home theater

The future of home video limps forward at CES 2012

LAS VEGAS--The idea of bringing the Web to your TV has been around since the mid-'90s and it seems like every CES in the past few years has been "the" year for Smart TV.

Now with the dust settling on CES 2012, the home video landscape looks surprisingly like it did before CES, albeit with a few bright spots. But any streaming-video lover (i.e. me) who was hoping for some major progress (and maybe even a few surprises) at this year's show was likely more disappointed than otherwise.… Read more

Panasonic sees 2012 as year of Web-connected TVs (live blog)

LAS VEGAS--Envisioning 2012 as the year of Web-connected TVs, Panasonic has announced its smart TV system has exclusive deals with Flixster and Disney.

In addition, MySpace is partnering with the company for MySpace TV, a social TV service that will allow users to share the latest shows, TV, and music with their friends. None other than Justin Timberlake showed up on stage to tout the service.

The company also announced a partnership today with NBC to broadcast the 2012 London Olympics in 3D. Panasonic shared the news at its press conference at CES. Opening and closing ceremonies at the Olympics … Read more

LG's 2012 Blu-ray lineup looks a lot like 2011 lineup

LAS VEGAS--If you had the feeling that Blu-ray players have "peaked" as a product type, LG would tend to agree with you.

At least that's the feeling I get looking at LG's newly announced line of Blu-ray players at CES 2012. Not much has changed from last year's line, except that built-in Wi-Fi is no longer a premium feature, appearing on the nearly entry-level BP320. The chart above has most of the important details summarized, but the breakdown is essentially:

LG BP220: Smart TV (Ethernet-only) LG BP320: Smart TV + Wi-Fi LG BP520: Smart TV + 3D + … Read more

Who 'needs' a receiver with HDMI connectivity? Not you

I get this question all the time, "I just bought a new TV, do I need to buy a HDMI receiver?" The short answer is no.

You can hook up your Blu-ray or cable box's HDMI outputs directly to the TV, and run digital audio cables to your receiver, and live happily ever after. Granted, you won't be able to play Dolby TrueHD or DTS HD Master Audio soundtracks, just standard Dolby Digital and DTS audio you have enjoyed all these years. Some players, like the Oppo BDP-93 or '95 internally decode TrueHD and DTS Master … Read more

Samsung's Blu-ray home theater systems get tubes, cloud DVD storage

Samsung's audio announcements yesterday included an innovative sound bar and tube-based iPod speakers, the company also rolled out its new line-up of all-in-one Blu-ray home theater systems.

Two new systems were announced, the HT-E6730W and HT-E5500W, both with a similar set of core features, including built-in 3D Blu-ray, hybrid vacuum tube amplifiers, built-in Wi-Fi, and Samsung Apps.

The higher end HT-E6730W is a 5.1 home theater system features two tall-boy front speaker, while the HT-E5500W has smaller, bookshelf front speakers. The press release mentions that the HT-E5500W has two HDMI inputs and an iPod dock; it's … Read more

Get an Optoma iPod-iPhone projector for $219.99

Early in 2011, when the Optoma Neo-i iPhone/iPod projector made its debut, the price tag was a stiff $450.

Today only, and while supplies last, Woot has the Optoma Neo-i projector for $219.99, plus $5 for shipping. Unlike much of what Woot peddles, this Neo is new, not refurbished.

The Neo-i combines an iPhone/iPod speaker dock with a 50-ANSI-lumens pico projector. To put that another way, when you plunk your iThing onto the connector and load up your library of, say, "Arrested Development" episodes, the projector beams them onto any available stretch of lightly colored … Read more

How to get your Ethernet-only gadgets on your home network

Internet and network connectivity is becoming a key feature in more and more home entertainment products--everything from TVs to Blu-ray players to audio components. But many of these products come with a big caveat: they don't include built-in support for wireless networking, or Wi-Fi.

This list of wired-only products includes such mainstream devices as TiVo, Slingbox, most entry-level Blu-ray players, many Internet-ready TVs, and the pre-2010 versions of the Xbox 360. Even pricier products such as AV receivers (including the otherwise excellent Denon AVR-1912) don't necessarily come with wireless connectivity on board. For many of these, manufacturers offer … Read more

TV vs. projection: Your TV is too tiny

Despite reviewing TVs for a living, I don't actually own a TV. The last TV I bought was a 27-inch CRT, in the summer of 2000.

Instead, I do all my TV and movie watching on a 103-inch screen. It's epic. It also doesn't have to cost a lot of money, nor is it difficult to set up.

The pros and cons of projection (and why you really, really want it), after the jump.… Read more

LED LCD vs. plasma vs. LCD

Updated November 2012!

In this television technology trifecta, which comes out on top? The subject of countless debates and diatribes, the better question is: which works best? Or more precisely, which works best for you?

When you cut through the hype and the fanboys, each tech has different benefits and costs. So to help you figure out which TV is right for your house, let's take a look at each one.… Read more