Al Griffin

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Why Can’t I Send Bluetooth Audio to Two Speakers?
Al Griffin  |  Jan 22, 2015
Got a tech question for Sound & Vision? Email us at AskSandV@gmail.com

Q Why can’t audio devices be daisy-chained via Bluetooth? I have a NAD Viso 1 speaker dock and a NAD 3020 integrated amp, both with Bluetooth. The units are located in different rooms. Why can’t I send the same signal from my iPhone to both units at the same time?—J. Alan Greer

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What Does a DAC Do?
Al Griffin  |  Jan 19, 2015
Got a tech question for Sound & Vision? Email us at AskSandV@gmail.com

Q I have a fairly large collection of CDs, all of which have been ripped to lossless WMA format. I’ve come across plenty of discussion of DACs while researching music servers, but I’m confused about why I would need one since I can already listen to digital music files, either through my computer speakers or headphones. Doesn’t that mean what I’m hearing is already in analog form? If so, what need is there to convert it to anything else? —Bill Begg / via e-mail

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4K TV ReviewsTV ReviewsLCD TV Reviews
Panasonic TC-65AX800U 3D LCD/LED Ultra HDTV Review
Al Griffin  |  Jan 16, 2015

2D Performance
3D Performance
Features
Ergonomics
Value
PRICE $3,000

AT A GLANCE
Plus
Accurate color
Good contrast and shadow detail
Customizable Home Screen GUI
Decent price for a 65-inch UHDTV
Minus
Some picture noise

THE VERDICT
Panasonic’s 65-inch Ultra HDTV provides impressive performance and a huge array of Smart features.

Steep price declines have become the norm in the consumer electronics world, especially when it comes to TVs. Case in point: The last Ultra HDTV I reviewed, a Samsung 65-incher that arrived at the tail end of 2013, had an MSRP that was twice the $3,000 sticker price of Panasonic’s 65-inch TC-65AX800U Ultra HDTV. Now I hear that Vizio is selling sets with the same screen size and pixel count for $2,200. They might as well be giving them away.

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Is Motion Resolution an Issue with OLED TVs?
Al Griffin  |  Jan 15, 2015
Got a tech question for Sound & Vision? Email us at AskSandV@gmail.com

As I understand things, any motion on an LCD TV is accompanied by a loss in resolution. For example, 1080p isn’t really 1080p when the image is in motion. Here’s my question: Since OLED has a much faster response time than LCD, does resolution stay the same when the image contains motion? —Michael McGehee / Macon, Georgia

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CES 2015
Giroptic’s 360° Cam Puts You In the Video
Al Griffin  |  Jan 08, 2015  |  Published: Jan 09, 2015
One of the best demos I took in at CES was provided by French tech company Giroptic, a participant in the cutting-edge Tech West expo at the Sands. Part of it had to do with the quality of the seamless 360-degree HD video captured by the company’s Go Pro-style compact camera. But a bigger part had to do with the fact that the footage was being displayed on the Oculus Rift—my first experience with that storied, soon-to-come VR headset.
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CES 2015
Linksys' Wi-Fi Range Extender Streams Audio
Al Griffin  |  Jan 08, 2015
Wi-Fi dead spots can be a problem, especially if you have a sizeable home. To get wireless Internet connectivity to a bedroom at the opposite end from where your Wi-Fi router is set up very well might require a range extender—Linksys’ N600 PRO, for instance.
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CES 2015
Samsung Speakers Cut the Cord
Al Griffin  |  Jan 08, 2015
Samsung’s yet-to-be named new wireless speaker has a distinctive football-like shape. On second thought, it looks like a coffee percolator. Whatever—the important thing is that the design is a big improvement over the company’s first-generation wireless speakers.
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CES 2015
IOGEAR Dock Enables Desktop 4K TV Connections
Al Griffin  |  Jan 08, 2015
IOGEAR’s Universal Dock with 4K monitor support extends the capabilities of your desktop, laptop, or Ultrabook so it can connect to pretty much anything, 4K TVs included. Even if you neglected to take advantage of half of the connectivity options that it provides, you’d still get a gooey, good feeling knowing you have almost unlimited means to make a hook-up.
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CES 2015
Sharp Is Ready to Receive 8K
Al Griffin  |  Jan 08, 2015
4K TV? Old news. Japanese broadcaster NHK already has plans underway to start 8K broadcasts sometime in 2016. That date isn’t far off at all, so there are presumably plans in the works to make TVs that can actually receive those broadcasts.
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CES 2015
Sharp Shows Entry-Level 65" UHDTV with Full-Array Backlighting
Al Griffin  |  Jan 07, 2015
While its pixel-splitting Beyond 4K sets were the ones that grabbed the most attention at Sharp’s CES press conference, there are other 4K TV highlights to be seen in a visit to the company’s CES booth.
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