home theater

Scott saw some content on an Samsung 8K TV last week, and he sat about one screen height away from the image (it's best at 1 1/2 times). It was so good he could barely see the pixels. Very sharp. The problem is, there is no real native 8K content, and probably won't be for awhile. And Scott says that while the resolution was impressive, he couldn't see much of a different between it and uncompressed 4K UHD blu-ray. But Scott says that the upscaling is where 8K really is at right now.

Scott just returned from CEDIA, and he saw some great projection TVs that take it to the next level. The first was Epson LS500. It's what Scott calls a "pixel wiggler" to achieve 4K. Compatible with HDR. 4000 lumens. It has separate HDMI and USB ports for streaming devices. It also comes with an ambient light rejecting screen. Cost starts at $5,000. Scott says it's a short-throw projector, laser-illuminated and even in ambient show floor light, it looked very impressive. 

LG also showed its 2nd Generation TV replacement, HU35LA.  It's 4K with pixel wiggling as well. 

Next week is the last great trade show for home theater. It's called CEDIA. The Custom Electronics Design and Installation Association. After that, we'll see a dead period until CES in January. But next week, Scott will be talking about all the new displays and projectors coming from Epson, Sony, and all the big names. Scott is really looking forward to what Wolf Cinema has come out with. They always have the best image on the screen from their projectors. But they aren't cheap at five figures. 

Scott joins Leo today to talk about the new initiative launched by television manufacturers to make Hollywood directors happy. Filmmakers complain about "motion smoothing" or "frame interpolation" which can create the "soap opera effect" that makes the image look far too crisp. It takes out the motion blur by adding additional frames to make the image sharper. It's great for sports events, but terrible for movies, and directors HATE it.

Scott joins Leo to talk about LEDs that are stuck too bright on the screen. The question came from yours truly, James DeRuvo, who says several of his backlit LEDs are too bright on the screen. There are six LED lights that are brighter than the rest intermittently. Scott says that unfortunately, that's not an easy or affordable fix since it's in the screen. It would be cheaper to buy a new one.

This week, Scott is talking about the Audeara A-01 headphones, which comes with an app that will give you a hearing test and then optimize your audio experience based on the results. It has active noise cancellation as well. You can also apply a hearing curve setting that will help you to hear the music better without turning the volume up.  Price is around $300. So they're not cheap, but for what they offer, it's a pretty good deal. And it sounds better with noise cancelling on than off. 

Leo wants to talk about the Vulture article on how motion smoothing or frame interpolation is ruining cinema at home. Scott agrees that we've been conditioned to believe that watching a movie at 24fps is the best, but in reality, that was just the least expensive frame rate to save money on filming with motion picture film. There are plenty of directors, like Ang Lee, James Cameron, and Peter Jackson prefer shooting at higher frame rates.

Scott joins us to talk about the next generation of TV displays, called microLED. Tiny LED lights that are .003 square mm which is what TV manufacturers are going to need to get to the next level of sharpness. And it looks perfectly smooth and beautiful. but they're super expensive, which is why we won't see them in homes for a few years. But when they do, the stand-alone TV will be a thing of the past, and we'll see video walls in homes. It's coming. Scott saw an example of it at Sony last week, 16' wide by 9' tall.

This week, Scott is going to Sony Pictures to see their Crystal LED technology. It's like a giant LED TV; the size of a movie theater. It looks super cool and will get much brighter than any projected image. That means the dynamic range is incredible. He'll be watching MIB International. Scott says that there is no HDR format for any other display system other than Dolby Cinema, so it'll be interesting to see how this will compare.