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CES 2016Ask S&V
Up Close with Panasonic’s 2016 OLED UHDTV
Al Griffin  |  Jan 08, 2016  | 
LG made a bold statement with its Signature model and other OLED TVs at CES, but it isn’t the only company hawking the technology. A surprisingly small A/V product showcase in Panasonic’s booth featured the company’s forthcoming 65CZ950 OLED UHDTV.
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Upconverting S-video to HDMI
Scott Wilkinson  |  Mar 28, 2012  | 
I need a new A/V receiver to replace my non-HDMI Denon AVR-3805. Among my source devices are two JVC S-VHS VCRs, so I hope to find an AVR with at least one S-video input that is upconverted to HDMI. What would you recommend for under $1000?

Stan Sexton

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Upgrade Dilemma
Scott Wilkinson  |  Mar 26, 2012  | 
I currently own a Yamaha RX-V661 A/V receiver, and I play DVDs and Blu-rays on a PS3. My receiver is only compatible with HDMI 1.2a. Is it true that the PS3 decodes Dolby TrueHD and DTS-HD Master Audio and sends them losslessly to my receiver? I ask because I just bought a new house, and I am setting up an entry-level home theater with a projector. I am stuck between buying new surround speakers or a new AVR such as the Pioneer VSX-1021 or Onkyo TX-NR609. I currently have some outdated Bose speakers that I use for surrounds and rears, and I would like to upgrade them to match the Klipsch speakers I have for my front left and right, center, and powered sub.

Jerry VanOort

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Upgrade Time: Speakers then Receiver or Vice Versa?
Al Griffin  |  Mar 12, 2015  | 
Got a tech question for Sound & Vision? Email us at AskSandV@gmail.com

Q I plan to purchase a new AV receiver and a set of 5.1 speakers. What strategy will deliver a better all-around experience: spending more on the speakers or on the receiver? Should I splurge on speakers, with the idea that my receiver can be upgraded in a few years, or vice-versa? Simon Bolster / via e-mail

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Upgrade, No HDMI, Uniformity
Scott Wilkinson  |  Jun 16, 2009  | 
Big Budget
I currently have a 125-inch Da-Lite screen and a throw distance of around 25 feet. I am using a 5-year-old SIM2 Seleco HT300 single-chip DLP projector. I would like to upgrade but not spend over $30,000 to do so. I was wondering what projectors you would consider for this setup?
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Upgrading a 5.1.2 Setup that Has Bi-amped Front L/R Speakers
John Sciacca  |  Jan 30, 2023  | 
Got a tech question for Sound & Vision? Email us at AskSandV@gmail.com

Q I have a 5.1.2 setup based around an Onkyo TX-RZ840 receiver and a Monitor Audio Bronze speaker package using the Bronze 2 stand mounts. My left and right front speakers are bi-amped and I’m looking to upgrade to 5.1.4. I wish to add external amplifiers plus an AV receiver in preamp mode or a preamp processor. Would I get a worthwhile upgrade in audio quality choosing the preamp processor? —Dan Pinnock, via email

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UPS, MEMC, HTG
Scott Wilkinson  |  Dec 15, 2010  | 
Power to the People
I'm buying a new HDTV for my girlfriend for Christmas, but her neighborhood has more then a few power outages a year. What kind of protection do you recommend?

Ron

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Upscaling, DIY Repair, HDMI Handshaking
Scott Wilkinson  |  May 25, 2011  | 
Which device does the best upscaling? I want to replace the failing DMD chip in my DLP projector. My AVR has developed an HDMI handshaking issue with my cable box.
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Used Projectors, Dubbing VHS, Hiding Speakers
Scott Wilkinson  |  Feb 02, 2011  | 
Should I buy a used projector? Can you recommend a VHS/DVD recorder combo? Should I hide my speakers?
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Using an HDTV as an HDMI Switcher
Al Griffin  |  Oct 31, 2013  | 
Q My new TV has four HDMI inputs. Would I get better picture quality if I bypassed my receiver and hooked all the equipment up directly to the TV? I also plan to run a TosLink digital audio cable from the TV to the receiver for sound. Any issues there to consider? —Jose / Colorado Springs, CO

A Whether or not you’ll get better picture quality from your proposed setup depends on the video capabilities of the receiver you’ve been using to handle HDMI switching. A number of A/V receivers provide both high-quality video deinterlacing/scaling and an ability to pass-through 1080p signals with no degradation (this Marantz that Sound & Vision recently reviewed, for example). But some other models are known to reduce the chroma (color) resolution of signals passing through, or to clip above-white and below-black information at the extreme ends of the video brightness range.

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VCR Blues
Scott Wilkinson  |  Oct 21, 2011  | 
My home-theater system consists of a Sony STR-DB940 A/V receiver with 5.1 speaker setup, Sony KDL-52HX909 LED/LCD TV, Dish Network HDTV receiver, and Sony SLV-N71 Hi-Fi VCR. I have the VCR connected to the TV via composite video and L/R analog audio cables and the TV's audio output connected to the AVR via optical cabling (MD/DAT input). I have the Dish receiver's video connected to the TV via HDMI and its audio connected to the A/V receiver via optical (SAT/TV input). All of this worked great for about nine months until a few weeks ago.

The AVR's SAT/TV input works fine, but when I use the MD/DAT input for watching the TV or VCR, the sound only comes out of the left-front speaker. When I record something via the VCR's line in, the playback has the same audio problem. But when I play a tape recorded over a year ago, the sound does not have the audio problem.

Tony Santana

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VHS-to-DVD Conversion
Scott Wilkinson  |  Aug 19, 2011  | 
I have priceless VHS tapes of my kids growing up over the last 25 years. I was going to take them to a company that converts VHS to DVD, but I read that the quality of these conversion services isn't that good. I also read that the USB conversion programs like Roxio don't do the job either. I cannot find a PCI card solution with software. Is there a solution that you recommend? Can you shed some light on this?

Keith Brown

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Video Dynamic Range and Color Space
Scott Wilkinson  |  Jul 11, 2012  | 
I recently read HT's review of the Panasonic TC-P55ST50 3D plasma TV. (Good review, by the way.) I noticed that the display was calibrated using a brightness range of 0-255. My understanding is that digital video (Blu-ray, DVD, digital TV) is encoded in YCbCr with a video brightness range of 16-235, and one should set the source component to output YCbCr and set the display to accept the brightness range of 16-235 to preserve the signal and avoid processing and interpolation. Just wanted to get your thoughts and reasons if one way is better than the other.

Stephen Lin

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Blu-ray SetupAsk S&V
Video Oppo-timization
Al Griffin  |  Sep 23, 2013  | 
Got a tech question for Sound & Vision? Email us at AskSandV@gmail.com.

Q. I recently bought an Oppo BDP-103 Blu-ray player. A key reason for buying it was to connect a cable TV box to the Oppo’s HDMI input and tap the player’s superior video processing to improve TV picture quality. Will it be necessary to set the equipment up in such a way as to avoid the TV’s video processing? —Doug Crowley / Santa Monica, CA

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Video Processing
Scott Wilkinson  |  Jul 07, 2011  | 
I have a Pioneer VSX-33 A/V receiver that outputs HDMI to an Epson 8700UB projector (seen here). How do I know which component is doing the video processing? When my Blu-ray player or satellite receiver runs through the AVR and out to the Epson, does the AVR do all the processing, or does the Epson's video processor? I guess I would prefer to have the Pioneer do all the video processing since its Marvell Qdeo chipset has been so favorably rated.

Dan Theis

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