Editor's Eye

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Editor's Eye
Shanghai Diary: CES Debuts in Tomorrowland
Rob Sabin  |  Jun 08, 2015  | 
Shanghai, for me, is literally halfway ‘round the world. Some 20 hours flying time from New York, it is 12 hours ahead in time zones and across the International Dateline: the very definition of “Tomorrowland.” The post-modern, sci-fi landscape of the Pudong section of China’s biggest trade center and most cosmopolitan city does little to deter that notion. Bound on one side by the 128-story Shanghai Tower and on the other by the Oriental Pearl, a futuristic, 1,500 foot broadcast tower, it looks like a bold experiment in animation made concrete, a slice of society that has, to date, only been imagined for amusement parks. On first sight I could only gasp at both the scale and shape of it, then grew silent with respect for not just the accomplishment, but the gutsy vision it must have took to start it.

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4K TV ReviewsEditor's EyeAudio Video News
Sneak Peek: Vizio's 120-inch Reference UHDTV
Rob Sabin  |  Oct 12, 2015  | 
As we reported last week, Vizio was in New York City on October 6 to formally introduce its much anticipated Reference Series Ultra HDTVs. Editor-in-chief Rob Sabin and video tech editor Tom Norton got a hands-on session with the big 120-inch RS120. Here's what they found.

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Editor's Eye
Spatial Is the Place
Al Griffin  |  Oct 08, 2021  | 
A regular complaint aired in Sound & Vision’s Letters section is that the 5.1 surround discs covered in our Remaster Class column are 1) out of print, and 2) too expensive to buy on e-commerce and collector sites like eBay and Discogs. And while I commiserate, the reality is that disc releases, be they LP, CD, SACD, Blu-ray, or whatever, don’t remain eternally in print. That’s why there’s a thriving market for vintage vinyl, and why albums and movies are regularly remastered and reissued on disc.
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Editor's Eye
Stream Theater
Al Griffin  |  Feb 10, 2021  | 
Home video streaming received a boost in 2020 for obvious reasons, while movie theater attendance took a dive for equally obvious reasons. But even with a massive paradigm shift in the way people experience movies and other forms of entertainment clearly taking place in real time, it still came as a shock when WarnerMedia announced in early December that its full slate of theatrical releases for 2021 would drop day and date on the company’s HBO Max streaming service.
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Editor's Eye
Summer’s Almost Here & the Writer’s Strike Continues
Mark Henninger  |  Jun 07, 2023  | 
Summer 2023 is just around the corner and Hollywood writers have been on strike since May 2. If the strike ends soon, it may not have a significant impact but there are concerns that a prolonged strike could be catastrophic for movie theaters that depend on a constant flow of blockbuster releases to remain profitable.
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Editor's Eye
Surprise, Surprise: Sometimes, Even In the A/V Biz, Old Is New Again
Rob Sabin  |  Aug 12, 2013  | 
At any given moment, we’re usually working on six to eight test reports among various staffers. Of those, perhaps two or three products might be the “latest and greatest” while the rest falls more into the bread-and-butter category—another $600 or $1,000 receiver, maybe another bookshelf speaker system. As I looked over our recent slate of reviews, I was indeed struck by how conventional the mix appears to be. And yet, as I dug a bit deeper, I came to see how well it represents technology trends that have come to define the audio/video space, circa 2013.
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Editor's Eye
Technology: Friend or Foe?
Al Griffin  |  Jun 27, 2019  | 
A persistent theme I’ve observed in recent articles from several long-time Sound & Vision contributors is a sense of unease over the encroachment of AI (Artificial Intelligence) into the traditional consumer electronics space.
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Editor's Eye
The Adventures of K’Scape
Rob Sabin  |  Nov 30, 2016  | 
If you’re a regular reader then you know we reviewed the Kaleidescape Strato 4K movie player and also reported on the company’s closure and subsequent rebirth.
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Editor's Eye
The AVR Is Alive and Well...Thanks to Atmos
Rob Sabin  |  Oct 14, 2016  | 
In last year's annual AV receiver issue, I pondered the future of the AVR and whether it might just become a relic; a big black box rusting in the heap at the Ol’ Tech landfill, its unruly interconnects and speaker cables still clinging on for dear life and aimlessly seeking terra firma, yet another reminder of those days when the good stuff still had wires attached to it.
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Editor's Eye
The Big Picture
Mark Henninger  |  Feb 06, 2024  | 
What a difference a year makes. In early 2023, I was thinking about ultra-short-throw (UST) projectors in the living room, but saw evidence that TVs would compete in the 100-inch size category. Now it’s a year later, and 100-inch TVs are multiplying like rabbits while prices continue to drop.
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Editor's Eye
The Big Picture: How Big Is Big Enough?
Rob Sabin  |  Apr 27, 2018  | 
The Technology changes, but the goal remains the same.

In prepping for the May print issue’s focus on front projection, I found myself philosophizing on the value of having a big image for viewing movies, TV serials, and sports. Not just big, but really big.

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Editor's Eye
The Color of Sound: What’s Your Favorite Hue?
Rob Sabin  |  Apr 15, 2016  | 
More than Anything, Your Speakers Make the System

I’m sometimes amazed at what I learn, or am reminded of, as we put to bed each print issue of Sound & Vision. With the bird’s-eye view that comes with crossing t’s and dotting i’s on six to eight product reviews, written by staffers with their own eyes, ears, and perspectives, I get to see themes and patterns that might go unnoticed reading just any individual piece.

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Editor's Eye
The Cost of High Fidelity, My Transition to Streaming & Defining Value and Affordability
Mark Henninger  |  Dec 08, 2023  | 
When I browse audio forums and social media, I often see absolute nonsense posted about the fidelity you can achieve with a phone, claiming it is not "audiophile" or whatever. Reality is if you stream lossless music through a phone and use good headphones, the listening experience is extremely high fidelity.
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Editor's Eye
The End of the Early Adopter
Rob Sabin  |  Apr 21, 2017  | 
Being first used to mean being special, with all the attendant risk. Now, everybody’s screwed.
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Editor's Eye
The Even Bigger Picture
Mark Henninger  |  Jun 04, 2024  | 
Back in February, in a blog I titled "The Big Picture", I discussed the expansion of large TV screens and how CES hinted at future trends. Now, with summer just around the corner, “100-inch-class” TVs are being shipped by all major brands, while 85-inch TVs have become surprisingly affordable and are selling rapidly.
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