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Blu-ray Movie Reviews
Smokin' Aces - HD DVD Combo Format
Joel Brinkley  |  May 30, 2007

<I>Smokin' Aces</I> is a thriller-action film full of suspense and quite satisfying. I liked it, and I had not seen it before the HD DVD arrived. The studio calls it an action "comedy." But don't look to this movie for laughs.

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Ears On
BBC Goes Online
Mark Fleischmann  |  May 30, 2007
The British Broadcasting Corporation has been busy lately. Its iPlayer is about to relaunch following a beta test. It will enable viewers to download single episodes or entire series a month after airing. In other BBC news, an archival project will put a million hours of historic material online for free, according to the Guardian. In this case there's a catch. You'll have to pay the annual BBC license fee to access it. The archives include an interview with John Lennon and Yoko Ono, conducted two days before the shooting, in which they candidly discuss the impact of their relationship on the Beatles. There's also an interview with Dr. Martin Luther King Jr., conducted the day before his death, in which he says: "The important thing isn't how long you live, but how well you live."
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AV Receiver SetupAV Receiver Tech
Configuring Your AVR
Thomas J. Norton  |  May 29, 2007
To someone new to the whole home theater game, setting up an AV receiver might be intimidating. It's the most complex piece of equipment in the whole system, and the one that you'll interface with the most.
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AV Receiver Buying TipsAV Receiver SetupAV Receiver Tech
HT Guide To AVR Features
Shane Buettner  |  May 29, 2007
Essential Audio Features
Basic Surround Decoding
Today's AVRs feature a ton of surround decoding features from Dolby and DTS, from basic 5.1-channel surround decoding to several ways of decoding stereo into 5.1-channel surround, or beyond.
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Audio Video News
Runco Acquired by Planar
Mark Fleischmann  |  May 29, 2007
Runco, arguably the high-end projection television brand, has been acquired by Beaverton, Oregon-based Planar Systems in a cash deal worth $36.7 million.
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Fred Manteghian Blog
Flip This!
Fred Manteghian  |  May 28, 2007

Well, I finally got an HD DVD player. Thanks Shane for helping me decide on a model. In the end, I got the top of the line <a href=" http://www.guidetohometheater.com/hddiscplayers/207toshhdxa2/index.html" target="new">Toshiba XA2</a> and I couldn't be more pleased. 1080p and one of the best upconverting DVD players around. What's not to like? Feeding my also new <a href=" http://ultimateavmag.com/videoprojectors/207jvchd1/" target="new">JVC DLA-HD1 projector</a> and lighting up a 78" wide (89" diag) Stewart Screen (Studio Tek 130 – 1.3 gain), the picture is to die for.

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Samsung HL-S5688W 1080p DLP Rear Projection TV
Randy Tomlinson  |  May 27, 2007

My how times have changed in video over the past few years! I remember reviewing the first Samsung DLP projection TV for another publication several years back and being stunned at just how dreadful it could look&mdash;grass athletic fields that looked like millions of squirming worms, dreadful eye-assaulting greens, terrible blacks, and on and on. But Samsung clearly listens to dealers, customers, consultants, and maybe even reviewers, because with this 1080p HL-S series, nearly every previous point of criticism has been addressed, making this set a clear contender for best RPTV. This 56" model has been widely acclaimed by the press (rated #1 by our sister publication, <I>Home Theater</I>), but in this review you'll learn some details that nobody has told you yet about how the set looks right out-of-the-box and what's <I>really</I>involved for the end user to get that award winning picture. If you're considering Samsung based on raves elsewhere, this is a review you'll really need to read.

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Tower Speaker Reviews
Aperion Audio Intimus 633-T (II) Surround Speaker System
Thomas J. Norton  |  May 27, 2007

Before you get d&#233;j&#224; vu all over again, I'll beat you to it and note right up front that we reviewed an <A
HREF="http://ultimateavmag.com/speakersystems/1205aperion/
">Aperion Audio Intimus 633-T</A> system back in December 2005. But the Intimus 633-T ($499/ea.) has been redesigned, and Aperion chose not to change the model number. The parenthetical "II" in the heading of this article, which will be carried through the rest of the review to avoid confusion, is strictly my invention. You won't find it in any of Aperion's promotional material. The system reviewed here also includes the Aperion 634-VAC ($495) center channel speaker, which <I>is</I> entirely new.

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Audio Video News
Blade Runner, Kubrick Films Coming To HD
 |  May 27, 2007

Warner slipped a tantalyzing insert into the <I>The Ultimate Matrix Collection</I> box set released earlier this week, a two-sided affair offically announcing that <I>Blade Runner</I> will hit HD DVD this October on one side and touting a "Kubrick Collection" as coming soon to both HD DVD and Blu-ray on the other.

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AV Receiver SetupAV Receiver Tech
Connecting With Your New AV Receiver
Darryl Wilkinson  |  May 25, 2007
It's not that your AVR doesn't love you. It's just misunderstood.

So you just bought your first AV receiver (AVR), and now you're staring in fright at the back panel and what looks to be several thousand connectors jammed together tighter than the squares on a New York Times sukodu puzzle – and just about as incomprehensible. Don't feel bad. Rocket scientists have been known to suffer heart palpitations in the same situation.

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