Scott Wilkinson
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How To Set Up a Power Amp
How To Use
Kim Wilson, Scott Wilkinson • Jul 06, 2012 • 4 comments
So you've taken the leap and opted for separates, and now you're wondering how to set up the power amp properly with you're A/V preamp/processor. Relax, it's not difficult at all.
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Podcast 118: The Chat Room
Home Theater Geeks Podcast
Scott Wilkinson • Jul 03, 2012 • 0 comments
In this episode, I show you around my new podcast studio, which is also my home recording studio, and then answer questions from the chat room, including how to position speakers, the different types of 3D for commercial cinema and home, HDMI cables, the difference between THX post processing and audio codecs from Dolby and DTS, full-range speakers and subwoofers, Dolby Atmos, Disney's WOW setup disc, and much more.

Run Time: 1:02:21

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Vizio 21:9 CinemaWide TV Finally Available
News, The Big Picture
Scott Wilkinson • Jul 02, 2012 • 8 comments
After what has seemed like an interminable wait, Vizio's 21:9 CinemaWide LED-LCD flat-panel TV is finally available to consumers at Vizio's website. With a native pixel resolution of 2560x1080, this XVT-series set is the first ultra-widescreen flat panel available in the US that displays 2.35:1 movies without black bars above and below the image.
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Is Your Display Fully Calibrated?
Vote
Scott Wilkinson • Jun 29, 2012 • Published: Dec 31, 1969 • 16 comments
Video displays rarely come out of the box looking their best. We always recommend that you select the display's Movie or Cinema picture mode and use a setup disc such as High-Definition Benchmark, Digital Video Essentials: HD Basics, or Disney's World of Wonder (WOW) to set the basic picture controls.

This typically gets you relatively close to the display's best performance, but to get even closer, you must calibrate the display's grayscale and color gamut if the necessary controls are available in the menu system. You can hire a professional to perform the calibration at a cost of several hundred dollars, or you can do it yourself if you have the required equipment, software, and training, which can cost thousands of dollars. But for those of us who want to wring every last drop of performance from our displays, it's money well spent.

Have you had your display's grayscale and color gamut fully calibrated? If so, did you hire a pro to do it, or did you do it yourself? If not, why not?

Vote to see the results and leave a comment about your choice.

Is Your Display Fully Calibrated?
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Large TV, Tiny Speakers
Ask Home Theater
Scott Wilkinson • Jun 29, 2012 • 0 comments
I would like to install a 70-inch or larger high-end, networked TV in a new home-theater area. Please provide a few brand recommendations as well as LED, LCD, or plasma and why. I'm also wondering about your take on the Orb Audio speakers for that "I have never in my life experienced such completely amazing sound" for a 7.1 system. Feel free to make several other speaker manufacturer suggestions, keeping in mind a small, corner ceiling-mounted speaker system.

Jeff Moline

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Unconventional Subwoofer Configuration
Ask Home Theater
Scott Wilkinson • Jun 27, 2012 • 16 comments
I have a Marantz SR6004 A/V receiver with a 5.1 speaker system, including Focal Chorus 826 V speakers for the front left and right, Chorus CC 800 V for the center channel, Chorus 806 V speakers for the surrounds, and Chorus SW 800 V subwoofer. In the receiver, I set the front left and right as Large and the others as Small. I set the subwoofer output to Off and use the receiver's Speaker C function to drive the sub's high-level inputs from the receiver's surround-back speaker outputs with the sub's internal crossover set to 60Hz. This configuration produces a very nice sound; I feel that the bass is more structured and integrated than when I use the crossover in the receiver. My question is, does the receiver lose power in this configuration?

Santiago Blint

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Podcast 117: Geoff Tully
Home Theater Geeks Podcast
Scott Wilkinson • Jun 26, 2012 • 0 comments
Geoff Tully, Technology Development Director at THX, explains THX Media Director, a new technology that embeds metadata into audio/video content about how that content was created and how it should be reproduced, including the correct settings in compatible Blu-ray players, A/V receivers, TVs, etc. He also reveals which companies are working on implementing Media Director, answers chat-room questions, and more.

Run Time: 1:02:21

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Panasonic & Sony to Collaborate on OLED TVs
News
Scott Wilkinson • Jun 25, 2012 • 4 comments
In a surprising move, Japanese competitors Panasonic and Sony announced in a press release today that they have signed an agreement to collaborate on the development of OLED (organic light-emitting diode) panels for TVs and other large-size displays. The companies intend to establish mass-production technology during 2013 by integrating their individual strengths to improve the efficiency of development.
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Will You See Brave in a Dolby Atmos Theater?
Vote
Scott Wilkinson • Jun 22, 2012 • Published: Dec 31, 1969 • 23 comments
Brave is the new animated feature from Disney and Pixar that opens today across the country. Of course, any new Pixar movie is cause for excitement, but this one is doubly so as the first movie with a soundtrack mixed for the Dolby Atmos cinema sound system, which places speakers all around the audience as well as overhead, creating a truly 3-dimensional soundfield. (For more on Dolby Atmos, click here; for my coverage of the world premier of Brave, click here.)

With any new technology, the only way to gauge its importance is to experience it for yourself. On the other hand, new technologies are often not widely available at first—Atmos has been installed in only 14 theaters around the country—making it difficult for most moviegoers to hear it firsthand. But for those who live near one of these theaters, this is an opportunity to hear what could be the next generation in movie sound.

Do you live near an Atmos theater? (Click here for a list of theaters and locations.) If so, will you make an effort to see Brave there? How far are you willing to go? HT reader Jarod and his wife are driving four hours! Or do you plan to skip the movie altogether? If you do see it in an Atmos theater, let us know your impressions of the system in the comments.

Vote to see the results and leave a comment about your choice.

Will You See Brave in a Dolby Atmos Theater?
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Bass Management in Blu-ray Player
Ask Home Theater
Scott Wilkinson • Jun 22, 2012 • 20 comments
I am contemplating a 4.0 setup with two subs in the left and right front speakers using just the bass management of an Oppo BDP-95 Blu-ray player. If I set the left and right front speakers to Large, is the LFE channel redirected and divided between the left and right front channels? Can the center channel be totally re-directed and divided between left and right front? If the surround and back left and right speakers are set to Small, can the low frequencies from those channels be re-directed to the left and right front? Finally, can all these conditions be met simultaneously?

Michael Soderback

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