Scott joins Leo to talk about the new microLED technology which can use Local dimming to increase contrast with greater precision. The smaller LEDs are, the smaller the zones that brighten independently. That translates into a greater dynamic range.
In other news ... CES is determined to hold the conference in January. Scott says he won't go because he doesn't want to be exposed to the CoVid19 virus.
Deals this weekend only at Best Buy, the 65" TCL QLED is half off, or $1000. There's also a 75" for $1800 (reg $3000). If you're in the market for a new large TV, Scott says it's a great deal.
Tony heard the call yesterday of a man getting a headache watching TV. He thinks the user is suffering from a form of light blindness, where the LEDs are too bright on the new TV. LEDs can dim over time, and he was so used to his older TV, that the newer one's brighter LEDs are giving him a headache. And TVs are set to be very bright on the showroom floor. So adjusting the brightness could help. Leo says you can adjust your TV to Cinema mode or movie mode, and that will adjust the TV to work best in low light.
Scott's latest review is of a pair of Bluetooth Speakers that he says are really cool. The Ai60 bookshelf speakers are made by Fluance and have a 6 1/2" woofer and 4" tweeters. You connect two speakers together and then connect the right one via Bluetooth to your device. Scott says that the Ai60 exceeded his expectations, sounding great. The cost is $300, which is surprisingly good. The only real drawback is that you can't stream via WiFi, but you can connect wired.
Scott joins Leo again to talk about an email he got from a listener who has a Sony Bravia 65" 4k HDTV and he's wondering if he should replace it with an ultra-short throw projector. Would the image quality be the same even though the screen is a larger area? Scott says that you couldn't sit close enough to see the individual pixels, so it would be a pretty good upgrade. What is key is viewing distance to have the field of view encompassing the screen. And there are calculators online that can help with that.
Scott joins Leo today to talk about ultra-short-throw (UST) projectors. It's a box that you put about six inches away from your wall, and it can project the light against the screen from a very sharp angle. The screen you use is an ambient light rejecting screen, which means you can use your project under any light conditions. Scott has an article about ambient light rejecting screens on ProjectorCentral.com right now.
Scott joins Leo to talk about a new app that will help users set up their TVs. THX offers a great app called THX TuneUp. It's been around for a few years, but it generates it's own test patterns from your mobile device. Available to iOS and Google Play. How do you move the test patterns over to the TV?
Chris has a home theater system with a balancing mic to adjust the quality of his system for his home. Leo says that is a great thing to be able to do, especially if he will add speakers over time. So if you add a piece of furniture or a subwoofer, definitely rebalance the system.
Scott joins Leo and chimes in on a court case over whether people actually "own" the DVDs and digital media that they buy. In the fine print, it says that you don't really own your media, you own a license to play that media, which can be revoked at any time. But Leo says that physical media is an actual thing you own and can hand down to your heirs. Scott agrees and believes that's why physical media continues to hang on. People like to own things. The other advantage of digital media is that it can be transferred from one media format to another.
Scott Wilkinson reports that Samsung Display will stop making LCD panels by the end of next year. The parent company, Samsung Electronics, will still make LCD TVs, getting their panels from elsewhere. But what they are going to be doing is focusing solely on QLED, quantum dot LED panels. Scott says that they are LCD TVs with a quantum dot backlight. It takes blue OLED material and passes it through quantum dot material, converting it to blue, red, or green. It's a process called Quantum Dot Conversion, or QDCC. And it'll hit the market next year. Samsung will also be making a QD OLED.
