Scott Wilkinson on Home Theater
Episode 1551
Scott just saw Spider-Man into the Spiderverse and he really enjoyed it. It's basically about an evil villain that breaks down the walls between universes and unites all the Spider-Man's to battle him.
movies
How can I watch movies from my phone while traveling?
Episode 1532
Dave fromDave travels to Mexico every year for a vacation but Vudu doesn't work overseas anymore. Leo says that Movies Anywhere will let him download his movies and he can just put them on his phone or tablet. That makes it a lot easier to travel. Netflix and Amazon Prime also will let him download movies to watch offline.
Scott Wilkinson on Home Theater
Episode 1489
Scott saw the re-release of 2001: Space Odyssey on 70mm yesterday to celebrate the 50th anniversary. Scott says that the release was shepherded by director Christopher Nolan. Back in 1999, MGM took the original camera negative and made an "interpolative," which Christopher Nolan then took and made new prints from. It wasn't restored, but it's a high quality, high resolution 70mm quality.
Scott Wilkinson on Home Theater
Episode 1475
Scott went and saw Ready Player One. Scott says that the film is a visual feast and they've done some great work depicting virtual reality, and the virtual characters are a little closer to being realistic. What's interesting is that for all its impressive CGI, the special effects were only rendered in 2K because that's what all computer graphics are done in. Still, it's downright impressive. And if you go see it, you should see it in Dolby Atmos. It's incredible.
Scott Wilkinson on Home Theater
Episode 1463
Scott saw Marvel's latest super hero film Black Panther at a Dolby Vision theater this week and it was amazing. Currently, there are only about 100 Dolby Vision theaters in the US (33 in LA), but it's definitely worth the money to see it. The HDR and Atmos sound is fabulous, and it just enhances how good the story is. Check out Scott's review at avsforum.com here. What surprised Scott though, is that while Black Panther was amazing in Dolby Vision, Star Wars: The Last Jedi wasn't.
Does MoviePass work everywhere?
Episode 1460
Dave fromDave is a MoviePass user and he just got an email that it won't be honored at nine different AMC theaters. The service costs is $90 a year.
Can I play movies from an SD card on my Blu-ray player?
Episode 1347
Jim fromJim has all his movies backed up on his network. He'd like to use an SD card to plug in and watch that way. Leo says he can, but he'll have to be sure it's in a specific format by the Blu-ray player, so check he should check his manual. If he's wanting it for travel, he should check out the SanDisk Connect Wireless Media Drive. Its designed to connect to a smartphone and then he can stream to the TV via DNLA. It has a 10 hour battery life too, which is great for a road trip.
Scott Wilkinson on Home Theater
Episode 1299
Scott saw Independence Day Resurgence last night. It was a little disappointing and felt like there were too many writers in the room. It was fun to see the band back together 20 years later, though, and there was lots of nostalgia. The younger actors don't bring it as well, though. It did look fantastic in Dolby Cinema, at least. This gives you the movie in high dynamic range through Dolby Vision and Dolby Atmos. It really is the way to see it. It'll cost more, but it's really worth it. Scott has a list here.
What Technology Will Be the Next Big Thing?
Episode 1276
Oculus Rift went on sale to the public this week. It's a virtual reality headset that has motion tracking in it along with a camera that can track your body's movements. It also has headphones with very good quality sound. For video, it means that you'll be able to look around and see things all around you. Instead of a camera man or director determining what you'll be seeing, you can look at anything you choose. Gaming is another big use case for these headsets. HTC has made a VR headset called the Vive in conjunction with Steam, a distributor of games for PC.
How can I share my movies with everyone?
Episode 1272
Lawrence fromLawrence finally took the dive and bought a Mac and an iPad. He's managed to put home movies on his computer in MP4 format. But they're huge at 1.90GB each. How can he share them with the family? Leo says that's about right, although he could make them smaller if he was willing to sacrifice some quality. Either way, he won't be able to email them. Leo says that the best option is to upload his videos to YouTube. Then he can send them a link which he can share with others. He can make the videos public or private.