LATEST ADDITIONS

What's the deal with the sound systems in Ford F-150 pickup trucks? You're driving along, minding your own business, when suddenly an ear-splitting noise erupts from your speakers. No, it's (probably) not a demon from hell. But whatever it is, something is very, very wrong with your truck.

CEDIA Expo 2023, North America’s largest showcase of smart home and AV entertainment technology, is underway at the Colorado Convention Center in Denver. With an estimated attendance north of 18,000, the expo is the place where custom integrators and professionals engaged in the home technology test drive the latest products and services from more than 350 brands spanning 150,000 square feet of exhibit space. Here’s a peek at some of the products AV-focused exhibitors are introducing at this year’s gathering. More show coverage can be found here.

Samsung today expanded its ultra-big-screen offerings with its first 98-inch 8K TV — a move timed to woo custom installers/integrators attending CEDIA Expo 2023, which opens tomorrow morning.

PRICE $2,800

AT A GLANCE
Plus
Screen size
Black levels
Price
Minus
Limited off-center viewing
Cluttered remote

THE VERDICT
The TCL 85QM8 has a few annoying ergonomic issues, and like most LED/LCD sets its off-center viewing won't challenge an OLED. But its performance is impressive, and its price unexpectedly affordable. Properly adjusted, and on source material ranging from the routine to the awesomely difficult, its performance was consistently irresistible.

One significant difference between building a home theater around a video projector or a conventional flat-screen television has been image size. Projector fans will point to the immersion that big-screen projection offers, with the screen size limited mainly by your available space, imagination, and budget. Until recently, however, TVs bigger than 65-inches were priced beyond the means of most consumers.