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Can I Use Dipole Speakers as Atmos Height Speakers?
Al Griffin  |  Nov 13, 2017
Got a tech question for Sound & Vision? Email us at AskSandV@gmail.com

Q I currently use dipole speakers as the side surrounds in a 7.1-channel configuration. My plan is to upgrade to an Atmos setup and replace the side surround speakers with direct-radiating models. Here’s my question: Could I use my existing dipole surrounds as Atmos height speakers? —Nick Ward / via e-mail

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Audio Video News
Survey: Smartphones Are the Device of Choice for Holiday Shopping
SV Staff  |  Nov 13, 2017
More Americans than ever before will use their smartphones for holiday shopping and one in five plan to use a voice-activated smart speaker to “voice shop,” according to the Consumer Technology Association (CTA) 2017 Pre-Black Friday Survey.
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Blu-ray Movie ReviewsUltra HD Blu-ray Movie Reviews
Resident Evil: Vendetta
Brandon A. DuHamel  |  Nov 10, 2017
Picture
Sound
Extras
Resident Evil: Vendetta picks up the mantle yet again for the Capcom strain of this popular video-game franchise. Sticking to the animé-oriented roots and offering some visceral action without the frenzied camera panning and ADD editing of the live-action The Final Chapter, the film brings together favorites from the franchise. Game characters Leon S. Kennedy (voiced my Matthew Mercer), Chris Redfield (Kevin Dorman), and Rebecca Chambers (Erin Cahill) battle wanted bioterrorist Glenn Arias (John DeMita), who plans to release a deadly virus in New York City as revenge for the government killing his wife.
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Blu-ray Movie Reviews
Collateral Beauty
Josef Krebs  |  Nov 10, 2017
Picture
Sound
Extras
This being the third film in a row I’ve reviewed on Blu-ray in which a man’s life is destroyed by the death of a child and the loss of a wife (alongside Manchester by the Sea and Nocturnal Animals) leads me to suspect that a strong sense of loss is vibrating through our national zeitgeist despite the blessings of unsocial media. Collateral Beauty, a feel-good downer (a romtrage, if you will), is a parable filled with It’s a Wonderful Life–like whimsy concerning a grieving advertising executive, Howard (Will Smith), who, two years on from the loss of his daughter, is writing letters to Time, Death, and Love to voice his complaints and express his trauma.
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Editor's Eye
Where Have All the Audiophiles Gone?
Rob Sabin  |  Nov 10, 2017
A couple of emails we recently received got me thinking about our current state of audiophile affairs. One, from Paul Thiel of Crescent Springs, Kentucky, headlined “The Great Equalizer,” asks whether the disappearance of standalone graphic equalizers from the home audio market, along with the jacks to connect them, was the result of automated room EQ coming to bear...or perhaps proof that manufacturers were mistaken in the notion that consumers were interested enough in audio to want to tailor the frequency response of their systems.
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Audio Video News
Sharp Announces World’s First 8K Pro Camcorder
SV Staff  |  Nov 10, 2017
Looking ahead to the 2020 Summer Olympics in Tokyo, which will be a major event in the development of an 8K ecosystem, Sharp has introduced of the world’s first 8K camcorder.
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4K TV ReviewsTV ReviewsLCD TV Reviews
Vizio M65-E0 LCD Ultra HDTV Review
Al Griffin  |  Nov 09, 2017

Performance
Features
Ergonomics
Value
PRICE $1,100

AT A GLANCE
Plus
Effective peak brightness with HDR sources
Can display extended color
Good overall picture uniformity and upscaling
Minus
Mild artifacts from local-dimming backlight
No off-air tuner
Only one HDMI 2.0a input

THE VERDICT
Vizio’s new M Series set offers substantial performance improvements over last year’s model and does so at an even lower price.

Ultra HDTVs that support the display of programs with high dynamic range, also known as HDR, have quickly become the norm. If you’re out and about shopping for a new set, there’s a good chance that you’ll be taking home one of these TVs. Of course, the benefit to a state-of-the-art feature like HDR becoming standard is that prices for sets that include it will drop. How low? How about $1,100? That’s what Vizio charges for their 65-inch M65-E0 LCD Ultra HDTV.

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Ask S&V
How Do I Know Which HDR Formats My Receiver Supports?
Al Griffin  |  Nov 09, 2017
Got a tech question for Sound & Vision? Email us at AskSandV@gmail.com

Q TV reviews in Sound & Vision routinely discuss support for the HDR10 and Dolby Vision high dynamic range formats. I don't always see comments about HDR support in AV receiver reviews, however. Does an AVR need to support a specific HDR format, or does HDMI take care of that? —James Hardaway

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Audio Video News
Survey: Online Holiday Sales to Top $100 Billion
SV Staff  |  Nov 09, 2017
Online sales are expected to surpass $107 billion this holiday season, an increase of nearly 14 percent over 2016, according to a comprehensive retail prediction from Adobe Analytics, which the online transactions of the 100 largest online retailers, among other things.

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SmartStream
Taking Roku's Streaming Stick Plus on the Road
Barb Gonzalez  |  Nov 09, 2017
With the addition of 4K HDR streaming, the new Roku Streaming Stick+ ($70) is powerful enough for your home theater and portable enough to take on the road. A recent trip took me to several cities where I was able to test out the Stick+ on a number of hotel TVs, including a 4K HDR Samsung model (!) in a cottage where I stayed.
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