Home Theater RSS Feed

Better Netflix Brings Cool Million

Thu, 02 Jul 2009 11:28:00 EDT

Sharp Shows Five-Color LCD

Wed, 01 Jul 2009 09:30:00 EDT

Broadcast DTV May Poach Cable Customers

Tue, 30 Jun 2009 10:43:00 EDT

Onkyo TX-SR607 A/V Receiver

Mon, 29 Jun 2009 12:43:00 EDT

Surround sound has always been an evolving medium in home theater and cinematic applications. Its origins in home theater are nothing if not humble. The original Dolby Surround format uses matrix-encoding/decoding to extract a single monaural surround channel from an encoded stereo signal, which is distributed to a pair of surround speakers. Using the same two-channel signal and a similar matrixing technique, Dolby Pro Logic decoding adds a much-needed front center channel. Dolby Pro Logic II ups the surrounds to two full-range channels and also adds a subwoofer. Dolby Digital and DTS improve over these matrixed formats by delivering 5.1 discrete and wholly independent channels, thus eliminating channel leakage and liberating panning effects to range freely around the soundfield. So far, so good.

Sherwood RD-7503 A/V Receiver

Mon, 29 Jun 2009 11:48:00 EDT

In A/V receivers, as in so many other things, new technologies start in mid- to high-priced models and work their way down. Once they have fully penetrated all or most of a manufacturer’s line, consumers who are on a budget have the same access to, say, lossless surround that more upscale buyers do. Then we at Home Theater uncork bottle after bottle of champagne in wild celebration, peel grapes for one another, run up and down the hallway, and don’t get much done for a few days.

Will Toshiba Support Blu-ray?

Mon, 29 Jun 2009 11:10:00 EDT

Blu-ray Gets Online Database

Wed, 24 Jun 2009 22:48:00 EDT

Smaller DTVs May See Renewed Focus

Wed, 24 Jun 2009 10:39:00 EDT

NHT Is Back

Tue, 23 Jun 2009 10:04:00 EDT

Two Lovers—Magnolia (Blu-ray)

Mon, 22 Jun 2009 21:43:00 EDT

Two Lovers—Magnolia (Blu-ray)

The Siege—20th Century Fox (Blu-ray)

Mon, 22 Jun 2009 21:42:00 EDT

The Siege—20th Century Fox (Blu-ray)

Lost Season 1 & 2—ABC (Blu-ray)

Mon, 22 Jun 2009 21:41:00 EDT

Lost Season 1 & 2—ABC (Blu-ray)

Predator 2—20th Century Fox (Blu-ray)

Mon, 22 Jun 2009 21:41:00 EDT

Predator 2—20th Century Fox (Blu-ray)

Inkheart—New Line (Blu-ray)

Mon, 22 Jun 2009 21:40:00 EDT

Inkheart—New Line (Blu-ray)

Indecent Proposal—Paramount Pictures (Blu-ray)

Mon, 22 Jun 2009 21:39:00 EDT

Indecent Proposal—Paramount Pictures (Blu-ray)

Friday the 13th (2009)—New Line (Blu-ray)

Mon, 22 Jun 2009 21:38:00 EDT

Friday the 13th (2009)—New Line (Blu-ray)

Fracture—New Line (Blu-ray)

Mon, 22 Jun 2009 21:37:00 EDT

Fracture—New Line (Blu-ray)

Confessions of a Shopaholic—Touchstone Pictures (Blu-ray)

Mon, 22 Jun 2009 21:36:00 EDT

Confessions of a Shopaholic—Touchstone Pictures (Blu-ray)

Rotel RSX-1560 A/V Receiver

Mon, 22 Jun 2009 12:54:00 EDT

Energy will likely be the defining challenge of our lifetimes. We use a lot of it but need to use less, so the ways in which we use it must become more responsible, creative, and resourceful. Will home theater continue to add to the quality of life in an energy-scarce future by bringing us closer to music and movies? Or will we write it off as just another accessory of sprawl, soon to be ruthlessly un-supersized? Is it possible to enjoy big pictures that are accompanied by big sound, while using less energy? This is the stage onto which the Rotel RSX-1560 A/V receiver walks, before an audience that is holding its breath.

Samsung UN55B7000 LCD HDTV

Mon, 22 Jun 2009 12:14:00 EDT

The UN55B7000 is the largest set in the 7000 Series. At a thin 1.2 inches thick, it’s the slimmest HDTV we’ve reviewed to date. The exit routing that’s required for its captive power cord and its input jacks that exit to the side or the bottom, will keep you from doing an absolutely flush wall-mount. But it can still snuggle closer to your sheetrock than any other production set we’ve seen. At 61.3 pounds (with stand), the UN55B7000 is also easy to lift into position. I appreciated this factor since I’m often called on to schlep around 125-pound, 60-inch plasmas.