TVs & Projectors

What's New

Cutting Loose: Connected TV for Everybody

Three devices aim to ease you into streaming media — or help you ditch cable altogether.
- By Michael Berk
- Posted December 14, 2011
Cable cutting. You've probably begun the process already, even if you haven't gone all the way — think about how often you turn to Netflix, or Amazon, or Hulu Plus. And despite the panicked efforts of networks and providers nationwide, when are you watching live TV, exactly, aside from sports?

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4K is Here!

What higher-resolution video means for your current system.
- By John Sciacca
- Posted November 30, 2011
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Today, 3D has become a de facto feature on almost every higher-end TV and even many projectors, and it continues to make headlines. But the biggest news to come out of the CEDIA Expo trade show this past September wasn’t of the three-dimensional variety. The news that took many attendees by surprise was 4K.

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Test Report: Sony VPL-HW30ES 3D HD Projector

A budget version of Sony’s high-end SXRD projectors that also happens to do 3D.
- By Geoffrey Morrison
- Posted November 30, 2011
There are two ways to look at the rapidly decreasing price point of 3D HD projectors. The first way: Manufacturers are racing one another to the bottom by finding ways to make 3D cheaper and cheaper. The second, more accurate way: 3D is just a new feature (though one marketed to within an inch of its life) found on cheaper and cheaper products, just as 1080p resolution was a few years ago.
Looked at through those eyes, the Sony VPLHW30ES is less a “new 3D projector” and more a continuation of a long line of excellent SXRD models from Sony that now just happen to also do 3D. Plus, it’s a fantastic value.

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Test Report: Toshiba 47TL515U 3D LCD HDTV

Passive 3D and edge-lit LED come together in Toshiba's affordable entry-level 3D set
- By Al Griffin
- Posted November 30, 2011
- 1
Passive 3D and edge-lit- LED come together in Toshiba’s affordable TV. While other manufacturers of 3D TVs make the case for which is better — sets that use active- or passive-glasses technology — Toshiba’s long-term 3D strategy is to dump glasses altogether.

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Best Gifts for 2011

Start spreading some holiday cheer with these Sound+Vision-certified suggestions
- By Sound & Vision Staff
- Posted November 21, 2011
Every year around this time, the editors and writers of Sound+Vision put their heads together to come up with a list of the best gift ideas for the holiday season.

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No More Rabbit Ears: The Leaf Antenna by Mohu

It’s wafer thin!
- By Geoffrey Morrison
- Posted November 18, 2011
- 2
I’ll be honest, I can think of few things less sexy to review than an antenna. This isn’t because they’re not useful, it’s just without a lot of specialized equipment, there isn’t much I can say about them.
I live in The Valley, with a direct line of sight to the HDTV transmitters that cover all of Los Angeles. On the clear day each year, I can see Mt. Wilson from my front door. TV reception is so good, I could stick my finger in a TV’s antenna input and my dome could probably pull in a signal. Picture that for a second.
But The Leaf by Mohu is actually kinda cool, and looks very different from any antenna I’ve seen.

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Making the Wireless Connection: New HP 3D, TV, and Audio Solutions

A trio of new products from HP don't quite add up to a home entertainment system
- By Michael Berk
- Posted November 16, 2011
- 1
Over the past couple of weeks Hewlett Packard has rolled out a huge pile of new consumer products, among them a clutch of all-in-ones, touchscreen PCs and tablets, Beats-enhanced laptops, and even a curious little Wi-Fi mouse.

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Sony’s 3D Headset: Virtual Reality Goes Mainstream

A big fish jumps into the small personal media viewer pond
- By Leslie Shapiro
- Posted November 16, 2011
Big screen not quite big enough? Don't like company while you watch TV? You can finally place your order for Sony's widely anticipated 3D headset, the HMZ-T1 ($799.) But before we get to the specs, consider the cool factor: The headset looks like something straight out of Star Trek: The Next Generation.

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Follow the Money

Desperately seeking a better sales pitch, or at least a decent come-on line.
- By Ken C. Pohlmann
- Posted November 10, 2011
What do TVs and music sales have in common? They are both big businesses, and both markets are rapidly shifting the money from Old Business companies and business models to New Business companies and business models. And some major players are getting left behind.

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Projector Roundup: Big Screens on a Small Budget

Take advantage of the march of technology to spruce up your home theater for less cash then ever.
- By Kevin James
- Posted October 26, 2011
With prices falling faster than confidence in Greece’s economy, is there a better big-screen deal these days than a front projector? Back in 2008 even bargain-basement-priced 1080p models cost about $3,000 — about half what they cost just a year earlier, but still a sizable chunk of change.

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Win a Peel Universal Remote

Help us out again, and get your home theater under control with a little help from Peel's pear-shaped widget
- By Michael Berk
- Posted October 21, 2011
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The Peel universal remote is a combo platter including a transmitter and receiver that keeps in touch with your home network via ZigBee and passes on commands to your gear via IR, operated via a free app for

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Test Report: Sony Bravia XBR-55HX929 3D LCD HDTV

The best-looking picture I’ve seen from an LCD TV in a long time.
- By Al Griffin
- Posted October 19, 2011
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When they first arrived a few years back, LED-driven LCD TVs with a full array backlight made a big splash. Why? Because the backlight, a grid of LED lamp modules spanning the rear of the display panel, can be modulated via local dimming — a process that enables the set to track specific areas in the image, turning select modules on, off, or somewhere in between.

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