Sep 14, 2018
The buzz from CEDIA 2018 may be fading, but a few show highlights are likely to live on in the memory of attendees. One is Paradigm/Anthem’s 7.2.4-speaker home theater demo, which gave viewers an immersive, high-intensity sampling of Ready Player One and Blade Runner 2049 on Ultra HD Blu-ray with Dolby Atmos sound.
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Audio Video News
AXPONA Moves 2020 Expo from April to November
SV Staff  |  Sep 14, 2018
Organizers of the Audio Expo North America (a.k.a. AXPONA) have announced that the Renaissance Schaumburg Convention Center Hotel in metro Chicago is the show’s new permanent home and that in 2020 the three-day show will move from its usual mid-April time frame to late October/early November.
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Audio Video NewsNew Products
Revel’s New, Upgraded Subwoofers Due Out this Fall
SV Staff  |  Sep 14, 2018
Revel previewed two new Performa3 Series subwoofers at last week’s CEDIA Expo that feature updated amplifiers and a new high-performance driver.
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Audio Video NewsNew Products
Sunbrite Unveils Re-Engineered Outdoor TVs
SV Staff  |  Sep 13, 2018
SunBriteTV, a brand of SnapAV, announced a redesigned and re-engineered series of outdoor televisions at last week’s CEDIA Expo 2018 in San Diego.
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Throwback Thursday
Say Goodbye to Another Piece of Tech History
SV Staff  |  Sep 13, 2018
Americans love nostalgia. A few weeks ago a construction crew dismantled the iconic AMPEX sign along Highway 101 in Redwood City, California and many people in the community were not happy.
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SmartStream
Plex Cloud Is Gone But Here’s a Viable Alternative
Barb Gonzalez  |  Sep 13, 2018
Streaming media company, Plex has announced the end of its Plex Cloud. Here’s what to do if you’re a Plex Cloud user.
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Blu-ray Player Reviews
Panasonic DP-UB820 Ultra HD Blu-ray Player Review
Kris Deering  |  Sep 12, 2018

Performance
Features
Ergonomics
Value
PRICE $499

AT A GLANCE
Plus
Reference-level video performance
In-player tone mapping for HDR and conversion to SDR
Multichannel analog output
Minus
Image enhancement options can be overwhelming
Setup not always intuitive
No 4K/HDR streaming support

THE VERDICT
Panasonic’s UHD Blu-ray player offers reference-level video performance and also sets a new bar for HDR playback with both HDR flat-panel TVs and projectors.

Today’s Ultra HD Blu-ray player market is drastically smaller than the one for the spinning-disc machines of old. In my early days reviewing DVD players, I could literally enter an electronics store, walk out with over a dozen players, and that would only represent a sampling of the available models. But with the massive rise in the popularity of streaming, we’ve seen the player market continue to slim down.

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