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What Is Your Downstream Bandwidth?
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Scott Wilkinson • May 11, 2012 • 26 comments
In this week's Home Theater Geeks podcast, Boxee co-founder and CEO Avner Ronen talks about the new paradigm of streaming TV. Of course, the image and sound quality depend greatly on how much downstream bandwidth you have—for 720p, many people recommend at least 3 to 4 megabits per second (Mbps), while 1080p normally requires 6 Mbps or more. (Vudu specifies 2.25 Mbps for 720p and 4.5 Mbps for its HDX 1080p stream.)

Which leads me to ask, what is the downstream bandwidth in your home? If you don't know, there are several websites that let you measure it, both downstream and upstream; I use speedtest.net, which yielded the results shown above at my home, where Charter Cable provides my Internet access. If you know how much bandwidth you're paying for, you might want to verify it. Also, I'd love to know if your broadband Internet access is provided by DSL, cable, or another service—my impression is that cable is generally faster than DSL—so please leave a comment about that if you would be so kind.

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What Is Your Downstream Bandwidth?
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Are Blind Audio Comparisons Valuable?
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Scott Wilkinson • May 04, 2012 • 34 comments
In this week's Home Theater Geeks podcast, Home Theater and Stereophile contributor Steve Guttenberg argues that blind comparisons of audio products are meaningless for several reasons. First of all, he claims, most people cannot reliably discern the difference between similarly performing products, and perhaps not even between products that perform quite differently. As you can see in the graph above, listening tests conducted by Floyd Toole and Sean Olive reveal that blind comparisons of four speakers resulted in much more equal preference ratings than the same comparisons in which the listeners knew what they were listening to.

Also, Guttenberg maintains that the tester's ears are psychophysiologically biased by the sound of one product while listening to the next product. Finally, the conditions under which the test is conducted are rarely the same as those in any given consumer's room, so the results mean nothing in terms of deciding what to buy.

Do you agree? Are blind comparisons of audio products valuable? On what do you base your position?

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Are Blind Audio Comparisons Valuable?
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What's More Important, 4K or High Frame Rates?
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Scott Wilkinson • Apr 27, 2012 • 24 comments
At the 2012 National Association of Broadcasters (NAB) convention last week, 4K was everywhere—in cameras, displays, and workflow devices—at rapidly falling prices. Many professionals contend that 4K approaches the inherent spatial resolution of film, and it can be displayed on very large screens with no visible pixel structure.

However, in a pre-recorded demo in the Christie booth (which I describe here), James Cameron made a compelling argument that increasing the frame rate at which movies are shot and displayed from 24 to 48 or even 60 frames per second does more to sharpen perceived detail—especially in moving objects—than increasing the spatial resolution. In fact, all the demo material was 1920x1080 on a 15-foot-wide screen.

As the demo clearly illustrated, shooting and displaying movies at higher frame rates dramatically sharpens motion detail—so much so that it no longer looks like film, but more like video, which many people object to. So my question to you is, what's more important, the higher spatial resolution of 4K at film's traditional 24fps or the greater temporal resolution of higher frame rates at 2K? (BTW, Peter Jackson is hedging all bets by shooting The Hobbit at 48fps, 4K, and 3D!)

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What's More Important, 4K or High Frame Rates?
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Is 3D Conversion of Existing Movies Worthwhile?
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Scott Wilkinson • Apr 13, 2012 • 8 comments
As I discuss in my blog this week, I just saw the new 3D conversion of Titanic. I enjoyed it more than I thought I would—and way more than the recent Star Wars Episode I conversion. I suspect this is largely due to the fact that writer/director James Cameron is a 3D fanatic, so he was bound to do it right.

How do you feel about converting existing 2D movies to 3D (assuming it's done well)? Is it worthwhile? If so, what movies would you like to see converted? Or do you think this is an abomination and all existing movies should be left alone?

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Is 3D Conversion of Existing Movies Worthwhile?
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Have You Cut the Cord?
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Scott Wilkinson • Apr 06, 2012 • 22 comments
In today's SmartStream blog, Barb Gonzalez talks about her experience cutting the cord to cable TV while retaining broadband Internet access from her cable company and what might be in store for others wanting to do the same thing. And from what I can tell, their numbers are growing fast as more and more people—especially youngsters—turn to the Internet for their television programming because of its inherently on-demand nature and often much lower cost (though download overage charges can certainly mitigate that advantage).

How about you? Have you cut the cord to cable and/or satellite service in favor of online delivery (and perhaps free over-the-air terrestrial broadcasts for local channels)? Or does cable/satellite still provide something you can't get online? What led you to the decision you've made in this regard?

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Have You Cut the Cord?
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Do You Buy HT Gear Online or In-Store?
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Scott Wilkinson • Mar 30, 2012 • 15 comments
Yesterday, it was reported that Best Buy plans to close 50 stores and eliminate about 400 jobs over the next year due to mounting losses in the face of competition from online retailers. Of course, online buying is the ultimate in convenience, but then you have nowhere local to go for service. Also, a store provides at least the possibility of seeing and hearing a demo before you buy, though TV demos in big-box stores are typically useless because the TVs are not set up properly and the environment is nothing like any room in a home.

This news leads me to wonder about where you buy your home-theater gear—online or at brick-and-mortar stores? Why do you shop online or in-store?

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Do You Buy HT Gear Online or In-Store?
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What is Your Viewing Distance?
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Scott Wilkinson • Mar 23, 2012 • 18 comments
As many of you already know, your screen size and optimum viewing distance are related. According to THX, the maximum recommended viewing angle—the angle formed by the sides of the screen and your seating position, as shown above—is 40 degrees. SMPTE (the Society of Motion Picture and Television Engineers) recommends a minimum viewing angle of 30 degrees. This translates to a viewing distance from 1.2 to 1.6 times the screen's diagonal measurement. For example, if your screen is 50 inches diagonally, the optimum viewing distance is 60 to 80 inches, or 5 to 6.7 feet.

This is much closer than most people sit from their video display. How about you? To vote in this poll, follow these steps:

1. Measure your viewing distance in inches;
2. Divide your viewing distance by your screen's diagonal size in inches;
3. The result is the relationship between your viewing distance and screen size.

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What is Your Viewing Distance?
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Have You Used Digital Copy?
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Scott Wilkinson • Mar 16, 2012 • 13 comments
When you buy a Blu-ray/DVD bundle these days, chances are it also comes with something called Digital Copy. This is just what the name says—a digital copy of the movie to put on your computer's hard drive or NAS (network-attached storage) so you can watch it on other authorized devices in your entertainment ecosystem, subject to the copy's DRM (digital-rights management) provisions and compatibility with various platforms.

Have you used Digital Copy with titles you've purchased? If so, do you find it to be a useful feature?

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Have You Used Digital Copy?
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Do You Have Carte Blanche in Your Home Theater?
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Scott Wilkinson • Mar 10, 2012 • 30 comments
In the latest Ask Home Theater blog post, Darren Benjamin says he has carte blanche from his wife to do whatever he wants in designing the media room. We should all be so lucky!

How about you? Do you have carte blanche to do whatever you want in your home theater, subject only to budgetary considerations? If you have no spouse, the answer is obvious. But if you do—be it a legal marriage or domestic partnership—have they placed limits on what you can do in that room?

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Do You Have Carte Blanche in Your Home Theater?
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Do You Use Your Audio System More for Movies or Music?
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Scott Wilkinson • Mar 02, 2012 • 11 comments
Last year, Steve Guttenberg wrote a great article for Home Theater called "How to Choose a Home Theater for Movies or Music" based on the premise that the system requirements for movies and music are quite different. Music is mostly 2-channel, while movies are mostly 5.1 or 7.1. Movies often have lots of non-pitched, extremely low bass and a wider dynamic range than most music recordings. And yet most of us must make do with one system for both types of content, compromising in one way or another to balance its performance toward movies or music depending on which is more important to us.

Do you use your audio system more for movies (and TV) or music? How have you balanced the system's performance as a result? For example, if you mostly listen to music, did you get full-range front left and right speakers to use without a subwoofer? Or are you lucky enough to have two separate systems, one for movies and TV and the other for music?

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Do You Use Your Audio System More for Movies or Music?
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How Often Have You Replaced Your TV In The Last 10 Years?
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Scott Wilkinson • Feb 24, 2012 • 16 comments
Throughout my childhood, I remember visiting my grandparents and watching their Zenith TV (which used a Space Command ultrasonic remote, the source of the term "clicker"). Back then, most folks kept their TV for 15 or 20 years before replacing it, usually when the old one finally gave up the ghost. And there was little need to—TV technology didn't evolve much in those days. Once color television was well established, TVs were much the same from one year to the next.

Now, of course, the replacement rate for TVs is much faster, because performance improves, screens get bigger, and cool new features are added while prices drop every year. This leads me to ask, how often have you replaced your main TV in the last 10 years? Has your pace of replacement increased over that time?

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How Often Have You Replaced Your TV In The Last 10 Years?
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Do You Prefer an Anamorphic Lens or Lens Memories?
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Scott Wilkinson • Feb 17, 2012 • 4 comments
As I explain in today's "Ask Home Theater" blog, there are two ways to project a 2.35:1 movie onto a 2.35:1 screen without black letterbox bars. One way is to place an anamorphic lens in front of the projector's primary lens to stretch the image horizontally and use electronic processing to upscale the image vertically. The other way is to use a projector with motorized zoom, focus, and lens shift and several less memories to store and recall the settings for different aspect ratios. As with most things in life, each approach has its pros and cons.

If you have a 2.35:1 projection system—or you only dream about having one—which approach do you prefer? An anamorphic lens with its increased brightness and vertical resolution but potential scaling artifacts and optical distortion, or lens memories that avoid these problems at the expense of lower brightness and vertical resolution? Or are you happy with a 16:9 screen and black letterbox bars framing movies?

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Do You Prefer an Anamorphic Lens or Lens Memories?
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Do You Wear Earplugs in Loud Environments?
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Scott Wilkinson • Feb 10, 2012 • 5 comments
Today's "Ask Home Theater" question regards hearing protection and earplugs. Which leads me to ask, do you wear earplugs in loud environments, such as rock concerts and loud movies? If so, do you wear custom-molded or universal plugs? If not, why not? Let us know in the comments.

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Do You Wear Earplugs in Loud Environments?
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How Often Do You Go Out To The Movies?
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Scott Wilkinson • Feb 03, 2012 • 14 comments
Last week, I asked about how many Oscar-nominated movies you've seen, and I was surprised that the most popular response was "none" followed by "a few." This led me to wonder how often our readers actually go out to the movies. Of course, many of you have a good home theater, which is generally quieter, more controllable, and less expensive (that is, not counting the purchase price!) than a commercial cinema. And some home theaters even provide a better audio/video experience than lesser commercial venues.

On the other hand, if you stay home to watch movies, you don't get to see the latest titles until they are released on Blu-ray or other media. Also, there are many commercial cinemas that surpass all but the most elaborate home theaters in performance. Then there's the social aspect—maybe I'm weird (okay, maybe there's no "maybe" about it!), but I actually enjoy sharing the movie experience with my fellow humans, as long as they don't talk or text during the show and the kid behind me doesn't kick my chair.

So how often do you go out to the movies? Why do you go—or not—in lieu of your home theater?

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How Often Do You Go Out To The Movies?
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How Many Oscar-Nominated Movies Have You Seen?
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Scott Wilkinson • Jan 27, 2012 • 7 comments
The 2012 Academy Award nominations have just been announced, and you can see them all here. Hugo snagged 11 nominations, which is no surprise—it's a marvelous movie in every way. But I'm bummed that The Adventures of Tintin didn't make it into the Best Animated Feature category—it has some amazing animation and a great story in my opinion.

How many of the Oscar-nominated movies have you seen so far? Do you intend to see more before Billy Crystal returns to host the 84th annual extravaganza on Sunday, February 26? Which are your favorites? Please let us know in the comments.

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How Many Oscar-Nominated Movies Have You Seen?
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