Home Theater

HDTVs, projectors, and surround sound systems.

Scott Wilkinson and the 2019 TV Shootout

Scott Wilkinson

Episode 1600

This year, Scott Wilkinson was MC at the annual Value Electronics TV Shootout in New York. The test was done using TVs own on board Netflix apps to keep everything even. There was even a blu-ray player which used a switcher to send the signal to each TV. Top contenders for 2019 included the LG C9 OLED, Samsung Q90R, Sony A9G OLED, and the Sony Z9F LED LCD TV. There was also the Sony X800 Pro Reference monitor used for comparison to see how close each TV came to it. All 4K, HDR. There eight professional color grading pros judging. 

How can I project my phone on a TV in portrait mode?

iPhone XS

Episode 1599

David from Orange County, CA

David wants to know how he can project his mobile device to a portrait sized monitor. He wants the monitor to have the same aspect ratio as the phone.  Leo says that they tried to do that at TWiT, and you can, but it's quite expensive. One solution is to buy the Apple XDR monitor for $5K and the $1,000 stand. But there are other options out there. David has a monitor that will flip to portrait. Leo says that most operating systems can tell when the aspect ratio changes and adjusts. Apple has an emulator mode, where you can run an app on a Mac and it will look like it's on a phone. 

Can I Use My Old Coax Cable With an Antenna?

Coax

Episode 1598

Bob from Corona, CA

Bob recently cut the cable and is now streaming. He wants to know if he can use his old coax cable and connect it to the antenna. Leo says he may be able to, depending on the impedance. It should work, but look what kind of cable the antenna supports. Splitters may also cause a problem. From the chatroom - if the Coax is RG59 or RG9, he's in good shape.

Are expensive speaker cables better than regular cables?

Canare 4S11 Speaker Cables

Episode 1597

Tony from Bowie, MD

Tony wants to know if high-end Speaker Cables are worth the money. He spent $400 on some recently. Leo says HOLY COW. They also offer a "break in service." Is that worth the money? Leo says that cables don't need to be broken in, but the Speakers may. $400 for cables is pretty steep. There's no real way to measure if expensive gold cables are any better than lower cost cables. It's entirely subjective, whether you think it sounds better or not. But if it sounds better to you, then it is better. So, why not?

Scott Wilkinson ... super bright

Scott Wilkinson

Episode 1596

Scott says that Vizio has announced their 2019 lineup and he says that the TVs are very impressive. Vizio has been using Quantum Dot technology in their top of the line models for a few years, but this year, they have moved the technology down to the mid-range. And that's a good thing. In their top of the line Quantum PX, they have a peak brightness of 3000 NITS, which is super bright. Why so bright? Because of the high dynamic range. They need that brightness for "specular highlights" of tiny reflections. The Color Range has also been expanded.

Scott Wilkinson ... ARC

Scott

Episode 1592

Scott has a question from a user that wants to know how he can run his audio from the TV to his home theatre. He uses the TV's internal smart apps. Scott says that the audio return channel (ARC) that you want to use. This depends on his receiver. Current TVs have this capability. Take the HDMI out from the receiver to the ARC port. That way the sound will come out of the home theatre speakers.