Scott Wilkinson

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TV & AVR Shopping
Scott Wilkinson  |  May 30, 2011
I am in the market for some new gear—specifically, a new plasma and receiver. Is Home Theater planning to do a review of the Panasonic VT30 any time soon? I expect it to improve upon the VT25, but I would like to hear it from you or Tom Norton before I get it.

On the receiver front, I would like your opinion on the Denon AVR-4311CI versus AVR-4810CI. What are the differences between the two? In your opinion, do those differences or features justify the 4810CI's extra cost?

Spencer Torgan

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Vote
Do You Enjoy 3D in a Home Setting?
Scott Wilkinson  |  May 27, 2011
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The Big Picture
Thor
Scott Wilkinson  |  May 27, 2011
I know I'm a bit late to this particular party, but I had to share some of my observations about Thor, the latest movie adaptation of a Marvel comic-book hero. I actually saw it twice in 3D—once at an ArcLight theater with Xpand active-shutter glasses and again at an Imax theater with passive-polarized glasses.
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The Big Picture
LG Resolution Demo
Scott Wilkinson  |  May 27, 2011
At SID 2011, LG Display had an interesting demo in its booth—a series of flat panels of different sizes and resolutions to show how these two parameters are related. To maintain a given amount of detail as the screen size increases, so must the resolution, even as the number of pixels per inch decreases. The two largest screens have 4K resolution, while the two smallest are 720p (roughly 1K). I was unable to find out why they had such different color profiles.
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Center-Channel Speakers
Scott Wilkinson  |  May 27, 2011
I'm looking at the B&W CMC and JBL LC2 center-channel speakers. Which do you prefer, or is there another I should consider?

David Sears

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The Big Picture
Kung Fu Panda 2
Scott Wilkinson  |  May 26, 2011
After the Samsung reviewers' workshop at DreamWorks Animation last week (see my report here), we were treated to a preview screening of Kung Fu Panda 2 in 3D. However, we were instructed not to publish anything about the movie until it opened on May 26—that is, today.
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Top-of-the-Line TV Shopping
Scott Wilkinson  |  May 26, 2011
I'd like your help deciding on a new LED LCD TV. I was going to purchase a Samsung UN46C8000 in January based on Home Theater's review, but then I saw the D8000 series at CES and decided to wait for that TV. The UN55D8000 is finally available in my area, but I have not seen many reviews of it other than on CNET, which says it "exhibits poor screen uniformity with excessive brightness variation and banding." Do you have any experience with this TV model? Is it an improvement over the C8000? Is there a comparable television from another manufacturer that I should consider?

Luke Salsman

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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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Home Theater Geeks Podcast
Podcast 67: Joe Kane
Scott Wilkinson  |  May 25, 2011
Video guru Joe Kane makes his second appearance on the podcast, talking about active and passive 3D technologies and his new "3D flat" test patterns, which reveal exactly what a 3D TV is doing, as well as the importance of evaluating a 3D TV's 2D performance—after all, a 3D TV actually displays two 2D images, so it had better render 2D well if its 3D has any hope of looking good. He also describes the process of installing his own home theater and answers chat-room questions.

Run Time: 1:00:49

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Conference Room Theater
Scott Wilkinson  |  May 25, 2011
I would like to set up a conference room with audio/video capabilities. I am planning to use a 7.1 A/V receiver for audio and InFocus 5124 LCD projector for video. This would be used for training and presentations as well as watching an occasional ball game or movie.

Ideally, a presenter would be able to use the A/V system for a slide show from a computer (potentially with a sound track) and talk over it with a wireless microphone. However, most receivers only allow a single input source to be selected. I have not been able to find an A/V receiver that would let me mix a microphone with the 7.1 sound system and watch a slide show from a computer video input. Do you have any suggestions?

Jim Kay

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