Home Theater

Scott went and saw the manga based sci fi action film ALITA BATTLE ANGEL this week. Scott says the story is pretty bad, but he saw it for the technology used in making the film, to see how it was presented. And it was pretty impressive. The actor who played Alita was completely CGI'd, so she had to wear a motion capture suit for the entire film. But the character still runs into the "uncanny valley," which means it doesn't look real, no matter how close they get it. But Scott says it works because Alita is supposed to be a synthetic character.

Scott says that this weekend is a great time to buy a new TV, ahead of the Super Bowl. But this year, the deals aren't as good as they were during Black Friday last november. But they're still pretty good. The LG B8 55" OLED is selling for $1500, $800 off. The 65" model is $1000 off. The next step is the C8, and the 55" is only $200 more. But Scott says it has a more powerful processor and the upscales are better. So it'll look better and is definitely worth spending the extra money for. Samsung's 55" QLED is 24% off at Best Buy, but you can get an even better deal at Costco or Sam's Club.

Scott is back from CES and this week he wants to talk about the audio gadgets he saw. A lot of the high end audio was at the Venetian Hotel. But Scott says that audio had a much smaller presence at CES this year, and Scott thinks that audio companies are going to be going to regional shows to offer their goods rather than spend a ton of money at CES. And it's difficult to rise above the noise at a larger convention. Smaller, regional shows offer a big fish in a small pond kind of vibe.